Don’t be laughing too much, peoples. Arre, not only is his hearty being in right place, we should also remember it is the thoughtless that is counting!
*
By the way, doesn’t this look like a bad movie poster of an even worse film? Of the ‘romance bhi hai, drama bhi hai, action bhi hai’ variety? Bald Pate, with the earring and the “kahan jaa rahi ho, Bharati?” smile, is the villain. The loser on the right is the romantic hero (don’t miss the hair parted down the middle…), powerless to stop Bald Pate’s machinations when it comes to Bharati. You can see the helplessness in his expression. And then, at the top of the poster, we have all the mai-baaps who control and manipulate all our destinies. In decreasing order of importance, left to right. Strangely enough, a lot of them seem to be benevolently approving of Bald Pate’s antics with Bharati!
The more erudite reader might look closely at the poster and say “What the eff men QI? Who dis Bharati? Where she is? What you are talking men?”
I suppose the only thing worse than a bad film is a terrible metaphor.
But wot to do? I am like that wonly. 🙂
*
For those who are interested, some more posts on English in India:
https://quirkyindian.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/pliss-to-be-minding-your-english-ok/
https://quirkyindian.wordpress.com/category/indian-english/
The Quirky Indian 
June 23, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Hilarious. Where did u find this gem of a poster.
And your story telling, by god ki kasam, is amazing.
June 23, 2009 at 3:56 pm
ROFL! That was one find! And you are right – it does sound like a movie poster – right down to the cute faced romantic hero 🙂
‘ And then we have all the mai-baaps that control and manipulate their destinies at the top of the poster. In decreasing order of importance, left to right. ‘ ROFL!!
June 23, 2009 at 4:25 pm
QI,
Amazing poster….though one really wonders who out of the two is Md Ali, at first glance.
Also, note the saffron (Md ali’s font colour), white (background) and green (nair’s name) interplay …the party appropriating the national flag’s colour, ever so subtly?
The secular fabric is intact too, what with Md Ali in saffron text and Hemant Nair’s name reversed against green.
Conspicuously missing from the pantheon of ‘maharashtrian’ demi-gods is Vilasrao D (courtesy 26/11 popular sentiment). No wonder he has a berth up in Delhi, where the feeling may not be as volatile.
Also, is it my imagination that the Youth Congress symbol (I assume it is that) seems a bit like an inverted bio-hazard symbol?
Next thing you know, the BJP will Robert Langdon to study more ‘sinister’ clues in this poster…lol!
June 23, 2009 at 4:44 pm
he he! Howlarious QI! Actually, I seem to be so used to such English that initially I was trying to wonder what is so wrong with the poster 😛
But yeah, it does look like “Kahan ja rahi ho Bharti?”
Awesome Metaphoring or whatever…
June 23, 2009 at 4:53 pm
ha ha ha 😀
I give out a heartly laughter 😀
I wonder how come Jawaharlal Nehru & Indra Gandhi are missing from the poster!!!!
Vaise let the festival season come and we will be getting to see all kinds of badhaaiyaans! from all leaders 😀 & English will obviously be used Judiciously 😀
June 23, 2009 at 5:35 pm
So you’re back with your pet peeve, huh? But prescient, this. I was just thinking of the word because it’s admission time and all over campus I’ll soon see colourful banners wishing ‘freshers’ a ‘heartly welcome’. So it’s not just politico-speak; it’s part of the Indian National Character.
Though I’m sure I’ll find some morphological explanation for the word if I thought about it hard enough. 😉
June 23, 2009 at 7:38 pm
ROFL dude……posters… that we make I tell you……..
I got reminded of this post from another blog:
http://krishashok.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/guide-to-designing-indian-political-posters/
June 23, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I guess whoever has visited Goa and paid attention to the names of the shops would have noticed ‘Genuine Fake Leather Shop’.
June 23, 2009 at 11:04 pm
🙂
June 24, 2009 at 2:20 am
Ha..ha..ha..ha..
Hearty..berry berry hearty.
The one on left reminded me of villain Shetty from Manmohan Desai films.
June 24, 2009 at 5:43 am
The taklu on the left side looks like some rapist from a B grade movie.
awesome poster though. looks more or less like a movie poster.
June 24, 2009 at 11:29 am
Hilarious is not the word for this…
THis is something more than that.
June 24, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Lol! I recently saw a sign on a bathroom door in a restaurant recently that read: “Toilet under rejuvenation.” Just imagine what that would be like 😉
June 25, 2009 at 12:28 am
😆
Hilarious! 😀
more howlarious is your imagination that went into overdrive there 😀
a bollywood ishtyle story borne out of one political poster ?
Only QI’s got the imagination 😀
Question is though..did Bald Pate win? 😀
if so..who voted for him?
after THAT trust inspiring poster? 😀
(or maybe your story is still in my head)
June 25, 2009 at 8:30 am
Phata poster nikla hero. Remember Naseer? 😀
June 25, 2009 at 4:10 pm
What utter tosh! Manmohan comes after before Rahul Gandhi?? blasphemy!! 😐
By the way, in case you haven’t seen this already, check out this awesome post on the anatomy of the Indian political poster by Krish Ashok
Prasanth
June 25, 2009 at 10:03 pm
This is really funny!
June 25, 2009 at 11:48 pm
LOL!! ‘You are like that wonly’, and that is vaery machhu vundreful !!!
June 26, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Considering that we speak Engleees, it is miracle that they managed to write it the way they did!
June 28, 2009 at 10:28 am
wonderful poster and really hilarious commentary The crowded row of mai baaps reminded me of the over crowded dais of Congress rallies were many a time netas outnumber the audience
June 28, 2009 at 7:55 pm
phata poster nikla hero 🙂
June 30, 2009 at 10:29 am
@Mampi: Thank you ji. And this gem of a poster was very proudly on display at a busy junction… 🙂
@Smitha: Thanks…..it would have been criminal not to share this!
@Anand: Wow, that analysis was pretty ‘Langdonish’, if you know what I mean! Food for thought! 🙂
@Rakesh: Thanks. At least we can get some laughs out of the systematic defacement of our cities by these politician types….
@Smita: 🙂 Thanks. But JLN and IG have been sidelined for quite a while now. RG is also missing….now it is ‘naye log, nayee umang’!
@SS: Yes, it is part of the Indian National Character, one of our defining traits. 🙂 And I am sure you could come up with a very good morphological explanation!
@OG: 🙂 Thanks for the link….that was a great post!
@Vee: Ha-ha. Genuine fakes mean big business!
@Kartikey: Thanks. Nice to see you back.
@Solilo: 🙂 Wasn’t it just too much like an 80s film poster? Baldy is the new Shetty.
@Philip: Ha-ha. Exactly. One of those evil landlord-from-the-haveli types! 🙂
June 30, 2009 at 10:42 am
@Tarun: Thank you!
@D: “Toilet under rejuvenation”? Now that’s very very scary. 🙂
@Indyeah: Thanks. 🙂 But doesn’t the whole set up look like a B-grade movie? With C-grade actors?
@Anita: Hero Hiralal…. 🙂
@Prasanth: Ha-ha, I was waiting for someone to point that out. Yes, we can safely conclude that the political careers of Ali and Nair are very much over because of this one act of sacrilege and blasphemy! And thanks for the link!
@IHM: Thank you. Actually, thank Ali and Nair!
@Pal: 🙂 Thank you, kind lady!
@Balu: Hmmmm…I suppose that is one way of looking at it. 🙂
@Charakan: Ha-ha. Good observation. I think it is common to all political parties. There always seem to be more mai-baaps than janta.
@Astralwicks: Hey, nice to see you’ve resurfaced. And at least Hiralal was an endearing character.
June 30, 2009 at 11:19 am
Nay Log Nayo umang and wohi purani baatein!!!! 😉
July 8, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Hey…me was on a hiatus.just catching up with all your posts! Grin! The taklu is a villian from movies in the south.And they are all heart! 🙂