One thing I can be absolutely sure about when I start my day is that I can never predict what is going to turn up.

The issues I work on range enormously, from policy issues like climate change,  illegal migration and the WTO, to promoting liberalization of financial services, and oversight of our India-wide BHC network. I also oversee cross-cutting functions such as business planning, emergency preparedness, program management and post security. This makes the job very rewarding, and often a lot of fun. It also means I have the opportunity to work with great colleagues from many different parts of the High Commission in India.  

Quite often, the day will start with a breakfast at residence (outside core hours, I know, but fresh pancakes can provide some compensation). Recently, with Head of the Climate and Energy Team, I hosted the Chief Economist from BP who was in Delhi to give BP’s view on the energy crisis.

This is usually followed by a meeting with the High Commissioner where we compare notes on what each of us will be doing in the day ahead.

Next, I will often head off for one or more external meetings. For example, last week I accompanied Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, on a call with the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs. This was a really good meeting, not least because of the direct questions Keith Vaz put and the straight answers he got from the Minister. Another fascinating call recently was on a key official in the Commerce Ministry to discuss the WTO.  London was becoming worried that India might be disengaging from the latest round of talks to revive the Doha Development Round. My counterpart at the Ministry made a convincing case that this was not so – a valuable perspective for London.

Lunch is sometimes taken up with an outside book launch or conference, but often it is one of the best chances during the weekdays to catch up with my wife, or go and see something one of the kids is involved in at School. It’s a massive bonus to be able to do this compared with the life of a home counties’ commuter in London.  

Some part of the afternoon will be taken up with calls to London. This could be anything from yet an other attempt to track down what happened to the funding for the Climate Change and Energy team (an unbelievably complicated mystery worthy of Hercule Poirot), or a call to the Department for Innovation Universities and Science to prepare for an upcoming event such as the recent Education Forum.
   
There might also be one or more internal meetings. We have recently set up an India Research Network, for all those in the India network with an interest in research. This is proving to be one of the most effective areas for collaboration with the Government of India, spanning an enormous range of UK interests. The meetings are very useful in joining up and co-ordinating our efforts. Another really interesting part of my job is co-chairing, with Rod Pryde, Director British Council, our monthly Public Diplomacy Steering Committee. We can get enormous leverage from PD for many of our activities and the meeting gives Rod and me the chance to talk this through with Dan Chugg, Director Press & Communications and the rest of his team, as well as catching Dan’s latest rap video release.      

Somewhere in the day I have to catch up with my e-mails. Often over 150 - some really useful, others somewhat less!  If I have been out much of the day, my secretary will come to the rescue and help sift them down.

And there is also bound to be one or more on-going VIP (or not so VIP) visa queries. The visas team does an amazing job keeping on top of these.  But occasionally a customer will not be satisfied unless I take the call.  We may also have an urgent bilateral issue which requires me to call the Chief of Protocol or Joint Secretary (West Europe) at the MEA and sometimes both.  

The evening can also be a very busy period. There is more choice about what you do and don’t do, but one thing I learnt early on about Delhi is that you really cannot predict ahead of time how valuable - from a business perspective - or interesting - from a personal perspective - an event will be. Thus one charity event I went to recently happened to have the new Secretary at the Ministy of Petroleum as the Chief Guest, while a South African National Day had the most fantastic fashion show I have seen (not that I have seen that many).

On other evenings we may be hosting an event at residence.  I enjoy these a lot, not least because they are so hugely varied, such as a reception for the Welcome Foundation we hosted a couple of weeks back, or a dinner for the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University. We also had an event to give members of a team from UK a sense of modern India (quite a challenge to describe that on the invitation card!).

And when the day is over, I try and get a chance to catch up with the family, watch a bit of a film or see the news …  and think about what may be in store for the next day.

- By Creon Butler, British Deputy High Commissioner, New Delhi