The reception hosted by Jérôme Bonnafont,the French Ambassador to India,at the French Embassy in Delhi last Friday,was,in temper and turnout,quite like the many fine evenings he had hosted earlier. Except that it had a farewell speech by the man who has been,for the last four years,a very popular diplomat. “India will always remain my second home and my second country,” said the dapper Bonnafont,as a thousand and more guests raised a toast and clapped fondly for him. Top artists,cultural exponents,fashion experts and designers,businesspeople,photographers,filmmakers,media biggies and political dignitaries,everyone was here,patiently queuing up as the Ambassador received each guest personally. People brought him flowers and shawls,books,love and warm wishes and there were moments when the man,who always had the right thing to say,looked a bit overwhelmed.

“He was such a hit here,” said a senior fashion photographer about Bonnafont. Everyone standing around agreed. That word,“hit” — empathetic and shorn of formality — was just like Bonnafont when he would be with his Indian friends. He would tell you a thing or two about best dal tadka and a lot about Indian art and craft. A left-of-centre,radical diplomat,Bonnafont,according to many at the gathering,was being called back to Paris on a promotion connected to the upcoming French Presidential elections as a key figure in the re-election campaign by incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy.

His four-year long tenure in India has been noted as a very successful one,a time when France and India opened up a variety of political and cultural dialogues. He had worked in India earlier too,in 1986 as second secretary,and then the first secretary in the French Embassy. But this time,it was his personal empathy with the country that gave him friends and fans. He truly invested in making India his home,taking interest in our food,fashion and fine art,rural crafts,dance and theatre and then taking them all to showcase in France. He would then bring French artists and films here,hold shows and honour the right people. He loved Bollywood and celebrated that interest. His parties were memorable; those he hosted at his Embassy as well as the ones at fine dine restaurants like Olive,where he would play the chatty,entertaining host. A convincing conversationalist,he would find a way to say something personally important to his guests. And when he himself became a guest at private dinners (there were many such instances),his hosts would drop the diplomatic protocol and address him by his first name. That personal touch was evident even in the invites he sent out for his farewell reception; they included a line handwritten by him in ink.