Dad, husband, son, brother. Member of HM Diplomatic Service. Served in Morocco, Chile, Brazil, Algeria, Bangladesh, China and India. MA Ancient History.
Corinne Henderson. Our longest repatriation. Nongman Village (Manipur) to Delhi. 2 punctures. 3 cars. 4 hotels. 5 drivers. 7 states. 58 hours on the road. 2772 km (=Dover to Moscow). 1 very brave lady who never complained once. Getting our people home. It's what we do.
@UKinIndia
Honoured to present the 128th Commonwealth Points of Light Award to
#JadavPayeng
. A man who has brought life to 1,360 acres where there was none; who gives hope that we can repair our precious blue and green planet; and who shows that a single person can make a big difference.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🤝
Excellent day in Ranchi. Launch of Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarships for ST, SC and OBC postgraduate students and the CRISP-M tool to strengthen local level climate resilience a step change in 🇬🇧/Jharkhand partnership. Thank you to
@HemantSorenJMM
.
Happy 74th to my favourite city -
#Bhubaneswar
.
The city of temples; the city of technology; the city of culture and the city of civility.
#BhubaneswarFoundationDay
Goodbye Kolkata.
Thank you for all the happy memories. Thank you for all the wonderful people who have enriched our lives.
We will miss you.
Nick and Kárita
🇬🇧🇮🇳👨💼👩💼💸
Inauguration of the Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan by
@MamataOfficial
. A stunning exhibition complex for Kolkata with two column-less pavilions of 1 lakh sq ft each, state-of-the-art business and networking facilities, and a marvelous outside exhibition and leisure space.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🎪🎑
Magic in the air at the Durga Puja Carnival at Red Road last night. Oh how I will miss this when I leave the City of Joy... Lovingly curated, beautifully staged and carried off with panache, style and the biggest of smiles. Take a bow, Kolkata! Thank you
@MamataOfficial
.
The most difficult, complex and challenging operation we've attempted. One Central Government, nine State Governments, nine law enforcement agencies, seventy-six vehicles, eighty-eight drivers, over 300 hours and 10,000 km on the road. And one amazing team of whom I'm very proud.
🇬🇧🇮🇳
I was diagnosed with skin cancer earlier in the year. Today I had surgery at the
@TMCKolkata
. Thank you to Dr Gautam Biswas, Senior Consultant in the Department of Plastic Surgery, and colleagues for your great care and to
@healix_HX
for letting me have the surgery in India
One of my favourite evenings of the year as
@MamataOfficial
inaugurates the 10th Kolkata Christmas Festival in Allen Park. All the joy of Christmas with beautiful singing from the three performing choirs and a seasonal chill in the air.
@UKinKolkata
@UKinIndia
.
🇮🇳⚽️🏟🇬🇧
Thank you
@OdishaFC
for the shirt and for a cracking performance last night against
@bengalurufc
, which had Bhubaneswar rocking! Couldn't be happier that you're partnering with
@WatfordFC
, who are everything a local community club should be.
@UKinKolkata
@inBritish
Very good meeting with Secy to
@Naveen_Odisha
(
#5T
) V K Pandian. On my ninth and likely last visit to Bhubaneswar, I thanked Mr Pandian for the great cooperation we've had on climate, education, environment, sport and sustainable urbanisation. 2030 Roadmap is for ALL our people.
🇮🇳🎊
Special reason to savour what is likely to be my last
#IndependenceDayIndia
in Kolkata. A real privilege to have a front row seat as a proud city and proud state celebrates their immense contribution to building modern India.
@MamataOfficial
@UKinKolkata
@inBritish
An honour to be selected by
@SSIFS_MEA
as
@UKinIndia
's representative on the 1st Familiarisation Programme for Resident Diplomats. Informative, engaging and enjoyable in equal measure. Thank you!
@UKinKolkata
@MarcusMergulhao
Kolkata derby still very much on my bucket list. Was all teed up to go
last year. Been to football matches all round the world. Most amazing atmosphere - Universidad de Chile vs River Plate Libertadores Semi-Final 1996. The hair on the back of my neck really did stand up!
Huge credit to
@debashis_
and colleagues for the conversion of Alipore Jail into an international class visitor attraction. Attended the Inauguration of New Alipore Jail Museum this evening with
@MamataOfficial
and
@FirhadHakim
and stayed on for the tour and son-et-lumière.
I went to school with kids who looked like Rishi. We had the same classes. We played football and cricket together. We watched the same TV programmes and movies. We spoke with the same accent. We were, and are, 100% British. And proud of it. Part III
Thank you to
@FollowCII
and
@vijaydewan
for the invitation to speak on all things
@COP26
at the Eastern Region Council Meeting. Super speech from
@FirhadHakim
who oozes pride and affection for the fair city that he leads. Authenticity is such a wonderful attribute.
@UKinKolkata
🇬🇧🇮🇳
Honoured to meet Hon'ble
@Naveen_Odisha
, Chief Minister of Odisha, earlier this evening. Excellent discussion on UK-Odisha cooperation from sport and climate to urban infrastructure and scholarships. So much here that impresses.
@CMO_Odisha
@UKinKolkata
@UKinIndia
@inBritish
Pleasure to join
@FirhadHakim
,
@debashis_
,
@CSGhosh2013
and
@TheOfficialSBI
for "FinTech Hub, Kolkata:now apply online". London has over 2,100 fintech companies; Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle cluster fintech expertise. Let's dance!
🇬🇧🇮🇳
Just a handful of my favourite Durga Puja moments. Heartfelt thanks to the Das Family, confectioners extraordinaires, for a Bengali lunch made in heaven; to Ward No.1 Jagat Mukherjee Park for making me Chief Guest at your 86th Durgotsab; to Akshay Gandhi at Novotel Kolkata.
Serendipity = the phenomenon of finding agreeable things not sought. Just like bumping into the force of nature which is
@1RajAthwal
, President of
@OdishaFC
. Wishing
@JuggernautsOFC
all the best for tonight's game. Looking forward to getting to Kalinga for an
@IndSuperLeague
game
🇬🇧🇮🇳🎗
Sixty stitches out.
All margins of resection free of tumour.
Lymphovascular and perineural invasion not identified.
A good day.
Thank you for all the messages of support.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🇧🇩🇳🇵🇵🇰🇦🇺🇨🇦🕊
Kohima War Cemetery. Friday 11 November. 11 o'clock. In memory of the fallen. And for the veterans whom the pandemic prevented attending the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima. A resting place fit for Heroes. We do not forget. Thank you
@CmoNagaland
@CWGC
🇮🇳🇬🇧🤝👬
Excellent meeting with
@FirhadHakim
yesterday afternoon. Wide-ranging, productive and very cordial discussion of our plans to deepen cooperation between Kolkata and peers in 🇬🇧. I'm a huge fan of local and regional diplomacy. Lots to look forward to!
@UKinKolkata
First day as British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata. Honoured and privileged to take over from
@Bruce_Bucknell
as HM Government's "Man in Kolkata". Looking forward to working with friends and colleagues old and new.
Kohima - a place I've known since I first walked down Whitehall and saw it inscribed under the statue of Field Marshal Slim, Commander of the 14th Army in Burma. A place that commands awe, pride and profund sorry in equal measure. And a place of unimagined and unimaginable beauty
🇬🇧🇮🇳🎓
GREAT figures just published on student visas!
The number of Indian students getting visas to study in the United Kingdom was up 15,867 (42%) to 53,263 in 2020.
Fabulous - and absolutely justified - vote of confidence in 🇬🇧 world-class schools, colleges and universities
Warm, elegant way to end
#IndependenceDay2022
with Hon'ble Governor Shri La. Ganeshan Iyer's kind invitation to Raj Bhavan. My first conversation with the Hon'ble Governor since his appointment in July. Thank you
@MamataOfficial
for always taking the time to come and speak to us.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🇦🇺🇧🇩🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇯🇵🇲🇻🇳🇵🇳🇱🇺🇸
Thank you to the friends and colleagues from across India and across the world who joined us to remember the fallen at the Glorious Dead Cenotaph in the Maidan this morning. Indebted to
@WestBengalGovt
,
@easterncomd
,
@Tri_Service
and
@KolkataPolice
.
Monju and Luke were just two of the amazing Brits I've met today. Loved putting faces to the names on all the emails. Great conversations - feel I've known you all my life. But it's time for you to go home. Bon voyage. I wish you all very well indeed.
@UKinKolkata
@UKinIndia
The conversion of the
@FCDOGovUK
Quadrangle in London from a car park into an attractive landscaped garden has been a triumph. As I wrote yesterday, I'm not the biggest fan of autumn. But I love the cosy yellow glow of the lights at twilight.
🇮🇳🇬🇧⚕😷
Good to see the latest example of UK-India collaboration against COVID-19. UK sending nine airline container loads of vital medical supplies this week, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators.
@UKinKolkata
Had to go to Buckingham Palace this afternoon and took advantage of gaps between meetings to make the most of a glorious spring day in my beautiful home town. No traffic and no tourists.
Okay everybody! One last call for British Nationals or those with leave to remain in the United Kingdom interested in a flight from Kolkata to Frankfurt on Tuesday 31 March. Cost c.€500. Onward connections to UK airports operating. Please drop me a line with your email.
A blessed, joyous Eid-ul-Fitr to Muslims everywhere and especially to friends in West Bengal who have endured so much, to those I miss in my previous adopted homelands of Algeria, Bangladesh and Morocco, and of course brothers back home in Tower Hamlets.
@ukinkolkata
@UKinIndia
Huge thanks to
@Neiphiu_Rio
for your hospitality and for all the support from
@CmoNagaland
and
@MyGovNagaland
. I leave this beautiful State and its warm, welcoming people with a heavy heart. I will return! Special call-out to
@meripeni
for her wisdom and some great conversations!
🇧🇷🇧🇩🇮🇳🇬🇧
My wife read a poem in her native Portuguese at this evening's commemoration of
#InternationalMotherLanguageDay
.
London is the world's most linguistically diverse city with over 250 different languages spoken. Bangla/Sylheti is the second most spoken after English.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🌍
#BGBS2022
closes. A triumph. Real substance, big numbers, a powerful statement.
#GlobalBritain
here in force to bring 🇬🇧 and West Bengal economies and our peoples closer together and to boost cooperation in areas that matter to us both.
@CMOfficeWB
@UKinKolkata
@inBritish
Always a pleasure to read a lesson at St Paul's Cathedral Kolkata's Midnight Mass. The Church always looks beautiful. Wishing you all a peaceful, happy and healthy Christmas.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🤝
There are warm welcomes and then there's coming to Goilkera Village in Khunti, Jharkhand. Beautiful place, inspirational people facing the hard reality of climate change. This is a battle that we can and will win. Looking forward to deepening 🇬🇧 cooperation with Jharkhand.
🇬🇧🇮🇳🚸🔬
I have seen the future. t's not dystopian or apocalyptic. It's beautiful, sustainable and equitable. Thank you to
@klyuniv
(Kalyani University) for hosting the brilliant and inspirational Children's Science Congress. What a breath of fresh air!
@UKinKolkata
@inBritish
Wishing all my followers, wherever you are, a very Happy Durga Puja. May the memories, the light and the message of hope of this beautiful festival stay with you and your loved ones forever.
A very happy, peaceful and safe Durga Puja to all my friends present and future in Kolkata, West Bengal and across East and Northeast India. Thinking of you all at this very special time.
In case you wonder why I take an interest in policing. Yes, this really was your humble correspondent in a previous incarnation. And I got wet through more times than you'll ever know! Hence my empathy for the office in my immediately preceding tweet.
@metpoliceuk
@UKinKolkata
Some Heros are Gentle, Treads Lightly. Tenderness in Caregiving. Actions are not Territorial but Universal. Like Mothers So well deserved award for India's Forest Man Jadav Payeng. Salute and hugs
Flew back to Kolkata this morning with the children. So good to be back. Celebrated by switching on the Christmas tree lights. If you look carefully you'll see Santa's little helper not quite managing to keep out of the frame.
Who's up for good news? One of my followers with a Tier 2 visa expiring this week boarded the Air India flight at Indira Gandhi International this morning and has just emailed from London. One very determined and courageous woman - and a beacon to all of you with similar worries.
A birthday treat at
@truefitthill_in
here in Kolkata. The oldest barbershop in the world, established in 1805 and Royal Warrant Hokders to HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh. How is it that a good haircut and facial can (temporarily) reverse the ageing process?
@UKinKolkata
🇮🇳🇬🇧⚕🩺👨⚕️👩⚕️
Kárita and I were honoured to join
@FirhadHakim
and eminent artist Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya in Rabindra Sarobar for the unveiling of his stunning statue to honour the medical fraternity who have so bravely fought COVID-19.
@UKinIndia
@UKinKolkata
@inBritish
So proud of my little boy going back to boarding school after four months away. A smile and an assurance that Daddy didn't need to carry his suitcase back to his dormitory. Daddy did though!
🇬🇧🇮🇳👨💼💰📈
Thank you
@Calcutta_Times
for inviting me to be Chief Guest at tonight's ET Inspiring Keaders, East Awards. Was I really on the same stage as
@aditiraohydari
? A Who's Who of men and women who've done great things in business and done it the right way.
@UKinKolkata
That's it. I'm going home to fill in my daughter's passport application form and eat. At one point we had 21 vehicles stranded. With help from some brilliant people in the police services of Assam, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and West Bengal we got them all back on the road.
Finishes
@IFTWC
2
@thelfadotcom
0. Congratulations indeed India. And huge credit to both teams for an entertaining match played at high tempo despite the heat and humidity.
To those across Odisha, West Bengal and my adopted city of Kolkata touched by Amphan, my most sincere wishes for an early recovery and a brighter future where we put the travails of the first half of 2020 behind us.
#CityofJoy
always was, always will be.
@UKinIndia
@UKinKolkata
This is the Grand Staircase
@FCDOGovUK
. I'll post the commentary in my next "tweet". Colleagues will be amused to know that when clearing out my Mum's house, I found a 1,000-piece jigsaw with this view. I'd bought it as one of Mum's Christmas presents from the old FCO Shop!
Life won't be the same without the great man... Karna, once again thank you for all that you've done and my warmest wishes for a very happy, very healthy and very long retirement.
Karna Bahadur Chettri, our official driver retired after 28 plus long years of service at the British Deputy High Commission Kolkata.
Our Deputy High Commissioner
@NickDLow
gave him a farewell on 14 August 2020.
#SundayThoughts
#WATCH
| United Kingdom's International Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston visits Jorasanko Thakurbari in Kolkata and pays floral tribute to Rabindranath Tagore.