The Whistle is not really such a great election symbol … in fact, it portends looming inauspiciousness in many of English idioms we know.
Vijay the parvenu politician is all bravado and no real substance . His filmy glamour is only tinsel thick veneer.
He probably senses his vulnerability in the upcoming elections. He’s not sure his calculations of risk-assessments will not go suddenly awry at the last minute.
At the moment he is like Hamlet caught in a dilemma “To be or not to be” … in a coalition with NDA or Congress? Signs of dithering…
That’s why from out of his subconscious-self comes this Freudian slip of a choice in taking the Whistle as his party’s symbol : He’s whistling in the dark.
“Whistling in the dark” is an idiom meaning to pretend to be brave or confident when facing fear, uncertainty, or danger. It evokes the image of someone whistling alone in darkness to bolster courage or ward off imagined threats. The phrase also implies baseless optimism or wild guessing despite contrary evidence.
“Whistling in the dark” shares its metaphorical use of whistling with several other equally in auspicious English idioms, often evoking sounds of empty bravado, futility, or squeaky cleanliness put on for effect. These expressions draw from the act of whistling to convey emotions, actions, or states.
Bravery Idioms
Whistling metaphors frequently depict false courage in scary situations.
• Whistle past the graveyard:Pretending to be fearless while facing real danger, like driving through a haunted area while whistling.
• Wet one’s whistle: To take a quick drink, originally to moisten the mouth for whistling or before singing … out of nervousness .
Futility Idioms
These highlight pointless efforts.
• Whistle Dixie (or “whistling Dixie”): Engaging in empty talk or daydreaming without action.
• Whistle in the wind: Attempting something hopeless that goes ignored.
Vijay chose the Whistle perhaps to convey the image to the public that he is “clean as a whistle” — oh so perfectly clean or innocent! — but he he doesn’t realise that his pretentious Mr Clean image is nothing but just “Bells and whistles” — an extra, non-essential feature added just for cheap appeal.
Sudarshan Madabushi