I was invited yesterday to the ceremony for paying homage to Rene Cura at Chivilcoy. Rene Cura was a friend and admirer of India till her death in July 2007. She had established Anand Bhavan ( inspired by the one in Allahabad) as a centre for Indian studies in 1977 and published a magazine " India eterna y actual" from 1982 to 2007. She had visited India and had interacted with Mrs Indira Gandhi. She was close to Victoria Ocampo another admirer of India. Rene Cura was conferred with Padmashri award in 1984.
In my speech, I paid homage to her contribution to promotion of Indian culture in Argentina and the foundation she had laid for Indo- Argentine cultural relations. I talked about the potential to build on this foundation a partnership between the modern India and the new argentina.While Rene Cura was passionate about India, I am passionate about Latin America.
The ceremony was simple and elegant. The last issue of the magazine " India eterna y actual" was released. The two ladies who read excerpts of Rene Cura's writings did it professionally and emotionally.
I was also impressed with the city of Chivilcoy, although small with a population of 70,000, has beautiful plazas and a large public library with over 100,000 books in a five-storey building.
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