Actions tweet louder

If the twitterati were India's voting class,then Shashi Tharoorwould be the Supreme Leader.A few weeks ago ,when Tharoor's tweet on the government's visa policies generated much fuss among his ministerial colleagues,I had jocularly tweeted,"Maybe ,Tharoor should quit politics to and join journalism.He would have greater freedom as an edit page writer than as a neta!Within minutes I was hit by an avalanche of angry Tharoor followers on Twitter,suggesting that I had committed the ultimate "sin" by questioning their Twitter icon's credentials to hold public office.
Unfortunately for Tharoor ,his parliamentary contituency of Thiruanathapuram isn't quite the Twitter universe while his Congress party workers reserve their adoration for only one Family which is why Tharoor the politician is at odds with Tharoor the Twitterer.The success of Twitter is built on the idea of having an open and constant conversation among a mix of anonymous and influential peole and is designed to bridge social divides .Indian politics ,by contrast thrives on being an exclusive club of the power elite,with minimal contact with the masses.
Tharoor ,of course ,faces another peculiar problem.As a first-time MP who has catapulted into a ministership,he arouses envy and insecurity among his conteporaries.For the many netas waiting in the queue ,the fact that a 53 year-old electoral debutante has taken the elevator to political success is enough for them to look for ways to cut him down to size.An angelicised ,accented ,foreign returnedTharoor is almost a caricature for a vast majority of netas who derive their legitinacy by claiming to be genunine desi 'sons of the soil '.
Just as a candle has become the preferred symbol of middle class activism ,the 140-character limit of Twitter is perfect to express a strong opinion without having to actually get involved into the fuss of public life.
Post script: Tharoor and I come from the same school .He has over six lakh followers,I have a little over 30000 .Since Twitter can be one giant ego massage,must confess to being a little envious!