The interpreter-assisted conversations at the centre of the table, where both Presidents, Mrs Hu, the prime minister, Sonia Gandhi and other leading guests sat, seemed more animated than other sections of the long dining table where the absence of a shared language highlighted the virtues of broad smiles and the occasional foray into elaborate gestures.

The best and brightest in the Indian Foreign Service, they say, are China specialists, men and women like Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and India's Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao who have made careers out of interpreting our cryptic and mysterious neighbour. The foreign secretary -- who modestly described himself to us as a "I am just a faceless bureaucrat" -- was one of those who conversed elegantly with the Chinese as did C V Ranganathan, the former Indian ambassador to China, who some members of the Chinese delegation greeted warmly.

On the subject of language, apart from English and Chinese, the language most spoken at the banquet seemed to be Malayalam. Consider the Malayalees present at the meal -- Defence Minister A K Antony, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, India's Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat. Several conversations were conducted in Malyalam including one involving the unusually cheerful CPI-M Gensec and M K Narayanan, who referred to Karat as "his younger brother".

*Mohanam, an Indian classical tune played by the naval band.

Image: President Kalam toasts Liu Yong Qing, his Chinese counterpart's wife.