Nov 15th

     I could finally put my thoughts down well after mid-night. What a day it has been! Look at the strange ways of the destiny. The Chief Minister (let’s just call him the ‘Beauty Queen’ as he was so full of his own good looks- but was rumoured to be fond of only young men; well he had a regular normal family- a wife properly and dutifully head covered but no kids; giving fuel to the rumour mongers.) was changed overnight. There were hectic phone calls almost all night! The city had been thick with rumours of the possibility of the ‘Beauty Queen’s resignation; as most of the cabinet ministers had resigned or were told to by the party bosses in Delhi. 

  Tulsi Das the new man in charge is a friend of Puru’s and in the strong anti-camp of the former Chief Minister (let’s call him the ‘Cunning Idiot’) now ex-ex-CM as well. Although from the opposition party, the earlier Chief Minister- the Beauty Queen had built some sort of pact with the former Chief Minister (the Cunning Idiot) so that the latter does not harass him in the Assembly. Tulsi Das was different plant altogether so unlike the plant he was named after or the author of Ramayan.

   Puru had to investigate the ill-gotten wealth of ‘the Cunning Idiot’ and under the ‘Beauty Queen’s’ regime he would have to soft peddle the whole enquiry. In fact all the hanger-ons of the Cunning Idiot had appeared calm and not too unduly worried with the enquiry commission when they came in Diwali. The hanger-ons had only one motive of coming with those stale inedible mithais: to ensure that Puru doesn’t do any hanky-panky. And that they could call him any time and demand the status of the enquiry in exchange of the box of sweets. I don’t blame them. It was common practice to bring a bottle of Black Label whisky to be able to talk business with an officer comfortably. So what standing did a retired one have? Shouldn’t he be grateful for those box of sweets? I am sure they will cause acute dysentery even to Raju who has an iron constitution. I threw them in the dustbin so that Barbie-III doesn’t get to lick it even by mistake. 

    With Tulsi Das in charge Puru would have no compunction to bring out conclusive results. Tulsi Das was a tall thin man known for his vituperative tongue. He was also known to be a man of principles (in a world that had long forgotten about them). He had very few friends and a long list of enemies. He had emerged important at a time when the elections were nearing. The party was tired of explaining the Beauty Queen’s flamboyant and irresponsible behaviour. He suited the bill for appropriate ‘window dressing’.

  Cunning Idiot- the name is a contradiction of sorts but really suits the character. He had a silly half-smile permanently stuck on his face. Even during heated debates that led to fisticuffs and free-for-all fights. Yet he was cunning enough to put through his candidature cutting out old seasoned war-horses of the party when the time came for the top job of the state. He appeared so non-threatening that the warring factions agreed to his name as a general consensus. But once installed in the seat he made sure that all his opponents were marginalized.

   Beauty Queen’s departure was hailed by many as a victory of the right over evil. The rival papers were describing his tenure as progressive and futuristic. Look how the state has been liberally peppered with shopping malls and multiplexes. There was talk of making the state Wi-Fi enabled. Bring underground trains to connect the city. Make it like a developed European town while preserving the palaces and forts of the state. The stands were taken depending on which paper had received the maximum government patronage.