The city’s diplomatic community, under the umbrella of the Consular Corps of Kolkata (CCK), made the most of the mellow winter sun on a December noon when they met for lunch on the Taj Bengal terrace. Red was the dominant colour among the women, with Christmas around the corner, and mulled wine was the drink of choice.
But it was music that ushered in the festive cheer first. Everyone gathered was handed lyrics of popular Christmas carols like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells, with British deputy high commissioner Andrew Fleming leading the chorus on the mic.
British deputy high commissioner Andrew Fleming and wife Vanita won the most compatible couple award
“This is the annual Christmas get-together of diplomatic corps, including both career diplomats and honorary consuls, to usher in the festive season,” explained Pradeep Khemka, the honorary director of CCK, who is also the honorary consul of Brazil.
There were games to be played and prizes to be won. Nayantara Palchoudhuri, a CCK joint director and honorary consul of Norway, handed out paper chits containing numbers, and then Barbara Voss, the consul general of Germany, was invited to call out the lucky numbers and hand over prizes as the vice-dean of the forum. It turned out to be quite a dash to the table to claim the hamper as, in some cases, multiple people had got the same number.
Nannu Nobis was among the first to get a prize. “I am here on vacation from the US as a guest of my sister-in-law Tina Nobis, who is the honorary consul of Sweden,” he said with a smile.
There was a couple compatibility contest, and based on written responses to the same set of questions by both husband and wife, three couples were named winners. Rajat and Pinky Dalmia got one, followed by Sharad and Minakshi Khaitan. “We are completing 50 years soon,” smiled the honorary consul of El Salvador. The third prize went to Andrew and Vanita Fleming. “I could correctly guess her favourite music, leisure activity and brand,” said the British deputy high commissioner, as Vanita agreed to his three answers — Buddhist chanting, gardening and Gucci, respectively. He ended up being adjudged the best-dressed among the men as well while Voss won among the women, teaming a green embroidered kantha stole with a red jacket and blue tights.
“Ours is a community of 65 members. Last year, we had dinner on this occasion. But with there being so many invitations for all of us in this festive season, we thought it better to host lunch instead. So our usual meeting on the second Wednesday of the month was turned into this occasion,” said Palchoudhuri.
The CCK dean Tashi Penjore, the consul general of Bhutan, could not make it, being busy with preparations for the National Day observance, informed Sanjay Budhia, the honorary consul of Malaysia and also a CCK joint director.
There was a festive lunch that followed, laid out by the Taj Bengal kitchen.