Talk of the town

SOMETIMES, IT is tough for senior officers in Government to exercise authority. Their staff who violate discipline and face action, manage to get around the problem, sometimes using high connections. This could happen even among the lowest levels of the workforce.

Thus, when the Union Minister Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan was in the city recently, there was at least one senior telecom officer who was missing.

The reason: a staff member of one of the wings who was subjected to disciplinary action, got the orders reversed and returned to the same wing, the grapevine says, cocking a snook at his superiors. Apparently, such undermining of authority would not go down well with all officers.

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WHAT DO government employees do after their retirement? Enjoy the peace and the relaxed hours. But what about an employee who turns up everyday after retirement - at office, just to tear up files?

That was precisely what a retired employee of one of the government offices in Ezhilagam did, until she was discovered.

More than two weeks after this employee retired, she kept coming back to her department. Her colleagues found nothing amiss in this, until somebody sent an anonymous letter to the head of the department. The letter alleged that the lady was not only entering the office, but that she was also tearing up files.

Enquiries revealed that such a thing was indeed happening and the lady admitted to as much, contritely. With the solemn promise that she would not `repeat the mistake', the lady finally went back home-and has not turned up since.

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THE DIGITAL age, apparently does not guarantee solutions for everybody. Even as the long due World Tel project has finally been kicked off in Tamil Nadu, Madras University's in- campus Internet scheme is yet to see the light of day.

The culprit ? The regulars indeed - red tapism and procedural delays. The internet project introduced by Vice Chancellor P. T. Manoharan two years ago is back to square one today as the varsity tackles the tender process. With the Registrar expressing `official dissatisfaction' over the way the tenders were awarded, it became an opportunity for some others to call for re- tendering.

The University buzz is that the Education department has called upon the university to start the tender process again and this time, call for open tenders. On the other hand, the high command in the University has been sending out signals that it is not in favour of re-tendering, as it would only delay the project further.

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WHAT DO you call a superhero who goes around wearing red velvet leotards with matching red shoes, funny golden designs on his suit and red velvet gloves in a hot city?

Shaktimaan, of course. For many children, the icon was less than inspiring, in person. They didn't expect their Shaktimaan to fool them. After a wait of three and a half hours, the TV star finally made an appearance half an hour before the close of the Shakthimaan Kids Carnival at Island Grounds.

More than the children, it was traumatic for the parents who brought them (tickets at Rs. 50 per head). They thought Shakthimaan would ``mingle with the kids''.

Mingle? The desi super-hero arrived on a chariot, throwing chocolates all around. This sent many children into a mini- stampede. Soon, he was on stage standing akimbo, asking: ``Do you all do homework?'' Mr. Shaktimaan, it is vacation !

More wisdom: ``All of you must sleep well, eat well. Only then you can all be Shaktimaan''. After distributing prizes for lucky draw winners, the hero was to ``perform'' with the kids for the title song of Shaktimaan. Mukesh Khanna stood akimbo once again as children danced. At the end, he turned around twice, did not `disappear', just waved and went back.

By G. Pramod Kumar and Ramya Kannan

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