JEDDAH, 2 October 2005 — The three-week-long India Festival ended on a high and a colorful note late Friday night. It brought the multidimensional aspects of life in India closer to the Indian expatriates and to the Saudi population and businessmen in the Western Province.

“I am a proud man,” said Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook at the grand finale. “Through the festival, Incredible India’s unity in diversity was projected in a fantastic way.”

Consul General Ausaf Sayeed, who conceived the whole idea of the festival, quoted a well-known Urdu couplet to say: “It started as a small idea and ended in a big caravan of colorful and highly educated Indians marching with pride and showcasing the best that India has to offer.” He said one of the primary objectives of the festival was to raise the profile of India here in Saudi Arabia and to boost the growing political, cultural and business ties between the two countries.

“We succeeded in our main objective. The other was to promote charitable activities,” he said, and announced the four major beneficiaries of the festival. He said a donation of SR60,000 would be made to the International Indian School-Jeddah (IISJ), in addition to the money the school will receive for the facilities that it provided for the festival programs. The lesser-known Indian Pilgrims Welfare Association (IPWA) is to get SR85,000. The IPWA has been rendering yeoman service to Muslims who find themselves in distress during Haj and Umrah. The third beneficiary is Hope for Exceptional Needs. The organiation will receive SR26,000. The remainder of the monies earned during the festival through various sponsorships will go to the Indian Workers Welfare Association (IWWA).

Among the highlights of the festival were Mushaira 2005, the seminar on Indo-Arab ties, the seminar on Urdu fiction, the seminar on Indo-Saudi investment and Jhankaar 2005, a high-decibel cultural program for women that became the talk of the town for its extremely professional organization. The festival also included cricket matches, quiz, chess and carom competitions among a host of other events.

The grand finale on Friday night featured some fantastic cultural items being presented by local Indian schools. One particular item of interest was from Afnan International School students. It was a Malayalam song performed in a very amusing manner by the 7th and 8th grade students.

Another popular performance was a Maharashtrian folk song presented by local students, which elicited an enthusiastic audience response.

The wide variety of activities included in the festival and the huge interest that the community took in the events were both measures of the festival’s success.

“The high-quality seminars and the historic mushaira indicated that India was not just about song and dance,” said a local Indian businessman.

“It was great to see Malayalis, Hyderabadis, Tamils, Maharashtrians and north Indians coming together in celebrating the magnificence of India,” said another Indian entrepreneur.

It was magnificent to see such an outpouring of Indian pride shown within the Kingdom. It is an experience that should spread to other major cities in Saudi Arabia so that mutual understanding may continue to grow between the peoples of both nations.