Two mistakes to be corrected

I must apologise for two mistakes in my last blog entry.

Thanks to 56er HS Uberoi (known to all of us as just UBI) for pointing them out to me.

54er Rahul Bajaj was not nominated to the Rajya Sabha - he fought and won an election to be a Rajya Sabha member.

The second is a more grevious mistake. I was taken in by the information that Rahul was the first Cathedralite to be in the Rajya Sabha.

This was incorrect and I blame myself for not having done my homework.

The late Piloo Mody was another Cathedralite who was in the Rajya Sabha after he served 2 terms in the Lok Sabha as the Swatantra Party Member from Godhra, in Gujarat. Like Minoo Masani, he was the President of the Swatantra Party. He later sat in the Rajya Sabha as the Janata Party Member from Gujarat from 1978 to 1983, a time when I was still in India. Minoo went from being a Socialist to founding the Swatantra Party.

Piloo was arrested in a midnight raid organised by Indira Gandhi after the proclamation of Emergency in 1975.

My recollection is that Piloo was a 1950er.

Piloo was rotund that he occupied two seats in the House whereas he was only entitled to one.

There is a story about Piloo which all of us know and it concerned his figure.

In the Rajya Sabha it is considered improper to turn one's back to the Speaker when walking out. Piloo Mody was once accused of doing this.

Piloo Modi was supposedly quick to reply, "Which is my back and which is my back? Even I cannot identify it."

Another version of this story is that Piloo was talking to a member sitting behind his seat. Mr. Sita Ram Kesari addressing the Chair said, "Sir, Piloo Mody is standing with his back to the Chair, which is highly objectionable."

The Chairman is known to have retorted, "Do not worry about Piloo Mody: he has no front or back, he is just round."

Another anecdote abot Piloo is worth recounting.

When Home Minister Giani Zail Singh was taking a Bill through the Rajya Sabha, Piloo participated in the debate. While replying Giani when referring to Piloo's comments on the Bill, stated in Hindi, "Piloo Mody to bade "seasonal member" hain".

The House burst into laughter and a Minister sitting next to Giani said to him that word to use was "seasoned" and not "seasonal".

Giani then said "Muje to angrezi thodi aati hai. Inko to inki biwi ne angrezi padhai hai."

Piloo then thumped his desk and raised a point of order.

The whole House looked at Piloo. The Deputy Chairman asked: "What is your point of order?"

Piloo said, "Gianji is grossly misinformed. My wife did not teach me English. I taught her English."

The House shook with laughter as everyione knew that Piloo's wife was Swiss!

Piloo was one of the funiest speakers in the Rajya Sabha. He was a technocrat who served both Houses with distinction.

My sincere apologies to all concerned for publishing misleading information in these blog entries. But I must thank the alert readers for picking me up on these issues!