Indian P.M.’s drinking habits under fire
NZPA-Reuter New Delhi’ ■ The urine-drii king habits ‘of the 83-vear-old Indian Pnme Minister (Mr Morarji) Desai) have attracted some witty and cri ical comments m Indian newspapers. Mr Desai became the centre of attention earlier this year when he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government regional meet-, ling in Sydney. It was not so jmuch his actual attendance that brought him notice as) Ulis admission that he drank l a glass of his urine every! i morning for health reasons. 1 i It got wide coverage in! I newspaper columns. ) Now his frugal style of! I living — following what the; Indians call the Gandhian; style (after Mahatma Gandhi) 1 — has been the subject of 'etters to papers. One such appeared this; week in the “Statesman”’ newspaper published in Cal-! cutta and Delhi. It said that the arrogance! of Mr Desai, a "Gandhian,” l knew no bounds. “Today he is forcing his! eating habits down the throats of those attending l his official banquets.” (Local observers say Mr; .Desai insists on his own! 1
i | frugality being the norm at . official functions). N The letter continued: “Toll morrow, God forbid, it could ,|be his drinking habits. ') “The mind boggles at the ’ very thought of pistachios .land piss.” ' Another paper, the “Momfling Echo,” recently took Mr Desai to task in an editorial. It began: “It’s time some'lbody went up to him and J told him without fear, to ; stop this poppycock of i i health at 83, of urine therapy and of prohibition." (Mr Desai recently instituted a plan for complete 'prohibition of alcohol in ,I India within four years). It continued: “The world) '■he is currently touring is not) i going to be taken in by the! '■image of a Prime Minister; las a man of queer habits) /and firm ideas.” At the time of the edi-l torial, Mr Desai ms on an ’overseas tour and, the paper; .says, went -n television in l the United States, spending- | half his time commending l urine therapy. The same editorial warned that Mr Desai’s kind of national management would 1 , j not last too long, and!] added: “It will not, and the 1
day his management ceases | to be, his urine therapy and’ |scare of liquor drinking will! fade from the people’s; I memory." ) It said also: “Isn’t it |rather shameful to be so! healthy at 83 in a country! I where people start looking; old at 30. ; “Not because they don’t! ■practise urine therapy, Mr; Prime Minister, but because they don’t have enough to 1 eat and you as the head of I I the country’ have no time to) think of it jjnCe you are too 1 I busy keeping yourself healthy,”
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19780623.2.62
Bibliographic details
Press, 23 June 1978, Page 6
Word Count
457Indian P.M.’s drinking habits under fire Press, 23 June 1978, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.