I was continuing my usual complaint about the media and how India’s Jack Anderson — ‘‘Ruchi’’, the TV journalist who unmasked Shakti Kapoor — may be the journalist of the year when Mukul interrupted my ramblings.‘‘Everything has changed, so the media too has to look at things differently,’’ cut in Mukul.‘‘I know,’’ I agreed, ‘‘there was a time when wives kept a watch on their errant husbands, now husbands need to watch what their wives are doing.’’‘‘Why?’’ asked news-hungry Mukul, looking for another Karisma-Sanjay Kapur kind of scandal.‘‘Look at poor Chidambaram,’’ I moaned, ‘‘if he had kept a watch on his wife, she woudn’t have committed this indiscretion.’’‘‘You mean accepting the brief from the tax department?’’ asked Mukul.‘‘How can he be expected to know that his wife is representing the IT department,’’ I explained. ‘‘Should he be watching the economy or his wife?’’But Mukul didn’t agree. ‘‘When she received a brief from the CBDT she should have told her husband that she had been hired by the CBDT?’’ he said.‘‘Not necessarily, how much time does a busy minister spend with his wife these days,’’ I argued. ‘‘CBDT has already apologised, I’m sure Nalini Chidambaram would have also apologised.’’‘‘Perhaps she wants to, but what can she do if the minister is so busy?’’ Mukul retorted.‘‘Look, these things happen. This is a paltry Rs 1 lakh. Surely that’s chicken feed for them,’’ I pointed out.‘‘This is a simple case of impropriety,’’ thundered Mukul, like BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhotra. ‘‘If Chidambaram cannot even keep track of his wife’s movements he is unfit to be a minister. He should resign.’’‘‘When ministers take oath they swear allegiance to the Constitution, not their wives,’’ I began in a Chidambaram-like legal argument, ‘‘And even if they owe allegiance to their wives, they are not expected to be responsible for what their wives do. Don’t wives of ministers have their own status? Already women’s organisations, including those who specialise in crime against women, have come out in support of Nalini.’’‘‘Talking of agitations,’’ I continued, ‘‘the historic fight put up by South Delhi residents who refused to pay their power bills till the tariff was rolled back did not get the media attention it deserved.’’‘‘And the agitation was led by the modern day Nehru — Roshan Seth — launching a civil disobedience movement of ‘poor’ South Delhi residents,’’ claimed Mukul. ‘‘The third in history after Mahatma Gandhi and Jayprakash Narayan.’’‘‘For Swaraj?’’ I asked.‘‘No, for power,’’ was the reply. ‘‘Roshan Seth was prepared to be jailed and perhaps even fast in Tihar Jail. I think by rolling back the power tariff, Sheila Dikshit was heartless to millions of TV viewers in the rest of the country other than South Delhi who would have lapped it all up.’’‘‘Residents who saw Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi say Roshan Seth played his part in the South Delhi disobedience movement better than his role as Nehru in Gandhi,’’ added Mukul.‘‘The media is also missing out on the big conspiracy against Ganguly,’’ I pointed out, always a Ganguly supporter. ‘‘By making sure that he doesn’t score even against Zimbabwe, conspirators against Dada want him out of the team.’’‘‘The new rules recommended by Sunil Gavaskar allow for a twelfth player,’’ quipped Mukul, trying to be helpful. ‘‘Can he provide for a second captain who can’t find a place in the side on merit?’’
