Manmohan's daughter putting together everything he said in 10 years

Kolkata, Jan 24 (IANS) Author Daman Singh, daughter of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Saturday said she failed to understand why people label her father as "silent" and revealed she was coming up with a collection of "everything" he said in the last 10 years.

"One of the comments that comes up over and over again is 'what a silent man he is'. This is something which I have not really understood completely.

"These days, I am putting together a collection of everything my father said in the last 10 years," Daman Singh said at a discussion on her book "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan" at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here.

The book traces the journey of the former prime minister and his wife from the 1930s to 2004.

Describing the contents of the collection, Daman said it includes his speeches -- both extempore and prepared -- as well as records of his interactions with the media.

"There are about 800 speeches which run into about 5,000 pages. These are both extempore and prepared speeches on all sorts of occasions. They also include about 80 interactions with the members of the media in which people were absolutely free to ask him whatever they wished.

"These are both in India and abroad, on all kinds of occasions. There is a record of all the questions and there is a record of all the answers," Daman Singh said.

Defending her father, she said Manmohan Singh always answered queries from the media during his travels in India and abroad.

"So I should also point out that every time my father travelled, he always had a team of media people who accompanied him. He always had many press conferences, either on the way in or on the way out.

"Honestly, I don't really understand why people label him as silent," she said.