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Shared hiStory,convergent cultureSNeeti Sethi Bose and Fakir Hassen

Shared histories, kindred valuesand intertwined cultures. tracesof india and indian culturalinfluence can be seen across

africa. From Marrakesh to Maputo, fromdakar to durban, Bollywood songs andfilms enthrall and enchant africans. Say“india” in Sudan, and the Sudanese arelikely to hum their favourite hindi filmsong. chapatis are served for christmasand biryani is a must for weddingreceptions in various east africancountries. and samosas are forever.

indian-origin words and expressions likeduka, kachumbari and harambee arefirmly embedded in the warp and weft ofKiswahili. a troupe of blind musiciansfrom egypt and devi dancers fromBurkina Faso cast their spell on indianaudiences in new delhi. india’s nizamiBrothers’ Qawwali group and classicalvocalists such as Pandit Jasraj andflautist hariprasad chaurasia sendaudiences into raptures in african towns.

indian and african writers share thestage and discuss profound ideas at the‘Shared history: the indian experience’festival that provides a platform fordialogue and collaborative work betweenindian and South african musicians,literary figures and dancers. this culturalconnectedness and transfusion between

the people of india and africa is notaccidental. it is rooted in history andtradition.

indian traders set sail in wooden dhowscenturies ago to african countriescircling the indian ocean. in histravelogue, the legendary Marco Polowrites of seeing merchants from gujaratand Saurashtra on africa’s east coast andpraised them as “the best and the mosthonourable that can be found in theworld”. Subsequently, indian trade witheast africa expanded so much that therupee replaced the Maria theresa thalersas the principal currency in the region.the construction of the railway linebetween Mombasa and Kampala in late19th century was another milestone inthe history of india’s tryst with africathat brought in around 34,000 indianindentured labourers and led to greatercultural inter-penetration.

in fact, indian contacts with africa dateback to prehistoric times. oftenattributed to the early ancient trade linksdirected by strong monsoon currentsthat led seafaring traders to traverse thearabian Sea and establish profitableeconomic connections, the links betweenthe indian subcontinent and the africancontinent can be traced back deeper intotime, to the shifting of landmass,

182 Shared hiStory, convergent cultureS

From Marrakesh to Maputo, from dakar todurban, Bollywood songs and films enthrall andenchant africans. canoeists in cairo belt outindian film songs. Say ‘india’ in Sudan, and theSudanese are likely to hum their favouriteBollywood song

(Top) Egyptian folk troupe Al Tannoura performing at the International Festival of Sacred Arts at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, in 2010.

(Right) A performance by Urukerereza, traditional ballet dancers fromRwanda, during the Africa Festival in New Delhi, 2010.

(Right) Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan performswith South African cricketers at a concert organised in Durban in January 2011 to commemorate 150 years of the arrival of Indianindentured labour in South Africa.

(Left) Indian film icon Amitabh Bachchan withperformers of the Nateshwar Dance Academy, inNatal, South Africa.

(Below) A girl goes through DVDs of Nigerian andBollywood films in a shop at the Nigerian filmmarket in Lagos. Nigerian cinema, also called Nollywood, is Africa’s largest movie industry. Yet,Indian films are also very popular in the country.

at a time when indian football is trying tocatch up with the rest of the world, africanplayers have given a new boost to the beau-

tiful game in the country. Some 400 of them havebeen lured by big money into top football clubs.Many more are expected to come and play here inthe time to come.

Pick any of the 14 i-league teams and you cannotbut help notice the african presence. these playershave come from nigeria, Kenya, ghana, liberia,congo and play pivotal roles in their club’s for-tunes. the top clubs shell out up to $2.5 million ayear for a good player. But there are others whocome here for half that amount or play whilestudying in india. Most importantly, they add adash of colour and excitement to the domestic sea-son.

in fact, it was nigerians emeka ezugo and cheemaokerie who used to be the star attraction inKolkata teams during the 80’s. the two not onlyleft the indian fans in a thrall with skill and powerin their boots but also opened a window for otherafricans to play in india, who came as studentsand found a way out to earn good money.

the first african name to strike a chord was davidWilliams who represented tamil nadu state in the1970s before premier club east Bengal picked himup. last year, congolese striker Mboyo iyomiplayed a key role in i-league champions dempo’ssuccess to become the first indian club to qualifyfor the aFc cup semifinals.

Mumbai Fc recently recruited two ghanians —Michael osei and James dissimariah — who hadplayed with chelsea star Michael essien in ghana.“We were inspired by essien’s success overseas.We also wanted to come out of our country andprosper. india gives us good money and the experi-ence to become a tough professional,” says dissi-mariah.

Former india captain and olympian P.K. Banerjeefeels emeka and cheema have made a great im-

pact on indian football. “of all the overseas foot-ballers, cheema and emeka were a class apart andno wonder they played World cup,” he says.

like the nigerians, ghanians yusif yakubu andSuley Musah have brought in a high level of pro-fessionalism to indian teams. englishman davidBooth, now in charge of Mumbai Fc, had the expe-rience of coaching in ghana and he says thatafricans do not hesitate to venture out into thewide world of football for better prospects.

“african players will go and play in any country. inindia, they are the key players in the clubs they playfor as they are the most dependable. Playing withand against them, indian players have benefitedboth the skill wise and stamina wise,” said Booth,who had also coached Mahindra united in the past.

in the last two years, africans have emerged topgoal scorers in the i-league. churchill Brothersstriker odafe was the best player of the inaugurali-league in 2007-08 and in the ongoing secondedition he has been in tremendous form.

“india made me famous. had i stayed back in nige-ria, i wouldn’t have achieved all this name andfame,” says odafe.

Jct coach Sukhwinder Singh feels players likeodafe are crowd pullers and good advertisementfor the game. “in the past, people used to come tosee cheema and emeka. there was a dip in be-tween, but now odafe is creating waves in the i-league,” says Sukhwinder, a former national coach.

african footballers have not only blossomed in theindian domestic league but have also been crucialto the success of indian clubs overseas.

ghanian Musah led east Bengal to become the firstindian club to win an international tournament, theaSean cup in 2003. Burly nigerian Mike okoroalso played a crucial role by scoring a goal in thatfinal for the Kolkata team.

(abhishek roy)

an aFrican touch to indian FootBall

With more corporate sponsorships flowing intothe game, some 400 africans have been luredby big money into top football clubs of india.Many more are expected to come and play herein the time to come

(Top) Suley Musah, the Ghanian captain of East Bengal, India’s leading football club, holds aloft the ASEAN Cup in Kolkata, India, in 2003.

(Right) Rival African footballers vie for the ball in an Indian I-League match between East Bengal and Pune F.C. Over 400Africans are currently playing club football in various parts of India.

(Top) Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya waves after winning the goldmedal at the Delhi Half Marathon, along with the silver medallistLelisa Desisa (left) of Ethiopia.

(Right) African runners at the Delhi Half Marathon in 2010.

For many african long-distancerunners, running a marathonis not just a sport, but a way to

life. they have emerged as a domi-nant force in distance running,sweeping the medals in all the topmarathons held in india in the lastfew years. at the nagpur interna-tional Marathon earlier this year,Kenyans John Kui won the fullmarathon for men while Jem Muyawon the women’s race in the thirdedition of the tournament that sawparticipation by more than 50 inter-national athletes from 16 countries.

the story of the airtel halfMarathon in delhi, which has nowbeen granted the status of goldlabel road race by the internationalassociation of athletics Federation(iaaF) is similar. Since its inceptionin 2005, east african runners havebeen dominating the race in the na-tional capital. Kenyan Philip rugutwon the inaugural race in 2005 andsince then, the champions have beenfrom Kenya, ethiopia and rwanda.

the Mumbai Marathon, which is apart of ‘the greatest race on earth’,has also been dominated by africanrunners. the race became an iaaFgold label road race in 2010, con-firming its status as one of themore prestigious competitions inthe road racing calendar. ethiopiansgirma assefa and Koren yal domi-nated to win the men’s and thewomen’s title in the race in the lat-est edition. indian sports adminis-trators are sitting up and takingnotice of this african skill. theindia’s army institute of Sports in Pune is now training runners

along the lines that africans do.

World champion cross country run-ner gebreegziabher gebremariamfrom ethiopia spells out the factorswhy africans are emerging as cham-pions in long-distance running.

“all over the world, african runnersare making a living out of running— thanks to the environment inwhich they grow up. all top africanrunners basically come from poorcountries and small villages. Whilethey are growing up, they have towalk miles to go to school or toother places. this helps them to be-come natural athletes and that is themain reason why they are excellingin middle- and long-distance run-ning,” said gebremariam.

runners from Kenya, Zimbabwe andethiopia are now among thefavourites to win the big moneymarathons, which are held all overthe world.

“running has been a profitable ca-reer for us. you don’t need to investanything to be a good runner. youhave to just put on your runningshoes and run for hours. and, unlikefootball, running does not needmuch infrastructure for training,” he said.

gebremariam pointed out thatafrican countries have now takenover from traditional athletics pow-erhouses like europe and the uS.“american athletes are made ingyms, while africans are born on the roads.”

(abhishek roy)

Scorching indian tracKS

over the years, close interaction between theindian diaspora and their adopted homelands has spawned a rich tapestry of shared culture, cuisine and worldviews



commonly known as gondwanaland. the connection between india and africa,home to an over-two-million-strongindian diaspora, has been a continuousprocess of socio-cultural and economicexchange.

contact between africa and india duringearly and ancient civilisations is reflectedin the knobbed pottery vases that cameto Sumer from india and the cotton. inthe akkadian language indian cotton wascalled vegetable cloth. it seems thatassurbanipal (668-626 B.c) cultivatedindian plants, including the wool-bearingtrees of india. the period from themiddle of the second millennium Bce tothe beginning of the christian era sawsocieties in the indian subcontinentdevelop major transportation networksfor long-distance trade with Western asiaand the Mediterranean and through thereinto africa, facilitated by thedomestication of beasts of burden.

the Silk route, the amber road and thetrans-Saharan trade route wereinstrumental in establishing linksbetween africa, india and beyond. By thesecond millennium Bc, organisedcaravans could carry goods across oncamels which allowed arabian traderscontrol of the long-distance trade ofspices, silks and other luxury goods.the writings of the early greek androman historians and travellers perhapsgive us the first reference to these links.the greco-roman maritime trade contactwith india was established via the redSea ports and saw a vast increasefollowing the roman annexation ofegypt. With an increase in greco-romantrade, spices became the main importfrom india to the Western world,

bypassing silk and other commodities.the presence of african sailors, known asSiddis, stands out as a unique example ofindo-african relations. “the Siddis were atightly knit group, highly aggressive, andeven ferocious in battles, who wereemployed largely as security forces forMuslim fleets in the indian ocean. theyretained this position for centuries andbecame revered commanders and weretitled admirals of the Mughal empire.”(runoko rashidi in the african Presence in india).

those regions in africa that the Britishcolonised saw the advent of the firstindian settlers in africa who were takenor lured there as labourers,administrators or traders. thedescendents of these people of indianorigin in africa today find themselvesdeeply involved in the social, cultural,economic and political fabric of theircountries of residence. over the years,close interaction between the indiandiaspora and their adopted homelandshas spawned a rich tapestry of sharedculture, cuisine and worldviews. the Wotand alicha, staple side dishes in anyethiopian home, are very similar toindian curries, as is an ethiopianappetiser called sambusa, consisting ofground spiced vegetables or meat in adeep-fried triangle of dough, similar to the indian samosa much savouredacross the continent.

in South africa, the first indians to arriveas sugarcane plantation indenturedlabourers invented a quick and nutritiousmeal called bunny chhow to save time asthey toiled away on the fields. legendhas it that the bunny chow was namedafter gujarati traders who launched

(Top) Indian composer A.R. Rahman enthralls the audience at a show in Johannesburg,South Africa, in 2010.

(Far left) A Swaminarayan Temple in Dar es Salaam. The Temple Street here is also thehub of the Gujarati community in Tanzania.

(Top left) Diwali celebrations in Port Louis, Mauritius.

(Below left) An African hair and beauty salon in New Delhi, owned by Nigerian nationalCasmir Nwakaeze.

(Overleaf ) The highly-acclaimed Egyptian Blind Girl’s Chamber Orchestra enchantsmusic lovers in New Delhi.

one can pick up dvds of indian films in mostafrican towns. in some places, it has led to themushrooming of sidewalk video shows in ethiopiawhere live interpreters translate the movie to theaudience squatting around a tv set

businesses after arriving in durban andcreated the dish. today the bunny chow— a hollowed-out quarter or half loaf ofbread filled with a curry of choice — is apopular dish among all communities inthe country. the traditional indianmango achar (pickle) brought to africaby the first indian settlers has beenadapted to cater to local tastes with avariety of indigenous fruits andvegetables being used in innovativeversions of the popular pickle.

the indian influence on education, smalltrade and cuisine is as real as theinfluence of Bollywood. canoeists incairo belting out raj Kapoor film songsfor indian visitors, or street kids inethiopia singing the popular Bollywoodsong “i love my india” when they see anindian, are common phenomena. Startingfrom the official screening of the classic‘Mother india’ in many african countriesto the huge success of ‘disco dancer’starring Mithun chakravorty in the1980s to the popularity of contemporaryBollywood icons like Shah rukh Khanand aishwarya rai, Bollywood hascreated a powerful fan following cuttingacross all age groups. one can pick updvds of indian films in most africantowns. in some places, it has led to themushrooming of sidewalk video showslike the video-baets in ethiopia where liveinterpreters translate the movie to theaudience squatting around a tv set.

africa’s love affair with indian cinemagoes back a long way and can be dividedinto two distinct categories — thepioneering indian businessmen of Southand east africa who started the firstcinemas to show indian movies as farback as the 1930s, and local

communities, black, white and arab,across the continent who could relate tothe similarities of the morals and valuesof indian culture as reflected in indianfilms. in north and West africa, manycommunities such as the hausa seeindian culture as being similar to theirown in terms of the value systems. theycite examples of how the men in indianfilms often wear ornate coats, similar tothe hausa dogon riga, and waistcoats,much like the hausa palmaran. thepopularity of qawwali performances byartists from india in South african ruraltowns, the remarkable resemblance ofmany traditional african traditional shirtsworn by men to the kurtas used in indiaand the wraps of african women and theindian dupatta or sari and the popularityof the indian salwar kameez in africa areall examples of this shared reality.

cultural interaction has found patronagefrom institutions like the indian councilfor cultural relations (iccr), which hastaken an eclectic range of indian danceand music groups to various africancapitals. it’s an uplifting sight to seeafricans swaying to spiritually stirringperformance by delhi’s nizami Brothers’Qawwali group. african audiences,probably familiar with the sitar and tabla,have also experienced the music of suchtraditional indian instruments as thesarod and sarangi. Performances byclassical music exponents are as popularas Bollywood stars like amitabhBachchan, anil Kapoor and Sonu nigam.

the historical ties between india andafrica and their shared heritage havecreated unique dance forms wherestylised movements of bharatanatyamand kathak fuse with the traditional

rhythms of the african gumboot dance ofminers and the dances of Zulu warriors intraditional leopard skins. dr vinod hassel,a fourth-generation dancer from india,pioneered the teaching of indian dance toafrican youth in townships nearly 15 yearsago. Blending traditional africanpercussion instruments and dance stepswith flowing kathak and modern indiandance forms, hassel’s innovative examplewas soon to inspire a whole generation.

Beyond the world of music and dance,what brings india and africa together is ashared value system. Says eminent scholarolabiyi Babalola Joseph yai: “i am noorientalist, but i know that africancultures and the cultures of india areconvergent. the two cultures are based onvery similar weltanschauung. Formillennia, they have emphasised theoneness of existence, the harmonybetween gods, nature and human beings.they both believe in the formula: i ambecause we are.”

it is this sense of cultural affinity andkinship that led South african PresidentJacob Zuma to underline the historic andunique relations between india and africathat hark back to the struggle againstapartheid. “We have been together throughdifficult times as well as happy times. ienjoy the (indian) music and the food. Weare at home in india,” says the charismaticafrican leader.


the historical ties between india and africaand their shared heritage have created uniquedance forms where stylised movements ofbharatanatyam and kathak fuse with thetraditional rhythm of the gumboot dance ofminers and the dances of Zulu warriors intraditional leopard skins

(Top) A Burkina Faso group cast its spell with the devi (goddess) dance atthe Sacred Arts Festival in New Delhi.

(Left) A performance by a music troupe from Nigeria during the Africa Festival in New Delhi.

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