Snapshots

Pilgrims Progress
The annual visit of 3,000 pilgrims to gurudwaras in Pakistan on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is in jeopardy. Adding to the confusion is Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the SikhGurudwara Parbhandak Committee SGPC. Reason: the Pakistan Government has constituted its own Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and the SGPC will have none of this. But it is the statements of the SGPC president which seem to be causing more confusion. First, she said there would be no jatha till the Pakistan committee was dissolved. Then came the statement that a committee would go to Pakistan to ascertain the facts and talk to authorities there. Third, Jagir Kaur felt if Pakistan allowed the SGPC to conduct the Sikh religious ceremonies, the issue could be resolved, raising the hopes of those who wished to visit Pakistan shrines. Then came an advertisement asking those wishing to participate in the jatha to apply to the SGPC. Now comes another statement, again from Bibi Jagir Kaur, which finally says that no pilgrim tour will be organised till the Pakistan committee ceases to exist.

Super Cop
You can8217;t put down certain people. Like cop-turned-politician Jaspal Singh, who is a minister inthe Gujarat Government. In the last reshuffle, Singh was shunted out of the food and civil supplies ministry after he rubbed party bigwigs the wrong way with his campaign against unscrupulous but politically influential petrol pump owners, edible oil manufacturers and other interests. Instead, he was given the ministries of Jails and Rural Housing, normally reserved for good-for-nothing politicians. Never one to sit idle, Singh promptly got down to the business of improving the conditions of long-neglected, overcrowded jails, a la Kiran Bedi. His rivals smiled; after all, it harmed no one and kept the man busy. But Singh has now done something his rivals had perhaps never bargained for. He has discovered that as many as 1.40 lakh plots, meant for the rural poor, have been given to people who do not deserve them. Singh has cancelled the allotments and ordered an inquiry. Knowing the way such largesse is distributed, it won8217;t be a surprise if Singh soon discovers that he has made even more enemies.

Still AHindustani
He is weaving a dhoti. The last time the dhoti had been woven by an Englishman, so Kamal Hasan is out to prove that he can do one better. In Pune for noted humourist P. L. Deshpande8217;s eightieth birthday celebrations, Hasan was excited about his new film, Hey Ram, which he promises will have a Shah Rukh Khan minus the hamming. 8220;We all hammed in our lean days,8221; he says, but this time they are all out to tell a story that is broader in canvas than his earlier pan-Indian venture Indian a.k.a. Hindustani depending on which side of the Vindhyas you saw the film. Now that he has completed Hey Ram, he8217;s already thinking about his next projects, which are, in fact, not so new. 8220;People are busy shelving my films while I am out looking for funds to complete them,8221; he said talking about long-stalled ventures like Mardnayagam and Ladies Only. And the best part make the films in two languages. 8220;The applause is greater.8221;