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Email: [email protected] [email protected] Gulf Daily News
Thursday, 22nd April 2010
In association with
The first dedicated Interiors, Design and Furniture Show for the Northern Gulf
VISIT
4th – 6th May 2010Opening Times:
10am - 1:30pm; 4pm - 8pm
Hall 2, Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre
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For the love of the game...A scandal this romantic has not hit the Indian political scene for a
long time, and despite his diplomatic best the freshly resigned, rather forced to resign, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor still looks the tragic hero of a mature Love Story 2010.
How else can one explain his ‘sacrifice’ of such a lofty position for Dubai- based businesswoman Sunanda Pushkar, a ‘close friend’ – some senior journalists even refer to her as Mr Tharoor’s “girlfriend” – and her giving up a stake in the most expensive cricket extravaganza,
the Indian Premier League (IPL), to help him retain the very post he gave up!
Sounds something like O’Henry’s famous short story, The Gift of the Magi, about a young and madly in love couple with very little money. In this story, Della buys Jim a classy fob for his prized pocket watch given him by his grandfather after selling her long, beautiful hair to a wig maker.
Meanwhile, Jim sells his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of expensive combs for her lovely,
knee-length brown hair. Both gifts become useless, while their love for each other grows stronger.
The love story apart, even assuming the real life couple here share a special relationship, it still doesn’t explain why Mr Tharoor had to quit his ministerial post on “moral grounds” following demands by politicians, most of whom are accused of massacres
and scams worth many millions of Indian rupees! Narendra Modi, L K Advani, Lalu Prasad Yadav,
Shibu Soren, Mayavati, to name a few.This is the saddest truth about Indian politics. We still do not deserve intelligent
politicians, or so we believe. We are still only qualified to have crooks and street smarts for leaders. Really? As they say every country gets the
leaders it deserves.The investment scam
revealed by the IPL is surely only the tip of an iceberg.
At the risk of being overly clichéd, let me add that it has just opened a can of worms, and a Pandora’s Box for the IPL.
Also the stakes of the Kochi team (“owned” by Ms Pushkar) were exposed while covering up details of ownership of the rest of the teams by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi himself and that, too, on Twitter, Mr Tharoor’s favourite cyber playing ground. This is intriguing.
Now, with income tax department raids and investigations, headed by none other than the central finance minister himself, hopefully we will know the full truth.
Whether it was a case of the inexperienced politician not being able to “do it”, what majority of Indian politicians do – influence – without being “caught”, as a news channel put it, or if he has been trapped by vested interests, only the probe will reveal.
All Mr Tharoor’s fans can do
at the moment is hope the political weather will clear for him and his career will resume, even at state level.
As he appeared again in front of an uncharacteristically quiet parliament after his resignation, he touched a chord with every right-thinking Indian, particularly from his home state of Kerala, for he appeared like a lost child, teary and vulnerable.
And of course, millions now hope to also see the disgusting “other individual”, as some of Mr Tharoor’s young supporters refer to Mr Modi on their Internet blogs, dethroned from the IPL pedestal.
And then there will be quite a few loud cheers, albeit not accompanied by the very “expressive” cheer leaders who have fielded international excitement among domestic crowds at IPL matches.
As for those who are worried about whether the couple should tie the knot now that the naughty “affair” has turned knotty, love at times takes a long and winding route for some.
Don’t believe me, brush up on your Thomas Hardy!
ANOTHERVIEW...
By MANDEEP SINGH
ANOTHERVIEW...
n A ceremony to mark the 64th Syrian Arab Republic National Day was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel. Syrian Ambassador Suleiman Sarra hosted the invitation-only event, which was attended by diplomats, ministers, dignitaries, the business community and members of the Press. The Syrian Arab Republic National Day is marked annually on April 17. Above,
Mr Sarra, left, with officials and guests at the event.
n A charity paintathon was held by Studio Ceramics, off the Budaiya Highway. The two-day event was part of support for Bahrain resident Maria Stasi, who will be running the London Marathon on Sunday, as well as for the London-based CLIC Sargent caring for children and young people with cancer. Participants were invited to paint a tile at a suggested donation of BD6 per tile. For more details contact 17599026. Above, painted tiles in support of charity and, top, some of the
participants at the event.
