Quick to size up the potential benefits of the facility, Naidu completely reinvented himself as a computer nerd through a pro-active publicity strategy. He then went right ahead and gate crashed his way through many a citadel with all the nonchalance of the true neophyte.

Naidu has clearly realised that persistence pays. It helped Hyderabad nab Microsoft's new Software Development Center from Bangalore, where the company's regional centre is located, and who knows what else may follow?

Similarly, in order to demonstrate the power of his new gizmo, he has actually taken to keeping in touch with cabinetcolleagues and bureaucrats back home through e-mail, videoconferencing facilities and the Internet.

Evenings see the top brass of the administration assemble at the chief minister's residence to teleconference with their boss on the day's developments. It is this ability to combine political and administrative savvy with new technology that imparts a certain contemporary sheen to the Naidu model of governance and causes other chief ministers in the country to scurry for their computers.

But even as Naidu cruises down the superhighway he must not forget that parts of Rayalseema and Warangal in his own state don't even have roads worth the name. He must also remind himself that Hyderabad is by no means Andhra Pradesh -- a state that has often been called a multi-state because of its sharp regional disparities. Of the four major southern states, Andhra Pradesh remains at the bottom of the heap in terms of every human development parameter, from primary schooling and infant mortality to population growth andlife expectancy.

The Internet is a marvellous aid to development, but it cannot replace development. In fact, if Naidu wishes to harness the benefits of the WorldWide Web and computer technology for the entire state and not just its Capital, he will also have to ensure that his people have basic literacy and basic infrastructure. Otherwise, all this may prove to be a a great cyberfantasy and little else.