The Gilani soap opera

Every Indian prime minister has been caught up with the notion of leaving a footprint in history by resolving the Indo-Pak conundrum. So, one can understand Manmohan Singh's mindset when he went in for that fateful meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Gilani at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Just like many before him, Manmohan Singh was ready to go the extra mile to accommodate Pakistani concerns in the hope that his magnanimity would yield big dividends. Piecing together the Sharm el-Sheikh jigsaw, it is evident that the joint statement that has kicked up so much dust here was a Gilani bouncer. He did what his predecessors have done when they have been on the backfoot in a meeting with an Indian PM. He spun a sob story. He apparently said he could not afford to go back empty-handed.

The logic was as follows: since Gilani had come to Sharm el-Sheikh with a dossier accepting a Pakistani hand in the 26/11 attack, he needed a going-home gift from India to balance the admission. The exact details of the one-on-one conversation between the two prime ministers are not known, but it is increasingly apparent that like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many others in the past, Manmohan Singh seems to have found it difficult to resist the emotional blackmail that Pakistan excels in piling on.

And so, the joint statement, with all its controversial formulations, was born. To give Manmohan Singh the benefit of doubt, the generosity to Pakistan may yet pay off this time because the US is playing marriage counsellor. Then again, perhaps one should heed the warning of a former PM who burnt his fingers on the Indo-Pak hotplate. The man is no more, but he was famously quoted once as saying that every Indian prime minister should beware of Pakistan because its leaders extend a hand of friendship across the table only to deliver a kick on the shins from below.

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Home minister P Chidambaram seems to be a much mellowed man in his second innings. Although he remains a demanding boss, he has eased up on many of the little things for which he used to be a stickler. For instance, officials no longer have to clock in at 9am sharp. They can come in a few minutes late. Only those who have a scheduled meeting with him first thing in the morning have to be on their toes. Chidambaram himself is always on the dot.

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The gender ratio in Rashtrapati Bhavan is changing now that we have a woman president. Members of Manmohan Singh's council of ministers were surprised to find women waiters at the dinner Pratibha Patil hosted for them last week. Every table had at least one woman attendant dressed in the same regalia as her male counterparts — white trousers, white coat, and a scarlet and gold cummerband. The only concession to femininity was a white beret on the head in place of the white turban the men wear.

The president’s womanly touch is making itself felt in other ways too. She has brought the kitchen under her scanner. As a result, the food has improved vastly.

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Tailpiece
The finance ministry probably has the thickest and bulkiest files of all ministries because of the rigorous background notes that are prepared for each decision. The other day, Pranab Mukherjee was confronted with a file so high that he could not read or sign it sitting in his chair. He had to stand up to go through the contents of the paper that had been put up for his approval.