[Reader-list] The man who didn’t know too much

[Shivam Vij शिवम् विज्]

The man who didn't know too much

Cho Ramaswamy
February 07, 2008

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=17d9cde3-bb44-494f-bed8-3c1df7d5f293&&Headline=The+man+who+didn%u2019t+know+too+much

Dr Manmohan Singh was worried. No, not worried, but concerned. No, not
concerned, but agitated. Yes. When curiosity starts biting viciously,
the mind cannot but get agitated. He was, of course, curious. And
there seemed to be no way of quenching that curiosity. The media were
agog with rumours about an impending cabinet reshuffle. If it had been
an official announcement, the PM would not have bothered. He knew that
a formal denial would follow. This was a rumour featured in all gossip
columns. The greatest gossip of them all, the visual media, were also
forecasting a cabinet reshuffle. One can ignore news, but the man who
disregards a rumour, does so at his own peril.

So the cultured Doctor was sure that there was going to be a
reshuffle. But who was going to barge in and who was going to be
kicked out? Will the portfolios of the ministers be changed? Who will
get what? The PM was anxious to know. Of course, being only the PM and
not Sonia Gandhi, he had no right to expect to know anything in
advance. His lot, he knew, was to wait and watch.

He would come to know, when the ministers would be sworn in by Abdul
Kalam. No, no, not Abdul Kalam. He was no longer the President. That
woman — what was her name? — some Patel. Ahamed Patel? No, a woman.
Some other Patel. Ah! Pratibha Patil! When she would say 'I...' and
rest her office, the ministers — at least the new ones if any — would
have to confess their names and admit their identities. Then the Prime
Minister would know.

But curiosity is something that cannot wait to be killed at the last
moment. He wanted to know in advance, at least before the invited
audience at the Rashtrapati Bhavan came to know the names and the
faces. What faces? Does it matter at all? After all, whatever the face
is now, it will be lost once the person joined the cabinet. But that
is a side issue. Who are going to become ministers? That is the
question now. Curiosity, earlier biting the PM, now started eating
into him. He had to do something about it.

He could ask Karunanidhi. At least he would know, whether his daughter
was going to be inducted into the cabinet or not. But if Dr Manmohan
Singh talked to him, Karunanidhi would definitely talk about the Ram
Sethu issue. He would want to know the Centre's position on it and the
line it was going to take before the Supreme Court. And what could the
PM say? If the government knew what it was going to tell the Supreme
Court, it would have already done so. The government, being a secular
one, had nothing but contempt for Rama. But he seemed to carry some
votes in his pocket. If there was a way of keeping the votes and
letting Rama go, the government would have embraced the idea with
enthusiasm.

But Karunanidhi would not listen. He wanted the bridge to go along
with Rama, making way for TR Balu, the Shipping Minister to sail in
the Palk Straits. So talking to Karunanidhi would only be inviting
acrimony.

Lalu Prasad Yadav might know all about the cabinet reshuffle. But if
the PM asked Lalu to satisfy his curiosity, Lalu may use the occasion
to demand a Bharat Ratna for Rabri Devi. Sure, anyone who would be
prepared to accept the award from the hands of the present President
would be making the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice of self-respect.
That itself, being an act of the highest form of humility, would make
the person deserving of the highest award. But then, if Rabri was
given the Bharat Ratna, the next in line would be Mrs Deve Gowda. And
Sonia Gandhi would not like that.

So Lalu cannot be approached. Who else? Pranab Mukherjee? He was
already considering himself to be more important than the PM. Why
confirm it by seeking enlightenment from him? Chidambaram could be
knowing some particulars, as his son was close to DMK circles, thus
being in a position to know Sonia Gandhi's mind. But, after the recent
coronation by a TV channel as the Indian Politician of the Year,
Chidambaram would be assuming airs. Not that he did not have any
earlier. But the air assumed by him now could be so dense that he may
be causing a low pressure area around himself. And worse, under the
pretext of mentioning in passing the next budget, he may start giving
lessons in economics to Dr Manmohan Singh. That being the ultimate in
humiliation, would be the limit. No, no Chidambaram. Anyway who knew
what was going to happen to him in the reshuffle? The Leftists were
already baying for his blood.

Talking of Leftists, Prakash Karat would certainly be posted with all
details about the reshuffle. But if he was approached, he may start
talking about the nuclear deal. It was already exploding in the PM's
face, and he did not want to invite another blast. The effects of
radiation had started to tell.

Arjun Singh may be expected to find out at least some aspects of the
reshuffle. But he would carry tales to Sonia Gandhi, accusing the PM
of being a nosey sort of man, exhibiting an inquisitiveness, totally
unbecoming of his office.

The PM was by now a man resigned to his fate. He wrote on a piece of
paper lying on his table, "Who am I to aspire to know anything in
advance? I am only a Prime Minister. There are higher powers." He
studied it to steady himself, and stifle his curiosity. And to divert
his mind, he switched on the TV set. Someone was giving a pitch report
prior to a one-day fixture and pointing to a spot on the pitch said,
"Look… over here, yes over here…"

The other words were lost on the PM. The words "over here" had an
electrifying effect on him. Yes. That's it! One can 'overhear'! Sonia
and Rahul Gandhi would definitely be discussing the cabinet reshuffle,
to decide who was going to be made what. If only he could go to Sonia
Gandhi's residence, hide in a convenient corner, and listen, he could
get all details. But could he? The hiding part of it, he could carry
out with consummate skill, having perfected the art by sheer practice.
After all, whenever the communists came to discuss the proposed pact
with the US, he had successfully hidden himself.

When he started weighing the pros and cons of attempting to overhear
the conversation between Sonia and her son, his enthusiasm diminished.
There were no pros, but plenty of cons. Just then, he heard some
footsteps. Someone was approaching. No, there were two of them,
somebody talking to somebody. Yes. They were Sonia and Rahul
approaching his room.

Dr Manmohan Singh was shaken. Their arrival on the scene, just as he
was considering the outrageous act of overhearing their conversation,
disconcerted him. He felt as if he was already eavesdropping. His
conscience castigated him. He felt guilty. He also knew, that his face
would reveal all. His was the face of a nobleman, and it would not
hide his inner secrets. One look at him, and she would know. He must
avoid the mother and the son. He took a decision. His face would not
hide anything, but he could hide himself. He jumped from his chair,
jumped around the sofa set, jumped over a table, and the final jump
led him behind a wardrobe. As he stood motionless, a practice which
had grown on him through his years of prime ministership, Sonia and
Rahul seated themselves near the table where he had been sitting and
brooding. They thought that he had gone to the restroom, and would be
returning shortly.

Just then, Sonia Gandhi's eyes fell on the piece of paper on which he
had been scribbling. The words, "Who am I to aspire to know anything
in advance? I am only a Prime Minister. There are higher powers,"
stared at her.

She was impressed and showed it to Rahul. He too was impressed. "Could
we ever hope to get a Prime Minister like him? Whoever comes or goes,
he must stay." As he heard these words of Sonia Gandhi, Dr Manmohan
Singh, heaved a silent sigh of relief. Whatever the blasted reshuffle
did, it would not touch him.

Cho Ramaswamy is a political commentator and Editor, Tughlak