Rediscovering ties - Northeast India, Southeast Asia bridge gap with cultural festival

Guwahati, Feb 23 (ANI): Cultural troupes from northeast India and Southeast Asia, took part in a mega cultural event, 'Inter-Cultural Dialogue between North East India and South East Asia', which was organised here.

The workshop and Festival of Dance was jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, North East Zone Culture Centre and Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakeshtra of Guwahati.

Cultural troupes from Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, apart from local cultural troupes from Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam are participating in the cultural extravaganza.

The organisers say that the idea behind organising such cultural event is to bridge the gap between northeast India and Southeast Asia, and rediscover old ties between them.

"We have the idea to erect a bridge in between northeast India and South-East Asia. So the cultural exchange between the South-East Asia and northeast India is an age-old relation, and that is what we are going to discover... the age-old relation," said Chabin Rajkhowa, Secretary, Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakeshetra, Guwahati.

Participants from the Southeast Asian countries said they were happy participating in the event.

"I am so happy, I feel very lucky to participate in this programme. Thank you for this chance. I hope we can come here again," said Niwaian Saniassey, a participant from Bali.

Local participants feel that the event would help in promoting peace and harmony.

"These kinds of cultural exchange programmes are very important because that helps in bridging the gaps, and I think all we can say is we are thankful to all the organisers for making this event possible, and this will help in promoting peace and harmony," said Anwesha, a participant from Guwahati.

The programme that started in Guwahati, on February 21, will continue till March 12 at Nagaland state's capital Dimapur.

In between, the programme will be held in Shillong, Agartala and Imphal. (ANI)