Skip to main content

For former Prime Minister V P Singh, I was a mysterious man


V P Singh’s gaze was fixed on my writing pad. I was scribbling furiously. He grew curious. 


I could make this out from the corner of my eye. I ignored it because I was busy. Too busy to even spare him a second to look at him sitting right in front of me in a chair and keenly observing me. There were other top leaders of various political parties who had gathered in the house of N T Rama Rao at Abids in Hyderabad. NTR, the leader of TDP was the president of the National Front, a group of political parties which came together as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

The room on the ground floor was packed. There were leaders and a motely group of reporters. This probably was in 1990. I could not find a chair in the room. That did not matter. I saw the centre table in the room could serve my purpose of placing my writing pad on it. I sat on the floor and went about scribbling non-stop as the leaders spoke to the media.

I could not afford to miss a single point of what they were saying. So, even looking at them as they spoke was not important for me. Only what they said was. V P Singh had been Prime Minister having donned the mantle under dramatic circumstances. N T Rama Rao too had made a dramatic entry into politics and had been chief minister. Prafulla Kumar Mohanta, the student leader-turned-politician was the chief minister of Assam. He was there too.

Then what was V P Singh doing looking at me and peering to have a glance at the notes I was taking? I was aware he was doing that. I felt it was not my business to ask him about his unusual behaviour. Nevertheless, it was nagging me. But it was nagging him more. Finally, inquisitiveness got the better of him.

“Can you read what you are writing?” V P Singh asked me, suddenly. One of the political leaders who was speaking at that time stopped to understand what was happening. All the leaders too glanced toward my notepad. They understood what had made V P Singh so curious. He was justified, in seeking the answer for the big question that was troubling him.

There were smiles all around. So, this is what was bothering V P Singh. So, it was for this reason that he kept looking at me and my notes.

“I can understand what I write,” I told him with a smile escaping my lips even as the others also found my handwriting to be too crooked for anyone to even attempt to decipher. V P Singh was not satisfied with my answer. I had to read a sentence to convince him that my handwriting was legible at least for me, if not for others.

Over the years, let me say decades, my handwriting has got better –  or more worse - for any else to read or understand.

(Pic: Google images of a previous meeting between the leaders in Delhi in 1989)

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 2, 2022 at 7:03 PM

    “Can you read what you are writing?” V P Singh asked me, suddenly. The turning point in the story😁

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When YSR said to me, "Rao garu, I'll tell you a family secret".

“Did you discuss with your wife about your intention to undertake an indefinite fast?” I asked Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. This was in the year 2000 when he was CLP leader. He and Congress MLAs made a swift move and sat on protest at old MLA quarters, against the power purchase agreements that the then N Chandrababu Naidu government had signed with some companies. I went to the place the following day again and sat with YSR for a while, as he explained to me why they were forced to take to such a form of protest. The MLAs also had no idea he would announce an indefinite fast. And then I asked him about whether he consulted his wife on undertaking the indefinite fast. “Let me tell you something,” he said. “I did not have to consult my wife on undertaking the fast, but I did inform her. She is concerned about my health. But now even I am concerned about her. Because I am on a fast, she too is not eating at home and is fasting,” YSR told me. That was the bond the husband-wife s...
2 comments
Read more

Jamuna was a strong-willed woman. Beautiful. And Courageous. I recall a conversation I had with her.

Jamuna was a strong-willed woman. Beautiful. And Courageous. I recall a conversation I had with her. When I went to her house at Banjara Hills – this was more than two decades ago – I could hear some commotion. I was at the gate, wondering whether I should enter or not, though she had asked me to come over for an interview. I stood at the gate for a couple of minutes. It was a hard decision to take. Was I there at the wrong time? I could hear shouts and shrieks. I chose to take a few steps back. A well-known actress, Jamuna was not just known for her sterling performances in her films. To borrow Christopher Marlowe’s description of ‘Helen of Troy’, Jamuna’s face could launch a thousand ships. She had done films with the reigning heroes of her time – N T Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageshwara Rao. When she was 16 years old, Jamuna made her screen debut with the film ‘Puttillu’ in 1953. Wikipedia which mentions that she was active in acting in films till 1983. Back to Jamuna’s house. I ran...
Post a Comment
Read more

Silk Smitha gave me a glimpse into her mind

“Turn the fan towards us,” she said as she sat on her chair with me beside her. I’d been waiting for her to finish the shot and she was also aware that I’d come. I had met her the previous day at Sarathi Studios at Ameerpet. She was shooting for song in a film. “It’s a tight schedule today. Can we meet tomorrow again for a more leisurely talk?” She said it with a smile. Polite. Her disposition was impression. Silk Smitha was well mannered. I’d always wondered if she indeed had than so child-like voice that one got to watch in her movies. Was that voice ‘made-up’ to sound teasing? I’d wondered about that. So that one thing was clarified with the very first meeting. The next day took too long to come. Or so I felt. I had many questions to ask Silk Smitha. Very, many, clarifications to seek. To know her story. How she became, where she had come up. But would I get to sit with her with as much ‘leisure’ as she had promised knowing well that she would be at work shooting? Or would she...
8 comments
Read more