Photo zinger

Politicians are supposed to be quick-witted, and many of them are. But it’s rare for Indians to see their wit on display. An example of how things could be was provided last week when, after hectic and tiring deliberations on the euro-zone crisis, the leaders of the G-20 countries assembled at the Convention Centre in Los Cabos in Mexico for a group photograph. The horde of assembled photographers was about to shoot when someone noticed there were only 19 leaders there — Manmohan Singh was missing. Nobody seemed to know where he’d gone.

A couple of minutes later, Dr Singh emerged from the room’s left, and walked up to the rest of the leaders, all of whom had turned to greet him. As he stepped up and took his position, the host, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, remarked “now my family photograph is complete,” sending everyone into peals of laughter.