Santoor, Beatles and Indian food: Modi’s lunch date with British royals
Author yuvamind
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Britain’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for lunch, treating the royal couple to some Indian flavours, both in food and music.
The reception, which was held at the Hyderabad house on Tuesday noon, was also attended by accomplished personalities from various fields. However, it was the sartorial elegance of the host and the guests that stood out — Prince William in a dark suit and tie, his wife Kate Middleton in a knee-length blue dress, and Modi in a traditional white kurta and a cream jacket.
Traction of the santoor, played by Rahul Sharma, buzzed in the air, and ended with a rendition of ‘Let it Be’, the popular number of the British band Beatles.
The music accompanied a four-course Indian fare of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
The guest list included actor Anupam Kher, badminton maestro P Gopichand and industrialist Sunil Bharati Mittal. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and minister of state for information and broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were also present, apart from national security adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar.
The Duke and Duchess are in India on a week-long visit, and began their trip in Mumbai where they met with underprivileged children. Here in Delhi, the couple also visited the shelter of the Salaam Baalak Trust that works with street children in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday.
Earlier on Sunday, the couple at a charity gala in Mumbai, and were introduced to the reception by actors Shah Rukh Khan and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
During their week-long tour, the royal couple will visit the Kaziranga National Park in Assam to see the one-horned rhino, aside from travelling to Bhutan, before returning to India on Saturday to visit the Taj Mahal.