'South Asians share common culture despite political divide'

South Asians share a common culture despite the political divide, an Indian-origin Singaporean diplomat said here today at a literary salon where renowned writers from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka converged to discuss a wide range of issues.
"Speakers at the South Asia Literary Salon have given us an understanding of the South Asian countries," said Gopinath Pillai, Chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), a Singapore-based think-tank and host of the inaugural salon.
He was referring to the blended culture of the region and the wide range of views presented by 10 speakers forum.
He pointed out that South Asia had blended culture thousands of years ago during the time of classical Sanskrit writer Kalidasa, a time when people of the region moved freely across all boundaries.

"A few thousand years, we had a common culture, which goes back to the Indus valley civilisation. Despite the political divide, the culture is still maintained. Culturally, South Asians have so much in common," he said.
Pillai said the ISAS is trying to understand the South Asian issues from the writers of books and novels as well as leading journalists who expressed their views without bias.

In addition to research, ISAS would continue to host literary salons in the coming years, to interact and engage as well as study the fundamentals of the South Asian region, he said.
Moni Mohsin, a leading writer from Pakistan, underlined the cultural strength of the region that has kept the people together.

"The establishment in both countries has not been able to change people's languages, appreciation of music, love for cinema, identification with poetry - these things run very, very deep," she said, referring to Pakistan and India.
"As a Pakistani writer, my biggest market is India because you can read my books and recognise the society we are writing on. I hope that through forum such as these, we will find solutions to our problems," she added.
Indian writer Manu Joseph stressed the strength of Asian family cultures.
"The South Asian cultures still lives in the family, in the idea of the family, which is spreading all over the world. The family is still a powerful cultural elements endured in this part of the world," he said.