Events aplenty

It was a busy Saturday as I returned to Kolkata from Delhi by Friday night flight. Dinesh Trivedi, MP, was on the next seat and had quite a chat with him. Saturday afternoon there was the Education For All book distribution program in collaboration with Bharat Relief Society.

Aniruddha Roy Choudhury was the chief guest (picture) of the program where 1500 students were given books.

President of Bharat Relief Society, Chiranjilal Agarwal, and General Secretary Bishamber Newar shared the dais with me.

In the evening I attended the 50th marriage anniversary of Smt Bimla and Bhaniram Sureka at The Taj Bengal Hotel. I know Sureka family from my early college days as his younger son, Anup, was my classmate. I used to spend a quite a lot of time in their house. Two other brothers of Bhaniram ji and their families are also known to me. I and Bhaniram ji are also associated with social organisations in the city.

Just prior to the dinner at The Taj Bengal, I attended the Gulab Bari programme at Harsh Neotia’s residence. Gulab Bari is an important event in the city’s cultural circuit from many years now. The performers were vocalist Padmashri Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and sitarist Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan. I have heard Khan sahab earlier but this was the first time I heard Pandit ji.Besides these events, I did attend three more functions and missed two. The function at the ICCR, a cultural extravaganza Ho Chi Minh Cultural Night by a troupe from Vietnam. A 40-member socio-cultural troupe is on tour to India led by His Excellency Mr Nguyen Trung Tin, Vice Chairman, Ho Chin Minh People’s Commitee. The troup is on an India tour due to the joint efforts of Vietnam Mission, Delhi, and Indo Vietnam Solidarity Commitee, with which I am associated.

I was to host a dinner for them but since my routine clashed, I could not. I also missed a dinner at Swabhumi hosted by Suyash Borar, celebrating the 4th Anniversary of BM Birla Heart Reaserch Centre. There was an early noon function organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce & Industry at The Park on the Union Budget with Yashwant Sinha. But that was not my cup of tea.

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