At home with the President

Two surprise guests in the President's special enclosure this Republic Day: Ramaswamy Venkataraman, the only ex-Rashtrapati, and Usha Narayanan, former President K R Narayanan's widow.

President Venkataraman, who turned 95 (that's right, 95) last December 4, looks frail, but engages in spirited conversation with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and everyone else who greets him.

The former First Lady reportedly suffers from Alzheimer's disease and makes her first public appearance after her husband's death last year.

The large Saudi presence in the enclosure means there is little space for other notable guests -- Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani with his children and daughter-in-law, the three service chiefs and Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar among others stand through the 45-minute event.

One gent who comes early and books his place in the row just behind the prime minister and in clear view of Sonia Gandhi is Law Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj, whose bizarre role in the Quattrocchi bank accounts controversy may have irreversibly tarnished the United Progressive Alliance government. Bhardwaj -- like Jagdish Tytler who turned up at the Independence Day At Home last August soon after he resigned -- thus notifies his critics that he is neither down nor out. The minister even conducts an impromptu press conference after the event, telling reporters that Buta Singh had no option but to resign as Bihar's governor. A tad thick, don't you think?

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Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi with Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia M O H Farooq at the At Home event. In the background, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, still stately and impressive at 87.

Photograph: Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images