His red carpet rolled 11th hour: paint, fittings and ACs

So frenetic was their pace that work went right down to the wire. In fact, the paint on the wall hadn’t dried when the Khans walked in. And even as they were on their way from Wagah, Birju and his team had pulled out all the stops to ensure that at least one kitchen was up and running. All the electrical fittings weren’t in place, even the air conditioners didn’t hum until about an hour before the Khans arrived.

Forget the Indo-Pak baggage, for Birju, it was just getting the job done. ‘‘Ye saheb (Khan) bahar se aa rahe hain, Dilli pahunchege to saaf ghar to milna chahiye. Agar kaam achcha nahin kiya, to kya sochenge?’’ (He is coming from overseas, at least he should get a clean house when he reaches Delhi. If the work isn’t good, what impression will he get?’’)

It was barely two weeks ago that Birju’s boss Waseem was contracted to repaint the interiors of the Pakistan House, polish the floors and varnish the furniture. The palatial house was apparently in a neglected state after the departure of previous High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi following the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament.

‘‘Most of the upkeep was on the outside. They laid off a lot of staff and just a couple of gardeners and cleaners were retained after Qazi sahab left,’’ says Mohanlal who’s been the sweeper here for 26 years. ‘‘In all, we were less than 10 including the guard and caretaker. The house was never opened, at least as far I can remember.’’

So the nightmare of redoing the house dawned when gates were opened in early June. Waseem’s men began trooping in by June 11 and it was only by June 19 that work started in full steam. ‘‘We targeted to complete the first floor where the bedrooms are located before touching any other part,’’ says Ram Ashish, speaking on behalf of Waseem who chose to let his workers do the talking.

As the pace got more frenetic by evening and the mission’s staff cars rolled in quick succession ferrying officials to receive the new envoy, the Birjus, Mohanlals and Waseems receded into the background.

When asked how much they managed to finish, one of the workers Rajesh rushing in with 12 packets of milk which the staff had forgotten to store, yelled back: ‘‘Dining hall aur ek kitchen ho gaya.’’