Au revoir?
Is the Doc, who’s on loan to us from the Bank of the World, getting ready to say au revoir? It certainly seemed like that at a recent meeting he held with scores of Pakistan’s most prominent businessmen. A participant told us that the Doc related the saga of how he was induced to join The Great Khan’s horde back in the day. He recalled that he was comfortably ensconced in the Emirate when he got a call from The Khan. “You have to come and help me”, he is supposed to have said to the Doc. The Doc, ever the patriot and ready to come to the country’s rescue, rushed over to meet The Khan in our capital city. The Doc dilated on that first meeting and revealed that The Khan said in a moment of vulnerability, “I don’t know anything about the economy”. The Doc says he didn’t believe him but that he learnt very quickly afterwards that it was indeed true. The Doc told the assembled businessmen that The Great Khan doesn’t read any briefs he sends him. Apparently, he comes to meetings unprepared and gets everyone to say their piece. When it comes to his turn, he either passes the buck or reacts on gut feeling. He always says he can’t be bothered with “detail”.
Patwari’s patronage
An august member of the ruling clique at Takht Lahore, having been elected from the garrison city, was recently discovered to be receiving a hefty daily pay off from his local patwari. When confronted with this fact, he said without batting an eyelid that he couldn’t help it because he had no personal income, other than his “meager salaries” from the House and his Ministry. He said he was forever attending weddings and funerals and everywhere he went, the expectation was that he would fork out various amounts of cash. What could he do, he asked his inquisitor, but to avail of the Patwari’s patronage?
Trust deficit
We hear The Man of Steel has been receiving missives from those who matter, regarding his strident tone and aggressive message. “They” are asking The Man to “tone it down please”, and have conceded that they are ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue. Rumour has it that The Man of Steel refuses to communicate personally and has told his interlocutor that there has been “a total loss of faith” and given “the trust deficit”, there is no point in talking.
Meanwhile, reliable sources confirm that Al-King and Al-Brince are in communication with The Man of Steel, and that those who preside over the Emirates have had “fruitful” meetings with The Man in Her Majesty’s realm.
