Snapshots

Threatened ExistenceThe reverberations of the Gujarat Government's decision to take back itscontroversial order allowing its employees to ...

Threatened Existence
The reverberations of the Gujarat Government8217;s decision to take back itscontroversial order allowing its employees to participate in the activitiesof the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS echoed in the most unlikeliest ofthe places. The Jamp;K Legislative Council, that is. The day after the orderwas rescinded, visibly joyous ministers and MLCs belonging to the rulingNational Conference congratulated each other for what they perceived astheir victory. After all, they must have thought, it was their discussion onthe issue in the State Assembly, with the Chief Minister Farooq Abdullahleading from the front, that forced the Gujarat Government intosubmission.

And, what was the lone BJP MLC, who also happens to be State BJP chief,doing? Nothing, but grumbling that the BJP had backtracked on its own andnot after receiving threats from friends.

Fiction Is Stranger
Taslima Nasreens and Salman Rushdies of the world, rejoice. Celebrate, forhere8217;s someone who believes that works of fiction should not be taken tooseriously. He is none other than the 30-year-old British poet and writerTobias Hill who was on a visit to Ahmedabad last week. Recipient of almost a100 awards, Hill prefers penning poetry to writing fiction. Reason? 8220;Well,though I love spinning yarns and making up stories, the problem is thatfiction is like the good white lie you make up everything. I wouldn8217;t liketo do that with poetry which I feel deals with emotional honesty,8221; he says. So, if fiction is entirely false, shouldn8217;t all the fatwas be scrapped?

Old Loyalties Die Hard
With 24 years of experience in the electronic media, 45-year-old SheilaChaman, newscaster and anchor with Doordarshan, knows exactly what she issaying when she defends DD. Commenting on the lacklustre and unimaginativelook that DD projects, she says: 8220;Other channels cater to the gallery. We,as a Government body, cannot afford to do so. While other channels havetarget viewers, ours is the only channel that caters to every Indian.8221;After fielding brickbats for long, it must feel good for DD to know that atleast someone is all praise for it.

Delayed Take-Off
It took them almost six months to get the postings reviewed and now alreadythree months have elapsed since the All India Radio/DD foreign postings wereannounced. Three of the seven foreign correspondents are still sitting tightin India, including P. John Churchill who was to go to Hong Kong to create anew set-up, Amitabh Chakraborty who was to go to New York, and Akshay Routwho was to go to Dhaka. While Churchill and Rout will be relieved only whenDD News gets an adequate replacement apparently, S. C. Sharma, JointDirector, All India Radio, was not, Chakraborty8217;s appointment has beenchallenged by a colleague on many counts, one of which is that he has notexhausted the mandatory two-year cooling-off period.

Bowled Over
It was one of those rare occasions when PCC President Captain AmarinderSingh took a break from politics to wield a bat in a friendly cricket matchagainst the Stragglers of the Asian Cricket Club of England in his hometown Patiala. Helping his team, the Maharaja Patiala XI, to defeat thesprightly Britishers by a wafer-thin margin of five wickets werecricketers Reetinder Sodhi and Yuvraj Singh, not to mention the indomitableBishen Singh Bedi. Singh had better luck on the field than he8217;s had latelyin politics and managed to take one wicket for 18 runs. The high point ofthe day was the dinner to celebrate at the Motibagh Palace. And two from theBritish team were so smitten by the renowned Indian charm that they declaredtheir ardent desire to take home Indian brides. Sadly for them, they had toleave empty-handed.