Retiring ways

At a recent function in Mumbai at which Finance Minister P Chidambaram was chief guest, the compere asked the audience to give him a standing ovation before he delivered his keynote address. Though the request was inexplicable, everybody in the auditorium complied - except the media and one senior public sector bank executive. Now, it's easy to explain the media's non-compliance in the interests of impartiality, but what about the executive? Well, he is due to retire in a few months, so he clearly did not see any reason to applaud a minister to whom he will be no longer responsible.