Africa-Press – Cape verde. Praça Dom Luís, in Mindelo, was invaded on Sunday, 24th, with colors and animation led by the Indian Festival of the Colors of Mindelo, an initiative of the Indian Embassy in Cape Verde and the Cape Verde/India Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Despite a short program, the Holi festival guaranteed entertainment, especially for families, who went to the square to get a glimpse of Indian culture.
In a relaxed atmosphere, children and adults painted themselves in the five colors of energy (yellow, blue, green, pink and orange) had fun and listened to music at this celebration, which took place for the first time in Mindelo, and which in Indian culture marks the arrival of spring.
According to the president of the Cape Verde/India Parliamentary Friendship Group, Josina Freitas, who is a deputy elected by the São Vicente circle, in Indian culture the Holi festival is a kind of “welcome to spring” and also means a moment of “starting over and leaving negative things behind”.
For the same source, holding the festival “is important” because it is also the first time that Cape Verde has an Indian ambassador and also because it is the first time that the Cape Verdean parliament has a parliamentary friendship group between the two countries.
“ This friendship group is an extremely important mechanism for diplomacy between the two countries and India, as it is the first time that there is a resident ambassador here, there are many expectations that we want to make many exchanges at a commercial level, in terms of knowledge and whatever is best at bilateral level” , stated the national elected official.
The same source highlighted that there are already some bilateral projects being worked on in the areas of technology, agriculture, health and water resources, among others.
For the parliamentarian, it was important to make the population aware of the importance of cultural exchanges and the fact that the ambassador chose São Vicente to carry out his first activity is also “ extremely important ”.
She assured that this will be the first of many activities that they will carry out in São Vicente.
In turn, the mayor of São Vicente, Augusto Neves, said that it is a “ great joy” to host the Holi festival because the island needs to strengthen its culture because it is culture that keeps São Vicente standing.
“ Whenever we can bring other peoples, friendly religions, it is very important” , he stated, adding that India is a “ very strong and powerful ” country and all “ the energy they bring to São Vicente and Cape Verde is always very good because it gives more energy to face the difficulties and bring to São Vicente all that is best ”.
When the ambassador of the People’s Republic of India in Cape Verde spoke, Sanjeev Jain said that it was with “ great enthusiasm ” that the festival was held in Mindelo after the opening of the embassy in the city of Praia, last Monday.
He highlighted that his country has a civilization that dates back thousands of years and a rich heritage with emphasis on folklore, myths, fables and legends.
In this particular, he cited the example of the Holi festival which, according to Indian culture, was born from the love between Krishna and Radha and which is celebrated in different ways.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
