Dress code

Whenever the Lok Sabha Speaker’s staff begins preparing for Meira Kumar’s foreign tours, they remember Rural Development Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Before a visit to Mauritius last year, the staff sent explicit and repeated instructions to delegation members to wear bandhgalas. A day before the delegation’s departure, Kumar anxiously asked Singh whether he’s had his bandhgala made. The earthy Singh replied in the negative, saying ,“I will only wear dhoti kurta.” He did — and was apparently a lot more comfortable in the balmy Mauritian climate than his colleagues.