Hello, Namaste, but err.. hugging?

KOZHIKODE: It is easy to read  many meanings  from the body language of an election candidate, whose gestures include shaking hands with the voters, saying ‘Namasthe,’  folding hands or waving at them and  hugging them according to the intensity of the moment.

Ravish Thanthri Kuntar,  NDA candidate in Kasargod,  greets the voters with folded hands and seldom shakes hands with them.  His political opponents have suggested that  Kuntar is reluctant to touch others because of his casteism.   But Kuntar,  a priest by profession, protests,  “the propaganda is rubbish.  Saying ‘Namasthe’ with folded hands is part of our culture. I never hesitate  to shake  hands  with anyone,” says  Kuntar.

K. Sudhakaran, UDF candidate in Uduma,   does not say  ‘Namasthe’.  Shaking hands and a pat on the shoulder is his preferred mode. “My intention is that both the candidate and the voter should feel the intensity of warmth,” Sudhakaran says.  

A.P Abdullakutty, UDF candidate in Thalasserry,  says that hugging occurs during campaigning. “Of course, I cannot hug a voter whom I am meeting for the first time. He might feel embarrassed and might think that it was an election gimmick,” Abdullakutty observes.

The candidates’  gestures change  according to the type of electorate they are addressing. There is less  euphoria  of shaking hands while they campaign in  coastal areas or colonies.   Male candidates are reluctant to shake hands with girl students during college visits but return a ‘Namasthe’.

“In India, gestures of candidates are definitely connected with power equation,” observes Dr N. Muhammadali, HoD, department of journalism and mass communication, Calicut University. “As a society,  we have not grown into the level of hugging. The hand-shaking candidate will automatically change to a hand-waving MLA after the election,” he added.