Tuesday 16 July 2019

San Francisco & Los Angeles, California - 18th State Visit of the United States of America

San Francisco, my visit to 18th State of the United States of America was one of the most important ones and had an extraordinary impact than other state visits, be it personal, official or diplomatic. SF in California was into my bucket list for a long time for various reasons. But never had an option to visit due to my complicated and congested schedules. After becoming Student, I had a surplus of time to explore cities. I had a Public Policy Conference at San Francisco and wanted to use my weekend exploring the city. Luckily, I had a college alumnus and friend who was very welcoming me to San Francisco for a long time, and we were in the same wavelength.

Planned the Conference and a short trip around SF and other areas. Since a long time, he is definitely a well-organised trip planner, and I requested him to make it out for my visit, which was admitted immediately by him. And, I was pretty confident that while roaming with him, I can have surplus Indian cuisine or other safe cuisine based on his style and art of cooking. Finding good restaurants in Boston would be a difficult task and presumed that SF would also be the same.

Starting from landing at SFO Airport, the excitement was at its peak. Little facts that created goosebumps while I landed may extend to a vast list, but landing at the 7th busiest Airport of North America, historical airport of World War I and others were responsible for that goosebumps. Travelled from India extensively for 38 hours with 2 missed connections and landed to breath non-conditioned air. Saw a massive crowd in the Immigration and I was exhausted. After crossing a few minutes, a CBP officer approached me, asking for the passport amidst the vast crowd. I exhibited my usual passport with the Diplomatic one. She pulled me out of the queue and escorted me to a secluded line and cleared my immigration.

Stepped out for AirTrain and in few minutes I arrived at the Rental Car location and got a KIA Soul car for my social purposes. With my Bluetooth Connection, started my music and car with ODO at 10888 miles. First 2 days weren't were so good as it had the usual works.

Read more...

Monday 1 July 2019

Indian Diplomacy – The Art of Protocol

Diplomacy is carried out by a Diplomat, and a Diplomat is a one who exhibits Diplomacy! Sounds crazy? Yes, we are such!
Diplomats aren’t intelligent people, but they are a step ahead of Intellectuals and Smarts. The inspiration comes from various sources, for me, it was from Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-PĂ©rigord, a French Diplomat. Ok, how does it feel when you are being addressed as a Diplomat. Initially, I didn’t admit to being addressed as Diplomat because I strongly believed that one should be Diplomatic enough to be addressed such. It took almost 4.5 years to get into the primary level elevation.
People may have different opinions and ideas about a Diplomat. Oh! Yeah, PEOPLE means a more extensive set of definition.