When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India last December, he told Indian high school students that he likes the long poem by Rabindranath Tapore, the Gitanjali.
Among the beautiful verses of the poem are two lines: "I know you take pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before your presence."
Tuesday evening, artists from the "Kingdom of Heaven" of China' s Sichuan province, carried this mood expressed by Tagore in presenting an unforgettable set of art performances par excellence, leaving in the memories of the audience an ever-lasting "Night of Delhi".
These artists are truly the "I" in Gitanjali.
The "Experience China -- Sichuan Week" activities, being organized by the Chinese government here in the Indian capital, were formally launched Tuesday evening at the Siri Fort theater.
The Governor of Sichuan Province of China, Jiang Jufeng, said in his inauguration speech that his 200-strong delegation came to the beautiful city of New Delhi with a strong feeling of friendship, in order to implement the communique signed by Premier Wen and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last December here for promoting the ties between China and India.
By presenting Chinese culture to Indian audience, the Sichuan Singing and Dancing Troupe achieved a great success Tuesday evening.
M.S. Gill, Indian Minister of Statistics and Program Implementation who watched the performance, was apparently touched and shook hands warmly with the performers. The audience, when leaving the theater, were full of joy after seeing such a spectacular performance.
Dr. Arun Kumar, a retired professor, said he experienced strongly the "Chinese soul" , which he said is full of mystery, dynamics and grandeur. He particularly liked Wushu -- Rhyme of Martial Arts -- being performed by a woman warrior, whose flower sword he said was "beauty beyond description".
High school student Ram, 16, is a worshiper of Jacky Chang, and it was his first time to watch a Chinese performance with the arrangement of his school. He said he was overwhelmed by the male warrior of Mask changing and giant puppetry: Charm of Bashu Arts, who he said represented the hero of all Chinese Kongfu movies and can beat the Bollywood starts.
His classmate Supriya, 15, said her hometown in Rajasthan in western India also has the tradition of puppetry arts and Chinese puppets look like Indian puppets. "They are close relatives. Chinese puppets will go visit their Indian in-laws in the night," she said.
As a Chinese official who organizes the Sichuan Week said, this time the Indian people have got the opportunity to contact and touch China in person. Many of them have also made a lot of discoveries about China through the one-and-a-half-hour long performance.
Indians regard little girls as holy as they are as pure as the lotus of high mountains. The Acrobatics: Ballet on Hand Palm just reflected this belief. A little girl was lifted up lightly by a young man and began dancing on the latter's palm like a butterfly. A symbol of purity, she is also surrounded by a team of forest goddesses, who can also find their Indian peers in local folk tales and myths.
Saparupa, 13, came to see the performance with her 6-year-old sister Bhumika. She said she entered a wonderland with the dances, songs, Wushu, acrobatics and magic. She said she for the first time saw the fairy tales come true.
According Indian Vedic culture, the World is made of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space.
A student studying for his PhD in Delhi University declared that he had discovered the five elements in the performances. He said that the fire is shown in Mask Changing and Giant Puppetry, water in Ballet on Hand Palm, air in Wushu: Rhyme of Martial Arts, space in Dance of Yi ethnic group: The Green Sky and earth in Jubilation dance.
