Talk on the town

* THE CHIEF Minister, Mr. O. Paneerselvam appears to suffer from a peculiar allergy for umbrellas.

When his assistants hold the parasol above his head, he turns around and politely asks them to fold it up.

And, they hesitantly withdraw.

Even if it drizzles, the Chief Minister prefers not to use an umbrella.

However, his predecessor and AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalithaa, was never seen - whether it was rain or shine - at the portico without an umbrella providing a protective canopy.

* ONE MORE word on the low-key Chief Minister.

After a gap of two years, the city has been witnessing more rains during the current northeast monsoon.

The reason: Mr. Paneerselvam.

``It is because of Paneer that we are getting Thaneer (water)'', some citizens say. They go to the extent in saying that the ``planetary locations'' of Mr. Paneerselvam are such that the city is getting heavy rains.

However, this talk has no big impact on water managers, who maintain that ``the storage position has not reached the comfortable level. So, we cannot resume normal supply''.

* ``NO ONE is happily married. Either they are happy or married'' goes the one-liner for the Hindi comedy coming up on Sunday at the Music Academy.

Who does it better than the `Shotgun' showman himself?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Shatrugan Sinha is coming to town.

Yes, this year the Madras West Round Table no.10 is bringing to town the play, `Pati, Patni aur Mein' directed by Ramesh Talwar.

The play is a story about the Pati (Rakesh Bedi), Patni (Bhavana Bhalsawar) and of course the actor-turned- politician Sinha, who resolves the problems between the two.

``The play is in aid of a charity project, we are now associated with. Building classrooms in villages around Mathanapalli,'' Hemant Chordia of MWRT says. For tickets call: 431 2012.

* THE OTHER charity show in aid of the Centre for Social Initiatives and Management (CSIM), featuring popular writer Javed Akhtar will take place on December 1, the Social Initiative Wing of Simple Things production informs. Javed saab will now present his latest collecion of poems, `Tarkash', at Chola Sheraton under the Star Gold banner. The closed door affair will have interactive sessions with the poet and also feature old film songs written by him. Those who need tickets to the CSIM fund- raiser could call 831 2265 for details.

* WHY IS the Government fighting shy of raising bus fares?

Even a three paise increase translates to a revenue of Rs. 300 crores, says an official who was formerly with the transport department.

But the reason is not economics: the Government just does not want the private operators (who will also hike their fare) to make too much profit!

* THESE DAYS, scribes visiting Secretariat are being greeted with one question from civil servants. ``How are the cases going? Will she get an acquittal?''

And, of course, the cases in question are the appeals filed by the former Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, before the Madras High Court in the TANSI land and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases in which she was convicted by the Special Court.

With the verdict in the two crucial cases expected soon, the bureaucracy is obviously on tenterhooks. Some are offering special prayers too for ``Amma's return''.

* THE FAST Track Courts may have been started in the Chennai Collectorate building on Rajaji Salai.

Along with the enthusiasm over the expected ``speedy disposal of cases'', fears have been raised about the possible extra congestion in the building complex once the courts start functioning in full swing.

Already, instances are not wanting where visitors to the building, particularly those who wish to come to the Collector's office were put to hardship in view of the visits by VVIPs in connection with the cases pending against them in the three Special Courts, also located in the same building.

Plans are afoot to set up a Special Court to try Indian Bank scam cases in the same building.

* IN THE present times of dengue fever and anthrax scare, here's some good news for worms - bookworms to be specific.

Crossword, one of the popular chain of bookstores located across the country including at Chennai, has kicked-off a sale of the season programme.

Close on the heels of the avalanche of almost similar promotions for Diwali by other retailers, the `Great Crossword Sale' encompasses Crossword's complete range of books.

The Shoppers' Stop and ICICI Venture promoted Store is offering discounts from 15-70 per cent.

Apart from this, the Book Rewards Programme members of Crossword are eligible to get an additional discount of five per cent off on all purchases.

The sale is the new leaf in Crossword, which already offers several attractive services such as dial-a-book, fax-a-book and e-mail-a-book.

By K.T. Sangameswaran,

R.K. Radhakrishnan,

N. Ravi Kumar and Sudish Kamath

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 300 children have undergone helical CT scan
Next     : An art unfolds