The Fifth Column

30th November 1997


Of sweet things and not so sweet

Saturday - Everybody is joining the case against Seeni Bola taking the Silver Girl's side. Marriage has made matters worse by talking about "black" people as if he is the fairest of them all. Seeni Bola wants to resign but I told him not to. Athletes will come and go, I told him, but you must go on. After all, he is one of the few people in the Cabinet who can be trusted. So many others are waiting for something to happen to me to become the next leader....

Sunday - Cholera is raging, they say, but Nimal is grinning from ear to ear and asking, "what can I do about it?" Well, it may not be his fault but I told him not to appear so happy and amused when he talks about Cholera in TV. Poor fellow, ever since he left the housing Ministry he thinks any publicity is good publicity...

Monday - They say Gujral is in trouble because his coalition partners are trying to sabotage his government. The trouble with Gujral is he is too much of a gentleman. Must tell Kadi to teach him a lesson or two on how to run a coalition. Reshuffle the Cabinet after a while, drop those who seem even a remote threat, make a few empty promises and make each alliance partner feel he is the chosen one. Looking back, even I am surprised at how I managed to hold Thonda, Ashraff, Vasu, Bernard and those DUNFers in the same Cabinet! But I did survive didn't I?

Tuesday - Another Airforce chopper is down but all Anu says is that it is nobody's fault. It's becoming so frequent that even Anu is embarrassed. And when I fly I don't feel safe either....

Wednesday - There's trouble at the campuses, they tell me. I asked Richard to get some laws done to stop ragging but he says they will never be implemented. G. L. who thinks he's an authority on campus life, agrees, because he was never able to stop ragging when he was we see. Anyway, I sometimes wish I could ask some of my Cabinet fellows to do three hundred push-ups.

Just imagine how much of good that will do to Nimal!

Thursday - Mallo is delivering the Lalith A lecture. I guess that is Ms. A's way of snubbing me. He is sure to attack the Presidency and say I'm making a mess of things. Sour grapes is all I would say....

Friday - They say it's Prabha's birthday. Bala wanted to know whether I was sending him a card. I'd like to send him a 'get well soon' card, anyway....


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