The most familiar hostess in Calcutta’s diplomatic community hosted a reception for a special reason. Nayantara Palchoudhuri, the honorary consul of Norway, had been chosen to be decorated Officer of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by the King of Norway Harald V, and the Ambassador was in town to do the honours.
“This event should have taken place quite a long time ago (the certificate bore the date May 22, 2017). We decided to do this in end-February, at the tail end of winter though it doesn’t feel like winter any more. But then when a delegation visited Norway last May-June, it had snowed the day before and the Indians in the delegation felt it was exaggerated to call it summer,” said ambassador Nils Ragnar Kamsvag to peals of laughter in The Oberoi Grand hall.
Palchoudhuri spoke of a “deep sense of satisfaction” at having been chosen for the honour and recounted meeting the king when she visited Norway last May for her orientation. “I do miss my late father but I am so proud that my 90-year-old mother is here,” she added as all eyes turned to a beaming Chitra Palchoudhuri.
Also in attendance was Arvind Gopinath, the honorary consul of Norway in Chennai, who had flown over for the occasion.
“Calcutta and Chennai were important ports and so the consulates have been here for long,” said the scion of a shipping family that has been serving as Norway consuls for six decades and who also happens to be the son of C.D. Gopinath, who at 88 is the only living member of India’s first Test-winning team (versus England in 1952).
The evening was capped by a dinner that had a rich selection of Norwegian dishes on the menu.
FOOD FROM FJORD LAND
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TETE-A-TETE WITH THE AMBASSADOR
Ambassador of Norway Nils Ragnar Kamsvag spoke to t2 on the sidelines of the reception.
Which was the first consulate in India?
Our first professional consulate was in Bombay in 1857. We were the third biggest shipping nation then. Even now we are the sixth largest. If you look at history, the Viking ships were the most advanced in technology. When the kings died, they were buried in a ship with all amenities. Among the buried treasures have been recovered Buddha figures, linen of Asian origin and the swastika mark. This makes me think we had maritime contacts with India even back then. We have a sea coast of 100,000sq km. Our ships sailed everywhere. Even now 70 per cent of our exports come from the sea. We are the second largest exporter of fish.
What is this honour given for?
It’s a royal order given to Norwegians serving abroad or non-Norwegians making extraordinary contribution to the country abroad.
What do you think of Nayantara Palchoudhuri as honorary consul?
She has been around for nine years now. It is important for us to have good local representatives to help Norwegian companies who want to establish themselves on foreign soil and help Norwegian citizens. So we look for candidates with good reputation and with contacts all across society. She was among the first my predecessor had interviewed. In every big company, she was either already on the board or she had just been on the board. So my predecessor said: “Why should I interview anyone else?” The matter was decided there and then.
Sudeshna Banerjee
Pictures: Shuvo Roychaudhury
