Old habits die hard

When Prof P J Kurien was unanimously elected the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, there was much bonhomie in the Upper House, as political parties took turns to congratulate him. While LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan praised Kurien’s efforts and unique style of speaking Hindi (Kurien being a Malayalee); several other speakers referred to the former Physics professor’s honest attempts at proportioning the time allotted to every speaker when he was in the chair, whether the party be big or small. All parties, however, had one common plea to make; to refrain from cutting them short by buzzing the bell; to which the ever-smiling Kurien responded by saying: “My fondness for the bell is because I was a teacher.” Old habits do, indeed, die hard!