my guest today is vartan melkonian.does his life story tell us about human nature and the common challenges we face today? sir vartan melkonian, welcome to hardtalk. now, did you ever believe that a "street slug", as you used to be described, living in the slums of beirut on the streets would then become knighted by prince charles and become a world—class conductor? you know, when you live in the sewers, in the city sewers, when raw sewage is running by you barefoot, you have little choice but to enter the realm of incredible imagination. and in that dark sewer, you would imagine, i sat with queens and kings and had counsel with them and had received enormous amounts of accolades in that world of imagination. but when it came to the truth, when later in my life, when the good providence allowed me to climb the marble staircase of aristocratic england, i was well prepared. i knew it all. i've seen it all. you see, slums and the streets can teach you something that people who have lived in a privileged background cannot l