An eye for detail

Under an unusually warm December sun, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna runs a finger over the cheap aluminium windows fixed to an elegant coloni...

Under an unusually warm December sun, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna runs a finger over the cheap aluminium windows fixed to an elegant colonial-era wooden balcony and shakes his head.

8216;8216;This is so 8230;8217;8217;

His voice trails off. Tacky? Express offers.

8216;8216;Well yes, it is.8217;8217;

Maharashtra8217;s new Governor clearly has an eye for detail, something he exhibited in ample measure as he refurbished heritage landmarks during his attempts to transform Bangalore into a Singapore.

So here he is, barely 24 hours after arriving in the city that wants to be a Shanghai, examining the ravages of history and successive public works department on Mumbai8217;s 119-year-old though the oldest building is 191 years old Raj Bhavan.

8216;8216;I am really pained to see the condition of this cottage,8217;8217; says Krishna, a lawyer and once Fulbright scholar at George Washington University. 8216;8216;Do you know this is where Indira Gandhi used to stay? She loved it.8217;8217;

This is Cottage 1, at the extreme end of Raj Bhavan, and it8217;s easy to see why India8217;s iron lady liked it. Anyone would. It8217;s in Mumbai, but out here the steaming engine of India8217;s enterprise simply can8217;t be heard.

To say the view is stunning would be like saying the Taj Mahal is a tomb.

nbsp;	KRISHNASPEAK

		nbsp;	8226; First thing: 8216;8216;I would like to assist all voluntary associations working with Aids awareness. I would like to go to the villages, talk to people there, tell them of the scourge8230;8217;8217; 8226; Mumbai, Shanghai: 8216;8216;Shanghai is just a clone of New York. I wasn8217;t so impressed, though, yes, they have 100 flyovers. It8217;s not just the roads, everything is spotless, and the people are at work by 7 am When you come back to India you get a feeling of depression.8217;8217; 8226; Expertise: 8216;8216;I have not sat with the chief minister to talk about the development agenda8230;In light of my experiences in the last 5 years, they can seek anything of use.8217;8217;	nbsp;

The cottage perches on a bluff, sunlight flooding the breakfast table surrounded by the wraparound balcony. Across the bay, Nariman point looks unnaturally quiet. Below, a deserted path leads down to rocks lapped by a gentle, mid-morning surf, the only sound you can hear.

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8216;8216;Mumbai8217;s Raj Bhavan has a reputation for elegance,8217;8217; muses Krishna, who loves the History Channel. 8216;8216;I would like to do it, the upkeep.8217;8217;

Krishna, an avid tennis player, also wants to 8216;8216;do up8217;8217; Raj Bhavan8217;s forlon tennis court, not because 8212; as he hastens to add 8212; he loves the game but because 8216;8216;dignitaries and heads of state might often like to play he recalls a time in Bangalore when British PM Tony Blair wanted to play.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I was shocked to see the court,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;It8217;s concrete, painted green.8217;8217;

The sun is warm but it doesn8217;t bother Krishna, despite his black buttoned down safari suit he gets them tailored in Santacruz. In Bangalore, he spent years playing tennis at 3 pm with a steady group of partners.

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He will need to find new partners. Industrialist Sajjan Jindal is coming this afternoon to have a go. There are others whom Krishna knows from among Mumbai8217;s elite. But all the leisure might get to Krishna, plucked out from Bangalore in the middle of a hectic political career.

8216;8216;For a politician who8217;s lead a hectic life, this is quite a switchover,8217;8217; he admits. So he will serve Mumbai, biding his time 8212; until the call comes from the High Command.