IT is early morning at George Fernandes' 3, Krishna Menon Marg residence. A Samata Party worker troops into the visitors' room clad in a lungi and a crumpled T-shirt. Yawning, he holds a toothbrush in his hand. He is followed by a Burmese student activist who goes to the adjoining room to spread his towel on the line. Overhead two pigeons flutter about. They have made their way through a broken ventilator and perch on a weatherbeaten sofa. The birds seem at home in the minimalist trade union office decor—rickety wicker chairs, free Tibet posters and a threadbare coir durrie. Beyond it in an inner room George Fernandes is busy giving the final touches to his speech on the trust vote in Parliament.