In lighter moments, Ravi Naik’s humour & wit always shone through

Panaji: Through his seven terms in the state assembly, made sure he kept them memorable, not only with his political acumen, but humorous banter. Nothing brought the satire in him alive like the assembly sessions, giving the audience the much-needed relief from the monotony of political rhetoric.

When the wild elephant, Omkar, entered villages in Pernem last month, destroying crops, Naik as the agriculture minister told reporters, “We will compensate any loss to farmers. I believe that the elephant is a form of Lord Ganesh. He has come to meet devotees, let him meet them.”

At the public event to mark his birthday with chief minister Pramod Sawant in attendance, the comic in him left the audience giggling. “We have made roads for man and the devil,” he said, explaining that a new road was laid for a spot where the devchar (guardian spirit) is worshipped.

He also reminded the audience that govt is doing everything in its capacity, though at times it finds itself short of Vitamin M. “I am talking about govt, not him (pointing to the CM). He has plenty of the vitamin,” joked Naik.

After the chief minister called a meeting of all ministers with speculation growing that it was to discuss a sensitive subject, Naik found himself accosted by reporters when he left the secretariat. But he had his own jocular way to evade the persistent questions about what happened at the meeting. “Kya kiya? Chai piya, biscuit khaya (What did we do? We had tea and biscuits),” said Naik.

Similarly, when Goa hosted the 37th , Naik told athletes to have fun but to avoid drinking alcohol even if it’s really cheap, in a light-hearted comment during the inaugural ceremony. “Liquor is cheap in Goa, so are cashew nuts, but you should not drink because you are national players,” he said.