Colourful connection

So what did Elvis Presley, Pablo Picasso, Charles Chaplin, Yul Brynner, Michael Caine and tennis legend Ilie Nastase have in common? According to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), all of them had Indian ancestry since they belonged to the Roma community. The ICCR - the cultural wing of the Ministry of External Affairs - will host a three-day International Roma Conference and Cultural Festival in New Delhi from Friday. The Romas, the ICCR press statement said, are descendants of Indian communities like the Dom, Gujjar, Sansi, Chauhan, Sikligar, Dhangar and other nomadic groups from north-west India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma will attend the conference, where 33 Roma scholars and cultural troupes from abroad will be present. This is the fourth Roma Conference organised by India - the effort is to encourage the study of the linkages between India and the Roma people.