Penguin's three Aces?

We like things done in triplets three wise men who followed the Christmas Star three Bandra Khans who rule Bollywood and now after the publication of Sanjaya Barus The Accidental Prime Minister the release of Rajdeep Sardesais 2014The Election That Changed Indiarsquo and the imminent muchawaited release of Vinod Mehtarsquos lsquoEditor Unplugged Media Magnates Netas and Mersquo in December Penguin Indiarsquos Chiki Sarkar might just pull off a trilogy of publishing blockbustersBig chatty unputdownable books on contemporary politics written by ace newsmen on the inside trackSanjaya Baru Rajdeep Sardesai andChiki Sarkar PicGetty ImagesldquoWhat I have tried to do in this final volume of my memoirs is to look at contemporary India mdash its leaders its media its middle class aspirations its current prime minister the future of the dynasty its intellectuals like Arundhati Roy mdash from a personal and historical point of viewrdquo says Mehta whose sparkling insightful views have made him one of the great chroniclers of contemporary IndiaSaid to be the ultimate political insiderrsquos story lsquoEditor Unpluggedrsquo is according to sources lsquopeppered with anecdotes and gossip every page illuminated with Mehtarsquos uncut views on Narendra Modi Arvind Kejriwal and the NehruGandhi dynasty and peerless pen portraits of personalities such as Ratan Tata Nira Radia and Sachin TendulkarrdquoldquoThere are lots of anecdotes and gossip about Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modirdquo said the author in his characteristic understated style when we asked him about the contents of the bookNiceKissa Kursi KaAnd in continuation of our reportage of Mumbai lsquoshoshaityrsquosrsquo favourite pastimethat of reading the tea leaves post a high profile eventtherersquos this following a mega starred city event last week that saw the countryrsquos most powerful and famous gather the discussions about the seating arrangements has still not died downAnd whereas new power equations and configurations have been noted especially the importance given to Bollywood stars the seating of three individuals hitherto perceived to be close to the hosts has been much deliberated onldquoOne of them was seen to be one of the hostrsquos closest pals someone he grew up with and who was a close professional associate The second his chief sycophant a more or less out of work biz man and the third a lady who has gained much from her relationship to the hostrsquos familyrdquo says an astute observer of court politics and palace intrigueldquoThat they were given seats way behind with the aam junta could indicate their new placement in the allimportant scheme of thingsrdquo she says taking a long quaff of her favourite Vintage Narcissus Wuyi Oolong Tea before laughing throatily ldquoKissa kursi Ka never was truerrdquoCabinet reshuffleAnd from our friend the erudite Delhibased Mohan Guruswamy policy wonk and Harvardtrained economist we learn that contrary to widely held perceptions the PM is not happy with Fin and Def Min Arun Jaitleyrsquos overall performance and the close connections he enjoys with the media have not gone down too well in the lsquotalk less work morersquo regimeArun Jaitley PicPTIManohar Parrikar PicGetty Images andSushma Swaraj PicAFPEither this or the fact that Jaitley himself has requested a lighter load due to health reasons but Guruswamy says that India will soon get a new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is the name being touted and the Ministry of Finance will get an additional MoS with clearlydefined functions and with a better knowledge and understanding of economic issues Jayant Sinha son of former Fin Min Yashwant and an internationally respected figure in corporates and finance circles is being considered for this postAccording to Guruswamy the PM also seems unhappy with the Urban Development minister Anant Kumar and apparently wants more positive action on the modernisation of cities planning for new cities and the proper use of public property for the common good Meanwhile Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari seem to be doing well in the PMs estimation Sushma Swaraj has adjusted to her somewhat diminished status and has done well with what she hasHow accurate are these predictions Well as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and so we are as interested as the next person in seeing if these projections go down well or create the usual heartburn associated with Delhi political predictionsWhatrsquos in a nameHersquos become the new face of Congress defence with his sharp quips and urbanity and now sources confirm that the 31yearold Tehseen Poonawalla the ubiquitous Delhibased Congress spokesperson and businessman is all set to get engaged to Robert Are you Serious Vadrarsquos cousin the 29yearold Delhibased jewellery designer Monica Vadhera this DecemberTehseen Poonawalla and Monica VadheraldquoWhile most of the information has been kept under wraps owing to security reasons the function is all set to take place in Delhi once the concerned security agencies give the short listed venues a clearancerdquo says a source ldquoThe guest list may include some prominent MPs ministers from the last government and also some international guests and dignitariesrdquoInterestingly basic sleuthing on both Vadhera and Poonawalla did not relate them to their more famous namesakes Robert and Cyrus though people close to them swear they are closely connected to these preeminent personalitiesAs the Old Bird once said lsquoWhatrsquos in a namersquo lsquoAfter all both Tehseen and Monica have made a name for themselves in their respective fields in addition to their famous surnamesrsquo