The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : 61st or 62nd?

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

61st or 62nd?

61st or 62nd? There was clearly a lot of confusion even among government departments and agencies, not to talk of several public associations and organisations, about the number to be used in advertisements and press releases issued on the occasion of recent Independence Day celebrations.

A few government departments and officials referred to the celebrations as 61st, while most others used the right number, i.e. 62nd. The confusion was mainly due to the usual practice of counting August 15, 1948, instead of August 15, 1947, as the first I-Day. Those who referred to the recent celebrations as 61st would not have been caught on the wrong foot had they used the word ‘anniversary’.

Mega wait

Now that the mega star has announced his entry into politics, animated discussions have started in political circles as to who will join the new party from the city. If there is any politician of some stature in the city who has by now already hinted at joining the ‘Chiru’ bandwagon, it is former Mayor Tadi Sakuntala alone. All eyes are now on Vijayawada East MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, who has been maintaining some distance from other Congress leaders in the city and keeping a low profile. Though the name of another Congress MLA in the district, who belongs to the Kapu community, is also doing rounds, one may have to probably wait at least until August 26 when the actor-turned-politician is expected to reveal the agenda of his new party in Tirupati.

Loud and clear

Not happy with the lukewarm response of the delegates of a national seminar on ‘Reflective Practice in the English Classroom’, hosted by the Andhra Loyola College recently, Prof. V. Robert Bellarmine, the former English Studies Officer at British Council (South India), said there was a glaring difference between the ‘audience’ in the northern and southern parts of India. “North Indians are explicit in their expressions and encourage participants of any programme with thunderous rounds of applause. But, people in the South are muted and I want them to take a cue from peers in the north,” he said, prompting the audience to break into a huge round of applause that reverberated the auditorium for quite some time.

To a message that came loud and clear, the delegates could not have given anything less than an equally loud response by clapping ceaselessly.

Taking no chance!

It is very common to see people either snapping their fingers, tapping the mike or saying 1,2,3… to check if a mike is functioning well. A leader of a voluntary organisation, who was supposed to make an announcement before the commencement of actual programme, started saying “hello” repeatedly to check whether the mike is functioning. He did not seem convinced though the audience assured him that they could hear him. “Wait, let me test,” he said, and continued.

His insistence on continuing the testing prompted someone from the audience to comment rather loudly that probably the leader was not able to hear his own voice. The gathering was saved finally when a hotel attendant increased the volume and the leader was satisfied with the audio levels.

Eye-opener!

For Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah a trip to Nagarjunasagar Project turned out to be an eye-opener on how people’s expectations begin to cross reasonable limits after having tasted benefits of loan waiver scheme. Displaying his skills to attract media attention, the Minister tried all methods by saluting `Krishnamma Talli,’ worshipping it with folded hands. Drawing attention of Minister for Ports Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, he said "you must know some marketing techniques so that we get highlighted in the media.

" He stopped some youth, who had gathered there to witness the water gushing out of sluice gates into NSP Right Main canal and put questions on efficacy of pension scheme and Indiramma. Answers were `satisfactory’. The twist came at the end: "My banker is asking for repayment of the loan I had taken, Anna what should I do?" was the straight question of a young farmer to the Minister. On ascertaining that farmer was ineligibile, Mr. Ponnala’s enthusiasm got watered down and he left the place immediately.

K. Srimali, P. Sujatha Varma and G. V. R. Subba Rao in Vijayawada and Ramesh Susarla in Guntur

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