Reporters’ Diary>> A song for Naughty NarainFeb.08 : The ignominious exit of the former Andhra Pradesh governor, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, from his post over a sex scandal has helped a folk singer rake in the moolah.The singer, Narendra Singh Negi, who is popular in Uttarakhand, has composed a song titled Nauchhami Narain (Naughty Narain), which dwells on a leader’s sexcapades (no prizes for guessing who it is) and also lampoons the manner in which he ran his government when he was the state’s chief minister.
The music video of the song shows a Tiwari-look-alike dancing happily with a young girl and has now been uploaded on YouTube as well. The song has become a huge hit among the local people and is now the staple in many functions, including weddings.While Mr Negi is laughing all the way to the bank, Mr Tiwari, who now lives in Dehra Dun, must be squirming with discomfort. But there is little he can do except grit his teeth and face the music.***>> Birth rooms & bathroomsA communication gap can lead one anywhere — even to a toilet. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik recently learnt this the hard way.Mr Patnaik was on a tour of Janakinath Bhavan, the birthplace of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Cuttack, on the occasion of the legendary freedom fighter’s 113th birth anniversary, January 23.The chief minister visited each gallery, scrutinising every detail of Netaji’s life at the spacious bungalow that has been turned into a national museum. At one point he suddenly turned around and asked a museum official to show him the room where Netaji was born. But the official heard “bathroom” instead of “birth room” and directed the chief minister to the nearest lavatory. Mr Patnaik looked puzzled and asked in a shocking voice, “Was this the birthplace of Netaji?” Only then did the official realise his mistake. He apologised profusely, leaving the chief minister shaking his head.***>> A Katta strategyThe irrepressible Katta Subramanya Naidu, the IT-BT minister of Karnataka, sure knows how to get out of sticky situations. Recently, Mr Katta had to speak at two back-to-back events, at Chitrakala Parishad and the Suchitra Film Society. At the parishad meet, he delivered his written speech right down to the last para, and then stopped abruptly, realising that he had been reading out the text meant for the film society. But the clever Mr Katta quickly found a way out and told the audience, “I have talked about films because they are also part of art and culture”. And then coolly switched over to the speech meant for the parishad meet. A few days later, Mr Katta was at an event of the Indian Semiconductor Association. This time he delivered the written speech, but went impromptu, “Obama has threatened us”, the minister said, “but you are strong, I am strong, CM is strong, Karnataka is strong. What can he do?” The Brit sitting next to him burst out laughing. ***>> LPG and sexismDr Isher Ahluwalia, wife of deputy chairman of planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and member of the Kirit Parikh Committee on petroleum pricing, known for her composure, recently lost her cool.What provoked her was a journalist’s question on how, despite being a woman, she could endorse the committee’s views to increase LPG price by Rs 100 as this will impact the housewives the most. “This is a sexist question,” she fumed. “There are many housewives in our country who are also wage earners. They also have an understanding of what is sustainable and what is not”.She went on to add angrily that she expected every man to be as worried about the household budget as a woman would be. Agreed, but that still does not solve the problem of a pricey cylinder.***>> Parrikar reinvents himselfLast time the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh held a major rally and meeting in Goa, former Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister Manohar Parrikar was very conspicuous in his khakhi shorts, joining the ranks of pracharaks for the salute. But things have changed since then. His stock has risen and there is talk of his possible elevation to the national BJP leadership.Possibly because of this, Mr Parrikar kept a low profile this time and was loathe to be seen or photographed in the RSS uniform. Though he did don the trademark shorts for the RSS rally in Goa to welcome the sangh chief, Mohan Rao Bhagwat, who was on his maiden visit, but he tactfully avoided the drill and seated himself among the public in the middle rows of the gathering.Lensmen who spied him had to deal with a curiously reticent Mr Parrikar, trying hard to avoid the cameras. Perhaps it had something to do with his previous photographs in RSS dress surfacing during Assembly elections to sting him.***>> His mite for MarathiThe Shiv Sena’s Marathi bug seems to have bitten many politicians. But not all are showing the same symptoms. Minister of state for programme implementation, Sriprakash Jaiswal, a member of Parliament from Kanpur, was chairing a review meeting of MP Local Area Development scheme last week where district-level delegates from all the states had come to participate. A delegate from Maharashtra, speaking in Hindi, was finding it difficult to convey his ideas in the language. With a smile, the minister suggested, “You should choose to speak in Marathi, as the rest of India will be able to understand”. It’s not yet officially known if Shiv Sena leaders Bal Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, busy saving Marathi language and Marathi manoos from Hindi-speaking citizens, will see the humour in this. ***>> A ‘Woman Friday’ in troubleThe Union minister for women and child development, Krishna Tirath, has landed in a soup thanks to the advertisement released by her office that carried the photograph of a former Pakistani Air Force Chief. Insiders say that a “Woman Friday” of the minister is behind the release of this ad. Soon after taking over, Ms Tirath had even sought to get this “Woman Friday” appointed as a consultant so that all files could be routed through her. However, the then secretary in the ministry refused to do so and the appointment did not take place. Unfortunately for the ministry, the woman aide continues to be a powerful but invisible since her association with Ms Tirath goes back to the time when the latter was a minister in the Delhi government. Now officials are hoping that the advertisement faux pas will exorcise the powerful spirit from the ministry and bring her invisible influence to an end.