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Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

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26th March 2018 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Baked earth

The pile of bricks was sitting just outside the entrance to the site. The humble brick has been used for the construction of buildings for longer than recorded history. The myth of a ‘mother earth’ or ‘earth goddess’ is as old. Many ancient civilisations worshiped a female deity who represented the fertility of the soil. […]

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16th June 2017 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

The end of purdah

Sometimes a name sticks. We’ve just had elections in Britain. As a general rule, British government officials should not show bias to any political party, because we serve our political leaders when they hold government office, and not in their political party role. In the period between the announcement of elections and when they are […]

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13th April 2017 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Interviews for an education

There are many ways of gaining an education. Apart from the usual places like school, college and university, I’m a fan of travel and seeing new places (which partly explains why I became a diplomat). Meeting people who have very different lives can teach you a lot. And for a lucky few, there is all […]

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31st March 2017 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

The next generation

The cross over point is arriving soon, at some point early in 2021. This is when India becomes the world’s most populous country, according to population projections produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the United Nations. As of 2015, those in the cohort aged 25-29 years in China were the last […]

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24th March 2017 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Tea garden

I can’t find a good explanation for why they are called gardens. However, I’ve just seen a tea plantation or estate, as we tend to call them in Britain, and can understand why they are called tea gardens in India. Last weekend, I visited a tea garden in Assam, one of the main tea production […]

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3rd February 2017 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

Playing the game

One of the clearest memories from my youth is of standing on a cricket field in early evening. The sun was relatively low in the sky but still high enough above the trees so as not to cast a shadow. There was a light breeze and the sunlight was reflected off the ground, which appeared […]

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2nd December 2016 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

White revolution

There are about 123 million cattle in India, so the Kolkata based Telegraph newspaper informed me recently. The paper was citing India’s 2012 national cow census. That’s a lot of cattle, or roughly one for every ten Indians. The equivalent number in Britain is 1.9 million. This is the size of the total dairy herd […]

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18th November 2016 Kolkata, India

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by Bruce Bucknell

Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata

My TECH Summit

I’ve been converted to a new way of thinking. I may have used this thinking before, but I wasn’t conscious of it. I’m now a proponent of ‘T-bar’ thinking and ‘T-bar’ learning. I’ve had a quick look on the Internet and can’t find any obvious gurus on the subject. Perhaps I could patent it … […]

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About Bruce Bucknell

Bruce was the British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata from 2016 to 2019. Previously he was Ambassador in Minsk from July 2012 to January 2016. Bruce grew up on a…

Bruce was the British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata from 2016 to 2019. Previously he was Ambassador in Minsk from July 2012 to January 2016.

Bruce grew up on a farm in southern England and enjoys walking in the countryside and visiting wild places.

He studied modern history at Durham University, and takes a keen interest in the history of the places he visits.

Bruce used to play cricket when he could see the ball. Now he enjoys watching cricket and many other sports in his spare time.

He has had a varied career in the Foreign Office. Between his postings to Amman (1988-91), Milan (1995-9) and Madrid (2003-7), he has spent much of his career in London mostly dealing with Europe and Africa.

He is married with two grown up sons.