The Hindu Business Line : <I>Skewed timing </I>

If Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is said to have an uncanny sense of timing, the Prime Minister's Office is just the reverse. On Monday morning, when the Union Cabinet braced itself to take a hard decision on raising petrol and diesel prices, the PMO called in a select group of journalists for a briefing — the moot point of which was that the Prime Minister had decided to act tough on economic reforms, irrespective of the opposition of the Left parties.

This time, the PMO got it all wrong — the timing and the target of its ire. Next morning, as some newspapers carried reports on the toughening stand of the Prime Minister, side-by-side were reports of opposition to the price hike, from none other than Congress President Sonia Gandhi! All the tough talk disappeared and the next two days were spent working out a face-saving formula for the Government.

Caution: The last word on the issue has not yet been heard.

`Power' cut

Privatisation can have its advantages. Receiving a stiff power bill, one harried colleague paid up and admonished his family for not being careful with electricity use. The following month, the family dutifully became extra careful, switching off lights and gadgets when not required.

But when he received a stiff bill, yet again, the colleague marched to the power company's office and complained loudly. The man at the counter directed him to a `madam'. That lady, without a word, took a pen and slashed the bill amount by half. Surprised, the colleague muttered about the previous bill but the lady had a simple logic: "Whatever money has come in has come in. Nothing can be done about it.'' The matter rests there.

Same place, but a difficult name

A veteran journalist recently got an invite for a meeting at `Lau Schanze' at the Taj Mahal Hotel in the capital. Despite having visited that hotel numerous times, he sought directions to the private meeting room, as he had not heard about it before. The host explained it was the same place which the hotel called `Long Champs,' and added helpfully, "Schanze, as in Champs de Elysees in Paris (pronounced something like Schanze zse leesay)." Oui!

Electrifying point

IT major, HCL had organised a meeting in the capital recently when the power supply went off during a power point presentation. Sitting in the dark while the hotel's back-up system got its act together, one senior executive thought aloud that the rural PC with a battery back-up that the company had developed could readily find a market in the urban centres as well.

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