Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi is an image-conscious man who makes sure his reputation is not besmirched in any way. Last week, however, he found himself in a piquant situation.

He had accepted an invitation to be chief guest at a book release ceremony of India’s premier sexologist Prakash Kothari! The book’s title: ‘Art of Loving’. Not realising that it was going to be a grand function where he was also to speak on a subject that he claims no expertise on, Trivedi managed to wriggle out of the function on some pretext at the last moment.

Many in the ministry are wondering why Kothari, who has been dubbed Sexologist of Asia, had homed in on the Trivedi in the first place! Maybe he thought better loving leads is the secret to good health.