A royal welcome awaits Ivanka in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: A lavish spread inspired by the erstwhile Hyderabad royal family’s favourite cuisine, handloom silk sarees and a summit where women delegates outnumber men for the first time.
All this and more await Ivanka Trump, daughter of and adviser to United States president Donald Trump, when she lands in Hyderabad on Tuesday for the eighth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, attended by PM Narendra Modi and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao.
After the opening session of the three-day annual event, Trump will be hosted by Modi at the Taj Falaknuma Palace Hotel for a five-course dinner prepared by executive chef Sajesh Nair that is inspired by the palate of the Nizams, the rulers of Hyderabad for almost 200 years.
Famed local delicacies such as Dahi ke kebab, Gosht shikampuri kebab, Kubani ke malai kofta, Murg pista ka salan and Sitaphal kulfi will be presented over various courses - Aghaz (soup), Mezban (appetizers), Waqfa (sorbet), Mashgool Dastarkhwan (main course) and Zauq e shahi (dessert), said sources in the Taj group. The signature menu will also blend in rare Indian ingredients such as sandalwood, saffron and figs, they added.
The dinner, comprising personalised menus for each of the 101 guests, will be served at the 101 dining hall, recognised as the world’s largest dining hall that gets its name from 101 identical chairs of green leather.
For appropriate décor, rare artefacts and silver decorative pieces are being brought in from the Nizam’s private collection at Chowmahalla Palace, said sources. All upholstery used during the dinner was made with locally sourced fabrics such as Ikkat, Teliya and Velvet, they added.
WOMEN MAJORITY
The summit itself will see women form the majority of the 1,200-odd young entrepreneurs from 127 countries in attendance – a first as claimed by the PMO on Twitter for an event themed on “Women First, Prosperity for All”. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Israel have sent all-women delegations to the summit.
Apart from her remarks at the opening session, Trump will also speak at two more sessions – one with defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and another with Telangana minister KT Rama Rao. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will meet Trump in the afternoon.
“The theme of this year’s summit demonstrates the commitment of the US and the Indian governments to the principle that when women are economically empowered, their communities and countries thrive,” CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said.
The Telangana government is also planning to present Trump handloom silk sarees in the famous Ikkat design made by weavers of Pochampally, a village in Yadadri Bhongir district, about 40 km from the state capital of Hyderabad. State government officials refused to give details of the weave but weavers were jubilant over the publicity their product was getting.
“It will definitely bring a global recognition to this unique Telangana brand of saree. We are waiting for the day when she really wears our saree,” Bharata Vasudev, president of Pochampally handloom weavers’ cooperative society, told Hindustan Times.
Apart from the gifts to the VIPS, 500 volunteers, including 300 women, will wear handloom clothes made at Pochampally. While women volunteers will adorn Pochampally cotton sarees, men will sport waist coats, Kurtas and pyjamas made in the region.
“We have also supplied around 200 handloom cotton sarees of Gollabhama design made at Sircilla for the sake of volunteers,” a handlooms and textiles department official said.