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Occasionally television interviewers meet interesting people. It's one of the advantages of the job. Last week I met three. For good or ill, they left a lasting impression. Two were Nobel laureates, the third a spiritual guru. Each in his own way said or did things that are difficult to forget.
Amartya Sen was a guest on one of our shows. But it wasn't what he said on air so much as his casual comments in the car that linger in my memory. They were made to my colleague Vishal Pant.
Sen was talking about the present-day Trimurti of Indian politics - Vajpayee, Advani and Sonia. He met them in 1999 when he came to receive the Bharat Ratna.
"He was looking forward to the meetings with Vajpayee and Sonia," Vishal reported. "They're people he wanted to meet. But he said he was apprehensive about Advani. He thought they would clash."
It turned out very differently. The meeting with Vajpayee lasted an hour but felt like three or four.
"Apparently Vajpayee said absolutely nothing," Vishal told' me. But that was not all. Sen's comments went further. "He added that Vajpayee probably had nothing to say. He was simply filling time. Their meeting was a failure."
"What about Sonia?" I asked.
"The same if not worse. Sen tried to talk to her about politics but found she had no interest in the subject whatsoever. He made a witty comment about the two of them."
"What did he say?"
"They deserve each other!"
"And Advani?" If Sen found Vajpayee and Sonia depressing, Advani could hardly have lifted his spirits.
"Advani started off by talking about one of Sen's books. Sen thought he was being polite. But when Advani went on, Sen interrupted and told him he had written several articles very critical of Advani and totally opposed to his views. Sen thought this was the honest thing to say. But do you know what Advani said?"
I waited. I was pretty sure a quarrel would have ensued. That had to be the point of the story.
"I've read them all," Advani replied. "That's why I want to talk to you." Vishal was smiling as he spoke. He could sense the delicious irony behind it. "Sen said the meeting lasted an hour-and-a-half.
It was the only one he enjoyed."
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