Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador Cezar Amaral (second right), lauds the achievements of departing colleagues (from left), St. Kitts High Commissioner Cedric Harper, Kiran Agrawal and Indian High Commissioner Kailash Agrawal, and Nigerian High Commissioner Olufolajimi Akintola. At right is Belgian Ambassador Herman Portocarero. The three diplomats were given a farewell reception at Millsborough Crescent recently. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
He has earned the respect and the admiration of his diplomatic colleagues for being a man of discipline and with an appreciation for duty and protocol. He has also endeared himself to the Indian community here, and this is no easy feat considering the text and subtext of the Indian community and their inherited stratified way of living. The fact that he has managed this speaks to the measure of the man and the diligence and seriousness with which he approached his duty as his country's first citizen here.
While some diplomats measure their success by how many photo opportunities they manage to engineer, others prefer to execute their duties without the glare of the cameras. His Excellency Kailash Agrawal, India's High Commis-sioner to Jamaica, is one such diplomat.
Sadly, High Commissioner Agrawal will leave Jamaica in August as his tour of duty here comes to and end; he retires from the Indian Foreign service after a long and distinguished career. During that time, he traversed the globe in pursuit of building and promoting bilateral relations and greater understanding between his host countries and his homeland.
Here in Jamaica, High Commissioner Agrawal was the champion of promoting a greater awareness of the continuing role his countrymen in the diaspora play in the development of India, either directly, as investors, through remittances, or indirectly, as goodwill ambassadors.
Strong links
In this capacity he not only built strong links to the Indian community here, but he opened up lines of communication between himself, the community and potential partners and opportunities back home.
His impeding departure brings mixed emotions as those with whom he bonded and the community he inspired will await his successor with some amount of trepidation, in the hope that the same will be able to step into his large shoes.
Anyway, friends and colleagues have been saying their farewells to the outgoing High Commissioner, as they hosted him at tea, dinner and or just simply cocktails.
On Monday evening/night of last week, Indian-born Honorary Consul of the Ukraine, Kenny Benjamin, threw a smart farewell cocktail-dinner party in his garden theatre at his Stony Hill estate.
Talk about hitting the right note! Well, my daahlings, with cocktails taken on the garden bar deck, the lush faunaand flora providing a marvellously tropical backdrop, it was hard to imagine improving on the magnificently crafted and maintained oasis of sheer and indulgent beauty. From a distance, but amplified most suitably, entertainer extraordinaire Floyd Folks provided the most fabulous musical offerings with his voice and guitar, that made for the ultimate in fabdom.
Closing of an era
My daahlings, this was a fabulously presented do, from the very setting to execution, as this was a party to toast and celebrate the closing of an era, and my dears, not that there was any ever any question about it, but there was no stinting here and it made for a rather relaxed cocktail prelude that segued into a palate pleasing sub-continental Indian fare that was truly memorable!
My darlings, done under the expert guidance of Al Niazi (Uncle Al to his friends); with head chef Rainford Davey assisted by his deputy Shane Palmer, guests were treated to a fabulous buffet of some of the finest tasting ethnic dishes ever served anywhere. The veal was simply to do penance for, as we are talking mouth-wateringly fabulous!
No real dreaded ceremony here, just a few words of welcome and appreciation by the host followed by some brief remarks by Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator Anthony Hylton, and a response by High Commissioner Agrawal.
Guests included: Russian Ambassador HE Viktor Zotin and his daughter Kathy Zotin; Canadian High Commissioner HE Denis Kingsley; Mexican Ambassador HE Leonora Rueda; head of the International Seabed Authority, HE Ambassador Satya Nandan; Benjamin family matriarch Mrs. Doris Benjamin, in from Florida, her sons Ron and Allan Benjamin also visiting with their families; Seragh Lakasingh; the lovely Cindy Breakspeare; Rae Barrett; the charmingly lovely Janet Farrow and her oh so lovely daughter, budding debutante Gabriella Gormley; William Potopsingh and wife Dr. Ruth Potopsingh; Harold Brady; Mo-Bay businessman Lachu Ramchandani; Dr. DK Garg; the lovely Sonja Sutherland Dumetz; Dr. and Mrs. MH Ahmad; EU official Alex Dropinski and companion, the lovely Dr. Saphire Longmore; Claude Clements; Robbie Epstein; Vinay Walia; the lovely Miranda Ragbier; Tarun and Catherine Handa; Vickram Dhiman; Eloise Pettigrew; and Rajan Trehan; plus a number of other notables.
