Peru gets a taste of India

Peru's capital Lima got a taste of contemporary Indian poetry with recitation of poems by Indian poet diplomat Abhay K at the House of Peruvian Literature ( Casa de la Literatura Peruana).

On the occasion, the Indian poet diplomat read his new poems on Vallejo, Borges, Barbarians Are Finally Here and poems from his popular collection The Seduction of Delhi.

He also had a literary dialogue with award winning Peruvian poet Oscar Limache on the occasion. He read a poem on Being in Peru which mentioned mixing of sacred waters of Ganga and Urubamba and Mandar Parvat hidden in the Andes, referring to Machu Picchu, after 'Samudra Manthan'.

The event supported by the Indian Cultural Centre and Embassy of India, Peru and Bolivia generated buzz among the literary community of Peru which got reported in the country's leading newspaper La Republica.

The event held on May 5 strengthened India-Peru relations in literary field. Ambassador of India to Peru and Bolivia Sandeep Chakravorty and several literary figures of the country graced the occasion.

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was invited by the Government of Peru in 1924 to attend the centenary celebrations of its independence. However, Tagore could not make it to Peru because of health issues and had to stay in Argentina for two months on the request of Argentinian writer Victoria Ocampo.

There is a great interest in Indian culture in Peru and in other Latin American countries. An Indian Cultural Centre has started functioning in Lima under the leadership of Ambassador Chakravorty with local resources which hosts regular Indian cultural events.