And I read some English novels – notably, 2 Prison Diaries by my favorite author - Jeffrey Archer. It is true what they say about the public memory being short. I really can’t remember what he was sent to the prison for. The diaries opened up a new world for me. It was a sort of “Domain knowledge” session :-) - one I hope I don’t ever have to utilize for anything. It was amusing to find the ubiquitous “Chicken Tikka Masala” under a Prison menu at Belmarsh. Has it truly become the national dish of Great Britain? :-) I am yet to read his third and last diary.

Seems like India has become the flavor of the season because even in the novel “Beach Babylon” - which I picked up with considerable reluctance (the picture of a blonde babe sunning herself out in the sun didn’t help matters much!) - had a Dr. Singh working as the in-house physician at this island resort. Even the book I am reading now – “The Ghost” by Robert Harris – has an aged publisher married to a younger Bollywood actress. Not to mention that the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh finds itself mentioned when the ghost writer is trying to sort out his email problems.

BTW, the author claims that “Beach Babylon” is based on the experiences of a Manager who has been working in the hospitality sector for years. It was an eye-opener (and an eye-popper too!) because I never knew the filthy rich could so ruthlessly throw money about to get what they wanted – going to the extent of even removing shrubs planted between 2 villas so they could keep an eye on their children (being cared for by their nanny!) staying in the next villa.

This novel also brought forth the other side of the hospitality industry – from the perspective of those working at these resorts. The situation becomes even more miserable for them if such resorts are situated far away from the civilization. I thought back on my Ooty vacation. Ok, I agree that that resort - though a 5-star one - wasn’t a patch on this novel’s home-away-from-home of the celebrities. The similarity however is that it too wasn’t situated stone’s throw away from any metro either. The town of Coimbatore was a good 3 hours away through the twisted roads in the laps of the Nilgiris. Can’t imagine the scene during monsoon! Guess I will try to remember this next time I am there and open my mouth to complain about some minor inconvenience.