The new consul general of Australia, Bernard Lynch, hosted his first event in the city in the form of a farewell. It was the end of the term for his deputy consul general, Kevin Goh, who had been holding fort till his arrival.

“We were last in Jordan, in the Middle East (central Asia). And as I like to say to people here, it is nice to come to a quiet place like Calcutta,” Lynch said, appealing for peace to prevail worldwide.

As pictures of moments from Goh’s time in Calcutta were displayed in slideshow mode on the screen behind him, Lynch commended Goh for being an “active participant in local life and culture” and also his collection of colourful jackets, on view in the visuals.

“One of the reasons we join foreign service is because we want to see the world. In Calcutta, we get to see the world in one place. Not only do we see the diversity, we taste and smell it in the food and in the sound of its music,” Goh said, naming luchi and dhak as his respective favourites in the last two categories and drawing applause from the guests gathered at Raajkutir Banquet Hall.

“I can eat luchi by itself, like potato chips. There are some great Indian restaurants in Canberra but I have not seen any of them serving luchi. I will also miss the unique atmosphere of Durga Puja,” he later told t2.

Goh’s successor, Sani Tamwoy, was also supposed to have been introduced on the occasion but her travel to India had been delayed. So a video message from her was played instead.