A very Harold And Kumar reception in Delhi

A reception in the honour of Hollywood actor Kal Penn, attended by guests from government, academia, and the arts, culture and diplomatic communities, was also a non-stop teasing session for Kal thanks to his “stoner movie” series, Harold And Kumar.

Kal, who has been shooting in the Himalayas for the last two weeks for The Ashram, came down to Delhi for his other role – of being part of the US president’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He was in the capital to highlight Indo-US cooperation and visited many projects being jointly run by the two countries.

“All of you may know Kal from different perspectives,” began the US ambassador to India,

Richard Verma

’s address. “From a career that has spanned, let’s say, a very wide range. He’s produced, he’s directed; sir, you’ve been in comedy, in serious cinema, you’ve been in a host of stoner films,” he said, eliciting peals of laughter from the audience and a sheepish grin from Kal. “He is a great actor. What we’ve also discovered over the years is he’s also a real helper and server. Not only evidenced by his time with us today or his time here last year (during Barack Obama’s visit to India), but also by his years at the White House, as associate director of the Office of Public Engagement. A job that he had to leave to film A Very Harold And Kumar 3D Christmas! How’d that conversation go with the president?”

“Then he returned to the White House, and you’ve been standing up for the under-represented, for minority communities, for the voiceless. And it’s been unsung – no cameras, no press, just helping a lot of people,” Verma added.

The ambassador also went on to describe how Penn’s interest in public service was inspired by his family, as his grandparents had marched with Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. Kal then took the mic and started with his growing up years in New Jersey (“there are a million of us – Gujaratis – in New Jersey. So there’s nothing unique about that!”). After describing how consuming stories of his grandparents and Gandhi and going to jail with his vegetables at the dinner table was a daily affair, and then “realising the importance of it in middle school,” he ended with, “So thank you guys for all the love, I was not expecting any of this. I really appreciate it, I didn’t expect so many people today. I’m improperly dressed. My parents will kill me for that. ‘We told you to wear a suit. Nice job’.”