On the eve of June 14th, 2008 we were at the dinner and award function hosted by ICCC at Metro Covention Centre, Toronto. Kapil Sibal, Indian Minister for Science and Technology was the chief guest at the event. Moments after he read out the names of guests from his paper, he shuffled them, gave an uncomfortable pause and rattled off some key numbers of the trade growth in India, wooed (tried to, atleast) the Canadians by saying they were world's best innovators...and so on. The good part was, as a Minister representing from India his keywords and English captivated the interest of audience and drew few rounds of applause. But again it became a drag of sorts when he spoke about poverty and matter of touching lives. Sounded very cliched and a politician talking.
Secondly, it was apalling to find that the entertainers of the evening were Japanese musicians and Salsa dancers. That's neither Indian nor Canadian!!
The food was average. Appetisers, Salad, Indian Lamb-curry, Kerala fish, Dal,Nan,Tomoto Pulao, Baingan Ka Bartha,Methi Kofta. For Dessert it was Chocolate coated large juicy strawberry with Gulab Jamun in Khova on a plate made of dark chocolate, sprinkled with strawberry and blueberry slices. White and Red wine, cocktails and liquor were served to guests. Being vegetarians and tea totallers we stuck to our menu and pulled through the dull evening.
The only highlight of the event was learning about the achievements of award winners which had some interesting names in various professions.
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