Asian Window

Raj Thackeray’s core supporters include IITians, economists, doctors and lawyers, writes Manu Joseph in The Times of India

It can be proved that every Hindi film that has been described by its director as, “a metaphor,” has flopped. Because it is a language from exile, a hint that the speaker does not dwell in the same world where tickets are sold. This was also the reason why six IITians who launched a political party in Chennai became a joke. “Reality is a continuum,” they said on their website. They were pitted against Karunanidhi who promised a free colour television for almost all.

Where Raj Thackeray belongs, is unambiguous. So, it is at first hard to accept that in a congregation of young men and women whom he had handpicked to be his inner circle, the English expressions that fill the air are, ‘Symbiotic tie of a migrant’, ‘Disequilibrium’, ‘Social frigidity’, and even, ‘Diphthong’. This is so different from the unmistakable prose of politics. Agar hamare raastey mein aaya toh patak dunga usko , said Abu Azmi a few days ago. Karke to dekho , replied Thackeray.

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