The only one who actually got into every one of them was Murli Deora, who by a lucky combination of stars, past favours, hard work and determination, was her host for the trip. There he was, alternately beaming, solicitous or worried, as he shepherded Madame Gandhi from one function to another.
But the function at the top of the social calendar was the Deora dinner at the Taj. There wasn't a high table (that way you can make 11 people deliriously happy and the rest of the company sulk), so the host kept a chair vacant at each table so that Sonia could meet everyone. In the event, she didn't table-hop, the guests came in single file to pay their respects. Princess Diana couldn't have evoked greater awe or inspired more willing genuflection.
There's no doubt that Sonia's visit has achieved the impossible: it has brought Sharad Pawar and Deora together. Before the visit, Deora's long political career seemed to be heading into oblivion, with Pawar's men openly campaigning for his exit as the Congress chief here. All that's stopped because Pawar needs Sonia's help to become the leader of the CPP in Delhi. Since she's cold to him, Pawar wanted Deora's warm recommendation.
In the meantime, everyone's asking this question: what's made Sonia happy? Her photographs from Delhi show her as a Sphinx-like figure; enigmatic, yes, but grim. Here she laughed, smiled from ear to ear and was almost garrulous. The exit of Narasimha Rao? The liberating influence of Mumbai?
