Discussing the Prime Minister's health and well-being is considered taboo in Indian official circles. But really, Vajpayee looks so frail and frayed that it is not something that escapes attention. His reflexes are slow and his speech halting.

On Wednesday, following his luncheon meeting with the Pakistani Prime Minister, Vajpayee was swept into the conference hall of the New York Palace to address the media. The event lasted less than half an hour as the Prime Minister laboured over the answers. One pause during an answer lasted an eternity as the aging leader who is 74, gathered his thoughts.

Of course, none of this has stopped him engaging in a packed programme, although what toll it is taking on him is anyone's guess. It's not unusual for leadersto have plenty of bilaterals on the margins of the UN session, but this time, as New Delhi fights to restore India's international standing, the mandarins have set a blistering schedule for the Prime Minister.

The big ticket items during the visit, besides his much-awaited address to the UN General Assembly and his meeting with Nawaz Sharif, were his call on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his bilateral with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

But more than a dozen other key bilaterals are scattered across his weeklong stay in New York, including five he had on Thursday and five scheduled for Friday. By any reckoning, that is a strenous schedule.

The burden of not having a full time external affairs minister is beginning to show as Vajpayee parleys with foreign ministers of France, Portugal, Egypt, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Bahrain among others. After all, when one is rebuilding one's international standing, no country is too great or small. Officials say the PrimeMinister is coping fine. His vast experience, they say, is quite an asset because he has the ability to quickly grasp the essence of the briefs he is given.

He has a slightly lighter schedule over the weekend, but community receptions in this part of the world too can be pretty taxing, as Inder Gujral found to his peril during his visit here last year. Vajpayee has his adopted son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya travelling with him and the relative lighter weekend schedule sparked some talk of a medical digression. But discussion about the PM's health is so sacrosanct that officials would not even countenance any questions. ``The Prime Minister may see a Broadway play over the weekend,'' one official grinned. His entourage has been booked to see the play Chicago.