Indian summer song

The journey of Dilli Haat to London and arrival of the CII delegation has given Britain a sudden burst of an Indian summer, writes Nabanita Sircar.

It seems the journey of Dilli Haat to London and the arrival of the CII delegation has given Britain a sudden burst of an Indian summer. The two-day Dilli Haat at Trafalgar Square, under the watchful eye of Lord Nelson, was quite a success despite the scorching heat and lack of proper publicity of the event.

The craftsmen and artisans did good business. Jootis priced at £20 sold like hot cakes. With about 15,000 people visiting the event over the weekend, it was no surprise that there was a never-ending queue at the food stall put up by Chor Bizarre. Debabrata Dey, a face I remembered from my last visit to Dilli Haat in Delhi, from whom I had purchased a few kaantha-work shawls, was also a happy man. On the second morning of the exposition itself, he had sold off most of the saris he had displayed. He gleefully told me he had carried 90 saris of which he had only three left to be sold.

Tourists strolling through Trafalgar Square seemed so enamoured by the Indian dancers that most wanted to be photographed with them, while Indian music filled the air. Madhavi Mudgal and Preeti Patel's performances were undoubtedly excellent.

In fact, the two exponents of Odissi and Manipuri dance respectively, were invited to the House of Lords to educate the guests about their dance forms. An enthralled audience heard Mudgal and Patel explain the history and nuances of the their respective dance forms. At the lecture-demonstration evening they also performed short pieces to the delight of the audience. Who would have thought that one day the prestigious Moses Room would have Indian artistes educating the British public! Times have indeed changed.

Some years ago Indian filmgoers would not have dreamt of seeing a Hindi film at a theatre in Leicester Square, but now it's a different story. Parineeta, now being screened at the Warner Village in the heart of London has made its way into the UK Top Ten chart and the film, distributed worldwide by UTV Motion Pictures, has already crossed the £250,000 mark in the UK alone, according to Nielson, the world box-office authority.

Vidya Balan, the young actress who has made her debut as Lolita in the film is being compared to Meena Kumari and Madhuri Dixit, but she chuckles, "That's an honour. Madhuri is one of the most natural actresses we've had. She's brilliant. And I'm not going to kid myself that I am recreating what Meena Kumari once played. I just wanted to be true to Lolita and play her in the way the director had envisaged."

Like each year the CII delegation is currently in London. It's President and Chairman of ITC Ltd YC Deveshwar was all praises for Tony Blair. In fact he called him "an ambassador for the 600 million people in India who are farmers", given Britain's staunch support for India's stand on equity in agriculture.

While we Indians are basking in the glory of Indian success, with Sachin Tendulkar inaugurating the India Room at the prestigious Oval, visitors from India are flooding the streets of London. Basere se Dur, it's turning out to be a bright Indian summer!