He quickly covered up the slip

This politico from Wayamba once functioned as a deputy purohita.He has made it a practice to attend every funeral that takes place in his area irrespective of the political affiliations of the deceased or the bereaved family. 

In fact, he has given instructions to his political faithfuls in different parts of the district to inform him whenever a death occurs in their respective area. As soon as hears about the death of a person he would rush to the funeral house and pretend grief as if he had lost a close friend. And very often the members of the bereaved family would invite him to deliver an oration at the funeral.

Quite recently this politico rushed to pay his last respects to a deceased in a remote corner of the district and the funeral proceedings were already on at the time he reached the place.

The kith and kin of the deceased who learnt about the arrival of the politico invited him to deliver an oration. The politico who happily accepted the invitation started addressing the gathering of the mourners. “Passing away of my good friend is a great personal loss to me. In fact, we used to meet very often and in fact, I had occasion to have long chat when I met him last week too…”  The politico with an  eagle eye noticed that the people were looking at one another as if sharing a common message.  Some were looking amused and there were also titters audible to him. Meanwhile, a friend standing by him whispered something into his ear.

“…Of course, unfortunately my good friend at that time was unable to speak,” he continued.  “But he told me a lot by sign language…”