A Suitable Boy (1993)
Although the earliest of the works, I only got round to reading it this year. This was partly because I was deterred by its size. It is reputed to be the longest novel ever written in the English language. The paperback edition I read was 1,349 pages long. Other editions have even more pages. It took the author almost ten years to write. Because of its size and the number of characters, this is not a novel for reading just a few pages at a time last thing at night. Nevertheless, despite its length, A Suitable Boy reads very easily, thanks to Seth’s flowing style and humour. It is set in India shortly after Partition,  in the period leading up to the country’s first election following independence. The title refers to the search by a mother for a suitable husband for her daughter for whom there are a number of potential suitors. This, however, is but one theme in a saga involving the affairs of four families. The writer addresses a host of issues that were of importance at the time (several of which remain so), including arranged marriages, sectarian animosity, the caste system and land reform. Not only is this a truly great novel, it also provides the reader with a fascinating insight into Indian society and history at a critical time for the country.

An Equal Music (1999)
This is the story of a love affair between two classical musicians, written with great sensitivity and poignancy by a writer who clearly is himself a lover of, and highly knowledgable about, music. Another masterpiece.

Two Lives (2005)
When he was seventeen, Vikram Seth left India to come to England to continue his education. He went to stay with his great-uncle Shanti and great-aunt Henny who lived in Hendon. Theirs are the two lives of the title of this biography. Shanti was Indian and Henny a German Jew. They met in Germany, where Shanti had gone to study dentistry in the 1930s. They were not famous people but they lived through some terrible times. The book encompasses the India of Shanti’s early life, Germany before and during the Second World War, the fighting in Africa and Italy, the Holocaust and post-war Germany and Britain. It is written with great affection and is a moving family memoir. I do, however, think it could have done with some vigorous editing in that too much of Henny’s correspondence is quoted and, frankly, some of it is rather tedious.

Having just read more on the subject on the Internet, it appears that the number had increased to to almost 40,000 but that the page has now been removed from Facebook, apparently by Siobhan O’Dowd, the woman who created it. I have not seen the actual page as I cancelled my Facebook membership several weeks ago and do not wish to rejoin. It seems, however, from other sources, that the majority of the more recent postings were either critical of Moat or of his supporters. Thank goodness for that, but it still horrifies me that thousands of people consider him to have been a hero deserving of legend status.

Raoul Moat had a history of violence against his female partners. Very shortly after being released from prison, after serving a short sentence for assaulting a child, he shot and seriously injured his ex-girlfriend,  Samantha Stobbart, who was also the mother of one of his children; he shot and killed her current boyfriend, Chris Brown; and he shot, at point-blank range, PC Rathband who was unarmed and merely sitting in his patrol car. He then fled and went into hiding for several days before shooting himself after being confronted by the police.

How can any rational person consider such a man to be the subject of hero worship? The examples of comments from Moat supporters that I have read indicate a lack of both intelligence and literacy. In that regard, I found the You Tube clip of a radio interview of Ms O’Dowd on Talksport particularly illuminating. It is very worrying that so many people share her views. How can they be uncritical of his actions or blame them on Samantha Stobbart or the police? Do they not have any sympathy for his victims or their families? What value do they place on human life?

I have already written on the Broken Society (blog of 24.2.2010). It seems to me that the Raoul Moat fan club confirms that our society is not only broken but sick too.

So England are out of the World Cup. What remains of the much-heralded “golden generation” has failed in a major tournament yet again. Their performances this time were so abject that even the most biased supporter cannot sensibly argue that the team did not get what it deserved. After the humiliating defeat by Germany, my dominant emotion was anger rather than disappointment. I didn’t really expect them to prosper in the tournament, but nor did I think they would be quite so awful. At least I am now free to support Holland and Spain.

If this sounds unpatriotic, I can assure you that I am not. I fervently support England in other sports, particularly cricket and rugby union; Great Britain at the Olympics; and Europe in the Ryder Cup. I used to be a big England soccer fan but not for the past few years. The present crop of England footballers is, in my opinion, obscenely over-remunerated, seriously over-rated, under-skilled compared with many other international teams and, with few exceptions, generally lacking in articulacy, charm and charisma. Frankly, many of them are simply not even likeable. They compare very unfavourably with their counterparts in the England cricket and rugby union teams.

The Football Association may well sack the England manager, Fabio Capello. That is the sport’s usual response to an unsuccessful team. I doubt if that will solve the problem. The words “bricks” and “straw” come to mind.

The first applicant to approach him said, “Your Excellency, I am the twin brother of the poor armless wretch that fell to his death from this belfry the other day. I beseech you to honour his life by allowing me to audition in his place.”

The bishop agreed to give the man the opportunity. The twin then began to ring the bells as beautifully as his brother. But, as he finished, he groaned, clutched his chest, collapsed and died on the spot.

Two priests, hearing the bishop’s cries of grief, rushed up to the belfry.

“What has happened? Who is this man?” the first priest asked breathlessly.

“I don’t know his name,” sighed the distraught bishop, “ but he’s a dead ringer for his brother.”

The bishop decided to conduct the interviews personally in the belfry. After observing several applicants demonstrate their skills, he had decided to call it a day when an armless man approached him and said that he was applying for the job.

The bishop was incredulous. “But you have no arms!”

“Not a problem,” said the man. “Observe.” And he began striking the bells with his face, producing a beautiful melody.

The bishop listened in amazement, convinced that he had found a replacement for Quasimodo. Suddenly, however, rushing forward to strike a bell, the armless man tripped and plunged out of the belfry window to his death in the street below. The stunned bishop rushed down the stairs. When he reached the street, a crowd had gathered around the dead man, drawn by the beautiful music they had heard only moments before. As they silently parted to let the bishop through, one of them asked him, “Who was that man?”

“I don’t know his name,” the bishop sadly replied, “but his face rings a bell”.

(There is a sequel to this joke and it will appear later this month!)

With this in mind, I was interested to read that a Senior Playground was officially opened in Hyde Park on 19th May. It contains six items of equipment to provide gentle forms of exercise for the over-60s. These include a cross-trainer, an exercise bike, a bench for sit-ups, a walking machine and two machines for improving flexibility. Alas, no swings. The hope is that older people will use the facility not only for exercise and a bit of fun, but also to socialise. Although it is intended for retired people, only the under-15s are specifically barred from using it. I suspect that vanity will deter younger adults from doing so.

Although this is the first such facility in London, one opened in Manchester in February 2008. The trend was apparently started in China and Japan. The photograph with this blog is of an outdoor gym for senior citizensa in Beijing.  

There are, in addition, an increasing number of outdoor gyms to be found in public parks in various locations in the UK. There is nothing to stop older people from using those, other than possibly their level of fitness.

Anything that encourages older people to exercise is to be welcomed. There is a growing amount of research that indicates that regular exercise is beneficial not only for one’s physical health and fitness but also for one’s mental health. See also my blog of 22nd January 2008 entitled Physical exercise during retirement.

The conversation apparently took place about two weeks before the story appeared and, in the interim, Miss Jacobs had, it is now alleged, tried to sell the story to one or more other newspapers and had also retained the services of Max Clifford, the publicist. It has been reported that The Mail on Sunday paid her £75,000. The paper maintains that it had not set up the “sting” and only learned of the conversation after the event.

As a consequence of the newspaper story, Lord Triesman resigned his two football posts and English hopes of staging the 2018 World Cup have been damaged, possibly fatally.

I have considerable sympathy for Lord Triesman. His remarks were made in what he believed was a private conversation with a friend. They were not intended for a wider audience. He was naturally embarrassed by their subsequent publication and he had no real alternative but to do the honourable thing and resign. His position would have been untenable if he had remained as leader of the World Cup bid. 

The behaviour of Melissa Jacobs appears despicable. It is unclear why she behaved in the way she did. She may have been a woman scorned, simply motivated by money or both. She has been vilified in the Press and on the Web. Her victory in damaging Lord Triesman appears to have been Pyrrhic.

It is unsurprising, but nevertheless gratifying, that The Mail on Sunday has also been widely vilified. It has tried to justify its publication of the story on the basis that “The public is clearly entitled to know about such allegations”. Now there’s a surprise. It is highly debatable whether the public is entitled to the information in the disgraceful circumstances in which it was obtained. I have read that an abortive attempt was made to prevent the newspaper from publishing the story. This indicates that the law was unable to assist. Surely there should now be a coherent law of privacy upon which reliance can be placed in situations such as these. In the meantime, the  Triesmans of the world are reliant on the judgement of people such as the editor of  The Mail on Sunday. God help them. I think the vast majority of Englishmen will not think that the article was in the public interest. Indeed, quite the reverse if the country’s hopes of hosting the World Cup have been seriously jeopardised. It would serve the newspaper right if the football fans among its readers switched allegiance to another publication. 

I read today that Gary Lineker had resigned as a columnist for The Mail on Sunday because of  the  publication of the story. It is not clear to me whether that was as a matter of protest or because he felt that he had a conflict of interests on account of his role as an ambassador for the 2018 bid. Whatever the reason, he has done the right thing.

His boss says: “You know, Hung Chow, I really need you today. When I feel sick like you do, I go to my wife and ask her for sex. That makes everything better. You try that.”

Two hours later, Hung Chow calls again and speaks to his boss. “I do what you say and I feel great. I be at wok soon…..  You got nice house.”