Kishwar Desai | Meghan ‘bullied’ & Boris ‘Unleashed’; Meera Syal’s tale with a Lear touch?

The colder it gets the more interesting it becomes, and there seems to be a silver lining in every cloud…

While the politics here always seems to be teetering on the edge with the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and his aides constantly under attack — from their own party members, from the Opposition and the media — the UK remains rich culturally, and there is always a lot to see and do. And to talk about!

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And we can expect more now that Princess Catherine (or Kate Middleton as we know her) is also stepping out occasionally — as her cancer treatment appears to be have been successful.

But while we admire her spirit — we also learn that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has declared herself to be one of the most bullied persons in the world. These days it certainly is beneficial to bare all on social media and reveal your innermost thoughts, as that gives you more of an “influential” image on the Internet. Influencers of all kinds are much sought after — especially as they can lead campaigns. The revelations from Meghan came during a discussion about “social media “in which Meghan’s organisation Archewell is working with Pivotal, a philanthropic organisation set up by Melinda Gates and the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. These kinds of discussions are meant to guide the next generation on how to deal with cyberbullying. And Meghan has often said that she faced the worst form of bullying when she was pregnant with her two children.

The irony is that the same social media which has led to the bullying will now be used to lead the message of on how to deal with it. Oh well.

I may be one of the very few who still avoids using “X” or Instagram not just because people talk about the abusive content — but because I also find that that people becoming addicted to it — just like they were once addicted to alcohol or drugs. Many of them build up profiles based on frivolous matters (the dresses they wore, the parties they attended, the food they ate) only because they need to be seen on public platforms.

Of course, it helps if they develop a large following as then they can monetise it. But then — if you receive a backlash — don’t complain of cyber-bullying as on social media everyone has an opinion!

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Anyway — apart from some wonderful exhibitions and literature festivals — London continues to have great theatre. And at the National Theatre, I am thrilled to see that an old friend, Meera Syal, is starring in a play about an old woman with Alzheimers. A Tupperware of Ashes, as the play by Tanika Gupta, is called has been a hit. The woman played by Syal is a chef whose restaurant even received a Michelin star. But despite her achievements, she now has to be looked after by her grown up children, who slowly realise her condition as she increasingly does and says things which are uncharacteristic. The play has reminded spectators of King Lear as he flails about in his old days. But for many of us — who are care givers for wonderful parents who are suffering the impact of ageing (not Alzheimers but other problems) — this story is very close to the heart. Especially poignant because it also has so many Indian touches to it — not least is the music by Nitin Sawhney.

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Politics is probably a much more entertaining sport to watch as the government as well as the Opposition are behaving as if they are competing for the least popular spot. But Sir Keir has just got lucky — because while his new government has lost support in public perception due to multiple mistakes, the Conservative Party has just staged a competition for electing a leader who may even be less popular in the court of public opinion than the Labour leader.

We still await the final decision on the two shortlisted candidates, but either of them will be a real gift to Sir Keir Starmer as both are in the extreme right wing and whichever is chosen will not last long. Ultimately, if the present Prime Minister can weather the winter cold — then by Christmas he will probably receive a bounce because the alternatives on the Tory benches will look much, much worse!

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Boris Johnson who was made to resign as Prime Minister has now published his latest memoirs, Unleashed. As we expected, there is no apology for any mistakes made nor any disappointment. Be sure that whatever anyone else may think, Boris knows he will come back and rule over the country once more. Though whether he will perpetually be the best Prime Minister in waiting — only time will tell.

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The good news is that the UK has done well in the Nobel Prize stakes winning in physics and chemistry. Even more remarkable has been the recent test against Pakistan where England overcame a score of 500 plus by Pakistan by scoring 800. How did that ever happen? Yes, these are the silver linings…