Bedi's spitting and pissing joke

What a great LitFest it was Fabulous conversations with innovative thinkers Informative panel discussions from politics to paparazzi to press freedoms said actor Kabir Bedi whose advent into the Khushwant Singh Lit Fest had started with a stumble when he was refused entry into the historic Kasauli Club the festivals venue for wearing a kurtacollared shirtBut reminded by Parveen to be grateful to the Army for providing the LitFest venue I changed without a whimper he said referring to his partner Parveen Dusanjs sagacity Bedi had been part of the programme that we had participated in along with author Fahad Samar on Media Mayhem and PaparazziMani Shankar Aiyar Rahul Singh and Bhaichand Patel with other attendees at the festivalBut hands down the actors finest moment was when he had risen to the occasion during an electrifying and rather heated discussion on Kashmir between Farooq Abdullah and former chief of RAW AS Dulat when the microphones had failed due to a sudden power outageArtist Jatin Das sketches Rahul Singh PicsSonu BhasinTempers mounted as the audience realised that it was being deprived of some absolutely priceless confidential revelations mdash it was at this moment that Bedi had stepped forward and using the twin advantages of his height and famous baritone had proceeded to narrate a naughty joke about the relations between Indians and PakistanisKabir BediIt involved pissing into each others soft drinks and spitting into each others shoes So politically incorrect and refreshing was his timely intervention that it had resulted in much relief and appreciative applauseFormer Pak Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri with friendsIncidentally seated in the front row was former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri who we noticed had laughed the loudest Bedi who has hitherto been known for a rather ponderous persona appears to have recently discovered his funny boneOver a splendid lunch of Biryani and bloody Marys at Sheila and Bunty Pasrichas beautiful home overlooking the Himalayan ranges the actor had confided that besides his role in the forthcoming Hrithikstarrer Mohenjedaro amongst others he will be donning the directorial hat for the first time with a raucous comedy in English and Hindi next year Who woulda thunkMiddiscussion tippleIf there was a star at the KSLF let it be known that it was Om Puri Expansive garrulous delightfully politically incorrect and perhaps not too far from a quick tipple one of Indias most renowned actors was in his element taking the somewhat earnest discussion on Bhisham Sahnis awardwinning Tamas on a wholly different tangentOm Puri with an attendeeFrom teasing a resigned Govind Nihalani for his celebrated pennypinching ways a result of his Sindhi genes according to Puri to describing his wifes flirtation with Khushwant as frisky to demonstrating mdash with full action of flailing arms mdash the rotation of a sugar cane juice machine to describe how Nihalani got the best out of his actors Puri had the audience in splitsWas his loquaciousness fuelled by spirits of another kind was the widely commentedon subject of the LitFest Who knows All that is known is that the actor excused himself midsentence from the onstage discussion at least once and that the wellstocked Club Bar was located immediately adjacent to the venue of the discussionHolding her handbagHer appearance at the LitFest was a muchanticipated affair given how Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar had captured the imagination of the Indian public with her unfortunate role in the fallout of the Tharoor marriageFarooq Abdullah with other attendeesBut it was a moment of great pride for Indian hospitality and fairmindedness that during the release of her book Leaves from Lahore when her interlocutor began to zero in on the one question that appeared to be on everyones mind regarding her relationship with a certain Mr Tharoor members of the audience stood up for the poor woman and demanded a cessation of questions of a personal natureMehr TararThis heightened curiosity about Tarars relationship with the beleaguered Congressman obviously cuts across all levels We distinctly heard no less a personage than Farooq Abdullah seated in the front row who only a few seconds before had been exchanging sweet nothings with Tarar and who shed appointed with the task of holding onto her red handbag it quite became him during her session egging the moderator in a loud offstage whisper Ask her to clarify once and for all if shes had an affair with Shashi TharoorYou Sunny Me DharamAccording to Avirook Sen author of the highly acclaimed novel Aarushi one of the high points of the LitFest was the curiously titled topic Kids in the time of the Kardashians featuring amongst others author Shunali Shroff social commentator Santosh Desai and actor Ranvir ShoreyRanvir Shorey featured in a discussionTo hear Shorey narrate how one of his imaginative approaches to parenting was having his fouryearold son act like Sunny Deol while he took on the role of Dharmendra was an insight that more than made up for the offbeat inclusion of the topic which was further compounded by the fact that JD Ghai of Santa Banta fame had been chosen as moderatorPeerlessly Pucca KasauliYou can call it the chronicle of a disaster foretold but in his packedtotherafters session for the release of his book Neither a Hawk or a Dove on Sunday afternoon Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri had concluded by saying that he would be flying to Mumbai soon after even against the advice of many who feared for his safetyWho would have imagined that his visit would have resulted in such a dastardly act of hooliganism How different from the civilized and gentlemanly reception that he and the other Pakistani delegates had received in Kasauli But then civilized and gentlemanly behaviour is what one has come to expect from the Khushwant Singh Lit Fest held in the peerlessly pucca environs of that jewel of the northern hill stations mdash Kasauli