BOMBAY Dreams is a West End hit, White Teeth tops the book bestseller lists, The Kumars go to number one in the charts and even James Bond is reported to be shaken but not stirred by the prospect of the first Indian Bond girl in 40 years.

Suddenly, all things Indian are very much in vogue.

Demi Ladwa is also very much in demand, helping to promote ethnic diversity in an area of the country where the Asian population is a minority and where children rarely get to mix with different cultures.

A part-time bursar at Stonehenge School, she spends an increasing amount of her time visiting schools to talk about India, its costumes, customs, food and religion.

"I take in loads of outfits for them to try on and we talk about how Indian fashions have changed. If you just show them pictures, they forget, but if you take stuff in with you they get a feel of what it is like to wear the clothes.

"We'll practise putting henna patterns on our hands and we talk about why we wear bindis and lots of jewellery - they think it has something to do with wealth and I explain that it is part of our culture not to have bare hands."

Demi's own hands flutter eloquently as she tells me how demand for her services has grown since she first gave a talk to the WI in Amesbury on saris seven or eight years ago.

"I became a speaker for the WI and it snowballed from there. ArtAsia in Southampton used to get in touch with me and say that a few schools were interested in me."

A few months ago Pam Carroll, of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Services, contacted her and more recently she did a presentation to 40 heads of primary schools.

"My diary has been full ever since," she says.

Demi (44) taught Indian cookery for five years and cookery is an important part in her visits. "I take in Indian rolling pins and ingredients and we'll bake bread. I'll show them the spices and explain why we use them."

Demi's visits help fulfil the requirements of the national curriculum and Ofsted to promote multi-cultural interests in schools but, more importantly for Demi, it gives her the chance to encourage youngsters to embrace ethnic diversity with enthusiasm.

"There is a problem here because children don't know why we do what we do and why we wear what we wear.

"Even heads and teachers don't always know how to talk to me. I can say 'ask what questions you like because I want to explain why' and then that's fine.

"The children will ask how we tuck saris in, why do we always have long, black hair, what do we eat, what do we wear on our feet and how long did it take to get to them because they tend to think I've just arrived from India."

In fact, Demi (it is short for Damyanti) has lived in Amesbury for more than 20 years and was born in Kenya.

She and her husband are taking their two children, a son aged 19 and a daughter of 16, on their first visit to India.

"They have both grown up in an English environment and I'm quite nervous. We'll do all the touristy things and then we are going to Gujurat to show them where our parents originated from."