Time For More Food

Another outing for good Indian food in London. There I was earlier this evening at the Malabar Junction with three lovely ladies from class - two of whom are core members of our Monday Night Dinner Club. Well, we don't gather every Monday. But when we do, it's always lovely to sit down, to try out new food together, and, simply, to talk.

Malabar Junction ain't that bad. It's centrally located, on Great Russell Street, near to the British Museum. It's said to specialise in cuisine from Kerala, but I just had to go for my biryani, and I added a cauliflower and potato curry to go with it as well. Yum. We're hoping to try out Mexican food the next time we meet.

My morning had begun with a presentation before my International Relations seminar group. It was a sobering start, as the marks for this session would count towards the final grade next year. The question under discussion - "Are democratic values univeral or culturally specific? Should actors in world politics work to promote democratization? If so, through which methods?"

I was tasked with arguing the case against democracy promotion. It's relatively easy to cite points in favour. Just take a look at what's happening in the Middle East currently. But this being a graduate class, it was imperative that all arguments advanced had to be grounded within some theoretical basis, whether empirical or normative. I don't know how well I've done. Countries can be democratic. Classrooms aren't.