Come September, the denizens of the tinsel town gear up for unlimited treats in shape of BBQ parties, appetizing winter feasts, retreats to nearby hill stations and of course garden parties and ballroom dinners. The Islamabad weather becomes too tempting to ignore the chilly evenings, the frosty nights, the sun-bathing afternoons and dewed grass mornings thus offering Islamabad residents to savour the flavour of their liking.
Not to the surprise of many, CEO, South & Central Asia, Serena Hotels, Mr. Aziz Boolani organized a lunch get-together at one of the restaurants of the hotel to be the first one to announce the “New Normal” social get together. Guests mostly from the diplomatic core were presented with masks, capped in plastic covers and sanitization bottles before being navigated to the outer garden adjacent to “Wild Rice” restaurant. Soft drinks, fresh seasonal juices and ascetically crafts assortments in with canopies were making rounds between the guests.
After soothing the eyes with fresh greenery all around and admiring the beautifully maintained Serena gardens, the guests led by the host and the Dean of the diplomatic core were invited indoors to an open seating arrangements with chairs distantly placed. For many attendees it was a first social outing in terms of causal business meet- up if one may call it and so was the discussion at the table. Many were exchanging notes on how their respective countries handled the pandemic and how have they recovered.
Syed Muhammad Ali Hosseini, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan who is relatively newly posted, was very much pleased how Iran handled the situation being only the second country in the world after China to be hit by the pandemic. Like many other countries around the world, Iran too was taken by surprise as health departments are usually not prepared to handle such a big influx of patients and that too of a diseases not known to many. The numbers of infested patients and deaths due to Covid-19 had their ups and downs but with a passage of time, Iran successfully brought down the numbers to two digits, he informed.
Mohammed Karmoune, Ambassador of Morocco, and Ali Alizada, Ambassador of Azerbaijan, too seem to be satisfied as the pandemic had not played havoc in their respective homelands.” We were in a complete lockdown months ago and now we are adopting smart lockdown. The tourism will reopen most likely in October to the international world whereas we also plan to open academic institutions in mid September just like Pakistan”, the ambassador of Azerbijan informed. Tourism in Azerbaijan increased leaps and bounds in last few years of this central Asian state and one could find many Pakistanis visiting its capital Baku. The countries carpet industry, museums, historical architectural sites and of course Yanar Dag, a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on hillside on Caspian Sea near Baku is the show stopper.
Although there was no formal speech by the host, Mr. Boolani did announce the departure of Mr. Akbar Khokhar, as Pakistan’s ambassador designate to Austria, and currently DG (America). Another Pakistani ambassador who has recently returned after completing his assignment in a European country was of the view that Covid-19 had caused a big pileup of positing delays in the foreign office.
“Many foreign office personnel including ambassadors have been waiting for four, five months now to be posted abroad” he confined. Pakistan will soon have new ambassadors in United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, China, Sweden, Nepal, South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia and a few other African and Asia Pacific and Central Asian countries.
Talking to the Turkish ambassador to Pakistan, Mr. Mustafa Yundakul, a guest appreciated the Turkish dramas and their popularity graph in Pakistan. It is no hidden fact that plays like Mera Sultan had a very high number of eye balls when it was running on a local network in Pakistan. Now the historical season Ertugrul has taken the Pakistani viewers by storm even though it is available on Netflix with subtitles and on Pakistan Television with adaptation in Urdu language.
The protagonist Ertugrul played by Engin Altan is a very popular figure in Pakistan and so is his wife Halime Hatun’s character essayed by Esra Bilgic. Both these celebrities have signed a few contracts with local Pakistani brands as well.
The dialogue on different interesting topics continued during the lunch as the guests appreciated the specially prepared meal by the host. The Sushi & Sashimi and Vietnamese Ummer rolls with Roasted Peanuts and sweet chili dip were served as starters followed by Asian Pumpkin Soup with lemon grass infused poached prawns and shitake mushrooms. Main course included Szechwan Prawns, Black Pepper beef, Chicken Kung Pao and stir Fry vegetables with sticky rice. Strawberry beverages with organic mint and lemon Sorbet flavoured with ginger were the last to come accompanied by lemon grass tea.