rudeness - I’m back in Britain HAT do they know of England who only England know?thaye Just returned from a two-week holiday tra- versing Tamil Nadu, Unfortunately, in order to secure a tourist visa, !had to ‘ive the Indian authorities a solemn undertaking that Lwouldn’ write snces, So can’t wh you the delight of Tam Naa its fabulous temples, its sensational food or the unfailing courtesy and ‘hospitality ofits people. ‘What ican revealisthat 've encoun- tered more beggars on the streets of ‘London in the past week than I did in ‘my entire sojourn in Tamil Nadu. India entiresojourn in Tamil Nadu paarers on ccenrscommeonsere {isthe future~ 25 per cent of people in the world under the age of 25 are Indian ~ and Tamil Nadu is one ofits ‘most prosperous states. also think Team share with you ‘etal of my return flight from Chen- nal to Heathrow on British Airways ‘without incurring the wrath of Shiva. haven't flown with BA for 20-odd years and it was an eye-opener. Full marks to BA for punctuality and inflight entertainment (excellent choice offs from Julie &Julia to The Reader). Butthe BA cabin steward was unfathomably rude to the mainly Indian passengers and made me squirm with embarrassment. ‘Why did he refuse to help any of us Sebastian Shakespeare's Joad our hand luggage into the over- ‘head lockers? Or even deign to show ‘us where we might find a free locker to stow away our bags? When an Indian passenger gently remonstrated ‘with him, the steward replied tartly: “i’smy duty to stay at the back ofthe plane.” Was he already on strike? OK, ‘we all have bad hair days, but itlefta sour note in the air. And what an appalling impression to give a first time visitor to England (was siting next (0 one) ‘The next day Iwitnessed bank rage ‘at my local branch of Lloyds in Ken- sington High Street. For some reason there are never enough cashiers to man the tills soa huge queue of impa- tient customers always quickly builds up. The man fn front of me iad had enough and hurled abuse at the staff Tt was a disgrace, he shouted, that Loyds had to be bailed out by taxpay- cers with billions of pounds and yet the ‘bank couldn't even find enough staff tomanitstils:"“Getmethe manager!” “Tam the duty manager.” “Getbehind the till” “I can't get behind the til because I'm not a cashier.” ‘So what do I know of England after ry trip to India? That weare anation ‘ofjobsworths and British Airways and Lloyds Bank still havea long way to go in improving customer relations. It used to be said that to be born British was to win the first prize in the lottery of life. in my next life | would like to beborn an indian.