SAD serves chicken soup for the soul

KAPURTHALA: Fusillade of anecdotes, quotes from the tenth Sikh Guru, historical episodes and ballads on legendary heroes marked the last day of the Akali Dal rally at Shalimar Gardens.
The thin audience did not move an inch till the compelling rally was over.
Manju Quereshi, a lesser-known leader from Malerkotla, led the assault that could have made the ''Charge of the Light Brigade'' look like a nursery rhyme.She quoted Guru Gobind Singh in Persian, where he justified the sword as the last resort.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP from Amritsar, talked about the bravery of the great Gurus and the need to pick up the gauntlet.
Manpreet Singh Badal talked about Mahatma Gandhi and how the "five feet two inch Faqir took on the mighty British, who boasted that the sun would never sets on their empire".
Quoting the last letter that Shaheed Bhagat Singh wrote to his young brother Kultar Singh just a few days before he was to be hanged, he said, "The martyr wrote that he wished to become a fragrance that would linger on in the breeze long after the flower has perished. Such was the spirit of those times."
He waxed an eloquent on legendary hero Jaimal and Patta,who challenged Akbar''s supremacy, besides quoting Baba Bulle Shah. He called these elections as a "fight between good and evil, democratic values and fascism".
Interestingly, most of the senior Akali leaders did not speak and the younger lot stole the show.
While Sukhbir Singh Badal''s battle cry challenged the chief minister, his father Parkash Singh Badal, while referring to the threats allegedly being issued by Amarinder Singh, said, "We all have two arms to defend ourselves. This is a battle against terror."
The campaigning drew to a close with this rally albeit the Kapurthala voter remained absent. Someone quipped, "People do not have time to spare from their daily work."