Starting next week iconic Indian musicians, singers, actors and a master chef are descending on Washington for 20 days of non-stop festival to celebrate all that is good about India.
“Most shows are already booked out we hear,” said Meera Shankar, India’s ambassador to the US.
Called Maximum India, the festival is being hosted and organized by Kennedy Center. The Indian government is supporting it, contributing artistes who will be performing free.
The last such big India festival happened in the US 25 years – in 1985-86 — and was called the Festival of India. It was an ambitious project and marked the slow opening up of a country for long suspicious of the US.
But things were beginning to change. And here is what The New York Times said about India then on the eve of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to the US in 1985, shortly before the Festival of India.
“The official added that there was ‘a perception in the administration and in the country that India is an emerging power in a region that’s more important to us than it was 10 years ago’.”
All of us hear pretty much the same sentiments expressed by US officials now, especially in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s visit to India last November.
India, in US perception, remains an emerging power 25 years hence.
Slow? Or do these things take time?
India’s soft power, meanwhile, has multiplied manifold.
And Maximum India seeks to celebrate that.
“India amazes with the majesty and mystery of its culture. Its brilliance is that it is a country of extremes—intellect, innovation, survival, and experimentation. We have traveled, researched, and scoured the country for the best it can offer, and India offers the maximum. This festival will truly be maximum INDIA,” says Kennedy Center’s promo for the event.
It’s going to be a mix of traditional and modern, with Bhangra rap and a Blues band from Northeast India thrown in. And there are the usual festival circuit suspects, films and personalities.
But hey, there is an audience for them.
Here is the good news folks – some of the events are going live on the web. You can catch them no matter where you are, depending on our internet connection.
So, get ready for Maximum India.