NEW DELHI, Dec 9: Where were you when it was raining ladoos yesterday? Were you with the creme de la creme inside 10, Janpath wishing Madam a happy 52nd birthday? Or were you with the hoi polloi dancing the bhangra outside?This is not a facetious question. If you are a true Congressman, it could make all the difference between political life and death. Maybe Madam, in her heart of hearts, loves the ladoo-plying creatures outside (which included one sadhu, beaming his aashirwad long-distance), even as she stiffly smiled at those who breached her cordon sanitaire. Or maybe she doesn't. As usual, one just doesn't know with Madam.

All things considered, it was more fun outside. For one, there was Delhi's finest wedding band in attendance -- the Shiv Mohan Band, hired for a sum of Rs 11,000. Its offerings ranged from the Daler Mehendi hit, Bolo tara rara to the more circumspect Sare Jehan Se Achcha. The music provided the background score to cries of ``Desh ka neta kaisa ho, Sonia Gandhi jaisa ho'' and ``Sonia ao party ko bachao''.

Then there were portraits and banners of a beaming Sonia and flowers -- lilies, gladioli and the ubiquitous rajnigandha. Each Sonia fan, having paid a goodly sum for his or her bouquet, held it high above. You wouldn't want your personal tribute to Madam getting smashed in five seconds flat now, would you?

While the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had not organized any specific do to mark the occasion, IYC hopefuls wishing to squeeze as much from the ladoos they had requisitioned as possible, wanted Madam to donate ambulances to their organisation.

In the crowd outside it was the Amethi people who had a distinct edge. They were allowed inside early in the morning to wish Sonia personally. One of them kept telling no one in particular, ``Main Madam ka election agent banoonga (I will be Madam's election agent).''

If you were outside you also got to watch the various bigwigs who came to wish Madam. A Sheila Dixit driving her Maruti 800 herself or a B Shankaranand who chose to make his appearance in a broken-down taxi, with missing headlights. Was there a message in that for Madam? One never knows.Life wasn't exactly a cakewalk for those who figured in the list of people allowed into 10, Janpath. Many of them had to wait several minutes in a queue before they were allowed a brief face-to-face with Madam and a piece of chocolate cake. But Deep Chand Bandhu, a former president of the Delhi Congress, was thrilled about the encounter nevertheless. ``I met her,'' he pronounced triumphantly. ``I told her that she must campaign for the party.'' He probably didn't know this, but that was precisely what all the others had told her as well. All they got in response was a smile from a lady dressed in a white-and-grey salwar kurta with a politically incorrect santoosh shawl draped casually over her shoulder.

The list of VIPs including Arjun Singh, Jitendra Prasad were among those who had sought an early morning audience. The list of callers scheduled for later in the day included Prime Minister IK Gujral, several union Ministers including YK Alagh.

But it was the Valmikis of Gole Market who had a more appropriate idea. They had collected 1,000-odd signatures in blood and attached it to their appeal to her to step forward and lead them. For a party that is badly in need of a blood-transfusion, they could not have hit upon a better symbol of their affections.

The others in her flower-bedecked living room, helping out in the hospitality department, included daughter Priyanka and son-in-law Robert Vadera, along with his family members who looked after the lesser VIPs.Soon the gifts and the bouquets of flowers piled up so high that secretary V George had to put his undoubted managerial capacities to good use and take charge of them.

For the Congress, this was one last chance to plead with Madam to put her weight behind its election campaign. Sitaram Kesri underscored the mood when he handed over his bouquet along with a written appeal.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.