President Bill Clinton accidentally spilt a glass of red wine on Atal Bihari Vajpayee's jacket at a lavish reception for the Indian prime minister on the South Lawn of the White House on September 17, 2000.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott recalls this incident in his book Engaging India: Diplomacy,Democracy and the Bomb, scheduled for release in Washington and New Delhi on September 1.
"(Ex-Indian External Affairs Minister)Jaswant(Singh) and I were seated next to each other at the long head table. We didn't get much opportunity to speak, since each of us had to make small talk with the dignitary on the other side--in his case an American official, in mine an India," writes Talbott.
"Brooke(Talbott's wife) was at one of the seventy circular talbes for the nearly seven hundred guests, the majority of whom were Indian Americans around the country.It was the largest state dinner of the administration.
"While several notches below us in protocol, Brooke had more fun, not least because her dinner partner was the comic actor Chevy Chase. He had known Clinton for years but was reluctant to approach him at the head table in the midst of what might, for all he knew, be a moment of high statesmanship."
"Brooke said he shouldn't worry," Talbott writes, "took him by the arm and led him to Clinton at the center of the dais. The president, who was not having much success chatting up Vajpayee, was delighted when Chase appeared before him. In his exuberance, Clinton reached out to shake Chase's hand and knocked over Vajpayee's untouched glass of red wine, causing its contents to gush all over the prime minister's jacket."
According to Talbott, "Clinton's face turned beet-red while waiters and security types rushed over and patted Vajpayee down with wet napkins.Chase, having inadvertently introduced slapstick into the occasion, could not think of anything to do but play out his part in the extended sight gag. He theatrically turned on his heel and, with an I'm-outta-here expression, retreated to his assigned place, pretending to whistle nonchalantly as though nothing had happened."
"Once he was on his seat, Chase sneaked a look at what was going on at the head table. He and Clinton caught each other's eye and exchanged the faintest and briefest of smiles, suggesting that they were both as amused as they were mortified. Vajpayee remained impassive throughout the incident."
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