Friday 2nd May, 2014

If Jimmy couldn’t make it to Bodhgaya and sit under the Bodhi Tree to mark Buddha’s birthday next week she has done the next best thing.  She is flitting between Dharmsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile and McLeod Ganj, the Dalai Lama’s residence in Himachal Pradesh.   A text exchange with her from a couple of days ago.

 

“Funniest thing.  There are loads of Tibetan monks everywhere.  And a game arcade that Archie found.  He came back the other night saying “just had a great game of FIFA with the dahlia (sic ) lama.”

 

“Was that a joke?” I replied 

 

“No for real but he got confused. Was just a young monk having a gaming session haha”

 

“Btw when we were in amaritsar BJP party were EVERYWHERE!!” – yet another useful nugget then.  That’s the thing isn’t it.  You educate them and then send them out into the big world and they are your eyes and ears.  We’re getting our money’s worth wouldn’t you say?

 

Talking of texting, which I am conscious has become a recurrent theme over recent weeks, I was speaking to an old friend, a colleague of mine when I was with Barings in HK and one of the smartest people I know, but not at all tech literate to put it mildly.  Suffice to say I was actually quite surprised when she told me yesterday that she had a mobile phone.  She said she would text me and then I would have her number.   Told you.  She doesn’t miss a trick this girl.  I said I would expect her message to arrive later that day once she had mastered the requisite skills.  But to my surprise just moments later my phone buzzed with her effusive message:

 

“S x”

 

Och, it’s a wonderful thing the predictive texting.

 

I’m out of here and with an extra step to my gait happily reunited as I was today with a DVD of Episodes 21-23 of the 4th Season of The West Wing which I lent to a client five years ago.  And what’s more to think that until yesterday I had no idea that Monday is a Bank Holiday.  Woop woop.