For Panja, all the world is a stage

By Thomas Abraham

LONDON, MAY 24. Mr. Ajit Panja, Minister of State for External Affairs, clearly possesses talents that have been hidden too long from the rest of the world.

The ebullient Minister was in London over the weekend, but he was not doing the mundane things that visiting ministers normally do. He was not holding talks with his British counterparts, or lunching with potential British investors, or addressing the Indian community in Britain.

Instead he was to be found at a hall in London's Russel Square performing a Bengali play with a group of advocates from the Calcutta High Court. Mr. Panja and his fellow amateur thespians had come to London with ``Sri Sri Ramakrishna'', an adaptation of the popular Bengali play ``Noti Binodini'' by Brojendra Kumar Dey. Mr. Panja put aside his ministerial suit and donned a dhoti and false beard to play the lead as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, while various legal luminaries from Calcutta were in supporting roles.

Mr. Panja wowed the audience of mainly London- based Bengali expatriates with his fiery performance. ``He was really good, he held the whole show together,'' commented one satisfied member.

But even for a Minister with interests and talents as varied as Mr. Panja's, business can never be entirely forgotten. He had a brief meeting with his counterpart, Mr. Peter Hain, where he reiterated that India would not intervene militarily in Sri Lanka but would consider humanitarian assistance.

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Section  : International
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