Do we really need to peek into the
personal spaces of politicians to judge how they will perform their public
duties?
Do you know what Narendra Modi’s kitchen
in his Race Course Road residence looks like? Or even the one he left back home
in Ahmedabad? Have you any clue what brand Sonia Gandhi’s kitchen stove or
mixer-grinder is? Have Arun Jaitley or Rahul Gandhi ever given you a tour of
their kitchens? Has Sushma Swaraj invited the cameras in as she rustles up a
mean phulka?
Of course not. Our politicians would
never dream of doing any such thing. You may well argue that this is because
our politicians on the whole don’t have much to do with kitchens (unless you’re
talking of kitchen cabinets). As is common in most Indian homes, the kitchens
are probably the preserve of cooks and maids. And the reason they don’t show
off their pots and pans is because they have no clue where they are stored.
And you are probably right about all of
that. But that said, it is also true that private lives – and personal spaces,
for that matter – of politicians are still treated as off limits by the Indian
media. We may ask an actress or a model to cook spaghetti Bolognese for the
benefit of the cameras. We may request a sportsman to pose with an energy drink
in front of his refrigerator. But we hardly ever seek to peer into the homes of
our politicians.
Well, consider yourself lucky. In the
run-up to the UK elections, the poor British electorate has had more kitchens
thrown at it than it knows what to do with. Prime Minister and Conservative
Party leader David Cameron kicked off proceedings by inviting the cameras into
his kitchen at Downing street, where he was photographed combing his daughter’s
hair to get her ready for school, while wife Samantha bent fetchingly over the
kitchen stove in the background. He followed this up with an interview
conducted in his constituency home, as he rustled up a salad and some cold cuts
for the family.
So, what could the Labour leader do but
follow suit? Except that, being Ed Milliband, he couldn’t help but start a
controversy in the process. Ed and wife Justine Thornton were pictured standing
awkwardly in a tiny, forlorn kitchen, bare surfaces all around, sipping on mugs
of tea. Cue, much chortling about how Milliband’s characterless kitchen was a
metaphor for his own personality, not to mention his campaign. To add injury to
insult, it was then revealed that this was not the main kitchen of the
Milliband home, but a tiny kitchenette used by their live-in nanny. Cue, many
jokes about ‘Two-kitchens Ed’!
With Cameron and Milliband in the fray,
how could Nick Clegg be left behind? The Liberal leader dutifully turned out
for kitchen duty with his Spanish wife, Miriam Gonzales Durantez, each of them
clutching a glass of white wine, while a pot of paella simmered away in the
background. Probably not the best subliminal messaging but then this is Nick
Clegg we are talking about.
To be fair to the British media, they
have entered the personal spaces of politicians only by invitation. And that’s
because every politician worth his sea salt wants to prove to the British
public what an ‘ordinary Joe’ he really is. So, they all line up to show how they
can fix meals in the kitchen, get their kids ready for the school run,
supervise their homework, and then relax with a glass of wine just like any
other knackered parent. I guess this is supposed to make people like them, to
see them as ‘one of us’, to appreciate that they perform the same ordinary
chores like everyone else. Except that they also run the country (or would very
much like to run the country, if only people would see the light).
Honestly, are these staged photo-opportunities
the best way to decide who is the best man for the top job? Does David Cameron
become a better candidate for PM because he knows how to comb his daughter’s
hair into a high ponytail and stick a scrunchie on it? Does Ed Milliband think
he can endear himself to his Labour base by preening in a tiny kitchenette that
they could presumably identify with? And does Nick Clegg… Actually, scratch
that. I have no idea what Clegg thinks he’s trying to achieve – and it’s
beginning to look as if he doesn’t either.
But what all of this malarkey does
achieve is make me so very thankful that I live in India, where I don’t have
the kitchen sink thrown at me every time a politician stands for election. I
would much rather judge politicos on the basis of the soundness of their ideas
rather than the softness of their idlis. I don’t need to know what kind of
pressure cooker a politician uses to decide if he can stand up to the stresses
of a high-pressure job. And I really don’t need to peek into his personal space
to judge how he will perform in the public sphere.
As the saying does not go, if you can
take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
