Friends of India Association organized Diwali Celebrations event in Istanbul/Turkey, on 28th November. It was a charmful and interesting event to both Indian and Turkish people who joined the event. It was a jam packed event and was celebrated with beatiful Indian dance performances and the guests were invited
to enjoy with delicious Indian food and desserts.
In the event, #NuranBarengi‘s , Chamber With Mirrors, book was introduced, as well. Nuran was invited to the stage and she made a speech. She said “Apart from the terrorism, political and economical crisis today, keeping cultural values and creating space to art and literature makes our life bearable and livable. It’s very important and meaningful to see India’s colourful culture is being kept with this kind of activities/events. So, even if India andTurkey are seperated by many miles, I feel very close connection between the two cultures that makes me very happy to be here. I believe that it’s not a coincidence that my book is published from First Step Publishing in India” .
Nuran then quoted Tagore’s words : “Every child that is born is proof that God has not yet given up on human beings” and continued with a poem she had written dedicated to Tagore:
O the ditties of our boonies!
Hear me, Tagore! Hear me!
I, guide of migratory birds
That’s strayed from their paths,
In flurry have I come to knock on your window
With light flooded
To sing vernal songs
Having drawn a deep breath
In the hope that they will
Gorgeously blossom
In the new year..
(Missing Velime Nights)
Translated by : Ender Gürol
Bizim Diyar’ların Türküsü’nü de Söyler miyiz…
ey Tagore!
yolunu yitirmiş
göçmen kuşların kılavuzu
gökyüzü telaşıyla
şimdi senin ışıklı pencerendeyim
derin bir nefes alıp soluklanmak
yeni yıla umutla
yeşerecek bahar türküleri
söylemek için …
(Velime Gecelerini Özleyiş)
Finally, Nuran said “It’s like having a very good breath to be here with such colourful , frank, warm and succesful Indian community to celebrate Diwali in Istanbul.” Learning that the book has been published in India and the revenue is given to Go Edu, a charity
organization to support the kids in India, people in the event were very pleased. The celebration was finalized with a dance performance of everybody in the event.
