The ExpatMallu

Congress freaks

2009-11-11T13:59:00.002+04:00

I was just going through the Indian Express opinions to see how people reacted to Congress wins in kerala. 99 % of those who commented think the result sucks and that only the manipulations of the election commision (Chawla) and the electronic voting machines helped them win. i added my voice to it too. italian are bad mouthed, as is corruption. It is as if i am back at the university.

Before marrying into a congress family, I used to wonder what type of people, congress supporters must be? I always thought of them as corrupt, rich people who invariably made money from kickbacks, as people who hated poor or socially disadvantaged groups, intolerant and almost anything bad imaginable. But they turned out to not so bad, just more tolerant of corruption than us. Of course most of them are rich and they have no problems breaking any rules. but still they are humans just like us not the little sick freaks I imagined them to be.

Abdullakutty and the donkeys

2009-11-10T10:24:00.003+04:00

People are strange, they voted for Abdullakutty and made him their representative in the kerala state Assembly. This same Abdullakutty was a few months back in the CPM party and now he is Congress ans yet the people had no problem. It just goes onto show that the public is donkey, with absolutely no discerning power of its own. A person like that with no morals is dangerous, after all he cares for nothing but power and power alone and if tomorrow he disowns his father for being too inconvenient for his rise to power, that would be no surprise too. I for one am ashamed for the people of Kannur and electing someone like him, Even BJP would have been better than this.

2009-11-08T10:20:00.002+04:00

I am happy and grateful for having this lovely beautician come in the morning, do a pedicure and manicure, then a facial and a scrub and also washing and setting up my hair and also for the make up she does. Life is good, the garden is in full bloom, winter is setting in and christmas is around the corner.

Law of Attraction

2009-11-05T09:52:00.003+04:00

I am very happy today because I have peace of mind, happiness and a great family. I see happy faces around me and people around me are rich and happy and satisfied with their lives. I have 200 million Euros in my bank account, and a beautiful 12 bedroom house on 10 acres of land. The house is set on a small hill in a garden of flowers and lovely green grassy lawn of one acre. On one end of the lawn, the land overlooks acres and acres of paddy fields. The cool breeze from the paddy fields and crisp green of the paddy are intoxicating. Beautiful shade trees giving of sweet fragrance from their flowers are scattered on the lawn. Benches and chairs are placed on the lawn under the tree, so that we can relax in the shade of the tree. The children are playing on the grass, sometimes swimming in the clear waters of the pool, climbing the fruit laden trees. J loves this beautiful house and spends a lot of time here now. Amma stays here and Vena looks after the land. The paddy fields bordering the lawns, nearly 50 acres of it are mine. Life is good. Vena has money now and her problems are all over, the children are happy and her husband is a changed man. Chu is also happy, She has enough money so she had returned home and are with her children and her husband is working in a well paid job. the children are doing well. Amma is happy again. Our land at Allapra has been donated to the church and there is a new St. Antony's church coming up there. Bcha is happy, as his daughter has been married off to a good boy. I took care of the expenses. Life is good and will continue like this for ever and ever.

Good Week

2009-11-04T09:17:00.003+04:00

I upgraded my dial up to broadband and am still excited by how fast Internet is right now. So now most of the time I am online, surfing, playing, researching. I am in web heaven right now. Last week the visit to magrudy's warehouse sale in jumeira was another high point. There were books, books and more books. The paperbacks selling for AED 5/-, I bought a mountain of paperbacks and now am stocked up with books for a whole year or till the next warehouse sale comes along. Right now life is good, though J has some problems at work and the land problem festers on life is good. I AM REALLY waiting for AED 600,000/- which is on its way to me, for the land problem to end and am now into the "Law of Attraction"attracting all that good vibes to me along with some money.

2009-11-03T15:28:00.002+04:00

It is 3.30 pm and after a starchy rice lunch, I am feeling sleepy, all i want to do is sleep but Thom has to be helped with his homework and then send off to play with his friends. If I don't get that out of the way I will soon have a lot of five and six year olds banging at my door, asking me to let Thom out. As if I am the evil witch who has locked Thom, making him do his homework, when he should be out playing, God knows, what with his friends.

he didnot go to school today as we had to go for the emirates ID. It just took 10 or 1 minutes and staff were all friendly and sweet but still we let him stay at home.

mothers and daughters

2009-11-02T15:47:00.003+04:00

I love my mother to distraction but i hate her as much. Why i love my mother, I do not know but the reasons for hating her are easy to list. Yet, even in the reasons to hate, I love her a lot. How this works I do not know. The smallest thing she does makes me want to shout at her but no matter what she does I love her. Now with all the problems related to our land and the mess surrounding it, I nearly always end up shouting at her the moment she answers my phone call. She listens to it, and then when I am finished shouting and bangs the phone down, disconnecting the call, the call ends. The next time I call she behaves as if nothing happened. I know she is as helpless as I am but somehow she turns into the villain each time this land problem comes up.

Do all mother's and daughter's always have this love hate relationship.

My V Chachan

2009-09-19T14:12:00.003+04:00

V my eldest uncle had a stroke, his right side is paralysed and he is unable to speak. Now they are doing pysiotherapy to see if he will recover. V in our youth was the strictest uncle, always grim and looking for ways to punish us for mistakes, we often didnot commit. He wasn't liked much by any of us. But as we grew older and as he grew older, he turned mellow, almost into a gentle soul. We saw that beneath that rough exterior, he was a soft squiggy guy, someone with lots of love to give. Maybe it was us who had changed. In our youth, we feared him and failed to see the love he had for us but now that we have no fear of him, it seems easier to see the real him.
We his neices and nephews love him or is it just me, but his family pretty much hates him. Sad that, he lived for his family ignoring everyone else and now when he needs his family, he is just a nuisence to them and the brothers and sisters and their families that ignores are the only ones to care for him.

Twitter, Shashi Tharoor and Cattle Class

2009-09-18T22:45:00.001+04:00

Twitter, Shashi Tharoor and Cattle Class

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Ricky

2009-04-07T09:48:00.003+04:00

When the telephone rang early in the morning and the voice on the other side said Ricky had passed away, it didnot register. I was too groggy with sleep and Ricky was too young to die, We had seen him on our last vacation, he often came to our house, his children came home, his wife was a regular at home, beside he was a young healthy man and young men do not die of cardiac arrests.
Ricky was the young turk of the Angady, with a nack of rubbing everyone on the wrong side. He has an opposing opinion to every one's opinion. This trait landed him in trouble when he tried to sell his land and the Angady went to work against him, saying he had included church property in his own land. Of course the land was measured and the Angady was proved wrong.But the sale fell through and his financial problem already high just hit the ceiling.
Now everyone wonders why did he not see a cardiologist when he knew he had heart problems? Now everyone wonders, was it because of his financial problems?
Of now everyone wonders, did we cause his death, make his wife a widow and his children orphans?
Creating obstacles and letting petty differences get in the way of friendships is so easy, then things go wrong and everyone is left wondering did we wrong him?

Obama President

2009-01-22T10:57:00.003+04:00

A new era has begun, unlike any we have known. Barack Obama took oath as the 44th President of United States of America watched by millions around the world and the world suddenly looks a better, a rosier place than before. Maybe all this optimism is misplaced, maybe no man, no matter how good intentioned, can bring that much change but everywhere there seems to be hope of better things to come. As if this is the second coming of Christ. And the miracle is that he is not lily white but of a darker shade, this prophet of change.
All of us sat clued to the TV sets, watching everything not missing anything and praying that all goes well for this man who promises to bring goodness back to the world. A lot of my friends said they hoped the helicopter carrying Bush towards Texas would crash, and I have to admit I hoped for the same too but then caught myself just in time as I did not want anything not even the happy event of Bush’s death to deflect attention from Obama’s day.
The world is still in ecstasy and I hope and pray this honeymoon continues for ever and Obama is able to uphold all this hope we have in him.

The images added here are from various websites around the world.

Location, Location, Location

2009-01-08T11:14:00.000+04:00

We have started our weight loss exercises, at least that is the intention each time we start going to the gym or start walking. But two days into the start, my periods started and we have put walking on hold and then Ji’s will start and together biological factors will take stop us from continuing the walks for at least two weeks, unless of course we manage to have periods at the same time, which again is difficult as I get mine every 28 days and Ji gets her’s every 45 days.

Any way the recession continues and every one is scared. Each day we hear about someone or a lot of someones who have been terminated or of business coming down or some sort of panic inducing news. Yesterday Satyam computers delivered a shocker. But life goes on. If not this then something else will turn out so we sit here hoping for the best.

My tomato plants have all flowered and so I am waiting for the fruits to form.

Meanwhile the Gaza carnage goes on, with its huge human toll, papers splashed with pictures of children, dead and wounded. We see them and we see our children protected and loved, safe in bed at night, lights kept switched on so that little sounds don’t scare them in the night. Then we realize how lucky we are here, Secure and safe, away from wars and bloodshed.

Broken mirror

2009-01-01T15:23:00.000+04:00

Breaking a mirror is considered bad luck in Kerala. When my maternal grandfather broke a mirror everyone was worried and a few months latter he passed away at the age of 64. From then on the belief has strengthened among us about the bad luck a broken mirror brings.
So yesterday when I called home to wish amma A very happy and prosperous new year, just like the one we had just had and she told me she needed a new concave-convex mirror as she accidentally dropped the one she had been using for the last 22 years, well, from then on my mind is not at ease. I have a bad feeling, but maybe it is all just superstition, as if mirrors don’t get broken all around the world all the time. I just hope and pray that this year turns out to be as peaceful and happy as the last.

Going over year 2008

2008-12-31T12:40:00.000+04:00

Another year is ending. Tomorrow is Appan’s birthday; he would have been 68 this year.

This year has been good, without any great problems on the personal and family front.
Ø J has mellowed, he does not scream as much so I am happier. He has become to realize that his sisters’ are normal human beings and not paragons of virtue, goodness and everything good in the world.
Ø Chu had twins and San my cousin had a daughter.
Ø Sob and Rig another two cousins got married.
Ø Our property case got solved and finally the land will come back to us.
Ø No major death took place in the family. So it has been a very good year in every way.

The last few years not having been good, I was worried about this year also but it turned out fine. Hope the next year continues this streak of goodness and life goes on happy and satisfied.
Ø Thom will be six next year and in Grade I.
Ø I hope I get a job that had good pay and great timings.

Not so great events also took place this year.
The Mumbai terrorist attack, the current bombing in Gaza, the mowing down of school children in Kannur district Kerala by a vehicle that lost control, the regular and unwarranted warnings that V.S Achuthanandan keeps getting from his corrupt party members and a blind Politburo.
Then again great miracles and acts of defiance also took place this year.
Obama got elected as president of United States of America and an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at George Bush, a fitting end to an year, I am just upset that the shoe missed its mark

Messy December

2008-12-22T12:33:00.000+04:00

December has been a bad month, it has been so for a long time now, always a time of change, uncertainty, problems created by my part of the family, a truly messy time of year for me.
In 2005, I was terminated from my job on Dec 22. I was very upset and sat and then came the news of J’s transfer to Hong Kong as country head. He did not want to go and I did not know what to do. Internet searches did not throw up a good picture, at least not when compared to Dubai. We were sick with worry It was terrible. Then January came and things just worked out.
In 2006, We moved into our new house, that too soon after the biggest fight we had, a fight that I thought would end my marriage, but again it all just vaporized as the year ended and another began.
In 2007 came J’s transfer to another branch and his fear of taking up the post. He kept talking of going back to India and all arguments just fell on deaf ears. I went into depression and things went downhill for us. Things just kept turning bleaker and bleaker and then he joined the new branch and came back happy and smiling. This was on January 1st 2008.
As this year ends, things have again heated up. J is being moved to another post in the head office and he is not pleased. Things are scary especially with the downturn in economy. Then as this tension is on another one crops up. Ed, Chu’s hubby has got himself entangled in some mess. A driver of the private taxi that they usually use called me up one day and said Ed had borrowed money from him and is now not returning calls, not meeting him, just avoiding him at all times. I called up Chu and told her of this and also that I do not want to be involved in this and do not want J to find out about this. The driver guy has this habit of calling up in the wee hours of the morning and then coming to our building and calling from the reception. Well now everyone from the reception to the security guard knows about it and I have no idea how I am going to keep this from J. I thought it was over, then this guy calls me up again today and all the mess is on again. I was livid, after J left for office I called up Chu and screamed through the phone, called her hubby a bastard, sick good for nothing, told her maybe he is seeing some woman or maybe he has lost his job, called him a mother fucker and then that if this did not get cleared up I was going to call him and tell the same thing. I don’t if it worked, any way she said a solution to this would be reached today in front of a mediator. Hope something works out and J does not have to be told.

Holiday in Goa

2008-12-21T19:53:00.001+04:00

Today I watched the movie ‘Outsourcing” and liked it. Looking at India from the perspective of an American, it does a good job. An interesting part of the movie is the relationship between the Indian Future Assistant Manager and the American and she tells him “he is her holiday in Goa”. For her he is her one chance to escape, even if only for a few months, from the detailed plans laid out before her for her future by her family. This is a real scenario in India now, girls having sexual affairs with someone they like and would love to have a life with, then quietly giving it all up to fall in line with their parents wishes, marrying someone from their caste, religion, community and background, knowing fully well they will never again know the fun and excitement of their previous life.
I wonder if the men know of these things and do they still come to the marriage bed thinking their wives’ are virgins. Surely they know. A lot of women in India still know only one man, their husband sexually, but that is changing and what is more, the guilt that used to be associated with premarital sex among women is almost totally gone. Well, men always had some sort of experience with premarital sex and that was accepted but it is still a taboo for women at least officially.

Passing on ....Annie Chechi

2008-12-18T13:23:00.000+04:00

Annie-echi’s garden was big and no one was allowed in. She was a big lady and no one would have dared cross her and pluck anything from her garden, i.e. all except me. Each time we had projects in grade requiring us to bring flowers to class, I turned to her. She would let me pluck anything I wanted and invariably I always plucked the long red Cat’s tail flowers that were plenty in her garden. That is my earliest memory of her. This big fair beautiful and sweet woman, who gave us, pickled ambazhanga, whose house was like our own when we went each year during the church feast of St. Sebastian, “The Ambu Perunal” at Pudukad. Everyone was welcome in her house, the table was laden with all kinds of food and I always had the feeling that even if some stranger just walked in and sat down at the table no one would have known. The fireworks at her house were the largest in the angady especially when the procession reached her gate. There was always a huge cage of lovebird in her car porch. She had five sons and she was always willing to exchange one them for one of us.
This year during august when I paid her a visit, she gave me cuttings of Euphorbia Splendens and they are doing great on my balcony. When I saw her she was the same, huge beautiful and as loving and last Saturday on the 13th of Dec, she passed away. She had liver cirrhosis and it had been undiagnosed. She is no more and with her one more of threads that bind us to Pudukad breaks.

Missing Appan

2008-12-14T14:02:00.000+04:00

Usually when I buy something new, I try it out on myself then on my sisters’ and my father and mother, like a new cleanser on Appan and a new henna powder on amma. So when I bought my new BaByliss ionic ceramic 2X hair drier and staightner and liked it, my immediate thought was, “ Next vacation I am going to straighten my mother’s and sister’s hair.” I could se it in my mind, all of us sitting in the Kitchen around the table, appan in his chair, and amma at the stove, V sitting next to Chu on whose hair I was working. That is how we do everything. All of us around the table talking, discussing, fighting, solving problems, dreams, playing trying out new things. But that was all so long ago. As each of us got married and had families, our round table conferences slowly went away and now with appan no more among us and all of us never able to be present at the same time, all that has ended. Oh God! How I miss those days. But those were beautiful days and in my mind’s eye when I plan my next new topic to discuss, it is still the five of us, appan included. That image never changes. Sometimes I think, Appan’s presence is like that of God carved into those wall hangings one sees in houses.” GOD is the head of this family, the unseen listener at each conversation and the uninvited guest at all dinners.” Appan is a lot like that, after his passing, he seems to be present at all conversations and dinners.

Flowering season

2008-12-13T10:33:00.000+04:00

The asparagus beans have a lot of beans on them now. Since they are self pollinating, there is little work once the flowers start opening. I planted very few this year, as this was a trial run so this year’s pods will all be dried for seeds for next year’s crop.
I think this year also I planted tomatoes wrong. I must have planted them late, as it is already tomato season here and my plants are still small seedlings, not full grown. I think they should have been planted at least in the first week of august.
The globe amaranths are all flowering. They are summer plants in Kerala, sturdy and drought resistant in the heat, but here they are winter plants. Maybe it is because the intensity of light they receive in the summer here is very very high compared to tree filled shady Kerala. And the winter sun, weak light and shorter days seem to have triggered flowering. Well it just taught me to let the plants to be in summer. Give enough water and keep them from dying and they will do well in winter.

School tragedy

2008-12-06T13:28:00.001+04:00

Last week terrible things happened, as did many wonderful things.

Nine school children aged six and seven were mowed down by a four-wheeler whose driver had dozed off behind the wheels in Kannur. One boy and eight girls were with another group of children returning home after class when this tragedy happened. As the news started breaking in the afternoon entire Kerala went into shock, TV channels interrupted programs and took viewers live to Kannur.

Then after eleven years our property case has been settled. Soon the deed papers will be returned and all our troubles are over.

I bought a BaByliss hair dryer cum straightner, Beliss ionic ceramic 2000W. I was really a little worried about whether it would give the required result. Well It is great and does a good job. My hair, wavy and curly at the end now looks poker straight and all in just 30 minutes. The hair drier is also very powerful. So I am pleased. May be if I had taken a lottery this week…..

Thankamma Paulose, our biology teacher

2008-12-04T09:56:00.003+04:00

തങ്കമ്മ പൗലോസ്‌

െപരുമ്പാവൂര് ഗവ. േഗള്സ് െെഹയ്സകൂള്കന്ഡറി സ്കൂള് റിട്ട. അധ്യാപിക വട്ടയ്ക്കാട്ടുപടി കിടങ്ങേടത്ത്‌ തേമ്പ്രാ (തോട്ടുങ്കല്‍) തങ്കമ്മ പൗലോസ്‌ (84) അന്തരിച്ചു. അവിവാഹിതയാണ്‌. ശവസംസ്‌കാരം വ്യാഴാഴ്‌ച രാവിലെ 10ന്‌ പെരുമ്പാവൂര്‍ ബഥേല്‍ സുലോക്കൊ യാക്കോബായ സുറിയാനി കത്തീഡ്രല്‍ സെമിത്തേരിയില്‍.

The above obituary of our biology teacher is from Mathrubhumi online. I am really not sure if the spelings are right, as I cannot read malayalam well. Any way what it says is Ms.Thankamma Paulose retired bilogy teacher from Govt girls high school Perumbavoor and St.Peter's EMHS, Kadayiruppu Kolenchery passed away last night at her brother’s residence at Vattakkattupady. She belonged to the Thombra family Thottumgal branch. The funeral rites will be held on Friday at 10 AM at the home and then body taken to the Jacobite cathedral church at Perumbavoor.

Thankamma teacher was a good teacher, very strict and scary. She was also our boarding warden. I have many times got into her bad books, as breaking rules came naturally to me. As we were related on my mothers side, she was stricter with us than the others. May God bless her.

Death and the farce

2008-12-03T10:35:00.003+04:00

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan died in the line of duty. He died fighting for his country. He died fighting against terrorists’ who had attacked Mumbai. He died trying to save a colleague. He died a hero.
Then his death was turned into a circus, a farce and a joke that divided people along party lines. His supreme sacrifice was forgotten, all every one remembers now is his screaming father screaming at the Chief Minister of Kerala, telling him to “Get out, Get out of my house.” The father preferred to score points before he had even laid his son to rest. He looked for news op when he should have been grieving. Or maybe he had listened to too much of divisive talk from nosy silly people and media who were looking to score points from this unfortunate death.
The Chief Minister V.S Achuthananthan was wrong to make the “Dog” comment he made but he was pushed to do so by relentless bullying by the media, especially biased congress mouthpieces by Manorama. He was also shaken by the harsh and rude behavior of Mr. Unnikrishnan. Would Mr. Unnikrishnan have reacted the same way if Sonia Gandhi had come to visit him a day after the funeral? Of course she has not visited yet. So it was, probably, not the timing of the visit that was the problem, it was the media opinions that he had been reading that led to the mess.
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan never thought of the honor he would get, never about the visits he would be paid by dignitaries at his funeral. He just did what he thought was his duty and the rest of was turned his death into a spectacle.

Yesterday I watched the movie The Queen. The reviews that I remember of the movie talked about Elizabeth I coming across as a great monarch and PM Blair as a wimp. I thought the opposite was true. Blair actually seemed to been able to drum some sense into cold and frivolous lives led by the royals. Through out the movie the queen talks about her duty to her country and all the duty we see her doing is her and her silly pompous consort hunting down stags in Scotland. “Do you think I will leave my grandsons who have just lost their mother, and come down to London, because….?” was a question she asked, but throughout the movie we don’t get to see her comforting or even talking to the two boys at all. All we see is her hunting and more hunting and more hunting. Well they really work hard at that. Cherie Blair came out as a strong willed woman and republican at that.

Flowers at last

2008-12-01T10:23:00.003+04:00

I was thinking of pulling up my Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) plant, when it started flowering. Now there is a profusion of beautiful blue flowers regular ly. In Malayalam it is called Shankupushpam, I think because it shaped like a shankh (Counch). There are pretty pictures of the flower on www.treknature.com

The Asparagus beans, we know as achinga payaru also is flowering. The scientific name is Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis. So all these seem to be winter plants as far as Dubai is considered. Pictures can be seen at www.henriettesherbal.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yardlong_bean
So this year if the pollination takes place properly, I will be able to have my own garden fresh achinga payaru mazhukupuratti.

V.P Singh, The Prime Minister

2008-11-30T09:55:00.009+04:00

Amidst the terrorist attack on Mumbai and the death and destruction, former Prime Minister V.P Singh's passing away was a small news item, mostly ignored by the media. But the legacy and the change he brought about in Indian politics are trully historic.

After decades and decades of corrupt family dominated politics and the failure of the first non- congress government to complete their term, the people of India had lost hope of ever being able to

break free from the strangle hold of the Gandhi family. Even the boyish and silly governing style of Rajiv Gandhi was being put up by the people who saw no other option before them.

Then V.P Singh happened. His fight to bring into pubic view the corruption in the government, the bofors kickbacks helped galvanise the masses reeling under a government whose Prime Minister spend more time on luxurious vacation with his Italian in-laws than on actual governing. The elections in 1989 brought down the "Hamme Dekhna Hai, Hum Dekhage" Rajiv Gandhi and forever ensured that Congress would never again be able to rule India
alone. It also broke the strangle hold the Gandhi family had on Indian masses. Though V. P Singh was unable to complete his term, after his rule and Rajiv Gandhi's asassination, Narasimha Rao became PM by a small majority inspite of the so called sympathy votes, the assasination brought. If the asassination had not taken place no one would have got a majority that year.

Narasimha Rao changed India, openned up India and we started on the path to progress. BJP came to power later and everyone loved Vajpayee. India was trully free this time. Now even baby faced playboy Rahul Gandhi is unable to create any ripples in Indian politics. For all this
we have V.P Singh to thank.

May God Bless him and Long live his illustrous name.

The week

2008-11-27T11:12:00.003+04:00

The economic downturn has hit Dubai hard if rumours are to be believed. Every day one hears a new rumour and as most of these come without any real proof and clarification, everyone hopes these are just that, Rumours and idle gossip.The lastest is that 30% of Emirates Airlines have been sold to Ethihad Airlines. If it is true it is shocking, but one can hardly believe it as the third terminal built only for emirates has just openned and surely all of us somehow trust in the immense capabilities of Sheikh Mohammed to create and deliver miracles even in the most difficult of times.
Another rumour I heard was that nearly 200 employees of a big MNC oil company were terminated. All the terminated staff were in the senior posts and they found pink slips on the desks when they arrived in the morning. All of them were told to leave in one hour, a lot of them went into shock and were screaming refusing to leave and were escorted out by security staff of the company. This is true because the person who informed me works in the company and was fortunate enough not to be terminated.
Then this week we watched the movie "Twenty 20", the tickets had to be booked one week in advance, due to rush and the late show was also housefull. The movie had a good plot, but I think the main attraction was to see, how they had done the casting as all big stars incliding superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal were acting in the movie. The casting was superb, as all stars had good parts and every fan came out feeling statisfied that his star had a good part.
Yesterday we end to bed hearing the news of the attack on Mumbai landmarks by terrorists and woke up with the situation still not resolved. A change in the central government might be the real solution we need to put an end to these attacks. The central government is too busy promoting playboy Rahul Gandhi to pay any attention to the real problems faced by the country.