John Gibson: Just don't call this a Shanti town

Published on 28/04/2011 15:37

The entrepreneurial (he'll happily settle for acquisitive) Shorof Uddin, whose acquisitions include the Curry Club at Corstorphine and In Touch at Goldenacre, now plans to become a pillar of the community in Dalkeith.

He is converting what formerly was the post office in Eskbank Road into the town's first Indian restaurant and plans to open by August.

Just back from visiting kin in Bangladesh, Shorof has come up with a name for the 50-cover restaurant: "We're going to call it Shanti. That means "peace". Shanti rolls easily off the tongue, like the food we'll be serving."

Dalkeith a Shanti town? I wouldn't hear of it.

Not so slick

Rag-tag rebels. We're obliged to watch them blight the screen somewhere on the Six o'Clock News. Libya's layabouts. The barmy army firing their toys into the air in a despicable waste of ammunition. One bullet would feed a camel for life, a family of ten for a week.

Are we meant to believe that our jets are obliterating the mad Colonel's resources in the interests of Libya and the welfare of its people? You can take that with a pinch of sand.

Come off it Cameron, Obama and their like. It's the bloody oil. Do you think we came up the Water of Leith in a banana boat?

Afterwords . .

. . . funny walking to the Festival Theatre on June 9, 10, 11, California-based John Cleese on his UK tour. Talking here about today's values: "There were disadvantages to the old culture. It was a bit stuffy and more sexist and more racist. But it was an educated and middle-class culture. Now it's a yob culture. The values are so strange.

"I was always a sports nut but I've lost interest now in whether one bunch of mercenaries in north London is going to beat another bunch of mercenaries from west London."