Recollections from a minister’s office

Who says politics and politicians are unpredictable? There are some things that generally do not change…and for a moment this is not about the cynical general opinion that fails to raise eyebrows leave aside raise mass movements…this is not about clichés like “corruption” and “bribery” ...and not remotely about Shashi Tharoor or his misadventures at his high office…


This is about a small waiting room in a minister’s office…very similar to every other such waiting room……..a world of its own, and the same denizens all over…

So what is a minister’s waiting room all about…well it’s the same recipe: a single computer (old fashioned and defunct: interesting story there you know coz any newer version would obviously be a total mind bender for the poor guy who’s suppose to be using it….of course he can’t figure this one out ethier for he still does all the work on diaries and papers with a ball pen costing half that of a café coffee day cookie…oh well, that’s another story…)

…and the desktop has a confident picture of our dear minister: In all grandeur; perhaps a remembrance of one of those luckier days in the legislature when he wasn’t torn apart – figuratively and literally…

Apart from this and a whole lot of dust gathering pile of plastic waiting chairs (yes plastic coz these waiting rooms are for the aam aadmi…the inivestors and the other “suits” meet him in five stars or personal residences….not through office waiting rooms!!), there is a menagerie of waiting people: and every such office will have the same little jungle every time…

The “happy to help” guy

Yupp, that’s him….the file holding, safari suit wearing fellow who was far happier to see you ‘enter’ the waiting room than you were after getting this difficult appointment…reason? Well lets just say he feels he is this “know it all”…or as you will soon label him: “insufferable” know it all!!

I hear he just flew back from London in his “private jet”… and you nod and smile out of courtesy…

Did you know he actually abused on mic in the legislature, our minister Saab…and you nod a maybe, more out of avoiding disrespect than genuine courtesy…

…Did you know he has a commode made of gold… and that’s it…you’ve heard enough. He is still beaming for being the first to tell you…”this just in!” and not a moment is he unfazed when you - chuck the courtesy – obviously ignore him…

Only to find yourself looking at the other wonders of this unique world….

The fourth estate

Yea, the lad…who calls himself “filmmaker and journalist”…only that he (intentionally) forgot to mention the word “amateur”…

When I was in Mumbai with minister saab, we drank together at the interview…


Oh! I ran this story about minister saab and his habit of collecting tribal pipes…


You know his brother? Oh you don’t? well…we are like brothers…always drinking together…


Who’s the minister from you constituency….oh you don’t know that either…never mind, I’m sure I do…

And when the broadcast is over, he is happy – no jubilant – as you make the definite mental note to watch out for this guy on TV – so that you can at least switch it off….

The look out

He is the one who should have been the journalist. For he says nothing but keeps his eyes open….he is interested in the contents of the letter or application – of the person next to him …

…In the phone conversation at the opposite end of the room… in the company of the shirt you are wearing…

In about everything that should be the least of his concerns…gosh! he sounds so fit to be the minister!

The spy

He probably grew up reading Sherlock Holmes (or watching DD National’s raja-rancho: the saga of the smoking Indian detective with the super intelligent monkey for a sidekick)…

For he does just that…looking around for solid info…a letter the PA might have left open while he was typing out the pre-drafted reply…it might just be an application to the PWD for change of bathroom tiles for all it might be, but as long as it’s in “minister Saab’s” premises, its solid info…

And later at night, at a cheap suburban bar, the information will be roasted, grilled, with a pinch of spice and a hint of malice – and served on the house for the benefit of everyone there…oh I saw it myself…the minister is going to have his bathroom floored with gold…and even his commode…

AH! Brilliant…that completes the circle….

AND THEN THERE IS “YOU”…yes…the gentleman who would rather be home with his wife and kids than sitting in a minister’s waiting room where the fans were removed ages ago but the AC never got commissioned. And caught in the friendly banter of this very unique set of people, you realize what no college of political science and no amount of formal education will teach you:

Its democracy when you can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time…BUT ITS INDIA IF YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME….and it begins right here: at the waiting room of the Minister’s office…

AND SO A JOURNEY BEGINS...

Its not about once upon a time.....it may not always be happily ever after...

This is a world of thoughts....racing against each other and with themselves....to find "meaning" before they end up being "judged": as poetry or prose....as moral or immoral...logical or abstract........wisdom or insanity..........

Sooner or later, we all take the bite............and its a whole different taste if you'r TEETHING THOUGHTS..........