The Union health ministry thought it could do one better than the ministry of external affairs and get a definite confirmation as to whether or not Carla Bruni was coming to India. The ministry asked the French medical advance team for a record of her health profile and blood group type on the plea that this is the customary drill for key members of Nicholas Sarkozy’s party. The woman doctor from France, however, gave away nothing with the non-committal response that “We will take care of it.” All that the ministry officials learnt is that the health-conscious Bruni is fond of vegetables and has a personal dietician.
Competing cuisines
Congress leaders hosted a series of lunches this month for the Delhi media, but the jury is still out as to who threw the best party. Sachin Pilot, who follows the tradition of his late father Rajesh Pilot in hosting a farmer’s lunch, had perhaps the most exclusive guest list with several senior editors present. However, Pilot’s rustic fare — dessert was a guava with a bit of jaggery — was overshadowed by Veerappa Moily and Jaipal Reddy, who had hired professional caterers and offered a huge spread of South Indian delicacies, including spicy prawn and fish curries. Moily, as head of the future challenges committee, scored a social coup with Rahul Gandhi showing up at his party. But there was such a scramble to speak to Gandhi that the garden party turned virtually into a press conference with guests pushing and jostling. Reddy may not have had such a high-profile guest at his do, but the general consensus was that he offered much better vegetarian fare, including neer dosa and pesarattu.
Kapil Sibal had hired two buses to transport journalists to his beautifully landscaped farm in Chhatarpur. Some guests complained about the distance and the lack of hard liquid refreshment, but there was an array of old Delhi chaat dishes to compensate. Meanwhile, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram broke with tradition and hosted a pre-budget lunch for financial journalists at his residence on pongal.
