The cool factor

LK Advani is not cool.

I don't care how much he might talk about "India Shining", "The
Internet Age" or any of the topics that fancy to keep him current. He
is simply not cool.

I don't know why the BJP wants to woo younger voters through internet
campaigns and such, because at the end of the day, put Advani's face
on anything, and it becomes really boring. The guy doesn't smile,
doesn't say anything fresh, doesn't do anything out of the usual, and
doesn't get my interest. He isn't cool.

The cool factor is not something to be taken lightly. Rahul Gandhi,
Jyotiraditya Scindia and Priyanka Gandhi are way too cool. They are
people I'd like to see in the news, and though not in the same class
as Barack Obama, are deservedly more attractive than Advani or Modi.

Showing up on the internet doesn't make you an internet generation
person. Barack Obama is very much an internet persona, and he even
has his own Blackberry, now secured to the nth degree because he is
now the President! He ran a very tech savvy campaign, but it was in
tune with everything else he was doing. It would have been really
stupid for GW Bush to send out Twitter messages to his supporters
telling them he is going to attack the wrong country, but that didn't
happen.

In every likelihood, Advani and Modi will send out live video feeds of
them building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. I hope they can stay live
till the riots play themselves out. Advani is a raving lunatic in the
garb of a politician. Putting a lunatic on the internet cannot
convert him to a diplomatic, future thinking prime ministerial
candidate.

Manmohan Singh on the other hand, is fairly cool. He is articulate,
squeaky clean, and even has a sense of humour! God, what a relief
that our PM has a sense of humour! With leaders of other countries,
he belongs as a gentle, proper representative of India. Most
youngsters in India would find it quite easy to say they like Manmohan
SIngh. The guy has also done his job quietly and without fanfare.

LK Advani allows himself to be crowned in public! What is more
hilarious than a guy who wants to lead a democratic country allowing
himself to be crowned like a king? He is very unlikely to follow in
the rich tradition of Vajpayee, because he simply is not cool.

In fact, he is a religious crusader just like GW Bush, who is a born
again Christian. He actually claimed he is doing God's work, while
bombing Iraq! Advani belives he is doing the same thing, but in the
name of Ram, to whose existence no scientific fact exists. Every now
and then the BJP mentions how the sentiments of Indians are hurt when
Lord Ram is discounted and pointed out as an epic, a myth of the land,
a story.

Again, religious stuff isn't cool, especially when it leads to riots
and people dying. All of India's youngsters will come out and
celebrate Holi and Ramzan, Diwali and Christmas with equal zest,
knowing fully well that there is a religious significance to each of
them. But at the end of the day, it's just cool to have culture play
its part in some fun. That's about it.

The BJP has many followers who are against the celebration of
Valentine's Day. I agree it is a media hyped, over sold, stupid
excuse for celebration, but just because it is much newer doesn't make
it less of a right to celebrate than Ram Navami. What right does
anybody have to tell anyone else what to celebrate and what not to.

To put it in blunt contrast, nobody dies on Valentine's Day, and
nobody expects to have a riot. Some youngsters give it a lot of
importance, but do not impose any problems on any one else. But come
Dec 6th, the day of the Babri Masjid demolition, the country suffers
tensions, year after year. That is the problem that the BJP wants to
exacerbate by building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Why is there no nationwide vote on whether we want the temple? Quite
simple! The BJP will lose that vote and everyone will simply express
what we already know - the BJP is just not cool. They might use the
internet as a tool, but at the end of the day, if they have a fool for
a candidate, that's what is going to show!

Think about this the next time you are about to voice your opinion on
an issue - which is the cooler of the two options? Chances are, the
cooler option will be the one better suited to making some real
progress.