Getting Even With The Odds: Pollution in Delhi

There have been so many puns and word play opportunities with the Delhi government’s Odd/Even car policy to reduce pollution that every possible combination must have been exhausted.

I was in Delhi for the whole of November and December 2015. I partly live in Delhi and I have never experienced the pollution to be as bad as it was. I started coughing even during the drive from the airport.

Mecca, The Sacred City?

I arrived at the Edinburgh International Book Festival today for my first book event of this year’s packed programme, brolly in hand and wearing two layers of cashmere. Yes, it is August, welcome to Summer in Scotland.

Ziauddin Sardar’s new book, Mecca The Sacred City was the topic of discussion and the charismatic author was full of hilarious anecdotes and opinions of Saudi Arabia that mirror my own. Of course, unlike him, I’m not a respected scholar nor have I spent time living there.

It is in the direction of Mecca and the Ka’aba that all Muslims turn to when (or if) they pray. Mecca is the birth place of the Prophet and pilgrimage to the Ka’aba is one of the five pillars of Islam, a duty for all Muslims. So why do the guardians of the holiest sites in the Islamic behave like ‘cultural terrorrists’? Ziauddin Sardar is no fan of

Crosstown Traffic

I read an interesting debate recently about country attitudes to cars and their cities.  The main comparison was between European cities and the USA but I will throw my experience of being a seasoned Delhi rally driver into the mix.

It seems that while Europe is becoming increasingly hostile to cars, theUSA is researching better ways to help drivers have a less stressful experience