Still waters run deep. Who would have ever thought that someone heading a cut-and-dry ministry like chemicals and fertiliser could spring a musical surprise or two? MK Alagiri gave the scam-tainted DMK something to cheer about on Wednesday night when he gave a sterling performance — sartorial as well as vocal — at his son's jumbo wedding.
The father of the groom not only gave up his spotless white veshti and shirt, which he normally wears, for a chocolate brown suit, but also sang numbers from Sivaji Ganesan films on the happy occasion. His dapper performance gave his party cadres as well as the Big Boss, M Karunanidhi, some happy moments, coming as they did on the heels of a scam. We don't know what M Karunanidhi told him after the performance, but surely the old songs had a nicer ring to them than the ones coming from Delhi.
The Union minister has always been a man of few words. We were also caught unawares by the minister's sudden flashy self. On second thoughts, we, the keepers of all political sidelights, should have seen it coming. From August onwards, there were some signs that his staid persona was changing. After some false starts, he did notch up a first in Parliament when he broke his silence. He said, now hold your breath, it is not as flashy as say a Lalu or poetic as a Vajpayee: "Question number 161. A statement A to E is laid on the table of the House".
So his performance on Wednesday was in the works all these days. It's true that the feat in the House was in English, the one at his son's wedding was in his mother tongue. Nevertheless it was unexpected. But then genes always play a role in our lives. With one performance, he showed his father that he too has a taste for things filmy. Since Kollywood was well represented at the function, Mr Alagiri might just be doing an Amar Singh very soon. We will be watching.
{{/usCountry}}So his performance on Wednesday was in the works all these days. It's true that the feat in the House was in English, the one at his son's wedding was in his mother tongue. Nevertheless it was unexpected. But then genes always play a role in our lives. With one performance, he showed his father that he too has a taste for things filmy. Since Kollywood was well represented at the function, Mr Alagiri might just be doing an Amar Singh very soon. We will be watching.
{{/usCountry}}