India says it all with a song

By Amit Baruah

HANOI, JULY 27. It is an occasion to relax, let your hair down, have fun and make a point which you may have difficulty doing on formal occasions.

The occasion was the ASEAN Regional Forum's `gala dinner' where delegations are supposed to stage song and dance numbers at the end of hectic rounds of serious meetings.

By all accounts, the Russians stole the show last night as a group, and the rendering of the song ``El Paso'' by the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, along with the Japanese Foreign Minister, Ms. Makiko Tanaka, was also a big hit.

The Indians, too, did not lag behind and rendered their theme song - ``Hotel Aseana'' - a take-off on ``Hotel California,'' a well-known Eagles number.

``On the fuzzy ASEAN highway, muggy wind in my hair; warm smell of durian, rising through the air; Up ahead in the distance, I saw the membership light; my head grew dizzy and my eyes lit up, thought I could fit in right,'' went the first stanza in an apparent reference to India's quest for a seat at the ASEAN high table through an ASEAN-India or ASEAN+4 summit interaction.

``There they blocked me in the doorway, I heard the negative bell; and I was thinking to myself, this could be heaven or hell; they pushed me out gently, in the ASEAN way; soft voices down the corridor I heard them say,'' the song went... ``Welcome to the Hotel Aseana; such a lovely place, such a lovely face; there's plenty of room in Hotel Aseana; but only for, only for, Korea- Japan-China,'' the take-off went. The lack of ``room'' for India in the group's top slot was made, and made well.

Unfortunately for the press, the `gala dinner' was out of bounds, but a tape of the Powell-Tanaka show did make it to the television screens.

Obviously, great merriment was generated by the stars of the show. Away from the glare of media, Ministers, officials and aides had time to celebrate away a hectic week of meetings and conferences. This was one dinner where the focus was not on the menu; but on what was being dished out on the sidelines of the meal.

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