Informal is in

Hyderabad: At a recent event in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashed a never-seen-before charm offensive, even as some of Bollywood’s biggest names looked on. He was okay with the hugs, was thrilled accepting dozens of selfie requests and in just a matter of hours, was all over social networking websites such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The celebs couldn’t get enough of him. In fact, many just pounced as if an old friend had suddenly turned up.

But it’s not just the Prime Minister who’s bringing ‘informal’ back. In Hyderabad too, TRS’ K.T. Rama Rao is a crowd favourite, often attending a range of events in a week. Almost everyone the minister has met talks about his likeable, no-airs personality. AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, meanwhile is crowd friendly and recently, during the Hudhud relief operations, the leader went about neighbourhoods meeting several hundred affected.

There was absolutely no barrier between the politicians and the citizens, an encouraging sign. And more importantly, India is loving this new-found good humour in the netas.

Socialite Anju Poddar shares an anecdote from the day she met PM Modi in Goa, a few months ago. “It was a wedding and I had gone up to him to have a photo clicked, to which he agreed. But the hall was dark and the photo didn’t come out that good. Next morning, I went up to him again and he said, ‘Apne toh kal bhi photo liya tha (You had taken a photo even yesterday)’. I replied, ‘But woh photo accha nahi aaya. And then he proceeded to take another photo with me. I was honestly floored. I am not some Aishwarya Rai but he did remember me and I was very impressed.”

Both CM Naidu and KTR have received similar praise and ‘personality reviews’. “There is definitely a protocol one needs to follow when inviting such dignitaries. But once they were present at the event, they are more than willing to oblige for the photos because they don’t want to come across as rude,” says Shakuntala Divi, chairperson of the city’s YFLO, who had interacted with the TD and TRS leaders on different occasions.

Others are talking about a real “connect”. Businessman Gaurav Sanghi recalls how friendly and informal the PM was when he attended the former’s wedding.“We were on a stage and everyone was clicking our pictures at my wedding. He gave me a nudge saying, ‘look how popular we are’, and then he went about mingling with the crowd.”