Poker-faced
Observers say The Man of Steel is usually poker-faced and does not easily give away what he’s thinking. But on one occasion a couple of months ago, The Man broke his reserve and burst out laughing. This happened when he had a run-in with a former spouse of The Great Khan, the one with whom The Khan recently parted company. The talk had turned to the need to replace the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and possible candidates for the post. We hear The Khan’s former spouse volunteered herself for the post and told The Man of Steel that no one knew our western Frontier as well as she did. At this, The Man couldn’t keep a straight face and burst out laughing.
Expletives deleted
There is a background to the now-famous slanging match between two leaders of The Great Khan’s horde. Tensions had been brewing for months, ever since the gent from Scotland joined The Khan’s group, having parted ways with The Brothers Sharifov, and resolved to create his own clique within. Since like attracts like, he gravitated towards the party’s rich and famous, deepening divides that already existed. It’s a reflection on The Great Khan’s leadership that he was unable to stop this downwards slide towards open discord. Matters came to a head at a recent meeting of the high command over dinner in Isloo, but the first public spat took place in Lahore where the two rivals had a heated exchange. To his credit we hear, SMQ did not descend to abusive language, stopping at calling his rival an “opportunist” but our mole says the Scotsman left no holes barred. He hurled invective, which left the assembled crowd red-faced.
Grand Old Lady
Discord seems to be pervasive these days, and rumour had it that the ruling family was no exception. We hear, however, that whatever problems there were have been mediated by the Grand Old Lady who now presides over her family, in place of her late husband. It is said that she brought her two sons’ offspring together and restored amity.