“So The Man Who Must Remain Nameless will have his trial in jail.” “The judge has allowed an open trial, open to the public, including the media.”

“Where will court be held? In the jail courtyard?”

“No not that open.”

“Why not? I mean while February may be too cold to hold general elections the day time temperatures these days are extremely pleasant…”

“If I remember correctly in the good old days when basant was held in Lahore, now of course we, the residents of the Land of the Pure, are no longer allowed to hold that spring celebration because of the fatalities but my question is how open will the court be?”

“I don’t think a jail is equipped with largish rooms and…”

“Even though this particular jail has housed the crème de la crème of this country – I mean the elite of the elite if you know what I mean – prime ministers and…and…”

“But no presidents, right?”

“Zardari sahib did change that dynamic so I would urge our politicians to keep the office of the president away from party leaders who may have inadvertently dipped their hand into the honey pot…”

“Pot or pit?”

“Pot for the second tier, pit for the…”

“Stop being facetious anyway I would be surprised if any room in Adiala jail is large enough to accommodate more than say thirty forty people.”

“Hmmm, and with 15 or 20 police men to provide security, five to ten court staff, six to seven family and lawyers of the two accused and four to five carefully selected media personnel…”

“I get it. And I heard The Third Wife had brought a new Maneka outfit for The Man Who Must Rename Nameless…”

“Maneka outfit as in shalwar kameez and a pretentious looking waistcoat? But after Maneka’s u turn, I would imagine The Third Wife may have…”

“I doubt it because that was what she is used to.”

“You know I am saddened for The Third Wife. I mean she seems to attract men who make U-turns a feature of their…”

“Don’t be facetious.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023