US Consul General in Kolkata speaks fluent Bengali

Kolkata, Mar 28 (UNI) The US Consul General in Kolkata Henry V Jardine, unlike any of his counterparts from other countries in the city, prefers to interact with local journalists in chaste Bengali instead of his mother tongue, not because of any compulsion but purely becasue of his intense love for the language.

Pleasantly surprising the local media community here this evening, Mr Jardine decided to give his 'bite' in Bengali instead of his mother tongue English when approached by a Bengali Televison channel for comment on his future plans in the Consulate activities.

''I first learnt to speak Bengali, which I can also read, during my nearly ten years stint in the Dhaka mission in Bangladesh. But I have fine tuned the language since my arrival here about two years ago,'' Mr Jardine told UNI and reiterated his wishes to learn even more to be able to write as effortlessly as he spoke.

Asked how he trained himself to know gramatically much more about the language spoken by more than 50 million people on both sides of the international border here and across the world, the US consul General very candidly admitted that apart from communicating with the local staff members more and more in their own language, he regularly listened to various Bengali FM radio channels.

''Among the most popular songs I love are the 'Jiban Mukhi Gaan' and the Rabindrasangeet, both of which are very rich in tunes and in composition,'' he said with a broad smile.

On whether he also spoke in Bengali with Chief Minisiter Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee when he met him, a smiling Mr Jardine said ''not exactly'' since the Chief minister always talked in English.

However, it was not yet known whether Mr Bhattacherjee was aware of the US Consul General's ability to speak in Bengali.

Incidentally, the wife of Mr Jardine's predecessor was also an avid Rabindrasangeet enthusiast and took part in a number of social programmes in that connecton till she returned to the US about a couple of years back.

UNI