By Gautam Datt

Agra, July 15 : "It is the media mahakumbh," remarked an Uttar Pradesh government official in his true rustic style about the massive gathering of scribes at the Mughal Sheraton Hotel in Agra, barely a few kilometres away from the Jaypee Place Hotel, the venue of the Indo-Pak summit.

As reporters brushed shoulders with editors, the television channels occupied all the strategic locations at the hotel to capture the spirit of the summit. More than 700 journalists from India, Pakistan and the rest of the world descended on Agra to cover the historic event. Against their wishes and much to their disappointment the movements of journalists were restricted. With all the ministers and the officials who mattered busy with the talks at Jaypee Palace Hotel, the journalists mingled around looking for any information. The reports from the venue came in bits and pieces. And sometimes from the unlikliest quarters. Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj who marched into the media centre in the afternoon talked about the issues that were discussed by the two leaders in their one-on-one encounter.

Ms. Swaraj twice toured the media centre with a large number of officials in tow. The scribes had started gathering at the media centre much before the talks began. The first official information about the talks came at 4.30 p.m. when the ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Mr. Nirupama Rao, read out a statement. The information hungry journalists were further disappointed as she refused to go beyond the statement to answer any questions. The spokesperson left the huge conference hall, filled to the brink with journalists, citing her urgency to go back to the talks.

By the time official statement was released, the Indian and Pakistani media contingents knew that the summit was heading for a positive outcome. On the spot discussions and analysis broke out in every nook and corner of the hotels. The Indian and Pakistani scribes were jubilant at the way the talks were progressing. The substantial free time was utilised well by the editors.

They went from one makeshift studio to another to talk about the summit. The editors will be able to check the accuracy of their analysis on Monday morning when they have been invited for a breakfast meeting with President Musharraf at the Amar Vilas Hotel.

The photo journalists made the summit. More than 100 of them fell over each other to capture Pakistani President Musharraf with Prime Minister Vajpayee.