Tuesday the 13th was a day of shocks. I have recently joined this new hospital in a small kingdom in the Middle East. The Health Minister was to inaugurate the hospital that morning. Shock no. 1 - she was bang on time. By 10 am all the guests were assembled and at exactly 10.15 am there she was as scripted. Contrast this with Indian politicians. Every year schools across Delhi have prize distribution days in May and children are kept waiting for hours in the boiling May sun by two bit politicians who are always more than an hour late. Every year tens of children collapse with heatstroke. If one has not died yet it may happen soon. Shock no. 2. Not a gun in sight. No Z squared security, no goons in uniform toting AK47s, no confiscation of cameras, no abusive restriction on car parking and not even a toy gun anywhere. The Minister came without any fanfare, inspected the hospital, shook hands with everyone and departed after an hour smiling charmingly all the while. The contrast with my country could not have been more stark or shaming. And they say the Middle East is the most dangerous place on the planet.