Dinner for three

The secret's finally out. I've been slacking off on my grad school application because I can't answer one question - "If you could choose any three people who have ever lived to join you for dinner, whom would you invite and why?". Sounds simple, right? Read on.

The first option which almost naturally flashes through any Indian's mind is Mahatma Gandhi. Father of the nation, the 1000 Rupee note, Ben Kingsley on 35mm and even that 8-lane highway you'll find in pretty much any Indian city. The problem with Mahatma Gandhi isn't quite as much about the glory of the ideals he stood for (I owe him my nationality). It's about how many Indians' essays will have him feature in it. It emphasizes conventional wisdom and has a hint of morality, but I honestly can't picture Mahatma Gandhi having an influence on the 21st century economy.

I can't quite explain it, and I don't think an ink blot test with Freud will prove otherwise, but I've had the strange urge to add Osama Bin Laden to the guest list since day one. Ethical dilemma and blunted cutlery aside, you have to be intrigued as to how a fifty-something year old man has had the entire western world running on a wild goose chase through 2 countries for over 5 years now. It screams of the unconventional, but has rash judgement written all over it.

Somewhere between delirium and sleep, I figured we might as well save a spot for George Bush Junior. After all, since the question said nothing about your guests having a positive impact on humantiy, I figured we might as well ask him what on God's green Earth he was thinking when his team presented the project plan for Iraq. Adding the most ridiculed person in world history to your list may not seem like the brightest idea, but you have to admit it'd be interesting to have him talk about the subject without a teleprompter.

An odd, but late addition to the list was Tipu Sultan. It's the palace which most people remember, but historians will tell you that Tipu Sultan was an innovator, a patron of the arts and a man of his word - ruthless, as he was determined. Now, here's someone I can almost see on the guest list - a man who was willing to die for what he thought was right. It has leadership and more importantly courage in big bold letters. So the admissions office will have a laugh trying to pronounce it, or worse still, call him Tipper Sullivan, I think we have a winner (one down, two to go).

(To be continued)