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Belgian King’s Day in Chennai celebrates the unique cultures of the two countries

On Friday, at the 6th Belgian King’s Day celebrations, the heady sweet aroma of chocolates and waffles filled the air at Taj Coromandel in Chennai’s Nungambakkam. Of course, there was also Belgian beer.

King’s Day or the ‘Royal Holiday’ has been celebrated since 1866 on 15 November by Belgians around the world. Belgian diplomatic missions abroad celebrate King’s Day as a unique opportunity to showcase Belgian culture and heritage to the public and create vibrant new connections. In Chennai, this year marked the 6th King’s Day celebration.

The event was attended by Minister for Tamil language, Tamil Culture and Archaeology Ma Foi K Pandiarajan, actor Pooja Kumar, Prince of Arcot Ghulam Muhammad ‘Abdu’l ‘Ali Khan Bahadur and his wife Sayeeda Begum, among others.

Dinner included Belgian and Indian cuisine. Chocolate pralines with hazelnut, raspberry, mango and coffee fillings were soon heaped up on plates while for those from the Belgian community in the city it was the perfect time to catch up with each other.

Speaking at the event, Belgium’s Consul General in Chennai, Mark Van de Vreken, said, “This is my third consecutive celebration in the city and I am proud to share that Belgium shares 72 years of diplomatic relations with India. We were among the first countries to recognise India as independent nation and send diplomatic missions.”

He further highlighted the trade relations between the two countries, drawing loud cheers from the attendees. “During the financial year 2018-2019, trade between the two countries amounted to US $17.2 billion, of which 75-80% was in diamonds. We want to diversify our trade relationship and so we expanded to Chennai.”

Among the notable Belgian establishments in the city is the Little Flower School for the Deaf and Blind and the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM Sisters), both of which were started by Belgian missionary nuns.

Minister Ma Foi Pandiarajan who spoke later pointed out the similarities between Belgium and Tamil Nadu, and expressed his delight at the coming together of the two cultures. “Belgium is the land of culture, chocolates, the land of political diplomacy and niche industries. Tamil Nadu too has a number of niche industries. I am very delighted to see the coming together of two cultures,” he said.

The Belgium Consulate in Chennai was inaugurated in 2013. The Belgium Consulate General’s office in Mumbai has a history of over 150 years.

The theme for King’s Day this year was ‘Belgium goes Carnatic’ and included a performance by Prince Rama Varma, a noted veena exponent and Carnatic vocalist who hails from the royal Family of Travancore. Last year, the celebrations included a breathtaking performance by Bollylicious, a Belgian dance troupe.

Prince Rama Varma

Prince Rama began the evening with a Kannamma song written by Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi but he eased into it with a couple of small, funny stories. He also compared the brilliance of Bharathi with that of Belgian singer Jacques Brel: “It is worth learning Tamil just to appreciate his (Bharathi) songs. It is the same for Jacques,” he said.

The musician followed this with a small composition that can be called one of the earliest Carnatic fusion pieces ever created. Ludwig von Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ was ingeniously adapted to Carnatic notes almost two centuries ago by composer Muthuswami Dikshitar. The song, on goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram, has the swaram (Carnatic note) coinciding with the Western classical notes.

Prince Rama then performed a 600-year-old composition by Tallapaka Annamacharya called ‘Narayanathe namo namo’ and followed it up with an interesting rendition of one of Jacques’s French songs in Carnatic tunes. The song is about love and a lover’s yearning to get back together. The evening concluded with a fast thillana that had a few in the audience tapping their feet.

Source: The News Minute