ULTA-PULTA
Old flame, new affair
Jaspal Bhatti

I asked a glamorous model if she would be interested in carrying the Olympic torch if she got the chance to do so. She said, "You will have to talk to my secretary for the date and my appearance fee." "What kind of money are you expecting for this? Don’t you feel that national pride and an Olympic spirit are reward enough?" I asked her.

She told me that she didn’t understand the concept of Olympic spirit. She confessed that she had in fact never been to a playground. She said, "My face can certainly be helpful in attracting sponsorships for the torch-carrying event. That’s why I will charge my modelling fee."

Her secretary tried to convince me that she charged a handsome amount of money for holding a pressure cooker or a packet of garam masala in her hand. So naturally for promoting an international event by holding the Olympic torch she would be expecting double the money. I told her that even Amir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu hadn’t charged anything for taking part in the Olympic torch-bearing ceremony.

She replied "If Ash hasn’t charged anything for carrying the torch I can consider carrying the torch free." I again tried to understand her viewpoint. "Don’t you think that P.T. Usha and Milkha Singh instead of film personalities should have been the first choices for carrying the torch?" The model innocently asked, "Have Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha also done sports modelling before?"

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