Flying home to Bangalore via Heathrow was a breeze, this time. And for the first time I took the trouble of looking at the shops, 'cause a Harry Potter shop caught my eye and I thought of Annika in the US who loves everything Potter.

Since I was flying BA it was a straight 9 hour flight out with no stress of changing flights. I prefer Air Lanka or Emirates if doing a direct London flight because not only are the costs more doable but the service for me a diabetic is impeccable.

However that said, this time I had Angelina, an Indian air hostess whom I have had on board BA over the decades and I was spoiled rotten. She has been with the airlines for over 15 years and yet looks as young and smiling as when I first met her. I took the trouble to write in to BA to apprise them of her wonderful service and I hope they acknowledge that.

Being slotted in Group 5 I thought when I got my boarding card, “ Oh no! When I get on board the overhead bins will be full. When travelling with Indians that is my usual experience as they load the overhead bins with their stuffed to capacity bags. And this time besides my back pack I had carried a Hennessey from the Duty Free for my husband who very firmly believes that brandy cures colds. A teetotaller most of his life, brandy is taken as a medication!”

Luckily I was able to comfortably push in my stuff as the other two passengers were tecchies, regularly travelling to and fro from Bangalore.

Settling down to read the magazine in the pocket I was rather surprised that even London has cut back on hard copy newspapers at the entrance. There were always stands of all the newspapers possible and I love the Brit Newspapers as they carry really quirky news items and stories. Am already writing about Memphis for the magazine as I found the editors email contact and got to him right away!

The captains voice crackled over the intercom warning us that we were in a big line for take off and that might take time, plus we were going to have an hours longer flight as Pakistan has banned any ‘invasion’ of their air space. So he had to take a longer route home. Part of our nasty world now I guess and we have to get used to it.

My lunch was delicious and perfect for a diabetic with quinoa and a chicken steak with broccoli and fruit for dessert. When icecream was brought around Angelina in a very kind tone asked if I wanted a cup of coffee or tea instead. And later when juices were taken around, she brought me a glass with a can of coke zero. Well definitely I was glad to have the wonderful service BA should be known for, rather than the curt, off hand remarks I was used to earlier.

I settled down to binge watch movies like I always do. Sadly the BA planes are not as high end like the American ones so though I had great movies the screens were small. I watched a fantastic, must watch film called ‘A Private War’ based on a true story by a war journalist. I have done my war coverage specialism in the UK and so this grisly film showcased the true life of a war journalist which I would never be. But I have colleagues who are.

A Clint Eastwood Film called The Mule was amazing with a really old and frail Eastwood in the starring role of an unexpected drug runner.Great watch! And then just because there was time and it was Jennifer Anniston, I watched Dumplin’ with a gorgeous Anniston and Destroyer with a really shockingly old and unrecognisable Nicole Kidman. Thanks to makeup and a weird wig I had to pinch myself to believe it was her.

Breakfast was great too with a cheesy, fluffy omlette and mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. It’s so funny to see the other passengers stare when my meal comes first and I am really sure many of them fat and overweight Indians are diabetic too, but never want to acknowledge it. They would rather eat their rice and idlies and let their sugars shoot up than avoid carbs. Thankfully my doctor son has advised me and is very strict about my diet and exercise,and my three months with them is an absolute detox. Get off the carbs, stay off getting fat is my mantra.

Returning home was great in the early hours of Sunday morning and in minutes I was able to get onto my KIAL bus and call home for them to pick me up from the ITC Gardenia stop. Always safer for a single woman to ride the bus than take the cab on which I have had bad experiences.