India Culture Week in Egypt

The Embassy of India in Egypt celebrated the India Culture Week with performances in Cairo and Alexandria from November 10 to November 17. The various art forms from India such as kathak, folk dances of Goa and Rajasthan and Talvadya music were performed in Ghoumariya theatre and the Cairo Opera House in Cairo and the Sayed Darwish theatre in Alexandria.

I attended the kathak and the rajasthani folk dance in the ghoumariya theatre and it was heartening to see so many Egyptians in the audience and their response to the performances. Their knowledge and appreciation of the Indian culture surprised me and made me realize that the Indian art forms have. The kathak performers, won the hearts of the audience with their amazing footwork. The rajasthani folk dancers wooed the audiences with their colorful ensembles as much as their flexibility.

Chitra Kalyani, a friend of mine, who writes for the Daily News in Egypt has written an interesting article on the Indian culture week with lots of background information. She has also included some interesting sound bytes from the audience, one of them from yours truly.

Read it on http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=17984

Such initiatives of bringing the Indian culture to the people of Egypt are welcome-not only do they improve the understanding about India but also gives a chance to the expat Indians living in Egypt to keep enjoying the art forms of India.