Gopinath highlights Bangalore's political contrast

Two very different men filed their nominations in Bangalore on Friday: one for Bangalore North and one from Bangalore South.

Political veteran Jaffer Sharief of the Congress -- a former railway minister -- and Captain Gopinath -- who helped train passengers to fly -- are certainly poles apart. Just one example of the variety in the men and women of India who aspire to be in politics.

Of the two, Captain Gopinath may not be in need of financial handouts. He is a man who created an aviation fortune for himself by introducing India to low-cost flying. But he is now braving the turbulence of Indian politics -- one of a new breed of candidates who do not belong to a political family and who have made their professional mark in a totally different field.

"I am a political entrepreneur now - it is basically an entrepreneurship in finding out in the existing political morass we are in - how can we bring about change," Captain Gopinath says.

On the other end of the political spectrum is warhorse Jaffer Sharief. A career politician to the core, his nomination -- in contrast to Gopinath's -- was a typical big party show.

Sharief says: "I am still a youth for this country. Don't think I am an old. I am still a young person who is ready to fight for the country."