Journalists who covered Bill Clinton's Jaipur visit will never forget the experience. Not because of the US president's memorable performance at Village Nayala, mind you -- but thanks to a group of incompetent state government officials. Most of the journos drove down to Jaipur in the night to arrive early the next morning, a day before the president landed there. Probably because we were in a royal city, State Information and Publicity Director Mahender Surana took us for a royal ride right away. Till 0200 the next day, he kept us in the dark, issued wrong passes, and misspelt almost every name he could get his tongue on. At about 0100 IST, hungry and tired, we were made to sit through a session at the airport wherein Surana and his officials desperately tried to make out from a photograph if the saree-clad woman there was Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhararaje Scindia. They debated the colour of the saree, and wasn't the photographer an absolute idiot to click her when her face was turned away? Such ridiculous exercises, and a complete lack of decency -- the first and the last glass of water was served to reporters at about 0200 -- was, to say the least, shocking. More so because all this was happening in a state ruled by a politician who's supposedly transparent and humble. Though the state government failed to impress reporters, the Americans managed to do just that. In style. The handsome hunks and pretty women around Clinton, moving around with gizmos all over their bodies, were an altogether different experience. Remember, till then we had seen only SPG and NSG commandos, and their walkie-talkies and Stens. And here was the American president's security, with speakers on their sleeves, microphones in their ears, a massive electronic jammer behind the president's limousine, and weapons under cover. Of course, there was much speculation about the sort of weapons they were carrying. Sadly, we never got even a peek. But one thing was confirmed: the president's security guards were carrying The Football all the time. In Secret Service parlance, Football is the briefcase containing the nuclear control. It always accompanies the prez. A piece of village talk: Clinton's visit to Nayala, in fact to Jaipur itself, was at the behest of Oberoisahaab. Here's how the villagers came to the conclusion. Clinton was staying at an Oberoi hotel in Jaipur, wasn't he? And at Nayala, the fort is now owned by the Oberois! In Jaipur, the American president side-stepped a long-standing tradition. Every foreign dignitary who has visited the Pink City has called on the royal family. Diana and Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Jacqueline Kennedy and her sister, they have all been there. Bill Clinton was the first not to honour the royals thus. The family, Gayatri Devi and her son Bhawani Singh, got a saving grace when Chelsea dropped in at the palace. Gayatri Devi, once acknowledged as one of the world's most beautiful women, spends her old age at Lillipool, near the city. Her son and his family live in the palace. While the country's aristocracy were going gaga over Clinton, the rural folk were trying to twist their tongues around C-l-i-n-t-o-n. This was very evident in Nayala. The president initially had no inkling of the trouble his name was creating. He finally got to hear about it from the Rajasthan tourism minister who was accompanying him. When he was told that he was everything from "Quintal" to "Klintoon" for the rural folk, the president burst into laughter. Josy Joseph admits to being totally impressed by the prez's security. Especially the, ah, "pretty women".
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