Opinion NaMo and NiKu

Sibal now lyricist

Ever since he lost his HRD portfolio,Minister of Communications Kapil Sibal finds himself at a bit of a loose end. He used to write poetry on his cellphone as a hobby. Now he has started writing lyrics and his words are being put to music. One of Sibal’s songs was in the movie Bandook. Sufi singer Zila Khan first suggested to Sibal that he get his poetry translated to Urdu and sent the text to Jamia Millia University for translation. The songs were received enthusiastically and Sibal now writes lyrics for his songs in Hindi on his own and has produced around 100 songs. He is thinking of releasing a CD. Last week Sibal played recordings of his songs for a group of journalists on his iPad. It was a wide range—from an ode to his father to romantic melodies and Sufi music.

Reluctant host

Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s visit to Ajmer to offer prayers at the shrine proved controversial. The Ajmer Sharif spiritual head boycotted Ashraf’s visit in protest over the brutal slaying of two Indian soldiers at the Kashmir border and the Pakistan army’s failure to return the head of a killed soldier. There was a black flag demonstration and the top brass of the Rajasthan government kept away as the Pakistan PM’s visit was a private one. Only Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid hosted a lunch in his honour. Khurshid was reportedly not in favour of extending hospitality but he was instructed to do so by the Prime Minister. It appears that Manmohan Singh has a soft spot for Ashraf since both are originally from the same region in Pakistan.

Child marriage deters rape

Lalu Prasad Yadav has an unusual explanation for why there are more rapes today than in the past. He feels that in the old days,child marriage was a deterrent to would be rapists. Girls and boys were married off young and the girl remained with her family till she reached puberty. No person dared to try and tease or molest her because the honour of the whole village was involved. A potential molester or rapist would have been beaten to pulp and not allowed to step into the village again. Though he himself was married to Rabri Devi at a very young age,Lalu adds that he is not advocating child marriage. He is only commenting on a sociological fact.

Timely presentation

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had a problem selecting the timing for presenting the state budget on Monday morning. Astrologers had warned that there was an inauspicious rahu kalam from 7.30 am to 9 am and the period from 10.30 am to noon was also unlucky. The astrologers felt the best timing for presenting the budget was exactly 10.24 am. The assembly Speaker and the Chief Minister met the governor to work out the details. The traffic police were instructed to ensure that the governor’s car had a smooth run to the Assembly and there were no traffic jams along the way which could delay the proceedings.

CM out of loop

Last month,Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to Mumbai to get inputs on Maharashtra’s Assembly and parliamentary constituencies. The district-level committees were called to discuss the key issues in the state along with elected representatives. However,Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,party general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Mohan Prakash and the state PCC chief were made to wait outside the meeting room and were not privy to the discussions.