Best Foot ForwardWwhile that may be an admirable principle at most times, it got Pandit Jasraj visibly upset last week, when the grand old man of Hindustani classical music was performing at the Morning Classics programme organised by the NDMC at New Delhi's Nehru Park. Soon after he began, Jasraj interrupted his rendering, asking a slightly-less aware person in the audience to point his feet away from him. ``Yeh Saraswati ka aasan hai, yeh mandir hai, kripya pair udhar kariye,'' Jasraj pleaded (this is the seat of Goddess Saraswati, it is like a temple, please point your feet elsewhere).The man obviously got the message, and Jasraj carried on. The problem was that former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao walked in a bit late, and obviously didn't know about this, and sat down with his feet pointing towards Jasraj. Jasraj gestured to one of the organisers, gave him his shawl and asked that it be given to Narasimha Rao. When a bewildered Rao got the shawl, Jasraj said `kripya pair dhaklijiye' (please use this to cover your feet). It's not known if Rao kept the shawl after the performance.Millennium WoesAs the millennium fever grips all, Vadodara, considered the cultural capital of Gujarat, is no exception. But when it comes to celebrations, the ambitious plans of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) to organise functions on a grand scale have become victims of millennium overkill. The administration had planned to celebrate the millennium midnight by organising a band show, a cultural programme and the chanting of vedic mantras and shehanai vadan on January 1 but the Standing Committee rejected the proposal.The reason according to committee chairperson Dr Jigeesha Sheth: ``Each person is bound to celebrate the millennium midnight in his or her own way.'' So what is the point in organising programmes if only few people turn up. Regardless though, the VMC will organise a show of fire crackers and decide on illuminating historic buildings in the city. The amount involvedis a token Rs 1.50 lakh.Out Of BreadThis, of course, does not go well with Punjabi hospitality. But it was an experience of sorts for the journalists covering the meeting of the ruling Akali Dal working committee this week in Punjab Bhavan near the Punjab civil secretariat, the seat of power in the State. The meeting began around 1 p.m. and the journalists started converging to the place well before the press conference scheduled for 3.30 p.m.It was lunch time and an offer for a refreshing cup of tea came up along with a snack of bread and butter. The long wait started. After a while there was a message. The bread was out of stock. This on a day when the Akali leaders from all over the State had descended on the Punjab Bhavan. The journalists should have the first-hand account of the crisis that the Punjab government is facing, quipped an official.Bowing To AgeSupercop K.P.S. Gill, just the mention of whose name used to send shivers down the spine of hardcore militants, is todayhimself a worried man. But it's not security that is causing him concern, but his age. Recently, when he was in Jammu for the selection of the national hockey squad for the four nation hockey tournament to be played in Spain, the scribes asked him a volley of questions.One of the reporters asked him whether he recognises the recently formed Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association, headed by Narinder Batra, a business tycoon. His reply: ``There is no other option left, other than recognising this association. As Narinder is the owner of the Batra hospital, he will be of great help to us. After a few years all of us will have to visit his hospital to get free treatment for one ailment or other.''
