No Friend This

Style guru Prasad Bidappa did the expected thing on landing here after spending over a month in Dubai’s Al-Rashidiya prison for having marijuana in his baggage. He called a press meet—and he sounded jubilant. "The Pakistani prisoners welcomed me, they gave me blankets, shawls, towels," he said adding that he kept a diary, read the Quran and Marquez. Amidst all this, he did not fail to mention the names of the high and mighty who had written letters recommending his release. It included S.M. Krishna, Azim Premji, Vijay Mallya, state minister P.G.R. Sindhia and others. This clearly embarrassed the famous "friends" of Bidappa. The first denial has already come. In a tersely worded note, Premji’s office said: "We did not issue any letter or certificate."