Dialogues with the Nation

Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express, with P Chidambaram, Finance Minister

It’s the poll season and any public appearance by a politician is always scrutinised. So it was not surprising that at the launch of Shekhar Gupta’s Anticipating India–The Best of National Interest (HarperCollins, Rs 799), there was no chief guest. Clearing the air at the start of the evening, The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief said, “We are not displaying a chief guest because we are in such polarised times that to be seen with somebody these days, even for a journalist, becomes a story. All of us vote for somebody, so does that mean you cannot go and communicate with somebody?” The book is an edited volume of Gupta’s weekly column, National Interest, over 19 years, on economics and politics.

Seema Chishti, Consulting Editor, The Indian Express, welcomed the gathering and introduced the book, which was released by Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Express Group. Soon after, Finance Minister P Chidambaram took the hot seat for an engaging panel discussion with Gupta. Playing it safe by evading the most obvious political question, such as the fate of the nation after May 16, Chidambaram said, “There will be a government. I just hope that a new government is formed quickly enough. But I also anticipate that a promise of a new dawn may be a false promise.” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who was in the audience, wistfully remarked, “When you mentioned there will be a new dawn, I noticed everyone was a little squeamish. I was just wondering what will be the spelling of that new dawn.” The audience burst into laughter at his comment who until then were intently listening to the panelists.

The others guests at the launch included Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta Medicity, with wife Madhu, senior journalist; Kumari Selja, Congress MP; Kathak exponent Shovana Narayan with husband Dr Herbert Traxl, Austrian diplomat; AD Singh, restaurateur; architect Mohit Gujral with wife Feroze, former model; Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India; eminent jurists Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman; Manish Tewari, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information and Broadcasting; Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power; and Sachin Pilot, Corporate Affairs Minister.