Knockout campaign

As the battle of the ballot heats up, the warriors in the fray have well and truly thrown in the gauntlet.
But wooing voters is no cakewalk, especially when you have to walk the talk, literally, for hours on end. So how do our netas manage to shake off the heat and dust of the polls, both on the campaign ground and off it?
Milind Deora is pretty fluid with his solution: ���I keep myself hydrated.I also carry light food with me. It���s important to be composed and not let the stress get to you. Getting sound sleep is one way of ensuring that. I switch off my mobile after a point, because it keeps ringing.���
And as the poll machinery keeps whirring, sneaking in breaks only helps recharge your batteries for more action ahead. Says Sanjay Nirupam, ���During the 2004 polls, I used to campaign door-to-door from 8 am-1 pm and again from 3 pm-6 pm. Then, a series of public meetings would continue till 10 pm, after which I would hold in-house meetings till
1 am. So, during the two-hour lunch break, I���d get a foot massage and catch a quick nap.
During the polls, every voter in your constituency expects you to be physically present. So, with all the running around, meal times aren���t fixed. The tea and biscuits that I was served at the complexes I used to visit, became my evening snacks.��� Badminton and gymming throughout the year helped maintain fitness levels, a practice Nirupam is continuing this time around, too.
Squeezing in some time for exercise works for Deora too, though often, his schedule cannot accommodate it. ���Campaigning is exercise enough, anyway,��� he quips.
But it sure isn���t calming enough. Ask Vijay Jolly, who contested against the chief minister for the New Delhi constituency in November: ���It���s important to keep the body stress-free, because the mind is working overtime. My de-stress recipe is a 20-minute walk on the treadmill, and a steam bath. I used to sip lukewarm water laced with tulsi, cardamom and cloves to flush out toxins.���
His opponent in the Delhi polls, Sheila Dikshit, in turn, prefers to rely on ���internal��� meditation when she can���t fit a yoga session into her to-do list. When lungpower has to get the common man listening, the throat is often a casualty. ���By nine in the evening, I���d lose my voice. So, I used to gargle with hot water mixed with herbs, and drink Chinese tea,��� says Jolly, who has also felt the healing effect of music. ���Sitting in my car and listening to old Hindi favourites or the latest pop numbers would refresh me. I would also watch a bit of TV, and seeing myself on screen would give me that extra impetus,��� he recalls.
But music and TV don���t figure on Sachin Pilot���s stress-buster list. ���Where���s the time? My schedule takes up 18 hours, which sometimes extends to 20 hours a day,��� he says. Eighteen hours of hardcore politicking a day takes a toll on mental and physical faculties. But not so for India���s youngest MP. ���Stress is psychological, because physically one is able to forge ahead. For me, the more the work gets done, the less pressure I feel. In fact, I���d get stressed out if I was not able to work that many hours,��� he reveals.
Campaigning for the polls means a rigorous three-week challenge of pushing your body to the limit, all for the sake of reaching out to a billion-strong votebank. Pilot offers another perspective: ���In India, the elections are an emotive exercise, and physical exhaustion is only a part of the process. The overwhelming affection people give, makes every other concern subside,��� he says. Maybe that���s what keeps our politicos going, despite hours of blaring loudspeakers, overloaded agendas and teeming crowds.