Sigh, Signora

For reasons beyond me, I was summoned to the high table. Sonia, Manmohan, Anil Nehru (a Rajiv Gandhi cousin, who heads a large company in the city), Rahul Bajaj, Deora, me. We smiled warily at each other. "No politics," said Sonia to no one in particular. "No politics," said Murli Deora to me in particular. So what did you talk about? Every journalist in the room wanted to know after lunch. I smiled mysteriously, enjoying my 15 minutes of fame. For the record, we talked about her English ("I have an Italian accent, at least that's what they tell me"), her Hindi ("it's getting better"), her breakfast ("only coffee"), her reading (autobiographies) and living with security ("you don't get used to it"). Cynical political reporters will sneer but I was floored by Sonia. She, like Rajiv Gandhi, has an appealing shyness and an unaffected charm. And she, like Rajiv, is too nice to be in politics. So, incidentally, is Manmohan Singh. And one of them might well be India's next prime minister.