As the plane prepared to descend the BA steward reminded us to clear the area around our seats of ALL materials - 'including books and other debris'. I sometimes think we're in the paper recycling industry but debris...?

Of course the big news story here is Shilpa Shetty and Big Brother.

The media in Bangalore and across the sub-continent are having the time of their lives attacking British TV, British racism, British manners, and celebrity idiocy - and affirming the superiority of Indian culture. I agree with them.

The other headlines today were all about the riots in East Bangalore where an 11-year-old boy was killed and a curfew imposed. In the West we hear a great deal about violence in the Middle East (of course) and we make a great deal out of, for instance, the riots in Paris. We tend to view India as a vibrantgrowing democratic economy. India has issues too and they are not far below the surface.

But the more positive side of India is evident in today's Bangalore newspaper where the bulk of the ads are from Australian universities trawling for the best students. The world is, indeed, flat.