Shoestruck

Shoe-d they, shoe-dn���t they, that is not the question.
Gauging from the frequency with which footwear is being lobbed at politicos, it seems the latter option can easily be discounted. First, it was former American President George Bush and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Then, it was closer ���home���, with its minister, P Chidambaram, facing the music...er... moccasin. The sneaker missed its target, but hit bull���s eye nevertheless ��� Tytler got the boot, being excluded from the Congress��� poll line-up. And now, with Naveen Jindal, LK Advani and Manmohan Singh himself ending up as shoe-throwers���
targets, it looks like the public has found a common idiom in footwear. Actor Jeetendra, too, recently found a slipper flying at him during a Congress roadshow.
Analysing this contagious trend, Sanchita Pakrashi, consultant psychologist and researcher, Calcutta University, says, ���This is not a form of protest. Jarnail Singh, the scribe who threw the shoe at Chidambaram, had a so-called ���cause��� ��� the anti-Sikh riots. But thereafter, it has become a way to get instant media attention. Most of those indulging in this are young, and the desire to become a ���hero��� among friends, as it were, is strong.��� Psychiatrist Samir Parekh adds, ���The lesson from the Bush incident was, that while marches, candles or hunger strikes might not get noticed, such an act sure will. These different ways of expressing oneself surface because the usual ways of doing it don���t always work.��� Judging from the 92,878,008 online shoes that have been aimed at Bush on a website (which offers a $1,000 prize to the 100,000,000th player), self-expression never had so many takers.
No wonder our netas are apprehensive about this election turning out to be one ���slipper��� hit. Many of them are now asking for metal nets at rallies to keep projectiles at bay. They have also asked party workers to remove shoes at meetings and keep tabs on journalists at press conferences.
Reports say villagers of Rurwa, Uttar Pradesh, are practising hurling shoes at dummies of politicians, so that they get the line and length right when netas do come calling. Namrata Singh, professor of political science, explains the new political missile, ���It is an indication that the masses are more aware, and a token gesture to tell politicos that they must be accountable. Both the ruling party and the Oppo-sition are subject to this.���
Jarnail Singh, who was offered a ticket to contest the elections and a cash award of Rs 2 lakh by Shiromani Akali Dal for his ���bravery��� (besides job offers from newspapers), however, doesn���t believe he started the fire. ���I don���t agree when people say I started the ���trend��� in India. I was standing against injustice, but people are resorting to this as a publicity stunt. It has become an instrument for politicians to get back at opponents or for some unemployed youth���s father to vent his frustration. I want to distance myself from such personal and political issues. What I did, was to voice the agony of justice denied for 25 years,��� he contends. The reasons may be many, but this summer, our vote seekers are just a shoe���s throw away.