At the Italian Day function in Kolkata

ITC One Lounge - ITC Maurya Delhi: I arrived in Delhi this evening as I have lined up a series of meetings for tomorrow. I shall go to Jodhpur Day in the afternoon.

Last week, apart from Vidya Balan's event, I also attended the 48^th Italian National Day event at Hyatt Regency Kolkata. In recent months, many new diplomats have taken charge in Kolkata and I hadn't met any of them. It was good that I made it to the Italian Day function as I got a chance to meet the two new lady diplomats

Abida Islam, Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata and Irina K Bashkirova, the Consul General of Russia, respectively.

I also met the Italian Consulate team in Kolkata, including the wife of Italian Consul General Joel Melchiori. I am planning to invite the new diplomats over dinner and get to know them in person.

I shall miss the Russian Day party at The Park on the 9^th of June as I would be out of Kolkata.

The evening at the Hyatt was a modest affair, in the wake of the recent earthquake in Italy, in which only select 100 guests were invited. What made the evening very special was the excellent food that was prepared by a Italian Master Chef Pauletto Massimiliano who was flown down from Italy to rustle up Italian delicacies for the guests.

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