"Why don't you give Shah Rukh Khan a diplomatic passport?' an American diplomat who met an Indian official socially during the weekend asked as their conversation inevitably veered towards the actor's inconvenience at White Plains airport in New York on Thursday. "That will solve the problem for us the next time he travels to the United States.' The Indian official was a little offended because he thought the American was being his usual smart Alec, but the latter insisted he was serious. "After all, you have given Ratan Tata a diplomatic passport. He always travels with the red passport,' the American continued.

Read KP Nayar's column on the Telegraph, Calcutta.