Al Ahram, p.25 (4/4/2007)

The Indian culture in Paris

By: Magda El Gendi

The last week of March turned to be a cold week in Paris. However, the French people found warmth in the Indian culture, which was the guest of honour of France Book Fair for the second time in 15 years. India also featured high in two of the largest world book fairs: Frankfurt 2006 and Paris 2007. The Indian culture became "fashionable". However, we do not mean that it is attracting people on a temporary basis just for the sake of change.

The French people were not attracted to the Indian culture or crowded in front of the Indian bookstands in fair because they want to read what is bizarre or exciting. They wanted to read about the dynamics of Indian science, economy and democratic institutions. India and China possess two of the most ancient civilizations in history. However, India is distinguished by its democratic institutions. India has one billion and three hundred million population; it has 18 official languages (out of 22 languages spoken there); it produces one thousand movies a year, and possesses the silicon valley of information technology. India has one of the world's top scientific institutions specialized in physics and 36 of the world's wealthiest billionaires. During 2006, Indians bought 134 international companies for $21 billion. A plenty of Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, American, Italian and French investments flow in to India. 200 scientific periodicals are issued in India (in English alone). India has always been present in forums and cultural events with the trio of cultural wealth, growing economy, tolerance and real democracy. Director of the Indian literary collection in the French Actes-Sud Rajesh Sharma said: "The current India is the one which gained its geopolitical status and became a strong competitor economically, not the one which has the traditional image of maharajahs and elephants."

The 27^th Paris book fair hosted 30 Indian writers representing several generations. The French used the phrase "the Indian literatures", rather than "the Indian literature" to refer to the Indian cultural momentum. In India, literature is written in 22 languages, literate and illiterate people participate in elections and female farmers are able to discover whether a certain candidate is truthful or not. It is said: "In India, there are 500 million illiterate people constituting 48% of the population."

The Indian literature overwhelms not only the book fairs in Frankfurt and Paris, but also in Great Britain. On the cover of the Times, an imaginary underground line appeared linking New Delhi to Piccadilly station in London. "Is it a joke?" Le Monde asked. Of course not. The distance between Delhi and London has never been shorter at the cultural level.

India was a famous example of non-violent resistance. In his meekness and peaceful resistance, Gandhi was a teacher to Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. India which adopted the policy of peaceful resistance and was not beaten by nuclear weapons and which has become the world hub of IT professionals would become the world's third largest economic power in 2050, although it has 300 million people under the poverty line. It is really the land of wonders which came to France in a new look. With its various religions, ethnicities, cultures and languages, India has many aspects. Yet, it is united and strong. One is left to choose among the various aspects of India: the India of Tagore, of legendary Ganges, of high technology or of curry.

You cannot come to the Indian literatures without knowing about the Indian society and its classes. It is a country whose population exceeds one billion of whom 850 million belong to the poor class and several tens of millions in higher classes.

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