Kishwar Desai | Diet guru dies of heatstroke... Will Starmer go 400 paar?

One of the smartest doctors in recent times — who revolutionised the way we eat by propagating the 5:2 diet — Michael Mosley — died during a holiday in Greece — of suspected heat stroke. The tragedy was that it took more than five days to find his body, because he had somehow wandered off away from his family — and when his body was found, he was extremely close to habitation, but probably too weak to ask for help. This was a man who successfully introduced us to weight loss through intermittent fasting. He had experimented often with food and diet — and was a health guru on the BBC. His sudden death — and the subsequent hunt for his body — shocked the nation.

Though I loved watching his shows, I never tried his diet or followed his advice — but many people did all over the world. And to think it was just heat and perhaps dehydration that would ultimately destroy him… Fat or thin — life can be taken away in an instant! So diet all you want — but live life to the fullest.

Another person whose life changed so very suddenly — despite leading what looked like a charmed one — is Catherine, Princess of Wales. Finally she came out in the public after her cancer diagnosis, though she did appear very much more serious than she had been before. There was no public interaction which she had been very good at. She was able to perform her duty surrounded by her children and husband. This was much appreciated as she has been frank about her cancer in recent weeks. Indeed, King Charles as a fellow cancer sufferer had elevated Kate to Companion of Honour in recognition of her determination to go public about her ailment .This has had a very good impact on the way people view cancer.

However, it seems she is now focussed on projecting Prince William as a father, possibly concerned about what lies ahead. A keen photographer, she recently released some lovely photos on his birthday which showed the future King playing on the beach with his children. These only depict Prince William with the children, all rather poignant moments, as she is not in them.

On the more mundane political front, Rishi Sunak faces the prospect of leading his Party to the lowest number of seats in its 300-year history. From a previous high of 365 his party is expected to get just around 50 seats. Of course, the good news for him is that those who were plotting to replace him such as Penny Mordaunt are set to lose their seats anyway…

And it is the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who is supposed to go “400 paar”.

The Tory losers may yet thank Rishi. The life of MPs is becoming hard. Eight years ago, a woman MP, Jo Cox, was murdered by a fanatical constituent. Another Conservative MP, Sir David Amess, was stabbed by a constituent who came to his office on the excuse of getting some help.

MPs get abused, trolled and threatened on the social media, not just in real life.

This could be one of the reasons why nearly 80 sitting MPs have decided not to run again in the Conservative Party. The anger they face is partly due to the dreadful circumstances like inflation and slow growth and hardship for people who are in the frontline. The reality is that being a member of the ruling party means you get blamed when things go wrong. Unlike in India MPs in the UK do not get homes and offices with security guards. Thus many of them are now opting for a different career altogether. And besides, there is no point running, according to them, when they are likely to lose!

The anger among the people is made worse by the betting scandal which has just popped up. It seems that people connected with Rishi’s campaign and security allegedly laid bets on when the elections were likely to be held. This is a nation that loves to bet on all kinds of things — but to bet on something that was meant to be confidential (and about which there are strict rules, especially if you are in the know) is disastrous.

Speaking of Yorkshire (Rishi Sunak’s constituency lies here), if you are planning to visit England, do not miss a chance to visit Castle Howard. It is a spectacular, big castle used as personal property of the Howard family. It is known as the Versailles of England. It was used in the TV production of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Indeed Waugh had written his famous novel keeping Castle Howard in mind as a model for Brideshead. Now the saga of the Castle itself has become like another novel or perhaps a Netflix serial. The master of Howard Castle, George Howard, has decided not to pass on his Castle to his son, despite the fact that the son is on the managing board of the Castle. He has decided to throw the transfer into a contest between his son and various nephews and nieces. They will be questioned as to how they will preserve this monumental pile and the smartest will win the Castle. To have a game show for a grand inheritance seems ripe for reality TV!