Vice President in Kolkata
September
13, 2014, Kolkata: I kept busy the whole of last week. On Monday,
there was a meeting in Lal
Bazar
as the Durga Puja is around the corner. On Tuesday I went to Jaipur
and came back on Wednesday missing out on the dinner at The
Park
hotel hosted by Priya Paul and Sethu Vaidyanathan. Later, I heard
that the dinner was quite an unusual
arrangement.
I
also missed the farewell party at the Lalit
Great Eastern
of Olga and Arthur Gerbst, the third secretary (consular &
protocol), Consul General of Russia, in Kolkata. Olga and Arthur were
very friendly during their stay in Kolkata not only with me but also
with others. They will surely be missed in the social circles of
Kolkata.
Yesterday
evening I was at the Vidya
Mandir
to attend the inaugural ceremony of a three-day International Seminar
on “Nationalistic Ideals of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Their
Relevance in the Sub-Continent Today” to mark the 125th
Birth Anniversary Celebrations
of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
 |
| With Hashim Abdul Halim, K Rahman Khan, Md Mansur Alam and other scholars at the dinner party |
My
organization, The
Bengal,
has partnered with the Iran
Society
to present this event. The Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri
Hamid Ansari, was there to inaugurate the function. It was an
interesting co-incident that the last time when he was in Kolkata was
for a three-day function in September (21-23) 2011 to celebrate the
birth centenary of Sachidananda Vatsayan Agyeya hosted by Prabha
Khaitan Foundation and
I had arranged for that event as well.
With
Shri Hamid Ansari, also on the dais was the Hon’ble Governor of
West Bengal, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Hon’ble Justice Smt
Manjula Chellur, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Hon’ble
Justice Shri Altamas Kabir, Former Chief Justice of India.
During
this three-day seminar, scholars from Hyderabad, Dhaka, Mysore, New
Delhi, Lahore, Karachi and Kolkata gathered in Kolkata.
After
the seminar The
Bengal
also hosted a dinner at The
Conclave
for the guests and dignitaries. I met Mr K Rehman Khan, Member of
Parliament and ex-Deputy Chairman of Rajya
Sabha,
who is known to me for many years now.
 |
| With Tom Alter |
Mr Khan has also served as a
Cabinet Minister for Minority Affairs for the last Government. I was
quite impressed with my short chat with Dr Syeda Saiyidain, Hameed
from Hyderabad and who has also served as a member of the Planning
Commission
of India.
 |
| With Dr Syeda Saiyidain |
I missed the play as I went
to the residence of Abida Islam, the Deputy High Commissioner for
Bangladesh in Kolkata, for her farewell.
I did not spend much time
there but I am planning to see her again before she leaves.
ess
bee
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