Monday, December 10, 2001
Suddenly, the newspapers, at least in Mumbai, are full of one man: Sharad Pawar.
I have been stumbling into him, for the past week or so, after every few pages. Every newspaper worth its salt, and its supplements, are full of the Maratha Strongman's (as my journalist friends like to call him) upcoming 61st birthday. The guest list, the kind of food being served, who is sitting where, pictures of preparations, interviews with the man, nostalgia, political analysis... the event is coming out of my ears now.
Is anyone's 61st, or whatever, birthday that important that the media of an entire city is so exercised over.
As a former journalist myself, I know only too well how politicians like Sharad Pawar play the media for publicity. Pawar is perhaps the most media savvy of the lot, and he is using all his contacts in the press to get maximum mileage out of the event.
I have been stumbling into him, for the past week or so, after every few pages. Every newspaper worth its salt, and its supplements, are full of the Maratha Strongman's (as my journalist friends like to call him) upcoming 61st birthday. The guest list, the kind of food being served, who is sitting where, pictures of preparations, interviews with the man, nostalgia, political analysis... the event is coming out of my ears now.
Is anyone's 61st, or whatever, birthday that important that the media of an entire city is so exercised over.
As a former journalist myself, I know only too well how politicians like Sharad Pawar play the media for publicity. Pawar is perhaps the most media savvy of the lot, and he is using all his contacts in the press to get maximum mileage out of the event.
# posted by Ashok @ 10:38 PM 
