India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya and wife Ranu Bhattacharyya hosted on Sunday a farewell reception at India house in Cairo. The reception, which was attended by many Egyptian and Indian friends, featured an emotional concert of songs by India's beloved Rabindranath Tagore. “Over the last three years Ranu and I have been very privileged to be in this beautiful country, and more importantly with such wonderful people,” said Ambassador Bhattacharyya, who came to Egypt in 2015 and is currently preparing for a new mission in Turkey. The Ambassador said that what will stay in his mind and heart are the deep associations he and his wife had been able to forge here over the past few years. “I think there is a matter of satisfaction as over the last few years we've seen very steady progress in our bilateral relations, and I wish to thank our colleagues on the Egyptian side who have given us ideas, and worked so closely and cooperated with us in making our dreams reality,” the ambassador said. Mrs. Ranu borrowed Tagore's words to express her feelings as she said goodbye to the friends she made in Egypt. “On an evening when my heart is very full, I don't have any words of my own, so I have to use the words of our greatest poet Rabindranath Tagore, who we are celebrating tonight... ‘You have made the unknown, known to me... Those who were strangers, you have made them friends.' So with these words I know that we have built hearts and homes in many places across Egypt, and we leave pieces of our hearts with you as well.” The reception, which was attended by the ambassador's Egyptian friends, diplomats and government representatives, featured a musical repertoire of Tagore by singer Lrabudha Raha and his team. The concert was part of the Tagore Festival, which is organised by the embassy from 3 to 7 May. It featured an exhibition, seminar and concert to commemorate the 157th birth anniversary of the Nobel Laureate Tagore, the famous Indian poet, painter, writer and philosopher. Sanjay Bhattacharyya and his wife Ranu with Minister of Military Production General Mahmoud El-Assar (Photo: courtesy of the Indian Embassy Media Office) The Indian Ambassador with actress Laila Elwie and the embassy's friends (Photo: courtesy of the Indian Embassy Media Office)
