NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

When Chelsea failed to turn up

Swapna Khanna in New Delhi

The curiosity, the eagerness, the expectations, all came to a standstill. And were replaced by disappointment at the Santusthi Shopping Arcade.

Officials in charge, visitors including enthusiastic ladies, and a horde of children from the neighbourhood waited at the entrance to catch a glimpse of Chelsea, daughter of United States President Bill Clinton, who was scheduled to shop here.

There were petals waiting to be showered, a band ready... but there was no sign of the little lady.

Three girls in crepe maroon sari and traditional jewellery waited at the entrance to welcome Chelsea. "Every time we heard the cars passing by we thought she had arrived," said Tanya, an employee in the complex. "But we too had our share of doubt since there was not a single security official to be seen here."

Everyone was restless, they wanted her to arrive. "We have been waiting here for the last four hours thinking that we could at least get a chance to see her," said Kapoor, a regular shopper here.

The band kept rehearsing: the tunes of Titanic, Barbie Girl and Somewhere My Love followed each other, but of Chelsea there was no sign.

M Singh, the leader of the band, said: "We finally chose to play Barbie Girl...We thought she would enjoy it, being a fast number."

Around 1600 hours IST, the crowd found not Chelsea but her grandmother Dorothy Rodham, tapping her feet and clapping to Barbie Girl. She had come down along with an American embassy official to lunch after her hectic shopping schedule in Greater Kailash.

Chelsea, it turned out, chose sightseeing over shopping.

Nobody noticed Clinton's mother-in-law walk into the complex. She was like any other tourist, without security officials, American or Indian.

She dined at Basil and Thyme. Carrot and potato soup, spaghetti and the cappuccino coffee there were delicious, she found. After lunch she walked around and enjoyed the band.

Speaking to the media, Rodham said: "India is a great country and so are the people here. I have been enjoying everything but liked the Holi the best."

When she left, the children from the neighbourhood accompanied her to her white Toyota and saw her off.

"We wanted her [Chelsea] to come and visit the complex," said Santushi Association vice-president Bhai Balbir Singh. "We had made a lot of arrangements... but then it's okay if she decided otherwise."

It's okay, but it would have made his day had Chelsea turned up.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA: The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report