Looking at a video of the incident, I rolled on the floor in laughter. The minister in the manner of a deft handed schoolteacher, in the blink of an eyelid, swiped the phone from the hands of a municipal chief officer.
The minister, leaving all protocol aside, called the officer “useless” extending that term to all other members of the municipal team also. While that shocked me, what really made me rock with laughter though, is that the Chief Officer like any recalcitrant schoolboy, rushes in to say it was his fault, sheepishly admitting he should have muted the instrument. However if one watches closely, the official out of force of habit makes an attempt to take the call and looks at the phone rather than just immediately putting it out of sight. Which goes to show his habit was so ingrained, the ministers presence made no difference! Any wonder that Goa suffers at the hands of such officials and ministers who in another age would have been Court Jesters. Roland. Toronto.
