Jon Snow meets a man on the train

Boarding the train, I realised he was at the table across the way from me, so I asked if I could join him. Gulam turned out to be the most extraordinary and rewarding character. Born in 1937 on the Afghan frontier, before the partition of India and Pakistan, he had studied nuclear physics. He came to Britain in 1967, and did six months as a bus conductor in Burnley. He soon passed the English language test and eventually became one of very few Asian teachers in that area.

Jon Snow’s rather wonderful Snowblog continues to excel. What a remarkable chap he is.