A Miraculous Escape: NDTV At Ground Zero

By Sanjay Pinto

NDTV was among the first few television crews to reach the Gemini flyover - the site of the accident, as we jumped out of our cars due to the maze of traffic and sprinted to the spot. My first impression on seeing the tell tale signs - the Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bus lying on its side, after smashing through the wall of the flyover and hurtling down from a height of about 12 feet, was that this was a tragedy.

If doctors are to be believed, the injuries sustained by the 30 passengers are "simple". Now that is a miraculous escape. Buses have no seat belts. One would have imagined that people would have suffered fractures and God forbid, head injuries too.

 Secondly, having occured not during rush hour but at a lean traffic period, there were no vehicles passing at the spot below where the bus toppled over.

The diesel in the bus was drained out quickly to avert a possible explosion, what with the sea of curious onlookers who had gathered for a dose of disaster tourism.

I witnessed the Chennai Police Commissioner J.K. Tripathy leading from the front and along with his team at the spot as well as Fire and Rescue service officials, taking control of the situation; rushing the injured to hospital and dispersing the crowd. The golden hour in an emergency is crucial. That was not lost. Just one reason why this accident didn't become a tragedy.
 

DMK's Unity In Adversity?

By Sanjay Pinto

It's a hectic time ahead for DMK patriarch M.Karunanidhi. A feast and welcome for the UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee in Chennai on Saturday will be followed by the party's 'jail bharo' agitation on the 4th of next month. The protest to condemn the AIADMK Govt's alleged vindictive police action against former DMK Ministers, Karunanidhi feels, may unite the warring factions in the party. In his daily column to his party workers, the former Tamilnadu Chief Minister has exuded confidence that the event will make leaders "sink their differences" and unite against the common enemy. But is this wishful thinking or posturing? Or plain bravado? 

Just recently, Karunanidhi made his intention to contest the next DMK poll for the top job with a "if I am alive" rider. That was seen as a strategy to put the succession debate on the backburner yet again. And leave his younger son M.K.Stalin in the same position - a 'Prince In Waiting' for far too long. Insiders reveal that when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav was made the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh a few months ago, it gave Stalin's supporters fresh ammunition to revive the debate.  

The Stalin-Alagiri rivalry is not new and can hardly be swept under the carpet. But Karunanidhi is right when he indicates that mass protests by the party tend to unite the factions. We saw that post his sensational midnight arrest in June, 2001. Unity in adversity has almost become an unofficial credo of the DMK. How long will it last? That's the question. 

When the present Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had addressed a massive rally in Madurai, better known as Alagiri's territory, her punchline: "Stalin needs a visa to visit Madurai" was understandably headlined by most newspapers and TV channels. 

The murderous attack on the office of the Maran owned Dinakaran newspaper in Madurai in 2007 - a fallout of a controversial survey on Karunanidhi's possible successor that showed Alagiri with minimal support, was one of the most ugly public spectacles of a family feud. 

More recently, when Alagiri was away in China, Stalin chose to cross the Great Wall Of Madurai! But as pictures of the 'Braveheart' (as Alagiri is called by his followers) were conspicuous by their absence on posters, his key aides boycotted a Youth Wing office bearers session and a public meeting addressed by the 'Commander' (as Stalin is called by his men). About 17 of them were prompty served show cause notices; enough to ruffle Alagiri's feathers, who on his return, prevailed upon his father to revoke them. 

Although Alagiri is a Union Minister, Stalin decided to add fertilizers to his brand image on a national canvas by making courtesy calls on the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. Not to forget even calling on the 2G tainted A.Raja at his residence in the capital after he was out on bail.  

Tamilnadu may well continue to witness a see saw sort of battle of one upmanship between the two brothers. On more than one occasion, Alagiri had made it clear that in the event of a race for the top job, he would throw his hat in the ring. For the time being, however, there could be a convenient ceasefire; a well publicised truce, quite like what we saw before the Sankarankovil by election. For the DMK, a war of succession is something the party can ill afford. An ideal scenario would be for the 'Commander' and the 'Braveheart' to function like the catchphrase they had coined before the assembly election - a double barrel gun. As long as it doesn't misfire.

Social Networking Vs Social Engineering

By Sanjay Pinto

 “Let Me Be Me.” That’s how a young friend recently  tried reasoning with her parents who asked her to either ‘censor’ her facebook content or deactivate her account. Why? Because they had just launched their daughter dear in the marriage market. The vivacious  twenty  four year old corporate executive has been a regular face on the party circuit  with loads of pictures shared on her wall and separate albums. The diktat meant no mini skirts  ‘on record’ and worse, rationing of male friends online! And there’s  a  supposed  reason for the hypocrisy – ‘How can you pose for your prospective in laws in your party wear?’ The shocked girl could have merely tinkered with her privacy settings but chose to give up and delete her account.

Coincidentally, the same week, I came across another instance of  stone age logic. A close relative who had marriage alliance offers from many a suitable boy was stunned out of her wits when the families of some of the aspiring  grooms looked up her facebook profile and sniffed out her brother in law’s wall posts about a particular religious festival.  That her elder sister had married out of the religion was unashamedly cited as  a ground for disqualification. To put it bluntly, an inter-religious love marriage was construed as a not so favourable character certificate for the family. The girl’s mother has now altered the profile with a caveat to keep bigots at bay.

Notice that these ‘rules’ are not gender neutral? It’s an extension of those chauvinistic advertisements that seek ‘fair, slim, beautiful, educated, talented girls’ for a boy who may well look like the back of a bus, smokes like a chimney and drinks till the cows come home. And how can I forget, who also specialises in hiding behind mama’s apron as his folks ring the auction bell.

From their very inception, social networking sites have been synonymous with social engineering. Privacy has not been a major concern for many youngsters. After all, how many users change their passwords periodically or disable wall posts or control who can see their updates or albums? But when a sizeable chunk of elders insist on matrimonial advertisements  carrying links to not just  linkedin  but  facebook  as well; that’s if they don’t hire detectives for social media snooping, it’s time for right thinking, liberal, independent minded facebookers to stop giving in to these regressive  antics. There’s a little bit of ‘Dhoble’ in many people! And it must be snuffed out.

A positive new beginning was made on Sunday by a regional  political  outfit in Tamilnadu that ironically was in the forefront of moral policing in the not too distant past. Recognising the power and reach of the social media, the party organised a full day workshop on the subject for its members,  inviting among others, an academician from a foreign university. The exercise was enough to whet their appetite for more. So in the next few weeks, a full fledged  training programme is being  organised for the party by a well known online messiah. Change seems the only constant.

Talking of  politicians hopping on to the social media bandwagon,  what about  Mamata Banerjee making her debut on facebook with a sales pitch for Abdul Kalam?  Trinamool spokesperson and quiz master Derek O’Brien apparently asked Didi all the right questions and pitched in with answers too. Although Kalam chose to pass the offer, the new entrant seems poised to put her new find to good use. So the next time the mercurial West Bengal Chief Minister walks out of an interview, just check her facebook wall! Because the game may not be over!

Coming Soon: A Red 'Litter' Day!

By Sanjay Pinto

How often have we all strictly adhered to the 'no littering garbage in public' rule in countries like Singapore during our travel on holidays; and then on landing back in Chennai, not batting an eyelid before letting go of that toffee wrapper on the road? 

On Tuesday, when the Chennai Corporation moves a resolution to hike the fine for littering garbage from a hundred rupees to five hundred rupees, the city's civic body hopes to inch closer to its counterparts in Singapore and London, where fines for such offences are pretty stiff. But just how close are we to these countries in levying fines? Let's look at the comparison purely for academic interest. In Singapore, the fine is about three hundred dollars; about thirteen thousand Indian rupees. The average monthly salary of a middle class Singapore citizen is about  two thousand five hundred dollars; a lakh Indian rupees. So it works out to roughly ten per cent of your income for your lack of civic consciousness. In London, the fine is about a hundred pounds; or about eight thousand Indian rupees. The average monthly income of a middle class citizen there is about two thousand pounds; about a lakh and a half Indian rupees. So the litterbugs would be poorer by about five percent of their monthly take home. In India, if a middle class person earns about twenty five thousand a month, the punishment will be two and a half per cent of the salary. And if you go by Montek's  revised thirty eight rupee a day yardstick of poverty, then the poor man will not be able to afford the fine. 

Now compare the fines for traffic offences with the new proposal to haul up those littering garbage. Five hundred rupees for driving without a licence, four hundred rupees for overspeeding; for the first time, and three hundred rupees for not wearing a helmet, if it's a repeat violation.  

No matter how much you earn, by Indian standards, five hundred rupees for littering does come across as a heavy penalty. When petrol prices are hiked by a few rupees, just see how many swanky cars make a beeline to tank up before midnight to save less than five hundred rupees! But that is not the point. The point here is: will a fine be an effective deterrent? Let me go back to traffic offences. In the last five months, this year, the Chennai Traffic Police collected over eighty six lakh rupees as fines for overspeeding. Over twenty thousand motorists paid up. Has over speeding come down in the city? Are all two wheeler riders wearing helmets? Do you see more helmets on the heads of riders  or on the petrol tanks? You don't need an Anna Hazare to explain this. If those who are meant to collect fines are inclined to pocket smaller amounts as bribes instead, what will an offender, in this age of inflation, prefer? That's a no brainer. 

Four years ago, when littering garbage was made an offence punishable with a hundred rupee fine, there were apprehensions about whether it would serve as a deterrent. There was the initial knee jerk reaction - two thousand five hundred people fined for littering garbage and dumping debris in the first fortnight in 2008. For the whole of last year, a little over two thousand people were fined! See how the drive lost steam! On the ground, it has been as ineffective as the ban on smoking in public places, which just went up in smoke. Two hundred rupees for smoking was almost the same amount  chain smokers would shell out for their quotidian puffs! 

To be fair to the average Chennaiite, how many dust bins do we have in the city? What is the average distance between dustbins? A hundred metres? No way! So isn't the civic body equally liable for littering garbage? And what is the fine for not clearing garbage from bins? For garbage lorries strewing filth along the route, like confetti?! (Garbage collection or distribution?!) For Corporation storm water drain contractors digging outside your gate and leaving heaps of soil and stones preventing you from taking your vehicles out for an average of at least a month in each area?
So will the five hundred rupee note trick work? Rubbish!
 

The Lotus & The Two Leaves

By Sanjay Pinto

It was meant to be a routine meeting. But against the backdrop of the Mamata - Mulayam bombshell, today's meeting between Jayalalithaa and L.K.Advani assumes political significance.

With Abdul Kalam's name cropping up again, will the two leaders decide to back him? Kalam was the NDA candidate in 2002. And Jayalalithaa extended her support to the missile man from Tamilnadu for a second term in 2007 but as he wasn't a consensus candidate, he opted out of the race for a second innings at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Having projected P.A.Sangma as her Presidential candidate, will the Tamilnadu Chief Minister make Kalam her second choice?

What's more, with the Congress taking 18 hours to categorically state that Manmohan Singh will be the PM till 2014 (should the UPA last till then) the BJP is bound to make full political capital out of this embarrassment. Jayalalithaa who has been critical of the Centre, having gone on record to say that there is "no governance at all and the country is drifting", is also expected to fire a few more salvos at the Congress. After all, she has all along accused the Centre of meting out step motherly treatment to her Govt;  and indeed all non Congress ruled or UPA ally ruled States.

The Presidential election aside, will the AIADMK and the BJP use the present scenario as a trailer to the main show in 2014? That's the moot point.

A Tale Of Two Allies

By Sanjay Pinto

Mamata Banerjee's googly bowled to the Congress may well be a beamer too. But it may have the DMK trumpeting its reliability as an ally in the UPA. "Bitterly" reliable, after Karunanidhi's recent posturing during the petrol price hike demo in Chennai that his party is continuing in the alliance with "bitterness". The latest political bombshell by the Trinamool that is being interpreted as an ally's vote of 'no confidence' in Manmohan Singh as an occupant of 7 Race Course Road and it's public suggestion that he be kicked upstairs to Rashtrapati Bhavan instead, has underscored an interesting tale of two allies. What a contrast between the Trinamool and the DMK; the DMK post 2G. One can flex its political muscle, the other just play along. 

Mamata can come out of a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, go into a huddle with the man, kept as a standby, in case she plugs the plug, announce a new set of names of Presidential candidates, that includes the present Prime Minister and reject both the Congress' choices. Karunanidhi will go with what 10 Janpath decides. 

Mamata can change the Railway Minister. Karunanidhi prefers not to even talk about filling in 2 vacancies created by the resignation of A.Raja and Dayanidhi Maran. 

Mamata can have budgetary provisions rolled back. Karunanidhi will roll back his own veiled threat of a pull out over the petrol hike, in an hour. 

At one level, Karunanidhi has always had high regard for manmohan Singh's leadership. Remember, in 2004, it was Manmohan who first broke bread with the DMK resulting in the sealing of a historic alliance with the party, more than a decade after the Rajiv assassination. Karunanidhi also enjoys a good rapport with the PM. 

The DMK of 2012 is not the DMK of 2004, when it managed a hard bargain on both Cabinet representation and choice of portfolios. Not because the alliance under its captaincy won all the 39 seats in 2004 and the rainbow coalition's tally went down by about 9 seats in 2009. The 2G case that has seen Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and A.Raja as accused, has left the party in a bind. It can ill afford to be an aggressive ally, at least at this juncture. 

And if the Mamata-Mulayam list is to be considered, the DMK may end up backing Kalam. One, he is from Tamilnadu. Two, he is from the minority community. What's interesting is that before the last Presidential election, Jayalalithaa had earlier cobbled together like minded parties like the TDP and the Left and had backed Abdul Kalam for a second term. So although Sangma is the AIADMK's  candidate now, if push comes to a shove, both Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa may end up on the same page!

DOES A CROWD REFLECT POPULARITY?

By Sanjay Pinto

I have always felt that if Steven Spielberg were to make a film on India’s scams, he could jolly well call it ‘Swindlers List’!  And If a crowd is construed as a barometer of popularity, then the most infamous personalities would be darlings of the masses.

We must understand and accept the fact that most mass gatherings  captured by the media whenever   scam tainted politicians or  champion sportspersons  or  movie stars make their appearances  at airports or theatres or just about any public space, there are two driving forces at play. Money and publicity.

So when A.Raja descended at the Chennai Airport or at  his constituency in Nilgiris, the rousing welcome was a result of, at one level, a degree of sycophancy; and on the other, loosening purse strings.

All that it takes to mobilise a crowd today  is money or booze or biriyani.  Or all the above.  Special vehicles are arranged to rustle up people  in droves. If the road shows resemble an election campaign, we are entitled to ask: Where does all the money come from? As for  the rationale, it’s simple. Public figures  seem to be under a huge misconception that there is strength in numbers; that a massive crowd symbolises mass appeal and popular support. How ridiculous can this line of thinking be.  Election after election in this country has proved that a crowd does not always translate into votes. Political party leaders often forget that people can easily see through gimmicks and stage managed ‘support’. And those who engineer these shows also incur the risk of rubbing bigger fish in their respective parties who may feel insecure by their ‘rise’ and  ‘popularity in adversity’! A crowd may just mean the self styled 'hero' has a lot of disposable cash.

If anything, such meaningless posturing only inconveniences the common man.  And that ought to have been the main story for the media. How many passengers were delayed at the airport when  bigwigs out on bail arrive?  How many motorists are forced to waste costly petrol in the resultant traffic jams? How many ambulances are stuck because of these silly ‘victory parades’? Why do we chase leaders who are not even acquitted but merely out on conditional bail? If you want an honest answer, here it is: Because the other channel or newspaper may headline it. Copy cat journalism is well and truly here to stay.

Yes, it is interesting to draw comparisons between the crowd Raja got and the number of people for Viswanathan Anand’s arrival after retaining his world chess title for the fifth time. Everybody loves and admires Anand. Even those who don’t understand or play the game, look up to him for his simplicity. To be absolutely dispassionate, even for Anand, you do need to rope in a captive group of school children who will be invariably instructed to land up in their school uniforms and hold placards in which the school name will be bigger than the message on them! Office bearers of sports bodies will cart along monstrous garlands that could well fracture the neck of the recipient and which require at least 3 people to hold when it is presented! And they then pose for that Kodak moment.

Publicity tastes as good as bulk biriyani, doesn’t it? Minus the cameras, how many people will turn up? There will undoubtedly be a few genuine well wishers but not enough to block the entrances of Airports and make the man or woman of the moment almost catapulted out, reminding one of scenes of the Jallikattu in Alanganallur! What a circus! Pass me a crocin, please.

The Rules Of Engagement

By Sanjay Pinto

The more things change, the more they remain the same. My tryst with journalism began with the ‘Letters To The Editor’ column when I was in school. As a compulsive contributor and an avid observer of this space, I seldom came across people in public life responding to genuine  grievances or  outpouring of angst or even an interesting point of view expressed by those who elect them.  Two decades on, the platforms for those in power to interact with the common man have obviously multiplied. The social media, barring the venomous fringes, is  a fairly reliable barometer of  at least urban sentiment. But does  the political class deign to engage with them?  

I  did a dipstick survey with a band of  social media savvy youngsters.  To my poser on how many of our leaders  who are active on the social media come to mind, many mentioned Chief Ministers Narendra Modi and Omar Abdullah, the Prime Minister’s Office, Former Union Minister   Shashi Tharoor (who can sadly attribute the ‘former’ to his cattle class tweet!) Sushma Swaraj,  Digvijay Singh, Milind Deora, Derek O’Brien and Karti P.Chidambaram on twitter, Dayanidhi Maran on Facebook  and senior leaders like L.K.Advani  in the blogosphere. A few names that turned out to be fake profiles put up by  sycophant followers can be given a tolerant pass. 

At the time of writing this column, Narendra Modi has 1193 tweets, 6.81 lakh followers and is following 234 others. Sushma Swaraj has tweeted 2002 times, has 2.59 lakh followers but follows no one. Digvijay Singh has 95 tweets under his belt, 4976 followers and follows a dozen people. Shashi Tharoor has tweeted 10,773 times, boasts of 13.6 lakh followers and follows 244 handles. Derek O'Brien  seems to have tweeted the most - 14,717 posts (many presumably on the cartoon row) has 76,549 followers and follows 74 accounts. The politician whose social media interaction comes across as the most vibrant is the Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. His 4968 tweets are admittedly his own views "but sometimes the line blurs!" Taste a sample. @gautamsatpathy tweets "Srinagar driver blackmailing for additional 2000 rupees for airport after full payment yesterday! State of cheats!" Omar Abdullah replies: "I'm very sorry to hear that. I have been warning against this but there are bad apples in every lot but still inexcusable." And the J&K CM adds: " I'm sorry, sir. We are NOT a State of cheats any more than India is a country of thieves or snake charmers." 

Imagine every Chief Minister earmarking a few minutes every day to interact with citizens on the social media! Today, that seems more than wishful thinking. If they really want to gauge public opinion, this is the space to do it. The steepest petrol hike in the decade had its play on twitter and facebook. As did the  unprecedented petrol scarcity for almost 4 days in Chennai.  Why didn't any leader pay attention to this chorus? Profit making oil companies can flex their financial muscle with front page semantics on under recoveries vis a vis losses. The social media can also emerge as the poor man's outlet that even intelligence agencies can use to base their reports.The adulatory tweets on Viswanathan Anand and the related  demand for a Bharat Ratna for the World Chess Champion could well give the political establishment a sense of the mood of the nation.  

How palatable will the ‘Rules Of Engagement’ in the social media be for politicians, some of whom cannot stomach even remotely inconvenient questions from the mainstream media? The other day, in response to a tweet on how much cash strapped West Bengal had spent on the victory parade of the Kolkatta Knight Riders, a person shot back: "How will that information help you? Even if you sell your family can you make that money? Shut up, you fxxxxxxx idiot." A classic instance of misuse that could put off a public figure from hopping on. But despite this danger, our film stars are active on twitter, with fans hanging on to their every tweet. Don’t forget bureaucrats. It was touching to read a wall post on facebook by IAS officer Santhosh Babu about a call he received from a girl whom he had rescued from a home. She had scored a distinction in her class 10 exam, thanks to his 'back to school' initiative when he was the Collector of Krishnagiri. Don't we all love to read such inspirational stories?

Five Reasons Why Raja Is A VIP In The DMK

By Sanjay Pinto

It happens only in India. A politician accused in one of the country's biggest corruption scandals in post independent history, gets a rousing welcome on his release on bail and arrival in his home State. The scale of the celebration perhaps much more than even what a Viswanathan Anand got after winning his fifth world chess title! Is this part of the dravidian larger than life political culture or quite simple a matter of political expediency?

Andimuthu Raja, who waited for every other accused person in the 2G case to leave Tihar jail, before applying for bail, is an important player in the DMK. 

As a prime accused, observers believe that  the party boss does need to keep him in good humour to obviate any adverse legal backlash for his daughter Kanimozhi, a co accused in the same case.
 Raja belongs to the powerful Dalit community; which commands more than 15% of the vote share in Tamilnadu. Karunanidhi initially kept harping on the caste factor when the scam first came to light, suggesting that Raja was targetted because of a caste bias. 

Raja has always been a blue eyed boy of the DMK patriarch. For many years, he quite literally lent a shoulder to Karunanidhi to move along! 

As  the Propoganda Secretary of the party, Raja has been part of the DMK's electoral think tank and was instrumental in devising its strategy in seats that were considered dicey. 

And finally, the lawyer turned Nilgiris MP has built quite a rapport in his home town and emerged as a Perambalur strongman. 

Now you know why the DMK needs Raja more than he needs the party!

The Impact Of Election Petitions

By Sanjay Pinto

Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram is back in the news. This time it's not over the 2G case but about an election petition filed against him by his rival candidate Raja Kanappan in Sivaganga. Chidambaram was declared the winner by a narrow margin after a recount in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. The Madras High Court today rejected Chidambaram's petition to quash the case, effectively kickstarting trial. This has open the floodgates for demands for his resignation from opposition parties.

Chidambaram who is a lawyer must be aware that this challenge is not as serious as the 2G accusations. Over a 100 election petitions have been filed against members of the 15th Lok Sabha.
I've seen that election petitions take several years to be decided and are invariably disposed off as "infructuous" as by the time the judgment is delivered, the candidate's term would have ended! This has been a regular pattern with regard to election petitions. The Representation Of People Act  may have prescribed a 6 month time frame for such cases to be disposed off but that is seldom ever implemented.

An elected representative who faces such a legal challenge has an option to file a preliminary objection and a 'strike off' petition. In Chidambaram's case, both these petitions have been dismissed. Many years ago, Chinnaswamy of the AIADMK from Karur faced a slightly similar situation. He overcame the challenge by having the trial stayed by the Supreme Court. Chidambaram too can exercise that option.

Even if trial goes on, the case will run its course for who knows how long. Will a verdict come out before his term ends in 2014? That's the big question.
 

Viswanathan Anand: From My School Diary

By Sanjay Pinto

It’s quite a feeling  to  have something in common with Viswanathan Anand.  I do. Not that I know much about chess. But  Vishy, as we affectionately call him, was my school mate at Don Bosco, Egmore.  A senior who has been most appropriately held up as  a role model  for every new batch of students; year after year, with every new title he would win and defend. And it’s not  just for his incredible feats but for the sort of  person that he is. 

Vishy belongs to the `87 batch of Don Bosco; four years my senior.  We didn’t get to see much of him, except during exams as he used to travel extensively. The school was admittedly  a big support and would not merely give him attendance but also re-schedule exams for him.  One of  our  teachers and former  Asst.Headmaster  Michael  Sundar  often recalls how “Vishy would never take privileges for granted. If he missed classes, he would work overtime to complete his notes and homework.” That’s bang on.  Which is why not a single student ever grudged those special allowances made for the chess champion.

I do faintly remember an incident while playing the DB patented sport – crocker (half cricket, half baseball, with a half out!) A juicy full toss on my leg stump was way too tempting to resist pulling over mid wicket. The ball landed on Vishy’s bench and missed his lunch box full of curd rice by a whisker. I was ordered by the bowler to get the ball back. With considerable trepidation, I walked up to Vishy and even before I could apologise, he gave me the ball and said: “Hey nice shot. Sorry you missed a four because of me.” He obviously didn’t know my name but we all knew him – as a world chess champion. And yes,  a wonderful human being.

For a school that was better known for State ranks and centums, cricket and table tennis, to make a mark  in a relatively less glamorous sport like chess, called for nothing short of world class standards.  Just into his teens, Vishy was World No.3 in the sub junior category. Well before the newspapers had pictures of the State Toppers in the Class 10 exam, Vishy made headlines as the Govt Of India  had decided to honour this 15 year old student with the Arjuna award for being an ‘Outstanding Sportsperson’. 

The laurels kept flowing in and no quiz  competition was ever complete without a question or two on Vishy’s latest victories! Talking of quiz contests, I must tell you about Vishy’s  ‘disqualification’ from a competition in the Phillipines!  As this boy wonder was collaring every prize for solving the most complicated puzzles, the organizers asked him to stop participating! The prizes were books. So they told Vishy to take as many books as he could possibly carry but to give the others a chance!

If he comes across as serious in interviews, well, I for one, know that Vishy is very different  with his family and friends. Susheela Aunty still chuckles when she tells us about a prank Vishy played on her in Spain many years ago. He had taught her a few mischievous  words in Spanish and the poor lady got to know about the real meaning only after trying it out on her maid! 

We’ve all heard of alumni going back as Chief Guests to their Alma Mater. Vishy was one of the few students to have been invited as a Guest Of Honour at the Independence Day function when he was in Class 12. I still vividly admiring this affable senior sitting on the stage in a striped T.Shirt, next to his father, who incidentally was the General  Manager of Southern Railway and the Chief Guest that year.

After my sit down interview with Vishy on Sunday, we chatted  briefly about our old school,  as cameraperson Sukumar took  what we call ‘cut away shots’ in TV jargon.  “ I’m planning to attend the silver jubilee of my `87 batch in August”, he said quite excitedly. I’m sure the  World Chess Champion will be the Chief Guest at the event. But as the President of the Don Bosco past Pupils Association Ashwin Rajagopalan put it: “whether he is the Chief Guest or not, the warmth Vishy exudes with everyone around is just the same.”  I’m not a great follower of chess. But this quality is what endears Vishy the most to all his friends . Simplicity is his middle name. Because the Viswanathan Anand of Class 8-C is the same as the Viswanathan Anand, five time World Chess Champion.  And I’m sure nothing will change even after the Bharat  Ratna!