SUPERSTITION
The Battle for the ‘Right’ Cabin
Haima Deshpande Haima Deshpande 08 Jul, 2012
After the Mantralaya fire, Maharashtra ministers will only settle for Vaastu-friendly offices
The fire at Maharashtra’s administrative headquarters, Mantralaya, on 21 June has destroyed more than furniture and files. Murmurs in Mantralaya’s gutted corridors indicate that the fire also scorched the luck factor of ministers. It is an open secret that politicians are superstitious. They had spent a lot of their resources in ensuring that they got the right space in Mantralaya. They had also kept lucky charms to entice good fortune their way.
But as the fire raged on, many ministers could only helplessly watch their carefully cultivated offices turn to ashes. This has resulted into a new problem. Ministers on the lower floors, whose cabins are intact, are being asked to shift out of Mantralaya to other government- held buildings to accommodate Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, his deputy Ajit Pawar, and ministers holding other important portfolios. This has resulted in a wave of resentment among those being asked to shift out.
The ministers who have to move out are reluctant to do so as their cabins too have been remodelled to enhance their luck. A new cabin, they worry, would turn unseen forces against them. They have issued their staff orders that the cabins will not be vacated without their permission or in their absence.
But if the CM wants them to move out, they cannot hold out much longer. So the ministers in question have started checking whether their future work space is Vaastu-enabled or not. The Public Works Department (PWD) has received many calls from ministers wanting to redo their new rooms as per the specifications of their Vaastu and Feng Shui consultants.
Chhagan Bhujbal, the minister in charge of the PWD, is not in a mood to comply. “ [The fire in Mantralaya] got worse due to the changes made in the cabins and the materials used for the same. Henceforth, all cabins in Mantralaya will have a standard design. No changes will be allowed,” Bhujbal says.
However, with Assembly polls slated for 2014, not many are willing to follow the PWD diktat.
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