Before Indian culture was introduced to Egypt through film, TV, or music, the Indian magazine “Sawtul Hind” (Voice of India) undertook the role of bringing India close to Egyptians.
For 50 years, the magazine, issued by the Indian Embassy in Cairo, was the flagship between Egypt and India, mainly focusing on the monthly political events taking place between both countries and enriching both cultures by writing about their heritage and traditions.
The magazine has now publishing its 500th issue. To celebrate the occasion, the Indian Embassy in Cairo held an event on 17 July at the Egyptian Centre for International Cultural Cooperation in Zamalek, Cairo; Culture Minister Helmy al-Namnam attended.
The evening witnessed the opening of a photo exhibition displaying various covers of the magazine through its journey of building Egyptian-Indian cultural connections. And it included handing a copy of the first issue of the magazine to the Mr Namnam.
Indian Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya said that “Sawtul Hind” devoted a lot of effort “to record the deep connections at a social and popular level between the people of our two countries. It noted how our ancient civilisations grew around noble rivers far apart but united by the seas. It also observed how our relations swelled with trade and through economic and scientific exchanges.
“In a journey over six momentous decades, ‘Sawtul Hind’ became a chronicle of history. The milestone commemorative edition of the magazine is a compilation of some of the epochal developments the journal has recorded,” he added.
Mr Namnam gave tribute to the magazine which first appeared in 1952.
“’Sawtul Hind’ is a great magazine,” he said, “a magazine that used to bear the name of ‘Sawtul Sharq (Voice of the East), at first. Some of its contributing writers were prominent Egyptian literary men such as Tawfik al-Hakim, Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, Ahmed Kasem Gouda, and many others.”
The minister also pointed out that the relations between the two countries are much older than the magazine. The great Indian poet Tagore visited Egypt twice and was honoured by the Egyptian ‘Prince of Poets’ Ahmed Shawqi. Geography also links the two countries perfectly; and both countries are the oldest civilisations in the East. The Suez Canal was the conduit through which British-Indian trade flowed. Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the founders of the Non-Aligned nations in the 1950s.
This year, Mr Namnam recalled, India celebrates 70 years of independence from the British Empire, and also marks 70 years of building close, friendly diplomatic ties with Egypt.
The recent event was also attended by public figures including Ahmed Darwish, former chairperson of the Suez Canal Development Zone Authority; Muhammad Hegazy and Jilan Allam, both former deputies to Egypt’s foreign minister and former Egyptian ambassadors to India.
Watani International
22 July 2017