Is London just Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Thames? After spending a few days there, I felt the real story of London isn’t in its stone buildings but in the people who live their lives among them.

A devastating flash flood and mudslide struck the Nepal-Tibet border on 26 August after a high-altitude glacier section collapsed. Part of a glacier broke away near 5,200 metres, generating an ice-rock avalanche that struck the Lhende River, the Bhotekoshi, in Nepal, roughly 20 kilometres northeast of the Rasuwagadhi-Gyirong border crossing. Debris temporarily dammed the river before releasing a powerful surge of water, mud and rock downstream.

In politics, change is necessary. But not every change necessarily brings improvement. Sometimes, when a system has achieved a measure of stability despite many challenges, changing it suddenly can itself become a serious risk.

Once upon a time, India had only one television channel, one national conversation and, almost miraculously, one collective memory.

Close your eyes and travel back to an Indian wedding of the 1960s. A dusty road, a groom perched proudly on a decorated mare, colourful clothes, curious children and a noisy procession of baraatis. Suddenly, the bandmaster raises his trumpet. And then it happens. “Come September…"

Here's a modest request for our leaders and officials: spend just one day walking Agra's streets without a red beacon, a government car, or a security cordon. Only then will they understand that walking in this city has stopped being a simple errand and has become a daily ordeal.