Diary
Years ago my divorce liberated me from many things, not least of which was a wife’s burden of organising the traditional family Christmas.
Most people will agree that travelling nowadays is a nightmare, compounded by regulations that have become increasingly illogical. Why, for instance, going through airport security, was my mascara stick spotted as a potential God-knows-what, and taken from my make-up bag, put into a dinky little plastic one and then handed back to me? And why, on reaching one’s destination, is it well nigh impossible to get fresh air in a hotel bedroom? All the windows are sealed. If hotels are anything like airlines, the first and easiest corners to cut are the unseen ones. Change the filters infrequently and what we are forced to breathe through the hateful humming grill might well not be as squeaky clean as we would like to think. In Bombay I paid an obliging man working on my floor mucho rupees to chip off the paint round my windows and I was able to drift off to sleep listening to Bombay’s characteristic sounds carried on wafts of warm air.
Returning to London, the contrast between a traffic jam here and in India is extreme. In India utter chaos prevails, the spectrum of vehicles involved mind-boggling: cars, vans, over-loaded lorries, tuk-tuks, bicycles, scoot-ers, motorcycles, bullock and camel carts and occasionally the odd cow, meandering across to add to the mêlée. Yet nobody seems to get angry. They wait, chat among themselves and slowly, patiently, the mess gets sorted. Here, however, it is a completely different picture of manifest aggression personified by the testosterone-fuelled man behind a wheel who behaves as if the road is his by right. Stand your ground and you get mouthed obscenities and the middle digit. I have the perfect response — ladies take note — waggle your little finger at him and assume a tragic expression, thereby communicating not only your belief that he has the smallest dick known to man but also your deepest sympathy, then glide on by.
More articles from: Diana Rigg | this section
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
A child of our time
From the economic and psychological bedlam of the global downturn has emerged a particularly dangerous false dichotomy: namely, that there is somehow a choice for ministers over the next few years between economic reconstruction and the repair of Britain’s broken society, and that the government (whether Labour or Conservative) must prioritise the former at the expense of the latter.
Diary
Anne RobinsonThe daughter and I spent the last few days before the American election in Arizona.
Politics
Fraser NelsonFraser Nelson reviews the week in politics
The Spectator's Notes
Charles Moore‘A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman’s famous “helicopter drop” of money.’ So said Ben Bernanke, now the chairman of the Fed, in a speech about how to ward off the ‘extremely small’ chance of deflation, which he delivered in 2002.
Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody
Tamzin LightwaterTamzin Lightwater's unique take on the week
Letters
Spectator readers respond to recent articles
Diary
Mary WakefieldMary Wakefield writes her diary from Monrovia, Liberia
The Spectator's Notes
Charles MooreCharles Moore's reflections on the week
Letters
Spectator readers respond to recent articles
Your chance to vote in the Spectator awards
James ForsythAfter a gripping week of political theatre in Manchester, James Forsyth invites readers to submit nominations for a new category in our Parliamentarian of the Year Awards: the prize for the Readers’ Representative
Latest blog posts
sponsored links
Free Sky Digital Offer - Order Now
Subscribe to Sky from £16 a month. Get free equipment and free broadband - Join Now. Sky HD - be amongst the first to have it - order now.
Free Sky Digital Offer - Order Now
Subscribe to Sky from £16 a month. Get free equipment and free broadband - Join Now. Sky HD - be...
ROME CENTRE
PORTA METRONIA, ROME Standing high on the top of one of the seven hills of Rome- the Coelian- this unique
City Breaks. ROME and PARIS
ROME and PARIS: over 350 holiday rentals apartments listed: visit www.romanreference.com and www.parisreference.com or call +39 0648 903612.
Jewellery. RUFFS (Estd. 1904).
Goldsmiths by Design Welcome to Ruffs! You have found a company of Goldsmiths that specialises in the manufacture, amongst other
Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine
Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
B Clarke
January 12th, 2008 4:43pmVery amusing article Dame Diana and unfortunately I have one of those websites you loathe but we as admirers love! Sorry!
Anne
January 12th, 2008 5:23pmTrès drôle ! Merci Dame Diana ! Au fait, je fais partie de ceux qui éprouvent le besoin de "faire passer l'information" en ce qui vous concerne. Mon but n'est pas de provoquer des commentaires irraisonnés sur votre personne, mais de faire en sorte que les gens disent moins de conneries à votre sujet. C'est tout. Anne
John
January 13th, 2008 8:58pmVery interesting, amusing and frank article from this well loved and respected lady. Referring to B Clarke's comment I don't think Diana is commenting on fans' websites but on those (actors etc,) who promote themselves by posting on their own or their fans' websites. Ironically, this article is now part of a website and presumably adds to the 1,150,000 figure Diana refers to. Diana has also pulled back the curtain a little, in this article, for the ever curious fan (?).