While the Sethusamudram controversy continued to rage, Minister for Shipping T R Baalu managed to stay away from Delhi — and the media — this past week. He extended his weekend stay at Chennai to mark his presence at the DMK bandh there and then flew out for a break in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He returned to the capital only on Friday. The island trip was to hold the annual meeting of the Ministry’s Hindi Salahkar Committee. That, you could say, was almost in sync with his supremo, M Karunanidhi, reciting a Hindi poem in a public address.