Unscheduled Jaipur visit

July 8, 2013: I arrived in Jaipur today morning. It is an un-scheduled visit. I got an invitation from Raj Bhawan for a dinner with the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. for tomorrow evening. The President of India is scheduled for a two-day visit to Rajasthan.

I was supposed to be here tomorrow, I, however, decided to be here a day earlier in order to attend a private party of a friend’s birthday. In fact, I have come to Jaipur exactly after one month. I was last here on June 8 to celebrate my book on Ranthambore. The last few days in Kolkata were quite happening as well.

My list of attending the events was a lot less than what I missed. I attended a lunch hosted by Mr Sitaram Sharma, Honorary Consul of Belarus, and also met the Ambassador of Belarus.

I was quite surprised when I received the text invite from him as we weren’t in touch for quite some time. So I decided to drop by in at The Bengal Club where the lunch was hosted.

The same evening I went to The Taj Bengal to attend the get-together hosted by Mr Raj Mahtani for launching his new collection of jewellery “Retro Fantastique”.  I quite liked the décor and the ambiance Raj had created. In fact, the French Vodka brand Tigre Blanc was also launched and the whole event was done up in a stylish way.

I met Anamika Khanna the moment I entered the banquet. Though the event started late but the who’s who of the city were there to witness this event as Kolkata rarely hosts these types of events.

Sufi Singer, Parvati Kumari, also sang sufi songs. I had heard Parvati Kumari the first time when she accompanied Bickram Ghosh in last Shree Musical Festival which was held in Jaipur. Raj Mahtani should be complimented for presenting this gala blend. Saturday evening I missed Shreya Panda’s birthday bash. On Sunday evening I could not manage to attend three different celebrations – the engagement party of Rahul Saraf’s son Vidyut with Ayesha at Hyatt Regency, Mr Rajendra Bacchawat’s invitation at The Oberoi’s and C K Dhanuka party to celebrate the pre – nuptial wedding of Svasti and Rishabh at his residence. I’m looking forward to the dinner with the President tomorrow. ess bee