On a shopping spree
Who doesn’t want a break from their routine work and our bureaucrats are certainly no different. With senior bureaucrats camping in Darjeeling for the tripartite talks over the Gorkhaland issue, state Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti took full opportunity of the occasion and indulged in a shopping spree last Sunday. It was found that he has a penchant for shopping at pavement kiosks and turned out to be an expert in bargaining. Making the most of his anonymity, Chakrabarti was seen buying small gift items with a handful of guards and junior officers watching from a distance with great amusement. Also seen were Union Home Secretary G K Pillai and another MHA official Anita Chaudhary taking a stroll at many popular spots of the Hills.

Follow the leader
The new Governor of West Bengal, Debanand Kunwar, does not seem to be keen on changing anything that the former incumbent of Raj Bhavan Gopalkrishna Gandhi had initiated. All the reforms including the mandatory two hour power cut, supplying all Raj Bhavan farm produce to charitable organisations, use of solar energy, have been continued. “We asked him what to do with such things as power cuts and he said they should continue,” said an official.

Haunted by Singur
The status of the Singur land haunts Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti. The fear of being asked about the status of the land has affected the senior bureaucrat to such an extent that he is said to have asked the organisers of a programme not to make any speech for him to deliver. He added that he is always asked by the mediapersons about the land in Singur and the programme that he is scheduled to attend would not be an exception. So making a speech for the programme is useless as he has to speak on Singur. Chakrabarti is said to have told the organisers to take him out of the programme after sometime as he has become tired and scared of answering questions related to Singur.

Singur again
TRINAMOOL Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is leaving no stone unturned in her battle with the Left. The grapevine has it that she is writing a book titled ‘Singur’, which will focus on the agitation against land acquisitions in Nandigram and Singur that turned around her political fortunes. Scheduled to be released at the Kolkata book fair early next year, the book will first appear in Bengali, but the politically smart leader wants it to be translated in Hindi, English and Urdu too. The busy Railway Minister, by the way, was heard saying that juggling multiple responsibilities, the only time she gets to write is while flying.