Turning up the volume

Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy is a bibliophile who never loses the opportunity to tell the world so. Journalists who chase him for a story are often bombarded with information about the latest book that he has got his hands on. Sometimes even officials who rush to him to clear a file will be lectured on the latest intellectual read. However, he probably chose the most unlikely audience for a talk on tomes last week when he addressed a gathering of representatives of local bodies from India, Brazil and South Africa. He droned on about Weber, Marx and Derrida, leaving poor panchayat presidents from far-flung hamlets wondering whether Weber was an eminent Panchayat president too.