Prime Minister L K Advani enjoys Hindi plays on weekends," a Delhi-based journalist told me. I shivered. He winked, clapped me on the back crudely. "Yeh to hona hi hai," he continued. "It had to happen. But for Ayodhya, he would have been the PM today." If you are looking for Confidence, you will find it in any 'established' journalist of Delhi They exude the stuff more than Mamta Kulkarni does after shedding her clothes. Recently, I met some power-savvy journalists at Kuldip Nayar's home. Nayar, journalist, former high commissioner to the United Kingdom and Rajya Sabha member, has a weakness for Amritsari fish. To the sprawling lawns of 33 Lodhi Estate, he had invited friends and journalists, so that he had an excuse to fry fish. The real hand behind the culinary business is his wife Bharati. Thanks to her, mediamen and women of Delhi and abroad have enjoyed some of the best-cooked kadhi pakoda, aloo methi bhaji, butter chicken marinated in curd and other delicacies these last three decades. Journalists from The New York Times to The Washington Post, British and Russian, leftist and rightist journalists, BBC anchors and CNN seniors, all have enjoyed Nayar's shudh Indian lunches and dinners. Anyway, over cotton-soft pakoras I spoke to Shahid Siddiqui of Nai Dunia fame. He was wearing a green kurta. "What's your assessment of the pre-election situation in Uttar Pradesh?" I asked. "Oh, don't you know the latest ground reality?" replied Siddiqui, once an active Congressman. "Bechari Congress will not even get the third position! Mulayam is leading. Mayawati and the BJP are fighting for No 2 position. "Sonia's Congress will not even be fourth. That position is reserved for a party called Apna Dal. It's led by Rampujan Patel. They are growing in eastern UP, it's a kind of breakaway group of the Samajwadi Party. Kurmis are building their own platform and deserting the Yadavs. The way Nitish (Kumar, the Kurmi Union agriculture minister) did in Bihar. In Allahabad, Mirjapur and Varansi's Kurmis are asserting themselves." Oops, I said. I hadn't had a clue so much was happening. But then, that's the thing about partying in Delhi. It's a trip to serve one's ego. Here, your power is in proportion to the inside information you have about politics and politicians. This party was special. It was to celebrate Delhi's much talked-about marriage, of 68-plus Duaji and 65-year-old Aditiji. As we all know, H K Dua, former editor of The Hindustan Times and The Indian Express, is currently media advisor to the prime minister. Dua's first wife had died of cancer. Aditi Syam, formerly the public relations boss at ITC, is a divorcee. Both have married children. Aditi is a grandma too. I asked Duaji," How do you communicate with the PM?" I wanted to know if an e-mail culture existed at the PMO. "No, we talk. I brief him on the stand taken by the media on various issues and also of the media's expected reaction on the coming issues when we meet in person," Duaji said. I came across Vinod Mehta. He was wearing a silk shirt with small prints on it, with a buttoned-up collar. Unfashionable, I thought. The irrepressible editor in chief of Outlook magazine has a certain innocence, rarely seen these days. He hears information, junk or incisive, with child-like curiosity. Before one finishes, his eyes light up, as if he has got a 26-point, bold, four-column headline. Occasionally eyeing my makki de roti, he listened with rapt attention to my analysis of Dawood's Ibrahim's game plan. Then he complained that dot-com companies do not pay enough for exclusive pictures. Alleged match-fixer Mukesh Gupta's picture, it would appear, cost Outlook more than Rs 40,000 and quite a bit of hard work. In Delhi, one comes across interesting observations of Bombay life and Hindi films. One columnist said," Amitabh is Amitabh. Compared to him, all other stars are chokras [boys]. Sure. Outside the gate I had seen Black Cat commandos. I thought some VVIP had come, but it was only Ashwini Kumar of the Punjab Kesari. This owner-editor never prints news on his front page. Instead, he carries event pictures, love stories and travelogues. Before dessert, I mentioned something about Sonia Gandhi. Siddiqui was also around. Ashwini said: "I had told Sonia, 'Tu PM kabhi nahi ban sakti, main kahta hoon. Tu politics main na aaiyo [You will never become the PM, I am telling you. Don't enter politics]." Siddiqui intervened. "But she was already president of the Congress then." The affable Ashwini went to a table where drinking water was kept. He dipped his fingers in a glass and cleaned his red lips and moustache. "Today I am meeting Sonia again for dinner," he said. "At Natwar Singh's home. Select people are invited. I'll tell her, "Soniaji, aap jeet gayi, lekin Congress haar gayi hai." Did you ask me what was for dessert? Gulab jamuns. Hot and soft. Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt knows her way around the corridors of power well. Tell us what you think of this diary
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