No birthday celebrations for bereaved Shotgun

Shatrughan Sinha, who brought in his birthday yesterday, had a quiet celebration at home. With the demise of his mother, as well as politician Jayalalithaa, he was in no mood for parties or celebrations. He said, “I don’t believe in celebrating one day of the year just because I happened to be born on that day. My advice to all my friends, well-wishers, supporters and opponents is to treat every day as special.” He suggested, “Don’t squander even one day in futile pursuits and unnecessary squabbles. We never know this day may be the last of our lives. Look at how soon Jayalalithaaji left us.”

Shatrughan perked up while recalling the heartfelt tributes paid by two of Amma’s staunchest opponents. “The biggest birthday gift to me is the the emotional condolences paid by two of Jayalalithaajis’s harshest opponents — M. Karunanidhi and M.K. Stalin. They may have been political adversaries but in death the disputes dissolved. This proves that underneath the political bickering, we are all humans with feelings,” he said.

Shatruji is also happy this birthday about sharing this day with Sonia Gandhi, He said, “I share my birth date with the very dignified and no-nonsense woman, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. I want to wish her good health and peace of mind. We all tend to cross swords in parliamentary matters.” He continued, “Under the squabbles, we are decent human beings. I firmly believe we need to tap more often in the reservoir of our decency, which remains unused frequently.”