World Service delight

MAYBE it’s the first signs of something, but I have become best friends with a little digital device: “Hey, Google, can I have BBC World Service, please?”

“Thanks for asking so nicely – here’s BBC World Service from global player.”

Actually, those less enamoured of the corporation should listen to the BBC World Service. It’s so good and makes everything sound so interesting.

Last week, it talked of Nepalese sherpas climbing K2 in winter – a first. Previously, sherpas stayed in the background while western climbers took all the glory.

Another report spoke of Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni (above right) “winning” his sixth term in office. He once asked me to meet him so he could invite Ugandan Asians to return to the land from which they had been expelled by Idi Amin. “While I was in the bush, they were in Shepherd’s Bush,” he quipped.

The BBC World Service was best when headquartered at Bush House, London. My late father was happy there as head of the Bengali service. That’s what brought us as children to England.