Elections are hard work—long days on the road, whirlwind meetings and all that stress. How do our netas smile through it all? We peeked into their travelling tiffins and exercise notes to find out

L.K. ADVANI, 81
NDA’s Prime Ministerial Candidate

All in a day’s work: Age don’t rust lauh purush Advani. The NDA’s prime ministerial candidate is on the campaign trail every day, across the country, from Pune to Puri, Thiruvananthapuram to Raipur, pepping up party workers and jabbing at weak PMs.
He begins his day around 6.30 am. By 9, he has boarded the special plane that will take him from Delhi to his campaign stops. He returns home only by midnight. What keeps this man going? Frugal meals, several glasses of milk and lots of ambition.
Poll diet: He begins his day with a cup of milk and ends it with another. Breakfast is fruits and a slice or two of toast. Lunch is a chapati or two, with sabzi. Dinner is two chapatis or paranthas. Sometimes, he carries his food from home. He has a sweet tooth and likes chocolate and flavoured milk but usually politely declines offers of food and sweets from visitors and party workers. “God decides the amount of food you eat in a lifetime. Whether you have it in 40 years or 80, is your choice,” he often tells reporters.
Workout: Goes for a morning walk before he starts the day. When he needs to get all that stress off his chest, he attends meditation sessions, conducted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living team.
How many hours does he sleep? Six hours of sleep is enough to rev him up for another long day.
Health nags: None. At 81, he is super fit.
Energy boosters: Milk
Campaign coolers: Water and flavoured milk.
What he can’t say no to: At times, chocolate.
What keeps him awake: He has a cup of tea once in a while but not frequently.
Unwind: Likes to read and watch cricket.
—Suman K. Jha

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