Namaste India… Japan, arigatō

“Namaste” is a commonly spoken valediction or salutation which means “I bow to you”. “Arigato”, in Japanese, means “Thank you very much”. Japan and India are two countries with deep historical and cultural ties. The synergies and complementarities in the society, culture and economies of India and Japan offers immense potential for enhanced cooperation that will result in positive developments in cultural exchanges. Osamu Tezuka, kamisama of manga wrote biographical manga Buddha. Buddha connected us together and our cultural program at SCIT started with a photo tour of Ajanta Ellora (Caves depicting Buddha). This was followed by a nicely scripted video which covered India as a whole – from food to festivals, from culture to costumes. The video provided information about dance forms present in INDIA, which was later showcased to our fellow Japanese participants. The performance started with “Garba” and “Bhangra” in which all Japanese participants participated and enjoyed the dance. They were trying to match steps with us and were successful enough. Bollywood style dance was a jolly dance and everybody hit the dance floor. But the cherry on the cake was the Indian classical dance – the grace and charm which it ushered into the room – in which all participants along with buddies and cultural team were awestruck by the performance.

Saurabh MBA(ITBM) @ SCIT