The linguist
When a national leader who doesn't know the language of the region, carefully rehearses a greeting in local parlance he becomes a linguist. Indira Gandhi, for example, would always begin all her speeches in Karnataka with an Ellarigu Namaskara and in Tamil Nadu with an Ellorukkum Vanakkam (greetings to all).

Sonia Gandhi too strives to do this. In city constituencies, where there is a mix of people from different regions and religions, the politician tries to make people feel he is amchi by addressing them in their own language.

Some local politicians like Chand Mahal Ibrahim of Bangalore, for example, specialise in this approach. Ibrahim prides himself on knowing all South Indian languages well, and also in being able to quote from Hindu scriptures, the Bible and the Quran, as required, depending upon whom he is addressing.