A warm & pleasant farewell

Farewell events for the ambassador of Argentina Rodolfo Martin-Saravia and wife Susana are ongoing, with lunches; brunches and dinners on a daily basis and quite a few of their friends willing to settle for a tea party or even breakfast! Of these events, some are memorable; some routine and others a cosy get-together with a few friends. Of these, the lunch hosted by Ambassador (r) Aziz Khan and his wife Aisha fell into the latter category, with a little over a dozen Pakistani couples who are 'comfortable' with each other getting together to exchange pleasantries and wish the couple bon voyage. 

Conversation was light and lively and with a number of retired ambassadors around, very interesting; proactive and humorous! After the meal the host said a few words recalling his interaction with his guest of honour; appreciated his role in bringing Pakistan and Argentina closer together after years of a lukewarm relationship and added that he was the real reason - and not the park named after the country - that would make Pakistanis think of Argentina with affection. Voicing the opinion that Ambassador Saravia had been the most active envoy ever and that if he returned and stayed with each of his friends for a week he could spend another twelve years in Pakistan, he concluded with best wishes for the couples future.

In his response the guest of honour thanked his host for his words and for getting some of his close friends together for a pleasant afternoon. "I really appreciate your friendship and the insight you provided about Pakistan in our many meetings. It was a great help in my understanding of the country," he said. He also appreciated the work Aisha is doing/has done in the northern areas - she is an environment activist well known for cleaning up the mountains, besides her welfare activities with the people of the area - and concluded by saying he would definitely come back to Pakistan to see his friends who had made life so pleasant in Pakistan.

Tea; coffee and dessert followed, with guests taking one or the other and continuing their friendly interaction - no one appeared to be in a hurry to leave and say good bye! But all good things come to an end and so did this pleasant get together which surely the guests of honour will recall with a warm feeling.