Thus spake Sarojini Naidu
The resident of the house on the hill, the gent who’s our head of state, needed to get his driving license renewed. He got it into his head that he would do so like any other mortal in this country. So, he announced that he would go to the relevant office and stand in queue and get it done. Naturally, his staff got into a flap and went off to comb the place for security. When he arrived, the gent insisted on standing in line. His canny staff had already taken that into account, so they had a make-belief queue of policemen dressed in plain clothes at the ready. The policemen stood in line, poker-faced, with our head of state proudly lining up behind them, assuming he was standing with the awam. Anyway, his turn came, his documents were renewed, the officials asked for a medical test and the gent’s doctor was sent for. Finally, the pantomime came to an end and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. This is a reminder of a page from history. Back in the day, before the Partition, the great freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu used to say of Mahatma Gandhi, when he insisted on travelling Third Class by the Royal Indian Railways, that “it costs us a lot to keep Gandhiji in poverty!”
With great ease
An Afghan gem dealer, who brings Panjshir emeralds to Pakistan, revealed that he and his Afghan-Pakhtun relatives, all 180 of them, crossed the border with ease earlier this month. It cost them a mere Rs 4000 – for the whole party – to come and attend a wedding in our neck of the woods. The gem dealer said there was no particular frisking or searching by the border guards. The dealer also informed our mole that when Afghan-Pakhtuns come and go as individuals, they pay Rs 50 per visit to border officials and cross the line at will. So much for security!