DECEMBER 2: Sixty diamonds, 60 lamps, an anthology of 60 speeches, 60th birthday bash: the numeral sixty dominated the Antonio Da Silva High School in Dadar this evening.

As Chief Minister Manohar Joshi turned 60, the organisers of his birthday bash thought of all possible ways of reminding of his years. A blaze of colour and light programmed by the event management company Wizcraft greeted him at a massive stage built on the school grounds that depicted pages from Maratha history.

Joshi began by lighting 60 lamps to mark his 60 years. A ``deepmala'' was specially erected for the purpose. As the 60th lamp was lit, the dark of the night formed a brilliant canvas to show off the columns of flickering lights. Saffron, gold and white was the theme of the evening, winning compliments from all including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

Thackeray presented the CM with a necklace studded with 60 diamonds as sixty saffron coloured hydrogen balloons were released. This was followed by an audio-visual presentation depicting 60 years of Joshi's life, though focussing mostly around his chief ministership. Then, a compilation of 60 speeches by him was released by the guest of honour, Farooq Abdullah. Thackeray presented Joshi with a scroll engraved on a brass plaque as a tribute to his services to Maharashtra. An expert from Satara was summoned to tie the traditional pheta on Joshi and the Sena supremo. While the former conceded, the latter refused the same preferring to pass it on to Abdullah.

Taking a leaf out of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's book, the Chief Minister and his party supremo moved through the depiction of Raireshwar, the fort from where Shivaji began his battle to liberate Maharashtra from the Mughal yoke.

Joshi and Thackeray together garlanded the statue of Shivaji Maharaj. Music, light, colour, song and dance were all part of this first ever 60th public birthday bash of a political leader from Maharashtra. Both Sharad Pawar and Gopinath Munde as well as Pramod Mahajan, the other towering personalities are far younger. Thackeray, who is 72, did not have such a grand 60th birthday ceremony. Not to worry: Chief Minister Joshi has promised him a grand platinum jubilee on his 75th birthday three years down the line.

A reluctant Joshi was earlier persuaded into celebrating his shashthipoorthi by friends and well wishers. The Chief organiser is his son Unmesh Joshi. The Dadar shakha of the Shiv Sena, headed by Vinod Khopkar, is said to be behind the celebrations.

The grand celebrations were a departure from the normal Shiv Sena bashes, in that for the first time a school ground is being utilised for the purpose. Sena functions are normally held at either Shivaji Park or Chowpatty, atMarine Drive. However, the Chief Minister's well wishers who were on the celebration committee are said to be on the board of the Da Silva school which was thus turned over to the celebration committee for the day to host the grand birthday party for the Chief Minister.

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who were on the guest list, could not make it.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.