The Chandigarh civic body polls were held on December 24. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh) Being a civil servant is a tough job, what with so many people knocking at your doors for their basic needs. But it seems to become impossibly tough if you are in the UT Municipal Corporation. Then, you suddenly have no time at all for the aam aadmi. While the commissioner has fixed an hour for public dealing, the joint commissioners seem to think they are above such mundane tasks. That explains why they call people for a hearing through letters delivered by their staff, and disappear. The standard answer of the admin staff is “Sahib was suddenly called for a meeting”. Needless to say, the people who left everything to attend to Sahib have nothing better to do than wait for the ‘sahib’.
A gentleman, who was sent such letters five times, could meet the joint commissioner, a PCS officer, only in the fifth go. That too after patiently waiting for over two hours. The sahib, as usual, had been called for an urgent meeting.
Will someone tell sahib that there is a thing called calendar where he can pencil all his engagements. How about making this a New Year resolution?
Not-so-lucky ladoos
There is a popular saying in Hindi which goes “tinke tinke par likha hai khane wale ka naam”. It came home to Congress candidate Harmohinder Singh Lucky during the counting of votes for MC polls late last year. With Lucky leading in every round, his happy supporters bought laddoos by the dozen and kept them outside the counting station. But even as his party workers were getting ready to pop the ladoos, into their mouths, Sidhu gained in the final round and won by a razor-thin margin of 11 votes. The ladoos were finally eaten by Sidhu and his fans.
Colourful corporation
The swearing-in of the new MC house was a riot of colour with women councillors togged up in festive
colours as men stuck to white and black.
But few cared to ask the women the science behind their choice of colours.
Well, as one of them told us, they wanted to signal the beginning of a new municipal corporation, complete with new clothes.
One plus one free
Buy one, get one free. Newly minted BJP leader Devinder Singh Babla made a generous use of this popular tagline while seeking votes for his better half Harpreet Kaur in ward no. 12 during the MC polls. But now it seems BJP is the real beneficiary of this policy. They’ve not only managed to poach Babla but also his councillor wife. Whoever said there are no permanent friends or foes in politics knew his stuff.
Haryana cops monkeying around
The Haryana Police did a stellar job during the second wave of Covid-19. So it’s only natural that someone thought of dedicating a coffee table book to the men and women in khaki. The makers had their task cut out. After all, how do you make Haryana cops and Covid-19 visually appealing? Well, the photo department, after shooting the policemen and women in various stages of fitness, decided to tackle the simians too. That explains the centrespread: the hunky Haryana cops with monkeys.
A photograph, they say, is worth a thousand words. Well, this photo is guaranteed to leave you at a loss for words.
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