It was a beautiful evening, yet amidst the long marches, when the Indonesian High Commission celebrated the land’s Independence Day, August 17, a couple of days later.

It was the 69th in the row, after Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) became independent from the 350-year long colonial rule after World War II. The Republic of Indonesia has just elected a new President Joko Widodo.

The cultural show at the Independence Day celebrations included traditional classical dance and song. The ambassador’s wife Lilly was among the singers.

The only speaker was the ambassador himself, Burhan Muhammad, since the chief guest from the federal government could not come as he had to attend an emergency cabinet meeting. The other special guests, mountaineers Samina and Ali Mirza Baig, could not come either.

“They had no problem climbing Mount Everest and Indonesia’s highest peak a few months ago, but they didn’t manage to get through the container roadblocks to the Diplomatic Enclave,” a guest joked.

The dean of the diplomatic corps, Rodolfo Martin Saravia, was at hand to perform the official duties; the cake was cut, well, it was not really a cake, it was a beautiful model of Mt. Puncak Yaya with some icing and cream at the top, a gift meant for Samina and Ali Baig.

And then, it was dinner for the more than 100 guests, also enjoyed by several dozen Indonesian students in Pakistani universities.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2014