Egypt welcomes a familiar visitor with a flair for creative diplomacy Indian-style, deduces Gamal Nkrumah To convey the essence of the inherently polytheistic Indian civilisation into another cultural idiom and place the pantheon of Hindu gods into a monotheistic conceptual framework is no easy task -- and especially not in the predominantly Muslim nations of the Middle East. Exhilaration with divine scripture could foster exclusive, divisive and potentially unmerciful orthodoxy. Contemporary Indian arts and culture is not necessarily about ethnographical objects and historical artefacts. On the face of it, such artistry has little in common with contemporary Egypt. In short, India has come to symbolize the remote and the exotic. Alongside such positive appraisals, however, there exists the memory of another kind of India -- an alien, immodestly mystic, mysteriously incongruous and on occasion blithely bizarre universe encapsulated in a sub-continent ironically not so distant from our own world. India is neither newly independent nor as impecunious as many imagine. It crosses my mind that millions of Egyptians have heard of Nehru and Gandhi, the architects of India's independence. So where does that leave the pantheon of Indian religious beliefs? To the pitifully few Egyptians who have read the works of Rabindranath Tagore or Amitav Gosh's classic In an Antique Land, set in Egypt, and documenting in dramatic fashion the medieval and modern relationship between Egypt and India give precious if not altogether satisfactory glimpses of some of the answers. Director General of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) Ambassador Suresh Goel, on an official visit to Egypt this week, inaugurated the Indian Cultural Week with an alluring cocktail of events coming to pass in cosmopolitan Cairo, Alexandria and even as far as provincial Beni Sweif. So was Goel anticipating a furtive grumbling, or adulation and standing ovations? "How shall I put this? We seem to have drifted apart," he shrugs with something of a twinkle in his eye. Dog days' end with an Indian summer. Art cannot pretend to palliate social injustice and want in hard times. Life must go on. Ambassador Goel is "optimistic" by nature. He is, on the day of this interview, in an exceptionally exuberant mood. Like Goel, Ambassador Swaminathan, India's top diplomat in Egypt kicked off his diplomatic career in Cairo learning the Arabic language at the American University in Cairo way back in1982-84. He beckons bemusedly. His wife, Minister Plenipotentiary and Director of the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Suchitra Durai, plays the perfect hostess. Egyptian audiences, absolutely enthralled, traced the cultural lineage so to speak for these simultaneously familiar and outlandish troupes of classical and contemporary Indian dancers, Indian cinema and contemporary arts. Egypt and India, after all, have civilizations that are deeply rooted in classical antiquity. The dawning of a new political age during the post- colonial period reinforced the weighty legacy of the rich past of the two ancient nations. The notion of a civilization that can be identified by its artistic outpourings was conjured up. Dazzling performances and exhibitions ensued, mesmerizing young and old -- Muslim, Christian and Hindu. The secularist and socialist Nehru-Nasser era informed the views of an earlier generation of Egyptian, and perhaps Indians, too. The very foundations of our contemporary societies were laid then. The echo of that era endures albeit faintly even in this day and age. Perhaps the most concrete expression of the modern vinculum that links Egypt and India is the Friendship Treaty signed between the two nations in 1955. The two states shared much in common. They both adopted a socialist ideological orientation and an anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist political posturing brought them inadvertently together in the Non-Aligned Movement. This legacy haunts the two nations as possessive demons to this day. The "Nehruvian spirit endures as an evergreen fulcrum," as Indian intellectual Sreeram Chaulia aptly put it. High-ranking Egyptian officials including Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni warmly received Goel. The visiting Indian dignitary, in turn addressed the Egyptian media drawing parallels between India and Egypt. Stone statues of Indian gods and goddess sometimes present a disconcerting sight for Egyptian viewers attuned to the monotheistic aesthetics of the Muslim world. Yet, what makes the Indian cultural week an unflinching show of strength is that Egyptian audiences instinctively sense the shifting contours of Indian culture can be traced over millennia of prehistoric interaction between the earliest Harappan civilization of India and pre-dynastic Egypt. The cultural affinity is palpable. Goel cleverly distances himself from politics and the pitfalls of past and present. Yes, he is aware that "Hindi" in Egyptian colloquial parlance is a euphemism for "idiotic". And, that "film Hindi" stands for hysterical hubbub and senseless commotion. He makes a distinction between "perceptions and prejudices". The latter are regrettable, of course. There are mistaken pre-conceived perceptions on both sides. "Yet what binds us is far more meaningful than what divides us," Goel stresses. Then as if speaking to his Indian audience at home, he continues: "We won't be drenched in the Monsoon by every pundit sitting out there believes. We have to do what we believe in." Hardly anything is known in Egypt about India's ancient Vedic scriptures. Yet, most Indian Muslims are familiar with the verses of the Quran. India, after all, is home to the world's second largest Muslim community _ second only to Indonesia's. Islam is as much part of the Indian cultural and religious make-up as Hinduism. India is a land of paradoxes. Attempting to unravel fact from fantasy, certitudes from fiction is the nimble work of Indian intellectuals, creative craftspeople and performing artists. Goel nods. "Egypt has changed dramatically since the days when I sojourned in this beloved land," he murmurs. Recollecting fond memories he muses about the past, the peculiar charms of Egypt and the Egyptian character. The conversation really takes off when he focuses on the cultural activities of the ICCR. Goel, has just returned from a most inspiring visit to South Africa, the home of a large ethnic Indian community who have played a pivotal role in the anti-apartheid struggle. India at the moment is staging one of the world's most exciting international sporting events, the Commonwealth Games. Goel spoke of the cultural activities launched in key European and Asian cities where Indian cultural centres abound. In other fly-on-the-wall developments, it appears that Goel as the standard-bearer of Indian culture is not at all an arrogant, self-obsessed bureaucrat but a down-to- earth, highly-cultured diplomat who emerges as a thoughtful, rational and persuasive ambassador of Indian culture. He has always been intrigued by the concept of Indianness -- multi-faceted, multi-cultural, multi-religious India, in as much as he has been fascinated by foreign cultures: those that have influenced India and those derived from, and those that were influenced by India. The triple-headed Shiva Mahesamurti or Timurti of Elephanta encapsulates the many-faced aspects of the highly stylized Indian art. As befits a career diplomat who spent formative and unforgettable years in Egypt rising to deputy chief of India's Cairene mission the conversation veers back to Egyptian- Indian cultural exchanges. India is among the fastest developing emerging economies, yet the sub-continent is as yet a developing country with hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people. The average Indian salary of $75 a month means that the majority of Indians, like Egyptians, find it extremely hard to make ends meet. Still, India is making a play for inter-continental power. And, Indians find the time in spite of their daily struggles for survival and daunting challenges and concerns find the time to express their artistic talents in confounding and mind-boggling ways. It is the quintessence of their rich cultural past. Goel must shoulder much of the responsibility for the dissemination of India's artistic production to the outside world. Is that a heavy burden? "No, it is a privilege and a pleasure," he says with a disarming smile. Which is not to say that Goel is unreflective. Indeed, the drollery isn't entirely capricious. Wholly whimsical, though, is The long shadows of the eternal cycle of Indian history are omnipresent in Indian art and culture. The wonders of the Mauryan Empire, and the works of the greatest of all Mauryan emperors, Asoka with the Great Stupa at Sanchi, central India -- a colossal cone, and the circular stone pillars fashioned in Asoka's imperial workshops. And, the marvels of the Gupta Empire with its awe inspiring pageant of music, literature and the visual arts. With the Guptas sprung the blossoming of classical Indian art. When we talk some more history, the geographical location shifts to South India, to the Chola Empire and the exquisite Chola bronzes of Shiva as the Lord of the Dance. His four arms are spirited with motion, the rhythms of his very being ringed with flames that depict the firmament. History commences southwards with the Hoysalas, with their three-star spangled shrines dedicated to Vishnu stand even today in Somanthpur. Among the most impressive of the Hiysala sculpture are eleborate reliefs of the elephant-headed and portly Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva, the very embodiment of merriment, erudition and enlightenment. In Cairo, Goel presided over a panel discussion entitled "Indian Cinema Now and Then". Bollywood has become a byword for contemporary Indian culture. The gods and goddesses of the screen are mere mortals. They invoke the past, delight in the present, and take pleasure in the future. Their lurch to the libertarian extreme touches on the cherubic, the angelic -- the ethereal as well as the mundane. The inauguration ceremony of the Indian Contemporary Arts Exhibition was equally enthralling. Scenes of contemporary India touch the very soul and sensibilities of Egyptians. And, last but not least is the Indian Classical Dance performance presented at the Opera House which actually kick-started the entire Indian cultural week across the country. "This outpouring of artistic expression," Ambassador Goel reflects scrupulously, "is making history."
