‘I will leave India but India will never leave me’: Dutch Ambassador’s heartfelt farewell note as he leaves after 5 yrs
The Dutch ambassador had also, last week, shared a picture with his team. "My wonderful Delhi team gave me a fantastic farewell party. Very warm, very colourful, very Indian. Was really great working with them for 5 years," he said.
- Jul 31, 2023,
- Updated Aug 1, 2023 9:43 AM IST
Dutch Ambassador to India, Nepal and Bhutan, Marten van den Berg, who is leaving India after a period of five years, shared a heartfelt note on his experience in India. He said that he will leave the country with wonderful memories. “I will leave India but India will never leave me,” he said in his farewell note.
The ambassador titled his note “farewell but not farewell”. He said that he came to India with his wife Sheila five years ago and it was a dream come true and also that his wife got to return to the “country of her father”. His wife, Sheila, is also Indian.
Marten van den Berg said that for five years they observed the potential and paradoxes that define India. He observed an increasingly confident India, and its evolving relationship with Europe and the Netherlands, said the ambassador.
He said that he experienced the “colours, the diversity, the food”. “We have read astonishing and wonderful Indian novels and watched amazing Bollywood movies, with moving portraits of women, homeless people, farmers, heroes, informal workers, and Indian families,” he said, further adding that he travelled across the country from Ladakh to Kerala and from Rajasthan to West Bengal.
Ambassador Marten van den Berg said that they saw glaciers, canyons, beaches, forests as well as a range of wildlife.
“Above all we made wonderful friends, and worked together with great colleagues and re-connected with our family. Experiencing the warmth and the love of so many Indian people. They taught us how to navigate India. Even after 5 years, we only partially succeeded. 5 years ago I never expected to leave India alone, my wife passed away a few months ago. But I leave India with beautiful memories. Thank you India for treating us very well,” he wrote in his note.
The Dutch ambassador had also, last week, shared a picture with his team. "My wonderful Delhi team gave me a fantastic farewell party. Very warm, very colourful, very Indian. Was really great working with them for 5 years," he said.
Marten van den Berg had earlier stated that he wanted to come to India as an ambassador because of his love for the country. He had travelled in India in 1986 as a backpacker and was mesmerised by the contrats everywhere in the country. He said that India as a country was full of paradoxes, and is “dramatic, intense, colourful and dynamic”. “Another factor that influenced my choice was the fact that my wife is Indian,” he had said.
“I’m going to be ambassador here until 2023, and I have high hopes for achieving great things with our projects…And I still think it would be great if India were to invite the Netherlands to the G20. The Netherlands is not a standing member. It would be wonderful if we got an invitation from India,” he had said.
Dutch Ambassador to India, Nepal and Bhutan, Marten van den Berg, who is leaving India after a period of five years, shared a heartfelt note on his experience in India. He said that he will leave the country with wonderful memories. “I will leave India but India will never leave me,” he said in his farewell note.
The ambassador titled his note “farewell but not farewell”. He said that he came to India with his wife Sheila five years ago and it was a dream come true and also that his wife got to return to the “country of her father”. His wife, Sheila, is also Indian.
Marten van den Berg said that for five years they observed the potential and paradoxes that define India. He observed an increasingly confident India, and its evolving relationship with Europe and the Netherlands, said the ambassador.
He said that he experienced the “colours, the diversity, the food”. “We have read astonishing and wonderful Indian novels and watched amazing Bollywood movies, with moving portraits of women, homeless people, farmers, heroes, informal workers, and Indian families,” he said, further adding that he travelled across the country from Ladakh to Kerala and from Rajasthan to West Bengal.
Ambassador Marten van den Berg said that they saw glaciers, canyons, beaches, forests as well as a range of wildlife.
“Above all we made wonderful friends, and worked together with great colleagues and re-connected with our family. Experiencing the warmth and the love of so many Indian people. They taught us how to navigate India. Even after 5 years, we only partially succeeded. 5 years ago I never expected to leave India alone, my wife passed away a few months ago. But I leave India with beautiful memories. Thank you India for treating us very well,” he wrote in his note.
The Dutch ambassador had also, last week, shared a picture with his team. "My wonderful Delhi team gave me a fantastic farewell party. Very warm, very colourful, very Indian. Was really great working with them for 5 years," he said.
Marten van den Berg had earlier stated that he wanted to come to India as an ambassador because of his love for the country. He had travelled in India in 1986 as a backpacker and was mesmerised by the contrats everywhere in the country. He said that India as a country was full of paradoxes, and is “dramatic, intense, colourful and dynamic”. “Another factor that influenced my choice was the fact that my wife is Indian,” he had said.
“I’m going to be ambassador here until 2023, and I have high hopes for achieving great things with our projects…And I still think it would be great if India were to invite the Netherlands to the G20. The Netherlands is not a standing member. It would be wonderful if we got an invitation from India,” he had said.