Shehryar gives brief account of memorable moments of his life

Islamabad
The English Speaking Union organised a talk titled ‘The recollections of a diplomat,' by former Foreign Secretary and current Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Shehryar Khan. The event was held at the Serena Hotel and attended by ESU members and their guests among them many former colleagues of the speaker from his days in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, ambassador of Argentina, Rodolfo Martin Saravia was also present.
After a warming cup of tea and ‘hail fellow, well met’ all around, the meeting began with a short introduction of the ESU and the speaker by president ESU, Major General (r) Masud Akram. Born in 1934 to in the Qasr-e-Sultani, princely state of Bhopal, British India in the pre-partition era. Shehryar is the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of former princely state of Kurwai and princess Abida Sultan. Shahryar Khan left India with his mother for Pakistan in 1950. Prior to migration, he was educated at the Daly College, Indore and Grosvenor School, UK. He is also an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (formerly the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) in Dehradun and of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. He took an LLB from Cambridge in 1956 then studied for a year at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. After retirement from service in 1994; he was appointed as UN SRSG to Rwanda (1994–1996). In his retirement he has written a number of books - ‘The Begums of Bhopal;’ ‘The Shallow Graves of Rwanda’ (an eye-witness account of his two-year stay in a country ravaged by genocide); ‘Cricket – a Bridge of Peace’ (about India-Pakistan relations) His most personal book is the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan – ‘Memoirs of a Rebel Princess.’ In 2013 with his son Ali he wrote ‘Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan.’
Shehryar Khan gave brief accounts about a few memorable incidents in his life, some of which were humourous; a few insightful and others which made you wonder at what all diplomats have to deal with, diplomatically! It was a very interesting session – so much so that the audience did not want it to end - and after a quick Q&A, the meeting came to an end, with a brief vote of thanks by the secretary general, ESU, Muzaffar Quereshi as the speaker had to leave for the airport. There was a consensus opinion though that if Shehryar Khan could spare the time, he would be invited to speak again. And on that thought, why not other retired diplomats? Surely all of them must have interesting tales to tell!