The not-so-secret diary

I have a very limited understanding of haute couture and less so of what is on-trend. I often count on my younger sibling to explain the difference between a Gucci and a Givenchy. However, if anyone asked me who in my generation (in the Western world) I find the most stylish and elegant, I would say without hesitation it is the Duchess of Cambridge, better known to most of us as Kate Middleton. For clarity, I am no starry-eyed royalist. My admiration for her style and comportment goes back to when she was first Prince William's girlfriend, then for a few brief months she became his estranged girlfriend, before he finally 'ringed' her. The rest, as they say, is history. Here are some pics of Kate before the wedding She took on a more formal look after the wedding. Perhaps some credit goes to her stylists as well. It is difficult to know these days how much influence they have, but I like to think that Kate must have a say in what she chooses ...

Yesterday afternoon, after a hearty brunch of crepes in Chiswick, I found myself in the Bollinger Bar , courtesy mates S and R. We arrived well in time to get a vantage point on the balcony that would allow us an unrivaled view of what was to become one of the most unusual and eventful contests in London's popular annual boat race event. Following a tradition from 1829, each year during the Easter break, 8-member rowing crews from Oxford and Cambridge compete on the Thames. As we started the morning the statistics on our smartphones informed us that out of a total of 157 races, Cambridge had won 80 and Oxford had won 76 including the one in 2011. On 7th April, 2012 the spectators were prepared for yet another fierce contest. At 1:15 PM in the Bollinger Bar just east of Chiswick Bridge, the atmosphere was still building up..... There was a bit of cheering at the pre-race events including the Reserve Boat Race which Oxford's Isis crew won. Soon crowds started buildin...

The coalition government of Conservatives and Lib Dems is in power in the UK and Tory-bashing is rife in some parts of society. I started following British politics soon after I moved to London and realised for the first time that I actually understood what was happening. I suppose it helps to have just 3 main parties as opposed to the mad multi-party, multi-region politics that one sees in India where even politicians struggle to keep up with who’s with them and who’s not. After having decided that I was just right of centre, in the last year I found myself nodding in appreciation of the Coalition (or Tory) policies that promised to drag the UK out of recession and improve general ‘happiness levels’ in British society. However The Political Compass test informs me that I am actually a left-leaning libertarian. It comes as surprise to me that my political leanings are closer to Gandhi and Nelson Mandela rather than to Margaret Thatcher. Either this test is suspect or else, god fo...