The Economist‘s Indira Gandhi circa 1984

So, this is the image of Indira Gandhi that got The Economist bundled off the airport upon landing in 1984.

Penned just months before her assassination, It seems to have pretty much hit off every single thing you can think of: she’s in a vaguely Bharat Mata-gone-crazy pose that brings back memories of the “Indira is India” quote, wearing a sort of kitschy Bollywood rustic belle outfit, holding on to an angry man in a turban (a Sikh I suppose), a scimitar, another angry man trying to get her attention (the common man or a party worker?), a big bag full of cash, and stomping on Sri Lanka. She also has Madonna-worthy muscles, a couple of snakes for a necklace, a walnut for an eye and a pouchy tummy.

You know, if I were Indira Gandhi and much given to making pronouncements like “In India, democracy has given too much freedom to people”, I’d have banned The Economist for the outfit alone… but the flab? The motherfuckin’ flab?! Dealbreaker, sir, dealbreaker. Especially when coupled with that beak of a nose and a lantern jaw.

But I guess it’s a good thing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn’t have a circulation in India coz imagine the red faces over this one:

A little less prophetic than The Economist, huh?