At the Indian Ambassador’s dinner reception in Rome

Today evening I attended the tea reception party hosted by the Indian Ambassador in Rome, Mr Anil Wadhwa, at his residence. The reception was attended by External Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swaraj, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries and many other guests from India who have come to Rome to attend the canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa.

I was surprised to see Margaret Alva as I did not expect to see her. Later she told me that it was a last-minute trip. She is heading the Congress delegation for canonization. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was there with his delegation, also attended the reception.

Usha Uthup who sang the special song “Poorest of the Poor” today morning at the St Peter’s Square function also sang the same song before the speech of Sushma Swaraj. Usha di had especially written this song for the occasion as her tribute to Mother Teresa. I met up with quite a few Indians who are settled in Italy at the reception.

During the day I took some time off to visit some of the city’s most iconic places like the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Basilica di Santa Maria and so on.

Tomorrow is the big day for all of us when the formal canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa will take place at the historic St Peter’s Square. It is estimated at that over two lakh people will attend, including a large number of Indians. I will leave now to have some dinner and at this hour I think only Ristorante Indiano Jaipur will be ready to serve me.

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