His application to contest from Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was rejected by the Election Commission. That did not stop mimic artist and stand-up comedian Shyam Rangeela from going on “meditation” just like Modi.
They say imitation is the best form of flattery, but Rangeela’s words would not sound flattering to the prime minister or his devotees.
His eyes firmly shut, a saffron robe covering his bust, seated on a couch, Rangeela had a few words for his YouTube subscribers. The voice, though was not his; it mimicked Modi in a 3-minute 49-second video.
“My dear friends, I cannot address you with my eyes open,” Rangeela said in Hindi. “You will be amazed. By now you must have come to know Modi is doing dhyaan. He is meditating now. He is engrossed in sadhana. Therefore, I believe I should not open my eyes and break my sadhana.”
The video was released on Friday evening, hours after Modi started his meditation at Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, under the watchful eyes of thousands of cops and additional personnel from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
All activities around the area have been stopped till Modi ends his 45-hour meditation.
On Saturday morning, a saffron-clad Modi performed the “Surya Arghya” at sunrise, offering water into the sea and prayed holding prayer beads.
Though Modi hasn’t said a word since his meditation started, three posts appeared on the prime minister’s X (formerly known as Twitter) handle.
In the first one, posted at 5.07 pm on Friday, he expressed sorrow over Cyclone Remal and the sufferings in its aftermath. The second one came three hours later, where he praised the “robust momentum in economy” after the GDP growth data for the fourth quarter were released earlier in the day.
The third post appeared on Saturday morning as the final phase of polling, which includes his constituency Varanasi too, began.
Rangeela shared the video around 8pm on Friday night, and it had generated 3,75,000 views till Saturday 11 am.
Mimicking Modi, Rangeela said: “Bhaiyon aur beheno, when I announced my plans for media attention, sorry, meditation, some people were hurt. Their belly started aching. Why is Modi going? Modi is taking cameras along with him.”
The comic went on to add, the pain of not being able to look into the cameras despite knowing the cameras were focused on him was far more than what his critics had felt.
“That I cannot look into the camera despite knowing they are all around me is far more painful than what they felt,” he said in Hindi. “I am also sad that I cannot look into your eyes while speaking with you.”
Rangeela offered an explanation on why meditation could not be avoided.
“Why did I have to go to meditate? In these rallies that I have addressed in these last days [of the campaign], I don’t know what all I have uttered. I was introspecting when someone suggested if I feel I have said something wrong, something came out of my mouth [which shouldn’t have], then I can repent it.”
He added for good measure: “And friends, my ties with the saints go way back. The older the saints, the older my ties with them. And from these old ties I have learnt whatever sins one commits, however bad the language be, whatever be the abuses, once you do dhyan with ultimate concentration then God forgives everything, and I am the adopted son of Mother Ganga.”
Rangeela, acting as Modi, said he would have preferred to go for mediation after the results were declared on June 4.
“I had suggested the media attention, sorry, meditation, be done on June 4. But they said, the situation suggests you may have to go into permanent meditation after June 4, so it is better to do it now. So here I am.”
Rangeela ends the video calling out the cameramen around him to keep the focus on him, before opening one eye and looks around.
