'Festival of India' after 15 years in Brussels

New Delhi, Sept 20: After a bow of 15 years, 'Cultural India' takes wings at European Union capital Brussels from October '06 to January '07 to showcase 15 centuries of iconic Indian heritage packaged for the 21st century Europe.

Bollywood flicks, fashion moghuls, culinary delights and intellectual geniuses of India would be paraded at the magnificient 'Palais des Beaux' at the Belgium capital to be inaugurated by Queen Paola.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi who heads the Indian delegation would inaugurate 'Tejas,' central event of 'Festival of India,' the 108-event cultural extravaganza that encapsulates more than 200 artefacts from 12 museums across the country.

''The focus of the festival is to raise the cultural profile of India in Europe in general and Brussels in particular, in view of the fact that the city has become the capital of the European Union and the seat of all European institutions,'' ICCR president Karan Singh told a 'curtain raiser' press conference today.

With India emerging as an ecomonic powerhouse, Dr Singh said it had become tempting to talk about the country in terms of 'graph percentages'. ''But India also has a deeper civilisational image that has to be projected to the outside world.'' Nobel laureate V S Naipaul, Aamir Khan's 'The Rising', Dr Karan Singh's private collection of 'Nal Damyanti' paintings and Ministry of Tourism's 'Incredible India' would chug the Indian cultural juggernaut at the nearly four-month-long gala event.

Even as classics like Bimal Roy's 'Devdas', Vijay Anand's 'Guide' and V Shantaram's 'Amrit Manthan' would hold aloft the flag of Indian film industry, Gulzar's 'Lekin', Amol Palekar's 'Paheli' and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' among others would represent 'modern Bollywood' in Europe.

ICCR Director General Pavan K Varma said the fest would help strengthen India-EU strategic partnership through its creative energy which was its pluralism and its living traditions that were a dynamic force.

''Facts and figures of the fastest growing free market democracy and India's achievements and strengths across sectors, traditional as well as knowledge led, with focus on the skills, entrepreneurial drive and leadership of the young Indian populace would be reflected in the 4-month-long fiesta,'' he said.

Organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, the 'Festival of India in Brussels' will comprise performing arts, fashion shows, film festival, food festival, exhibitions, workshops, seminars and talks by eminent writers on present India's cultural heritage, its contemporary creativity, its sacred art and, above all, the 'mystery' and 'miracle' that India has come to be known as.

The last 'Festival of India was held in Germany and the country promises to break the hiatus with a magnificient show of its cultural heritage.

UNI