India’s influence on the global village

I live in a Global Village. By that I mean that in the 20,000-people neighbourhood that I live in, on Lantau Island, are residents representing some 40-50 nationalities. It’s a laid-back community life that’s a stately ferry ride away from the frenetic pace of Hong Kong’s central business district. No private cars are permitted, although if you want wheels, you can hire a golf cart — for nearly as much as one pays for an apartment!

The quality of its lifestyle makes it popular among Western expats, and although it’s always had a fair sprinkling of Indians, I find that in recent times, the desi quotient has increased markedly. And small though our numbers still are, we do our bit to enhance our visibility…

Last weekend, for instance, our neighbourhood got together for an annual celebration of our cultural diversity with a multinational, multi-ethnic show. Small groups of performers did gigs representing their respective cultures. Of course, there was an Indian segment as well, showcasing dance forms from Kerala, Punjab and so on, and the de rigueur Bollywood number. Good as the performers were, the most enduring sight was of young blonde girls and panda-esque Chinese boys in the audience shaking a wobbly leg to the pulsating beat of Rock and Roll Soniye!

I t’s not just on the dance floor that India is on people’s minds. Hong Kong’s universities are courting students from India, and recently organised a roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi pitching Hong Kong as a higher education destination and as a cost-effective alternative to universities in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Some 500 students attend the roadshow, and the universities plan to follow up with another promotion.

Godfrey Leung of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council says that Indian students “are very well educated, and if we can get them to come to Hong Kong to have their higher education here, I’m sure we can get more talent to enrich Hong Kong’s competitiveness.”

Atul Dodiya was in town for an art talk and walked his audiences through his studio and his works, so to speak. The bespectacled, soft-spoken Dodiya has the earthy manner of a bean-counter, but when he begins to talk of art, strange passions get aroused in him, which he communicates with an earnestness that is contagious.

One of Dodiya’s works — Lodging in Somnath — is going under the hammer at Christie’s in Hong Kong, and is expected to raise the bar for Indian art sales auctions.