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Private Screening
Delhi: Guess what Home Minister L.K. Advani did last Sunday? Like
any ordinary family man he watched a film along with his wife and children. Well, almost,
considering that the screening was organised by the Home Ministry at the Films Division
auditorium on Mahadev Road. While Advaniites in political and social circles were favoured
with personal invitations, the film itself -- Aamir Khan-starrer Sarfarosh -- dealt with
Advani's pet topic: Pakistan's proxy war inside India. Among the ministers who came for
the screening were Som Pal and P.R. Kumaramangalam with his wife and daughter. Besides a
host of Home Ministry babus, also present were former home secretary B.P. Singh with his
son and his replacement in the powerful post, Kamal Pandey. Mending Fences
Chandigarh: With
election winds blowing, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh is going out of his
way to break bread with his detractors in the faction-ridden state unit. Last Sunday, he
was seen placating former chief minister and party dissident Rajinder Kaur Bhattal over a
luncheon meeting at her residence. Singh had earlier recommended disciplinary action
against Bhattal but instead of a show-cause notice, Bhattal got a patient hearing at 10
Janpath. However, the real motive behind Amarinder's luncheon meeting was to persuade
Bhattal to give up her claim to the Patiala Lok Sabha seat from where he wants his wife
Puneet Kaur to contest. From all indications, Bhattal seems to have refused to bite.
Back Home
Delhi: Marxist stalwart Jyoti Basu is off to London again -- his
20th visit to what he describes as his "second home" in the 22 years of his
chief ministership. In fact, as the crestfallen octogenarian returned to Calcutta last
month after the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi vetoed his bid for prime ministership, Basu's
physicians got worried about his health. They found the chief minister incapable of
undertaking the car-ride to and from Writers' Building, the secretariat, every day. As the
state prepared to shift his secretariat to Salt Lake, a good 10 km from the city centre,
Basu packed off for a check-up to London. Though this time he will also be dropping in at
a few World Cup venues, notably Edgbaston on May 29 to watch the India-England match.
Old Grapevine
Delhi: In the new Congress dispensation where an Italian-born is
party president, leaders are going to great lengths to do things the Roman way. Like
Sharad Pawar, leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Last week, he invited
over a 100 journalists to dinner at his residence where the fare was typically Italian --
pasta, spaghetti, cold salad, etc. Journos habituated to the hard stuff were served
liberal doses of choicest whisky, but before they departed the host made it a point to ask
everyone to have a glass of wine. When a woman journalist declined, Pawar charmed her into
partaking of a glass. After all, it was the "finest wine" from Baramati and that
too made in collaboration with an Italian wine-maker. Pawar's 20-year-old Italian tie-up
may have been a wise business decision. The political dividends, however, are still
awaited.
Busy, Literally
Bhubaneswar: Politics' loss has turned out to be literature's gain.
Unceremoniously shown the door after having ruled Orissa for 14 years, former chief
minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik has taken to serious writing. Always known as a scholar
who wrote precious little for want of time, Patnaik at the moment is busy translating
works of the late Bankim Chandra Chatterjee into Oriya. The three volumes with a foreword
by him are slated for release this month-end. Besides, since stepping down, Patnaik has
compiled and published poetic works of his father, Gokulananda Patnaik. Having left behind
several controversies in a long political career, it remains to be seen whether Patnaik
can create ripples in literary circles. |
