Tell us about your fascination with India...
Like a lot of people from the little country I come from (Scotland), my grandmother was born in India. My dad worked for a company called the British-India Steam Navigation Company. My real interest was in Indian Railways, which was quite typical with my generation and my country. I took a sabbatical from The Sunday Times to do a few pieces.

Ian Jack misses the politeness India used to have in the 1980s and ’90s which he terms “almost Victorian”. PIc/ Pradeep Dhivar