Inside track

When the Bhagwat debate takes place in Parliament next month, Fernandes will have to explain why he countered the orders to the Navy to capture LTTE and Burmese rebels acting as gun-runners, especially as some of the arms would no doubt have found their way into the hands of insurgents in the North-East. The government8217;s defence perhaps is that RAW was keen to investigate further into the gun-runningoperations or that it was a case of the right hand of the government not knowing what the left was doing.

But considering Fernandes8217; known sympathies for Myanmar rebels and LTTE activists, there seems more to the minister8217;s order than just conflicting intelligence objectives. Last year when LTTE sympathisers held a conference in Delhi, Fernandes allowed his bungalow to be used for the meet and Myanmar rebels often operate from his residence.

Though Fernandes swears by transparency in government, interestingly, a recent order at Defence Headquarters bans entry of mediamen except from gate no. two, where the director of press relations can be kept posted of journalists visiting the building.

Double trouble

The dust from Mohan Guruswamy8217;s stormy exit from the Finance Ministry has yet to settle, but fresh trouble could emanate from another former BJP media cell member who too opted for an official assignment on a token one-rupee salary. Sudheendra Kulkarni, a one-time journalist who gravitated frompink to saffron, is a director-rank officer in the Prime Minister8217;s Office and is the PM8217;s speech writer 8212; except when a major announcement has to be made and when Arun Shourie8217;s assistance is sought. Rather than his prescribed duties, Kulkarni, of late, seems more concerned about the government8217;s new Telecom policy, having been co-opted as a member of the Telecom committee.

Representatives of cellular operators, most of whom have defaulted on their fees, are frequently seen in Kulkarni8217;s office. Eyebrows are also raised over the speechwriter8217;s inordinate interest in transfers and postings.

Extravagant gesture

With a budget of over Rs 10 crore, it is surely one of the more expensive films made in India, but the financier is not a Bollywood moghul but the Ministry of Social Justice. It seems former Minister Balwant SIngh Ramoowalia commissioned director Jabbar Patel, who is past his prime, to make a film on B.R. Ambedkar. The banal script is not in Hindi but babu English. The depiction ofMahatma Gandhi is malicious and will inevitably evoke criticism.

The director has submitted hefty bills for filming parts of the movie in New York and London, although most of the foreign locales are simply interiors of libraries and they could just as easily have been shot in India. The film-makers now want another Rs 2 crore from the ministry for publicity, but who the target audience for this extravaganza is supposed to be is not quite clear.

Artistic licence

Over a year back, I was startled to notice what looked like the scribbles of a three-year-old on the inner dome of the Delhi8217;s marble-floored Museum of Modern Art. It turned out to be the artistic expression of a foreign painter. Now one person8217;s perception of what is high art may be another8217;s idea of bird8217;s droppings, but I couldn8217;t help wondering whether any other museum in the world would permit an artist of no great renown and not even a native to experiment on its dome. Similarly, the first permission to use the Taj Mahal as abackdrop was given for a concert by Yanni, a lesser known conductor of light melodies, rather than to any of our own great classical masters.

Last year, a jamun tree in front of the museum was painted sky blue and its branches cruelly lopped off as a gimmick to highlight an exhibition of Austrian artists. Does anyone have the right to vandalise a tree belonging to the municipality in this fashion I wondered. When queried about this, those responsible claimed they had taken the liberty only because the tree was already dead. The horticulture department corroborated this. Now spring is here, I find the dead jamun tree has sprung mysteriously to life and is covered with green leaves exposing the artistic lie.

Jinx crossed

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has finally crossed the first hurdle which separates the short-term players from the long-term prime ministers. Indira Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru are way ahead of others, but both Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao completed their five-yearterms. Vajpayee is now bracketted with Morarji Desai in the medium-length list for lasting over a year. V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Charan Singh, Gulzarilal Nanda, Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral all succumbed before the one-year jinx.