It was the political wit, coupled with presence of mind, exhibited by Raj Thackeray, Ramdas Athawale, Sushilkumar Shinde and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that evoked peals of laughter and applause on Tuesday evening. At the launch of 'ZEE Marathi Disha', a weekly Marathi newspaper from Essel Group, actor Pushkar Shrotri, enacting the character of Gangadhar Tipare, a senior citizen, interviewed all the leaders who were in the audience.Pushkar asked each of the leaders questions about their reading habits, what kind of books they read, and their favourite writer in Marathi. Athawale replied through an instant couplet, Mi Peet Asato Soup, Mhanun Waachat Asato Khoop (I read Soup which is why I read a lot). He also told Pushkar Waachaal Tar Waachaal ani Mi Waachato mhnaun Waachto (One can survive only if one reads and he survives only because he reads). Thackeray said, 'I read human beings around me.' Replying to the question as to which human beings he reads, Thackeray said, 'I read those who are useful for me and useful for Maharashtra in a longer run.' Shinde said that Acharya Atre, P L Deshpande, V S Khandekar, N S Phadke are his favourite writers and he has read the book by former Governor and former chief secretary Ram Pradhan that was released last week. Revealing that he stopped writing poems long ago, Fadnavis said, "Nowadays I get no time for reading and feel that I should have 2-3 days holiday for reading." Fadnavis said that writers of history based novels like Ranjeet Desai are his favourites. AN ENTERTAINING EVENING

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