Let's call him Mr Dodge. That's not his real name but he's a real fellow, out there in the tiny country called Sint Maarten. Two columns ago, I wrote about its remarkable Prime Minister, Silveria Jacobs, who kept coronavirus out of her country through quick, scientific and compassionate action. I included her in a list of women leaders who had vanquished the virus while arrogant macho rulers of countries like the USA, Brazil, Russia, the UK and India had bungled it. Their countries now lead the world in coronavirus infections.

The story was widely shared. I devoted last week's column to some particularly bigoted replies. This week, I was homing in on how to make a perfect rasam — except that I got a letter from Mr Dodge. It changed everything.