January 13, 2015

At the dinner reception of UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon

With UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon

January 13, 2015: I landed at the Kolkata airport from Delhi. I went to Delhi yesterday only to attend the dinner at Taj Mansingh which was organized for the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

With Nobel Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, and Bharat Babbar

It was a select gathering of about 75 people at a sit down dinner reception which was attended by Nobel laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, Sharmila Tagore, Nandita Das and key members of the United Nations institutions working in India attended the dinner. Sachin Tendulkar is serving as the Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Sharmila Tagore as the UNICEF National Ambassador.

With Ban Ki-moon and Sachin Tendulkar

Everyone spoke well. Not just the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, but Nandita Das too spoke very well. In fact, I called her up the next day and told her over phone.

I also presented a copy of the manuscript of Gitanjali to Ban Ki-moon during our small informal interaction, he was full of praises for Rabindranath Tagore.

Thank God the Delhi–Kolkata flight wasn’t fogged in and I landed in Kolkata just on time. Today is another series of Author’s Afternoon with Wendell Rodricks scheduled at the Taj Bengal in the evening which I shall attend.

ess bee