At the blue lagoon - Idyllic vacation for the Gandhis

in the Lakshadweep archipelago.

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At the blue lagoon

Idyllic vacation for the Gandhis in the Lakshadweep
archipelago.
Anita Pratap
November 21, 2013 | UPDATED 17:50 IST
A +A The often frenetic pace of high politics in 1987, it seems, took its toll on world leaders' nerves.
So if Mikhail Gorbachev disappeared for a fortnight to the Black Sea beaches, and Ronald
Reagan retired to the quiet of his Santa Barbara ranch, Rajiv Gandhi too decided to get away
from it all.
The madding crowds of hangers - on, files, problems, dissidents: all became distant memories literally - on the uninhabited island of Bangaram (area 0.5 sq km) in the Lakshadweep
archipelago (36 islands, population: 44,000) nestling in the emerald blue Arabian Sea 465 km
west of Cochin.

The island had been chosen with care: it is the only one in the strategic archipelago on which
foreigners are not banned. It is also the exception in the group of islands in that prohibition is not
in force. Even from the security angle. Bangaram, cut off from the rest of the world, is ideal. "It
is a naturally secure place," says Lakshadweep's police chief P.N. Agarwal.

Rajiv Gandhi emerging from the

water
But in spite of official efforts to make the place inaccessible,
the media found the goings - on on that little patch of sand
irresistible. The spotlight swung on it on December 26, when
Rajiv's son Rahul alighted along with four friends from an
orange - and - white Lakshadweep administration helicopter.
They were the first of the several batches of holiday - makers. The Government did its best to
keep the press away: it tried to ensure that no one invaded the privacy of Rajiv's party by either
air or sea.
But the list of invitees made news by itself. The privileged bunch included four friends of Rahul
and Priyanka, Sonia Gandhi's sister, brother-in-law and their daughter, her widowed mother, R.
Maino, her brother and a maternal uncle. Also present were former MP Amitabh Bachchan, his
wife Jaya and their three children. The daughter of Amitabh's brother Ajitabh, who is being
investigated for suspected violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, had gone along
too. The only other Indian guests were the wife and daughter of Bijendra Singh, brother of
former Union minister Arun Singh. Two other foreigners completed the party.

After rescuing a dolphin

While Rajiv and Sonia began their holiday only on the afternoon
of December 30, Amitabh, the star guest, arrived a day later,
aboard a special Cochin - Kavaratti helicopter flight. His wife
Jaya had come in four days earlier, escorting Priyanka and her
own children.
The exercise was undertaken to keep the wraps on Amitabh's visit to Bangaram. But on the small
island of Kavaratti, the secret was no secret on December 31 itself, when he landed for a 50minute refuelling halt en route to Bangaram. Later, as he landed at Cochin airport on his way
back, Amitabh was discovered by an Indian Express photographer, who managed to expose four
frames before the film star, his angry warnings unheeded, retreated to a nearby hotel.
Along with the presence of his Italian relatives, it was the presence of the Bachchan family that
raised the hackles of Rajiv's critics the most. Opposition leaders wanted to know what kind of
message Rajiv was sending to officials probing Ajitabh's assets in Switzerland by fraternising
with Amitabh and his brother's family. Said Kunji Koya, general secretary of the Indian Union

Muslim League at Kavaratti: 'It's appalling that the helicopter should be used to transport just one
man - that too a man whose name figures in the nation's biggest scandal."

Sipping coconut water: Relaxed time

But for an entire idyllic week, all that criticism was quietly ignored. The holiday makers had an exotic, uninhabited island all to themselves and whiled away their
time swimming, sun - bathing and, when the fancy took them, it was fishing and
sailing time. They went on picnics to two uninhabited islands nearby, Thinnakara
and Parali. And there were beach parties and music and fishing expeditions. Rajiv,
Rahul and Priyanka were in the water a lot.
But Sonia, who's prone to asthma, preferred to admire the beauty of the corals
through glass - bottomed boats, along with her mother and Jaya Bachchan. While
the others frolicked in the lagoon, Sonia would often sit chatting with her mother or Jaya under
the shade of a coconut tree.
Rajiv, however, roamed about as if he knew his way around the place and even waded into the
water to save a bleeding dolphin that had been grounded. He had spent a day at Bangaram in
November 1985 and immediately took to the place. "He loved it; he swam a great deal," recalls
Wajahat Habeebullah, administrator of Lakshadweep, who was then in the Prime Minister's
Secretariat. Last September, Rahul and Priyanka too holidayed in Lakshadweep with four
friends. Rajiv later cleared their bill of Rs 18,000.

Aerial view of Bangaram

It is impossible to calculate what the bill may have been as
various agencies were involved. The food was provided by the
Society for the Promotion of Recreation, Tourism and (Water)
Sports (SPORTS), a wing of the Lakshadweep administration.
Five of the society's personnel, including two cooks, were
stationed at Bangaram. Of course, the menu was supervised by
the Gandhis' personal cook from New Delhi.
A consignment of wines and liquor was also brought in from the capital. A poultry farm with 100
chickens was set up in Agatti. Apart from sugar and freshly - caught fish, island fruits like the
Lakshadweep papaya, sapota, small yellow bananas, and guavas were sent. Butter and some 100
loaves of bread were despatched from Kavaratti and from Cochin came Cadbury's chocolates, 40
crates of cold drinks, 300 bottles of mineral water, Amul Cheese, cashew-nuts, sweet lime,
condiments, 20 kg of flour, 105 kg of basmati rice, and fresh vegetables. The first consignment
of non - perishable items was moved to Bangaram by ship on December 23. The second arrived
three days later and replenishments came on January 1.

The cottage where the Gandhis stayed

According to sports officials, the administration has been

directed to submit all the bills so that Rajiv can make the
payment. Says Lakshadweep Collector K.K. Sharma: "We
made no special arrangements for the VIP holiday." Adds
Habeebullah: "My job was only to deposit the prime minister
at Bangaram. After that, he wanted to be left on his own."
Questionable actions were, however, in evidence. India's
premier warship, INS Virat, was used to transport the
Gandhis and moved in the Arabian Sea for 10 days. Its daily
expenditure at sea is astronomical as the Virat travels with an
entire retinue of escort ships. A submarine was also reported to be in attendance and some
defence experts questioned the justification of depriving the navy of its most effective fighting
component merely to suit Rajiv's holiday plans. Considerable expense was also incurred in
setting up a special satellite link up at Agatti for the duration of the holiday.

Amitabh Bachchan outside Cochin airport

But on the positive side, the visit brought a lot of welcome publicity to
Lakshadweep, which must indeed be one of the prettiest places anywhere
in India. The administration of the Union territory is no w waiting for the
direct windfall of the high - powered holiday: a rush of tourists. Says the
MP from Lakshadweep, P.M. Sayeed: "All this publicity will do us a lot
of good."
Some change is already visible. The Cochin office of the Lakshadweep
administration says that tourist queries on January 8, for example, were
five times more than the usual. Says Habeebullah: "We want tourism to become a full - fledged
industry so that it generates economic activity in the island and absorbs the large number of
educated unemployed." Tourist inflow has, moreover, to be regulated in order to ensure fresh
water availability and so that no damage is caused to the corals, the flora and the fauna.
On January 6, the idyllic holiday ended. Priyanka was the first to leave with her companions for
Goa. The older group of foreigners followed. Then Amitabh and his family left. At 1.20 p.m. the
same day, Rajiv boarded the naval helicopter with Rahul, en route to Amini Island where his first
official function for 1988 was scheduled.
Rahul was dropped off on the INS Virat so that he could take a ride with his father to
Mangalore. Sonia and her relatives were the last to leave. She left Bangaram looking happy and
well-rested. But by the time the helicopter landed at Cochin, the public mask had descended. She
was back to being the, tense, stone-faced Mrs Prime Minister.
Unlike Sonia, as he got off the naval helicopter, Rajiv looked cheerful as he spoke at Amini
Island on January 6. The prime minister admitted that he had had a "wonderful holiday". As he
went about surveying erosion control sites and other development programmes, it seemed to be
work as usual. Perhaps the only reminder of the holiday was carried under his sleeve: a

sophisticated black chronometer, the waterproof watch that comes in handy for yachting and
scuba diving.

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