Bhubaneswar: : “You think I am a moron?” he coraked.
Where was the question of thinking when I was pretty much convinced about his mental abilities?
These are the opening sentences of a chapter in Odisha former DG Police Prakash Mishra’s yet to be released book ‘Comedy in Khakee’. The chapter Uncanny Boss dwells on authers ex-boss and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Mishra has carricatured Naveen Patnaik in his book. Though he has not taken the name of Naveen Patnaik but it is evident from his narratives.
Citing an incident Mishra writes, “We had lost a young and courageous officer, killed by the Naxals in a forest district bordering Jharkhand, His mortal remains had reached his home. The chief had been requested to come and lay a wreath. A police guard had been stationed for the last salute.
The boss arrived and started acting in a manner, which certainly could not be categorised as normal. He wandered all around the place. He would rush off to where he found a few people gathered together, and indulge in small talk and then shoot off in another direction to meet yet another group. On a formal sombre occasion like this, one had to be very focused. However, that focus was nowhere to be seen in the chief.
After moving around for a long time, his gaze fell on the guard that had lined up near the body. He started walking towards them. It was at this stage that I felt I must intervene, I had a nagging suspicion that he might stand before them and expect a salute,
Sir, the guard is for the martyr.”
“You think I am a moron?” he shot back.
Dwelling on the pre-crown life of Naveen Patnaik, the auther writes – his days of frolic with friends, his pursuit of bliss through liberal use of spirits and fumes and his total dependence on his father for this rather weird and luxurious lifestyle -were flying thick and fast.
Someone, known to his father, had once narrated to me in detail how he had had to rush with a large sum of money to rescue this man along with his friends from a hotel where they had been held captive, being unable to clear the bill. An adult’s dependence on pocket money is rather odd, but it takes all kinds to make the world, He happened to be one such specimen.
The ex-top has made sarcastic remarks on the attaire of his ex-boss. He writes, “The way he dressed was rather strange or maybe queer. Not much information could be gathered about what he wore in his pocket-money dependence days. Some say he used to be attired in normal shirts and trousers. Nobody really cared to pay attention to him. It was only after he came into public life that people started noticing him. He dressed himself in impeccable whites, a long kurta and pyjamas. His footwear was a pair of chappals. The kurta was loose enough to hide the contours of his body, which kept increasing in girth to match the rather fast rate at which his stomach was growing. The length of the Pyjamas was a bit short and left the ankles uncovered. I have sneaking suspicion that one of the legs the Pyjama was a bit shorter than the other. Whether it was done with a purpose, a style statement or because of the way he wore it was dificult to guess.”
The book Comedy in Kakhee by the ex-top cop turned BJP politician has many anecdotes making fun of Naveen Patnaik.
