Not many know that some of the Goa-Delhi yatris protesting the papal visit managed to sneak into Delhi from Faridabad. About 50 of them were received by a handful of people. The key strategist of the road show, B P Singhal, reached the venue at Arya Samaj mandir by 1500 hours - 60 whole minutes late. There were some fiery speeches against conversion. The Pope is worse than the prostitutes of GB Road was the gist of one... Meanwhile, the Church is fighting a deluge of embarrassments. It has, in the process, learnt some fine lessons in media management. The worst of its shame was a press conference wherein a vitriolic attack on Hinduism by an obscure Dalit organisation somehow found its way among the statements issued to journalists. International mediamen present on the occasion tried to make sense out of the controversial issue with assistance from the locals. The Indians had a trying time explaining what the Bahujan Swayamsewak Sangathan was. "It is the army?" one firang asked on seeing that the statement was from the 'Commander-in-chief'. Church spokesman Father Dominic Emmanuel was visibly embarrassed, had no convincing answers, and at the end of the day issued a statement... never mind, you will find it here. A small group will spend sleepless nights till the head of the Catholic Church leaves the country. Doctors at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences are gearing up to meet any eventuality that may arise. The Pope has many health complications. Negative blood has been stocked in advance. All emergency measures are in place. A hi-tech ambulance would be accompanying the Pope. Besides this, three Christian hospitals are also on high alert -- St Stephens, Jeevodaya and Holy Family. Here is a dampner for the hungry media: Cameras, still or moving, will not be allowed in when the Pope is taking food. He has never been pictured so. The Pope never takes food in a big group because of his Parkinson's disease. A Polish nun always accompanies him due to his various diseases. Here's a piece of info for Delhi's right wing elements: In the papal delegation is Cardinal Josef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation of Evangelisation of People. Maybe they can ask him a question or two about evangelisation. Among those who are *not* on the papal bandwagon is Vishnu Hari Dalmia, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad president and scion. He has recently undergone an open-heart surgery, which forces him to stay indoors. Even otherwise a soft-spoken man, his ailment has further softened Dalmia. The only media programme that he attended was a live chat on rediff.com. If Dalmia is out of action on the Hindutva side, there is one in the other camp who has scored full points -- and that too, a non-Catholic. Reverend Valson Thampu, a Protestant theologian and secular activist, has been in the forefront of inter-religion meets to welcome the Pope. The St Stephen college professor has, by exhibiting his gift of the gab, bailed out the Church from some really embarrassing moments. Which is more than one can say about some of the Church's established media-faces. Lastly, the politicians. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has asked the Church authorities in Delhi to invite him to a programme of the Pope. Some BJP ministers including Arun Jaitley have opted out of the inter-religion meet. True to her nature, Sonia Gandhi is yet undecided. It wouldn't be surprising if she keeps completely away from the Pope... Josy Joseph's faith does not blind him to the realities around him
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