Seychelles confirms a celebration from 2013 to mark its ties with India
Seychelles is a country proud of its past and of the influences that has molded the Seychellois as a proud people. For many years since the Indian Ocean islands attained independence from Great Britain in 1976, the Seychelles has been progressively staging annual events to mark the islands historical ties.
The Seychelles of today is what it is, and the people who proudly call themselves Seychellois as what they are because of the heavy historical influences by France, Africa, Great Britain, India, and China.
“Today we are a melting pot of cultures; we live proudly as the rainbow people. For many years, Fet Afrik has been celebrated annually on Africa Day to mark our rich link of our islands with Africa, and La Francophonie is celebrated to mark the Seychelles ties with France and to spell our proudly that our islands remain French speaking. From 2013, it has been decided by the management team at the Ministry of Tourism&Culture to add three special days on the islands’ list of national events: these are the Commonwealth Day to spell out our islands’ ties with Great Britain and to make the statement that we are English speaking as islands; an India day will be launched; and there will be a China Day to mark our historical ties with these two countries where settlers moved to the shores of Seychelles to help us be what we are today,” Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture explained.
It was on a working visit to Paris that the Seychelles Minister St.Ange announced that the three new historical days would now be celebrated annually. This was done during a dinner hosted in his honor by Mrs. Nupur Tron, India’s Ambassador in France for Arts and Culture for India in France.
The dinner guest list included the Vice Consul for Seychelles in France, Mrs. Pauline Ferrari, and a number of global cultural artists including the famous Hungarian Mezzo Soprano Klara Csordas who sang Carmen in honor of the Seychelles Minister.
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Also among the guests was His Excellency Mr. Gilles-Henry Garault, the prefet delegue aux Affaires Internationales Europeennes, who is incidentally a decendent of Mahe de la Bourdonnais, the historical personality of the Seychelles.
Mrs. Nupur Tron is a designer in jewelry and consultant in the luxury-style sector within Europe and India. She is the President of Elite Model Mode Look India, and formed part of the 2010 visit of President Sarkozy French business delegation to India.
Mrs. Tron is also very active in environmental projects in India, Monaco, and other countries and used discussions at the dinner to present a project to the Minister Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles to consider hosting her exhibition “Jewels of India” in Seychelles next year. Mrs. Nupur Tron explained to Minister St.Ange that she wishes to design a set of jewelry inspired by the protected species of plants and animals of Seychelles.
Minister Alain St.Ange confirmed his interest to have Mrs. Nupur Tron host her “Jewels of India” exhibition at the first edition of the India Celebrates in Seychelles Day in January 2013. “We shall work with you Mrs. Nupur Tron to be part of this first edition of our India Celebrates in Seychelles Day. Your exhibition’s name, “Jewel of India,” is appropriate for our celebrations as we are the islands that remain the real jewels of the Indian Ocean. We thank you for your commitment to work with us to mark this first edition,” Minister St.Ange said.
Mrs. Nupur Tron is looking to be accompanied by people from Bollywood and other known personalities when she travels with her exhibition in January 2013. It is confirmed that in the meantime she will pay a visit to Seychelles to discuss the project in more details with the island’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
Minister Alain St.Ange has also confirmed that this India celebratory day will be organized alongside the Indian Embassy in Seychelles, as will the Commonwealth Day be planned alongside the British High Commission in Seychelles and the China Celebrates Day planned with the Chinese Embassy in Seychelles.