hear it from the new british envoy in calcutta

Scott Furssedonn-Wood. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Scott Furssedonn-Wood, 35, has taken over as the British deputy high commissioner, eastern India. Fresh off a five-year stint in Washington DC, the 6ft 4inches envoy took Metro through his plans for Bengal and beyond, over a mug of tea at his Ho Chi Minh Sarani office

Welcome to Calcutta. Why did you choose Calcutta or did Calcutta choose you?

That is a really good question. Well, in our system, jobs are advertised and then you apply for jobs. So, in that sense, I chose to put myself forward for this job. I had visited India more than 15 times over the years in various jobs and back when my wife (Elizabeth) and I were much younger with bags on our backs, staying in hostels and budget accommodations in Rajasthan or Goa or Kerala. We’ve always wanted to come and spend more time here.

When I saw this opportunity we were really excited about it, because, yes, we are based here, in this great city and the job has an incredible realm. There are 13 states and one Union Territory which fall within the geographical realm of this post…. This is an area the size of Western Europe with nearly the same population! So this is an extraordinary bit of geography that we need to try and understand and explore.

For someone in my business it is a really exciting place to be and with a very young family as well... the kids are absolutely thrilled. My daughters are loving it. I have a five-year-old (Romilly) and a three-year-old (Tessa) and we have a son (Freddie), who is six months next week. They’ve loved every minute of it so far. They are starting a new school this week and they are doing very well picking up some Bengali. They’ll probably have far better language skills by the end of it than me.

What has been your first impression of Calcutta?

It’s a huge place and you can’t fail to notice that this is a place that is growing and expanding. And there is just a lot happening. There are buildings going up, bits of infrastructure appearing. And all of that is growing on top of a very old historic core. And, I suppose, the thing that you notice is this contrast between the old and the new and that is quite striking. And this is an incredible repository of human potential… lots of people and lots of opportunity.

What has been a highlight in the short time that you’ve been here?

Well, it’s only been eight weeks, and a big part of that has been taken up by the visit of our Prime Minister (David Cameron), which would have to be a highlight. It would be the highlight of any posting to have your Prime Minister come to visit. And that it happened in my first few weeks here was a challenge. It was a great start and I was thrilled.

It had been 16 years since a British Prime Minister had come — John Major in early 1997 — and the Prime Minister was determined that this was a place that should feature more prominently on our radar.

I think the important thing is that if a Prime Minister comes somewhere that makes a statement. That this place is important, that there is opportunity here, that we want to transform the relationship to something at a higher level. So, I hope and I believe that it gave a very clear message to the political leadership of this state, the business community in the state and to the people of this state that the UK is very serious about the relationship that we want to have here, that we are open to business, that we want to engage in any way that we can.

But I would also say that we arrived at the perfect time because we arrived just a few days before Durga Puja. So, to see the city putting on its finest and full of excitement, that was really great. And I was amazed at the incredible imagination and effort that goes into those pandals and the way they become a focus for individual communities around the city. I am really excited about next year. I just hope it won’t rain next year.

London and Calcutta share some similarities led by the riverfront. Do you see potential for collaborations?

Yes, I think there is lots of potential. And I think there is quite a lot already to be proud of. The Millennium Park is a great feature on the riverfront. There was some British expertise involved with the development of that property…. London is a great hub for Europe and the world. Calcutta has been a great hub for India and it has great potential to be the hub, both for the wider east and Northeast region but also the East Asia region.

In terms of the collaboration, it was an issue that came up in the discussion between our Prime Minister and the chief minister. They agreed that they would like to take forward as an area for UK-West Bengal collaboration. So, we are going to keep working on that and look for opportunities to bring in UK expertise wherever required.

What will be your main focus area?

My focus is the state of West Bengal and it is this region I described to you, of 13 states and that’s a big area, and it is an area full of opportunity. The trick is understanding what those opportunities are and making sure that British companies and British institutions recognise those opportunities and are able to access them. So, that’s really what my job’s about.

We are going to have renewed focus on the Northeast, we are going to put in more resources into the Northeast and put in resource to look into other states in the region like Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to see what the opportunities are and make sure where there are opportunities where British expertise British companies can help, we’ll be there to help to make those opportunities become a reality.

How are you looking to engage with Calcutta on culture and education?

There is lots going on in terms of cultural exchanges. This is India’s cultural capital and I have been struck by how much there is going on and how everyone is proud of that cultural heritage. The British Council leads on cultural collaboration for us and we work very closely with the British Council. It is a fantastic organisation and I am confident that there’ll be more great stuff going on cultural exchanges.

In terms of education, again British Council and their English language programme has extraordinary reach in this region and that’s something I am very, very proud of. But for us the big part in terms of education is making sure that young people look at the UK as a possible destination for their further studies. We’ve got some of the best universities in the world in the UK. You’ve got some of the best and brightest minds of the future in this country and in this region and we’d like to see those two things come together more than perhaps happens at the moment.

I told the Prime Minister (David Cameron) before the visit that you can’t fail to be struck by the extraordinary energy and dynamism and the commitment that she’s (Mamata Banerjee) got to this state and that is the impression that he very clearly took away from that meeting. He was very struck by her passion and her energy. I also had the pleasure of seeing her paint. She gave the Prime Minister a painting but I was there at The Great Eastern and it was a remarkable thing to stand and watch. On his initial impressions of Mamata Banerjee

Any special plans to engage with the youth of the city?

I would love to engage more of the youth in the city. Sadly I don’t think I count as youth anymore myself, although I am the youngest person ever to do this job. I think the young people of this city, as in any other city, are the future and from the ones I’ve met already, whether it was at IIM Calcutta with the Prime Minister or some of the other interactions I’ve had, there is clearly a huge amount of talent out there, fantastic ideas, and we wouldn’t be doing our jobs properly if we weren’t trying to engage with those people.

You are a keen traveller....

Well the great joy of the job is that I get to travel a lot without it counting as holiday! I and my wife and kids are keen to see as much as we can while we are here. We love Indian trains.... Kids are very portable when they are that small, you can move them around very easily (laughs).

Are you a cricket fan?

I’ve had many happy afternoons watching cricket. I would not say I’m the greatest expert in the sport but I can happily sit and watch cricket with a pint of beer on a Saturday afternoon.

You were in Calcutta when Sachin Tendulkar played his penultimate Test here...

It was amazing, wasn’t it? I didn’t go. But it was an amazing time to have been here.

Is Sachin the greatest batsman you have seen?

Yeah, undoubtedly. You can look at any number of statistics to say this guy is in a class of his own. He scored his first Test century, against England in fact, in 1990. It’s 24 years ago and that’s a very long career and an entirely unblemished career. He is clearly one of the greatest sportsmen of all time but it kind of goes beyond that because he is an icon, a role model for young people. And it just shows the power that sports can have as a unifying kind of rallying point for the whole country. To inspire people and show that actually if you work hard at something to make the best of the skills that you’ve been given, then the sky is the limit.

Team England is not in a sweet spot right now…

They certainly weren’t in a sweet spot in Brisbane!

If you were in coach Andy Flower’s shoes, what would your message be before the next Ashes Test in Adelaide?

It is very difficult actually when people are already writing that England will lose in Adelaide and that’s it. The series is gone and they may even go down 5-0. I think you’ve got to look beyond that and you must have faith in yourself and not allow yourself to be disheartened by what other people are writing. That said, if they don’t win in Adelaide, we’ve got a very poor record of winning in Perth… so I guess they’ve just got to do their best in Adelaide.