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12 November 2014 |
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 News
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LSE History marks Remembrance Day
The LSE History blog has commemorated Remembrance Day with two posts
about LSE and the First World War.
The first post is the story of the establishment of the war memorial in
the Old Building in the 1920s and can be read
here.
The second
post is about the 70 LSE staff and students who
lost their lives during WW1 and whose names are recorded on the war memorial
– including two by mistake.
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Brazilian Secretary of State for Social Development to speak at LSE
Tereza Campello, the Brazilian Secretary of State for Social Development,
and Camila Batmanghelidjh of Kids Company will be among the speakers at an
international policy seminar on Friday 14 November to discuss LSE research
carried out in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
Experts, policy makers and grassroots activists from Brazil and the UK
will discuss how bottom-up experiences of social development intersect with
governments and policy-makers in shaping decisive processes of policy
design and implementation.
The seminar builds on the conclusions of Underground Sociabilities, a
multiple stakeholder research partnership that mapped life trajectories and
grassroots strategies of social development in the favelas.
More
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UN Habitat Director to join the 13th Urban Age Conference The
head of UN Habitat, Joan Clos, will join one of the major world gatherings
of urban leaders next week in Delhi, as part of the 13th Urban Age
conference, organised by LSE Cities and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen
Society.
The conference, taking place from 14-15 November, will examine how urban
governance and collective capacities engage with and shape the future
development of cities. As India embarks on a major new urbanisation
initiative, speakers will gather in Delhi to exchange experiences on
decentralisation and devolution, leadership and institutional capacity, and
new forms of network governance.
In addition to Joan Clos, Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos - one of
the fastest growing cities in the world - will join leading urban voices.
These voices include the India and UK ministers for urban development -
Venkaiah Naidu and Greg Clark MP.
Over 60 experts and policymakers from 22 cities in 10 countries from five
continents will take part in discussions on urban governance and the future
development of cities.
More
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As world is deadlocked on Syria war, local ceasefires offer respite
for civilians and a glimpse of peace
Local ceasefires could hold the key to easing humanitarian suffering in
Syria and build momentum towards ending the bloody conflict, if backed by
the international community in the context of a wider peace plan. This is
the conclusion of a new report by LSE and the Syrian NGO Madani.
The report, 'Hungry for Peace', documents local negotiations and
agreements in Syria since early 2012 which have helped to bring respite,
aid, services and hope to thousands of civilians caught up in the brutal
war. But the report also finds that with trust between parties at rock
bottom, deals are often manipulated and there is a lack of neutral
go-betweens. The report argues that these truces have the potential to
protect and provide for Syria’s war-devastated people but only if
international support is expanded. The international community needs to
provide dedicated mediation and monitoring services and relate local truces
to efforts at finding an overall political solution.
“After three and a half painful years, Syrians are yearning for peace,”
said Dr Rim Turkmani an LSE research fellow, Syrian activist and lead author
of the report. “While global efforts to pursue a political solution are
rapidly being de-prioritised, Syrians are pushing for periods of calm by
brokering local deals. In some case these have stopped the fighting and
opened up the flow of aid, other deals succeeded in restoring water and
electricity services to a large area. Even when negotiations fail, they
reflect strong local potential and desire for stability that remains
untapped. There must be a combined bottom-up and top-down effort to achieve
peace in Syria, neither alone will do.”
More
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New Gearty Grilling online
A
new Gearty Grilling video, part of the series of short video debates
between Conor Gearty, director of the IPA and professor of human rights law,
and leading researchers at LSE, is now online.
This week, Mary Morgan, Professor of History and Philosophy of Economics,
discusses how economists work and think.
More
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More of us are heading down the social ladder, new research finds
A study by Oxford University and LSE shows that, contrary to what is
widely supposed, there has been no decline in social mobility in Britain
over recent decades but more of us are moving down rather than up the social
ladder.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sociology, looked
at a total of more than 20,000 British men and women in four birth cohorts
from 1946, 1958, 1970 and 1980-84.
The researchers worked with the 7-class version of the official National
Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC), in which individuals are
given social classes on the basis of their employment status and occupation.
They compared the class of each individual when in their late-20s or 30s
with the class of their fathers, and found that around three-quarters of men
and women alike ended up in a different class to the one they were born
into, and that this proportion was more or less constant across the four
cohorts.
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LSE Executive Summer School graduate awarded £7m for sustainable
credit programme by Central Bank of Nigeria
Dr Antonia Ashiedu, Hon. Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation of the
Delta State, Nigeria, and an LSE Executive Summer School graduate, is to
manage and administer two billion Naira (over seven million pounds) awarded
to Delta State Government, by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the continued
sustainability of a Micro-Credit Scheme aimed at helping both the rural and
urban poor.
Antonia Ashiedu developed a business plan which assisted in winning
Delta State the funding while she was a student of the LSE Business Model
Innovation course run by the Executive Summer School at LSE.
The two billion Naira will be used to further develop the Delta State
Micro-Credit Programme, which is led by Antonia Ashiedu and has, to date,
helped over 111,312 people (67,861 females and 43,451 males). The programme
seeks to empower the rural and urban poor by providing access to sustainable
credit through working with microfinance banks, local communities, trade
groups and faith based organisations.
More
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Changing internet risks for children
European 11 – 16 year-olds are more likely to be exposed to some online
risks, including receiving hate messages, seeing pro-anorexia or self-harm
websites and being cyberbullied, compared to four years ago. However, they
are less likely to make contact with a stranger online today than in 2010.
According to the research by EU Kids Online – a project based at
LSE – the percentage
of children and teenagers encountering hate messages online has risen from
13 per cent to 20 per cent and those experiencing cyberbullying has gone
from seven per cent to 12 per cent.
Thirteen per cent of young people said they had encountered websites
promoting anorexia in 2014, compared with nine per cent in 2010. Eleven per
cent had seen websites promoting self-harm compared to seven per cent four
years ago.
In contrast, the proportion of young people making contact online with
someone they don’t know face-to-face is down from 32 per cent in 2010 to 29
per cent in 2014 – possibly because awareness raising efforts about
‘stranger danger’ are proving effective. However, they are slightly more
likely to meet an online contact offline.
More
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Smartphones put children under pressure to be constantly available
Even children get annoyed by the constant availability that smartphones
bring says a new report by the Net Children Go Mobile project.
The researchers conducted a qualitative study of children, their parents,
teachers and others working with young people in nine European countries.
Many children interviewed believed that having a smartphone made them
more sociable but recognised that they were distracted by constantly
receiving notifications from, for example, WhatsApp – the instant messaging
app.
The availability of 24/7 information feeds also meant that many found
themselves repeatedly scrolling through Social Networking Sites’
notifications, even when there was no new ‘news’.
Parents expressed concern that their children are continuously waylaid by
‘irrelevant’ messages when they should be doing their homework.
However the researchers also found that children had come up with
preventative measures to deal with the consequences of the omnipresence of
mobile devices, such as leaving them in another room or turning them to
silent.
Many children were critical of peers spending time writing text messages
when they were, for example, in social situations where they should be
interacting face-to-face.
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 Notices
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LSE’s Information Security Policy We all have responsibilities
concerning the data we use as part of our everyday work. We must ensure that
when we collect, use and store personal data that we do so in a secure, safe
manner that abides by the data protection laws that govern information use
within the UK. If we do not take the right steps to classify and protect our
data, the School and responsible individuals can face fines and legal
action.
The
Information Security Policy (PDF) forms a part of the School's ongoing
commitment to enhance and clarify the measures that we can all take to
classify our data and protect it, making sure that as a community we
safeguard information while still making it available to those who have the
right to access it. Everyone at LSE is encouraged to read and abide by this
policy in the course of their work and studies. If you have any questions
and concerns regarding Information Security at LSE, please contact the IT
Help Desk: it.helpdesk@lse.ac.uk
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iRoam - borrow a Macbook when in the Library
The new
iRoam laptop service is now live!
Borrow a brand new Macbook Air from the iRoam cabinet, located on the
first floor of the Library opposite the IT Help Desk. Use the laptop
anywhere in the Library and connect automatically to WiFi, access your H:
Space and Microsoft Office software. No need to tie yourself to a desktop
PC!
To borrow a laptop, you will need your LSE ID card and your iRoam PIN.
You should have received your iRoam-specific PIN via email. You can change
this PIN at the kiosk next to the iRoam cabinet. If you experience any
issues, contact the
IT Help Desk for assistance.
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Vacancies in halls
Are you still looking for housing? LSE Residential Services have a
number of vacancies in halls.
Rooms for postgraduates
- Single standard room in Butler’s Wharf residence at £136.50 per
week. Available now.
- Shared twin room in Grosvenor House at £171.15 per week. Available
now. Female students only.
- Single studio in Lilian Knowles residence at £218.19 per week.
Available from 1 January 2015.
- Single standard room Rosebery Hall at £179.55 per week. Available
from 21 February 2015.
- Shared twin room in Rosebery Hall at £129.50 per week. Available
now. Female students only.
Rooms for undergraduate students
- Shared twin room available in Passfield Hall at £129.50 per week.
Available now. Female students only.
- Various rooms at urbanest King’s Cross. Available now.
Offers will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are
interested please contact
accommodation@lse.ac.uk.
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Vacancies in halls
Are you still looking for housing? LSE Residential Services have a number
of vacancies in halls.
Rooms for postgraduates
- ingle standard room in Butler’s Wharf residence at £136.50 per week.
Available now.
- Shared twin room in Grosvenor House at £171.15 per week. Available
now. Female students only.
- Single studio in Lilian Knowles residence at £218.19 per week.
Available from 1 January 2015.
- Single standard room Rosebery Hall at £179.55 per week. Available
from 21 February 2015.
- Shared twin room in Rosebery Hall at £129.50 per week. Available
now. Female students only.
Rooms for undergraduate students
- Shared twin room available in Passfield Hall at £129.50 per week.
Available now. Female students only.
- Various rooms at urbanest King’s Cross. Available now.
Offers will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are
interested please contact
accommodation@lse.ac.uk.
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Survey on affordable student housing The provision and
affordability of student housing is a crucial issue for all institutions in
London and over the last six years, University of London Housing Services (ULHS),
London Higher, the NUS and others have been lobbying the Mayor of London to
address these issues through the planning process – in particular the London
Plan, which sets the strategic framework.
That group of organisations now wishes to recommend to the Mayor that the
affordability of future student housing developments needs to be addressed
in the London Plan, and that where a developer is not working in partnership
with a higher education institution, they will need to provide a proportion
of their rooms at rents that are affordable to the majority of students. The
group needs to provide evidence to support the proposal and to define
affordability.
It would be very helpful and greatly appreciated if you could fill in the
online survey. The
survey closes at 5pm on the Monday 15 December. There will be a prize
draw for £1,000 worth of prizes.
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This Christmas I shall.... look after myself
The
Student Wellbeing Service will be running a stall outside the Saw
Swee Hock Student Centre from 10am-2pm on Friday 28 November.
The holidays can be a stressful and emotional time of year. It’s
important to try and look after yourself as much as possible.
As with the last wellbeing stall, we will be asking people will be asked to
complete a “five things I will do to look after myself in the holidays“, “I
will de-stress in the holidays by…”, “I will be kind to myself in the
holidays by…” and “I will look after myself in the holidays by…” posters
with ideas of things that we will all do to help maintain our mental
health/wellbeing over the break.
We’ll be handing out mince pies, chocolates and fruit to any passers-by.
More on the Student Wellbeing Service
here
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Marketing, Media and Communications Fair
Thursday 18 November, 6-8.30pm
Come along to the LSE Careers Marketing, Media and Communications Fair
on 18 November to meet with a variety of organisations offering jobs and
opportunities in marketing, advertising, publishing and media.
More
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Abseiling for a good cause Tyrone Curtis, programme coordinator
of LSE's Methods Summer Programme, will be abseiling the ArcelorMittal Orbit
tower in the Olympic Park on Saturday 29 November to raise money for the
Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity supporting homeless LGBT youth.
Tyrone said: "It’s estimated that around one in four homeless youth
identify as LGB or T, so despite the changes in legislation and growing
acceptance of gender and sexual diversity, homelessness still
disproportionately affects LGBT youth. This is why the work of the Albert
Kennedy Trust is so important, and why any support from the LSE community
will be hugely appreciated.”
To donate, see Tyrone's donations page at
https://www.justgiving.com/Tyrone-Curtis
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Honorary Doctorate nominations
LSE is inviting nominations for Honorary Doctorate. The criteria for the
award of an Honorary Doctorate are:
The LSE Council may confer an Honorary Doctorate on an individual who has
demonstrated outstanding achievement and distinction in a field or activity
consonant with the work of the School and with its mission to improve
society and understand the “causes of things".
Unlike Honorary Fellows, Honorary Doctorates do not need a direct
connection with the School.
The deadline for the receipt of nominations to be considered in the
2014-15 academic year is Friday 16 January 2015. Any Honorary
Doctorates awarded would be conferred in December 2015.
Full details, and a Nomination Form, can be found
here. Joan Poole would be happy to answer any queries, on email
j.a.poole@lse.ac.uk or extension
7825.
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LSE Chill – calling performers! Friday 28 November, 6-8pm
Café 54, New Academic Building
We are looking for acts to perform at the next Chill! If you are
interested in performing please contact
arts@lse.ac.uk with your name and details of your act.
For more information about LSE Chill, see the
LSE Chill webpage.
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New edition of Perspectives
The November edition of Perspectives is now online. Each month 12 photos
taken by the LSE community are chosen to appear in LSE Arts online gallery.
This month's edition includes '"Look Left - Or Else!" by LSE undergraduate
Ryo Takahashi (pictured left). Check out November’s edition
here.
Find inspiration in
past galleries, and find out how to submit
here and email
lseperspectives@lse.ac.uk.
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Training and development opportunities for students Courses
scheduled for next week include:
Undergraduates can track skills they develop by taking part in activities
beyond academic studies using PDAM.
These are just some of the events running next week. To receive a monthly
summary of all training courses, subscribe to the email list by clicking
here and pressing send. More
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LSE Treatment Clinic
The LSE Treatment Clinic, which welcomes LSE students and staff, is on
the first floor of Tower Two.
The clinic offers professional treatments, at reduced rates for LSE, of
acupuncture, osteopathy and sports massage from practitioners with over 20
years of experience between them. Their combined expertise is effective in
the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, repetitive strain injury, tension
headaches, posture advice, sports injuries, anxiety, insomnia, migraine,
among many other ailments.
The practitioners are:
- Hanya Chlala
Acupuncture and Reflexology available in a dual-bed setting on
Wednesdays and Fridays
- Laura Dent
Sports massage available on Mondays
- Tim Hanwell
Osteopathy available on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Appointments are available Monday - Friday from 9am - 6pm and can
be booked online at
www.lsetreatmentclinic.co.uk.
All consultations are strictly confidential and sessions will last
between 30 and 60 minutes depending upon the treatment. To reach the clinic,
enter the Tower One/ Tower Two reception, go up to the first floor in Tower
Two and follow the signs to the LSE Treatment Clinic. |
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 What's
on
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1960s Algeria: Women, Public Space and Moral Panic - on
Wednesday 12 November at 6.30-8pm in the Alumni Theatre, New Academic
Building with Dr Natalya Vince
As recent events in North Africa have demonstrated, the post-revolution
is often accompanied by moral panic and a desire to 'reinstate' gendered
order. This talk will explore debates about the place of women in public
space in Algeria in the 1960s. Dr Vince will consider how revolutionary
progress could embrace puritanical single-mindedness and also how Algerian
women in the 1960s responded to and contributed to these debates.
More
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ASEN/Nations and Nationalism Debate, on Azar Gat's book Nations:
the long history and deep roots of political ethnicity and nationalism -
on Wednesday 12 November at 6-7.30pm in the G.01, Tower One, with
Azar Gat, Christopher Wickham and Bo Strath
This is the ninth in the series of public debates organised by ASEN and
Nations and Nationalism in which a recent major work on the subject of
nationalism is discussed by a panel of experts, including the author,
followed by discussion with the audience.
The event is free and open to all with no ticket required.
More
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How Finance is Tackling Sustainability: a roadmap to the future -
on Monday 17 November at 6.30-8pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New
Academic Building with Michael Mainelli, Angela Ridgwell (pictured), Nick Robins
Speakers from the financial sector, NGOs and think tanks will discuss if
the finance industry is doing enough to combat the challenges of
environmental sustainability.
More
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Transforming the United Nations System -
on Monday 17 November at 6.30-8pm in CLM6.02, Clement House with
Professor Joseph Schwartzberg
Global problems require global solutions. However, the United Nations, as
presently constituted, is incapable of addressing many global problems
effectively. One nation–one vote decision-making in most UN agencies fails
to reflect the distribution of power in the world at large, while the
allocation of power in the Security Council is both unfair and
anachronistic. Extensive reform is essential.
More
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Sustainability in Practice public lecture: How Finance is Tackling
Sustainability: a roadmap to the future - on Monday 17 November at
6.30-8pm in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building Speakers
from the financial sector, NGOs and think tanks will discuss if the finance
industry is doing enough to combat the challenges of environmental
sustainability.
More
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What Europe? - on Monday 17 November at 6.30-8pm in the Old
Theatre, Old Building with Professor Timothy Garton Ash (pictured), Professor Renaud
Dehousse, Giuseppe Laterza, Professor Jan Zielonka A panel debate to
mark the official launch of
Eutopia - the pan-European online magazine in which incisive
thinkers from Europe and beyond address searching questions about the very
nature of Europe. What exactly is "Europe"? What should be the EU's final
frontier? What's left ( if anything) of "The European Project"? And do
Europeans need a new lexicon and a whole new mindset for thinking about
their continent?
More
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Social Psychology open lectures: Attitudes and Changing Behaviour -
on Tuesday 18 November at
2.15-3.45pm in the Old Theatre, LSE with Tom Reader
How do attitudes develop? Do attitudes predict behaviour? By simply
changing attitudes, can we change behaviour? A key issue for social
psychologists are the permanence of attitudes, and the extent to which they
predict behaviour. Research shows attitudes to fluctuate according to a
variety of factors, for example social norms, organisational culture,
knowledge, and personal interests. Furthermore, attitudes have been shown to
influence behaviour in a variety of organisational, health and social
settings. We will reflect on examples of this, and consider whether the
relationship between attitudes and behaviours is as straightforward as it
appears…
This event is free and open to all on a first come-first-serve basis.
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Transboundary Climate Security: Climate Vulnerability and Rural
Livelihoods in the Jordan River Basin - on Tuesday 18 November at
5.30-7pm in 9.04, Tower 2 with Dr Michael Mason (pictured), Muna Dajani
In this lecture, Dr Michael Mason and Muna Dajani will report the
principal research findings of a collaborative project, Transboundary
Climate Security, involving the LSE Middle East Centre and Birzeit
University. The project investigated the climate-related vulnerabilities of
agricultural communities living in areas with current or historically recent
experience of military occupation – labelled ‘(post)occupation’ – within the
Jordan River Basin.
More
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The 2013 Belgrade-Pristina Normalization Agreement - What has it
delivered - on Tuesday 18 November at 6-7.30pm in Cañada Blanch Room,
COW 1.11, 1st floor, Cowdray House with Dr Joanna Hanson
Dr Hanson shall be trying to make an assessment of what the real
objective of the 2013 Belgrade-Pristina Normalization Agreement was and
whether it was common to all sides; what it has achieved so far; the nature
of its implementation; is it a model which could be replicated.
More
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The Scale-up Manifesto: why scale-ups will drive the global policy
agenda for the next generation - on Tuesday 18 November at 6-7.30pm
in the Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building with Sherry Coutu
(pictured), Geoff Mulgan, Tamara Rajah, Andy Tong
This event marks the launch of a major report commissioned by the UK
government on increasing the economic impact of high growth firms, which
will be published on 17 November during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The
report seeks to identify the actions governments, corporates, universities
and entrepreneurs in the UK should consider taking to ensure high growth
firms are “scaling up” successfully.
More
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Anglo-Iranian Relations Revisited: The Curious Case of the Proposed
Nuclear Company of Britain and Iran - on Wednesday 19 November at
6.30-8pm in G.01, Tower 1 with Professor Ali Ansari
In this talk, Professor Ali Ansari will look at the Iranian proposal in
1977 to establish a joint British-Iranian nuclear company which would have
entailed the construction of up to twenty nuclear reactors in Iran in return
for significant Iranian investment in British Industry. Had the deal been
followed through, it would have marked an unprecedented shift in
British-Iranian relations. His presentation will chart the rise and fall of
the negotiations and what they reveal about the nature of Iran’s relations
with Britain.
More
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Poverty and the Pope - on Wednesday 19 November at 6.30-8pm in
the Old Theatre, Old Building with Professor Jagdish Bhagwati
The Occupy Movement has focused the ethical attention of many on the
rich. By contrast, the ethical objective has been refocused instead on the
poor, most notably by Pope Francis. The focus on the rich reflects usually
mankind’s ignoble instincts like envy and jealousy. On the other hand, focus
on the poor and on reducing poverty reflects mankind’s noblest instinct:
empathy for the poor and the unfortunate among us. While therefore the
refocus on the poor is to be applauded, the next question is: how are the
poor to be aided?
More
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LSE Arts lunchtime concert: Rosamunde Trio - on Thursday 20
November at 1.05-2pm in the Shaw Library, Old Building
Martino Tirimo (piano), Ben Sayevich (violin), Daniel Veis (cello)Mozart
- Piano Trio in B flat K254
Dvorak - Piano Trio in E minor Op.90 ('Dumky')
A trio of world-class soloists whose performances and recordings have
earned outstanding praise from the music critics.
More
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The War that Was Lost - on Thursday 20 November at 6.30-8pm in
the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House with Dr Robin Archer
Why did radicals retreat on the eve of the Great War, even where
opposition was strongest? What are the lessons for us today?
More
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A Conversation with Professor Muhammad Yunus - on Friday 21 November at
3-4.15pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building with Professor Muhammad Yunus
This event is ticketed and tickets will be released from 10am on
Friday 14 November.
Muhammad Yunus has devoted his life to providing financial and social
services to the poorest of the poor. He is the founder of Grameen Bank,
serving as managing director until May 2011, the author of the bestselling
Banker to the Poor and in October 2006, was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and
social development. Muhammad Yunus was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor
of Science (Economics) by LSE in November 2011. In April 2013 he received
the US Congressional Gold Medal.
More
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Book launch: Resolving Cyprus: new approaches to conflict resolution -
on Thursday 27 November at
6.30-8pm in CLM.2.02, Clement House with Dr James Ker-Lindsay
Resolving Cyprus presents a comprehensive overview of the 'Cyprus
Problem' and offers new and innovative ideas as to how to tackle one of
the longest running ethnic conflicts on the world
stage. To mark the launch of the book a group of contributors will
discuss the question: Can Cyprus be Solved?
With contributions by : Emel Akcali, Yeshim Harris, Klearchos Kyriakides,
Neophytos Loizides, Robert McDonald, Mustafa Ergun Olgun, Zenon
Stavrinides, Birte Vogel.
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 60
second interview
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with.....Sonali Campion
I’m Sonali, and I study
comparative democratisation half of
the time and edit the
India at LSE blog the rest of
the time. I think I’m one of the few
graduate students at LSE who
actually comes from London – I was
keen to go abroad for my masters but
LSE had the course I wanted to do,
and the option to study part-time.
As well as being the blog
editor of India at LSE you are
studying part-time for an MSc in
Comparative Politics. Any tips on
managing the work/study/life
balance?
It’s the boring answer but
organisation I suppose. I have all
my fixed stuff that involves other
people in my calendar, whether it’s
work meetings, lectures, or
socialising. Then I slot in
everything else around that. I don’t
always get it right and I do get
stressed sometimes but the important
things are always taken care of. I
also really enjoy both my job and my
masters so there are good incentives
to make it work!
What would your friends say is
your greatest quality?
Probably that I’m funny when I
don’t mean to be (I’m never funny
when I try to be). They also like my
hollandaise sauce.
If you could bring one famous
person back to life, who would it be
and why?
Douglas Adams. I’ve read all of
his books about a million times and
they still make me laugh out loud
but there aren’t enough of them.
What has been the most
memorable day in your life so far?
When I was six I went on safari
at the end of my first trip to
India. We saw a female tiger with
three cubs up close from the back of
an elephant. I remember being beside
myself with excitement. The same
female tiger appeared on the cover
of the National Geographic later
that year so I spent a good few
months telling anyone who’d listen
that I’d seen that tiger. As far as
I was concerned it was better than
meeting any celebrity.
Have you kept any toys from
your childhood?
I still have my collection of 37
beanie babies. I always take one
along on holiday with me so I can do
“toy on tour” photos – like the
gnome in Amelie.
What is your favourite smell?
Fresh mango.
If you met the UK Prime
Minister and you could only ask one
question, what would you ask him?
April to June every year is mango
season in South Asia. Indian and
Pakistani mangoes are nothing like
the ones you usually get in Britain
– they’re stickier, juicier, more
perfumed and generally the most
delicious thing in the world.
Normally you can get them by the box
load here in the UK during the
season, but this year EU stopped
imports due to concerns about pests.
Last April, Cameron promised the
first issue he would talk about with
the new Indian PM would be mangoes
but I never heard anything more. I
want to know what’s been done about
it and whether we’ll be getting our
mangoes next year.
If you could live anywhere in
the world, where would you choose
and why?
Costa Rica. I’ve been a couple of
times and absolutely loved it. It
has so much natural beauty, from
volcanoes to rainforest to stunning
beaches and the people were very
laid back and friendly. It’s also
politically very interesting: it
dissolved its army after the civil
war in 1948 and unlike its
neighbours it has managed to
maintain a relatively stable
democracy – I’d love to study it in
more detail. Plus I think speaking
the language is important if you’re
going to live somewhere and my
Spanish is passable. |
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