Snapshots

The Kargil Effect

Kargil8217;s ripple effect continues, especially in the Capital8217;s chattering set. Despite several conscientious objectors, 300 officials of the 1969 batch, including those from the Ministry of Defence, decided to dine and dance the night away at the Taj Mansingh to celebrate 30 years of survival.

Though several wanted the money collected 8212; Rs 1,200 per couple 8212; donated to the Kargil fund, others objected, saying since the Government had not put a stop to official entertainment, why should they. In fact, they were supposed to more than merely amuse themselves. The invite exhorted officials to 8220;let their hair down8221;. That is, 8220;those who still have hair8221;.

Mahajan8217;s High Hopes

Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s ace troubleshooter, Pramod Mahajan, never loses an opportunity to shoot off his mouth. This is precisely what he did during his first visit to Jammu as a minister. Thanking his predecessors for not conceding the long-pending demand for aDogri news bulletin on Doordarshan, he said that it had given him and his party a chance to go down in history.

Referring to the long list of demands he had received from various quarters, he said it only showed that the people did not treat the Central Government as kaamchalau caretaker. 8220;Since many of these demands will take years to fulfill, it is the people8217;s way of saying the BJP-led government will return to power after polls and I will be Information and Broadcasting Minister again,8221; he said. Well, it8217;s still early days.

Narayan Munde, we presume?

What8217;s in a name, they say. Try Chief Minister Narayan Munde. That8217;s what the Maharashtra CM was inadvertently addressed as by the chairman of the Bank of Maharastra at a function on June 24. Rane used the faux pas to full advantage, saying heartily that he did not mind the gaffe at all, since it symbolised the 8220;unity8221; with which the BJP-SS alliance had been striding ahead for the last four years. Of course, everyone present noted that theChief Minister paused at great length in an obvious effort at recalling the Chairman M. M. Vaish8217;s name, and referred to the bank as the Bank of India, not Maharashtra.

Arundhati8217;s Angst

The Goddess of Big Causes, Arundhati Roy, spoke about her latest grand obsession 8212; Narmada 8212; at Pune8217;s Garware College on Friday, where she had been invited by the city-based environmental group, Parisar, to talk about her involvement with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. A small sample of Roy-speak:

On whether construction work in the Narmada Valley should be abandoned mid-way

The dams on the Narmada should be preserved as historic monuments and in the next millennium, people should buy tickets and see them as examples of how foolish we once were.

What prompted her to donate her Booker Prize money from The God of Small Things to the Narmada Bachao Andolan:

I am deeply happy that my book is being so widely read, but after receiving so much money for it, I felt that every feeling I had putin the book had been converted into hard currency.

On why she doesn8217;t respect novels with a simple message

The God of Small Things is about architecture, and everyone who wants to be a writer should study architecture. My book was the simplest way of expressing a complex world.

On why she does not want to be referred to as an intellectual:

I am all for belonging, for being in a society where we don8217;t stop feeling. As a writer my brief is to write about what is wrong with society.

And if you don8217;t want to participate in the Rally for the Valley:

Then, for God8217;s sake, please don8217;t have children, for they will grow up in a world where there is no water to drink.