Snapshots

A New RemoteWhen the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance assumed power for the first time in Maharashtra in March 1995, Sena chief Bal Thackeray, dire...

A New Remote

When the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance assumed power for the first time in Maharashtra in March 1995, Sena chief Bal Thackeray, directed his men to take charge while he himself chose to become the power behind the chair. It earned him an epithet that was to become synonymous with his name for many years 8212; Remote Control. Post Mandate 1999, as the Sena and BJP, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP toyed with each other to form the government, the epithet began to acquire a new meaning. If the NCP played hard to get, its president Sharad Pawar was more difficult. Pawar camped in the city almost throughout the week, directed his lieutenants as they went around negotiating, received delegations of leaders after every round of talks, and generally called the shots 8212; all without emerging from his upmarket Peddar Road apartment. For Pawar-haters, it was the ideal opportunity to transfer the title 8212; Pawar, they sneered, was the New Remote Control.

The A to Z of TV

Heused to be known as a friend of Star TV, given that the Star News Channel was flagged off from his 7, Race Course Road, in 1998. But now even as Star TV and Zee TV have patched up their bitter differences, and Subhash Chandra Goel has bought back his shares from Rupert Murdoch, former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral will be inaugurating the latest addition to Zee TV8217;s regional bouquet the first was in Bengali on August 15, the 24-hour channel, Alpha TV Punjabi. On hand will be not just Goel himself but also his new Zee Telefilms CEO R.K. Singh, formerly of DD and of ESPN, which has a joint venture with Star Sports in Asia. There8217;s nothing like television to make friends of enemies and enemies of friends.

Grin And Bear It

Manohar Joshi had a very rude beginning to 1999. Before January went by, he was unceremoniously removed as chief minister by Bal Thackeray in what everyone agreed was a most ignominious manner. The clever Narayan Rane had worked his way into Thackeray8217;s charmed circle andpitched himself a better candidate for the chair. Those who expected Joshi to breathe fire at his boss were completely taken aback. Joshi was his usual genial self, smiling for the cameras, laughing away with typical one-liners, showing no trace of bitterness at the turn of events. Only in private conversations with very close confidants did he reveal his hurt but even then expressed the belief that he would rise again before the year was out. Ten months later, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai and is in New Delhi as cabinet minister in the Vajpayee Government. It pays to keep one8217;s counsel to oneself, especially in politics. That8217;s Joshi8217;s line to his friends now.

Dogged By Trouble

Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi was yet to recover from the shock of the controversy over the grandfatherly8217; peck by Khushwant Singh on his daughter8217;s cheek when he found himself dogged by another one. But this time, Qazi certainly loved it. He had visited Delhi8217;s All India Institute ofMedical Sciences to see the ailing Hurriyat leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani. The Kashmiri separatist leader had suffered a mild heart attack in Srinagar jail. Qazi8217;s unexpected visit annoyed the securitymen to the extent that they decided to put Geelani in his place 8212; of a prisoner. Next morning, the stern-looking guards stopped the home-cooked food for Geelani and turned away all visitors. The septuagenarian Hurriyat leader started a protest from the hospital bed. This made banner headlines in Srinagar8217;s newspapers. Keen not to miss any opportunity to demonstrate their leanings to the Hurriyat Conference, Pakistan fired another salvo. Nawaz Sharif, currently in the midst of a military coup, had sent a letter to Geelani wishing him speedy recovery.

Man Or Dog

When someone whom everybody treats as a man of average competence suddenly jumps into the limelight, all sorts of tales are told about how the man made it to the top. It is all right when such juicy anecdotes talk about the man8217;s goodqualities, like honesty. Sometimes such anecdotes do the rounds that only embar-rass the man, who has just begun to enjoy his new-found glory.

This is exactly what is happening with Union Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak, who represents the Ahmedabad Lok Sabha constituency. A schoolteacher-turned-politician, Pathak is known to help anybody and everybody in his constituency, which he has carefully nurtured since 1989. One fine morning, a party-worker rushed to the Pathak home and announced, 8220;our Raju passed away last night8221;. Taking Raju to be one of the scores of his faithful party-workers, Pathak hurried to the place. But to his utter embarrassment, Pathak found that Raju was a stray dog. Not one to be taken by surprise, Pathak quickly arranged for the dog8217;s funeral, which was also attended by all citizens of the area. Not stopping at this, Pathak spoke highly of Raju at the condolence meeting. For Pathak, all are equal, man or dog.

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Kaveree Bamzai and Aasha Khosa in New Delhi,Dharmendrasinh Chavda in Ahmedabad, Manish Umbrajkar in Pune, Smruti Koppikar in Mumbai