I was in India for the launch of a piece of new clinical kit that I co-developed over the summer. Like many visitors, I was struck by the extremes. The standard of dental treatment I witnessed was high yet many millions of people do not even own a toothbrush. Outside of the lecture theatre, I was delighted to go to Leopold’s cafe, the place frequented by the writer David Gregory Roberts. Having read the novel Shantaram several times, largely true and largely set in India, it was amazing to walk in Roberts’ footsteps – perhaps I even sat on the same barstool as he did…. a bonus of being on an international speaker list.