Swiss route to knowing Ganga
Swiss route to knowing Ganga
Swiss nationals Elisabeth Gusdek and Ani Leidner are part of a project dedicated to bringing the Holy river to the world.
An entire generation sets Swiss writer, Elisabeth Gusdek and the painter from the same country, Ani Leidner, apart. Indeed, Ani was born around the time Elisabeth first visited India thirty-five years back. However the gap has become immaterial to the two women who say it is their love for one of India's holiest rivers, Ganga, that has brought them together. Now, both Ani and Elisabeth are working together on a project supported by the Swiss Government on River Ganga. Rivers are important for all civilisations and the project would be focusing on that. The duo, by interacting with people living in places located along the holy river, will be bringing forth how the river is very important in their lives .
"We are talking to people from all walks of life, including prominent people from the cities we visit, students, weavers and even milkmen. It's a joint venture where Ani makes the sketches while I write about our experiences. So far we have visited places like Haridwar, Kolkata, Patna, Allahabad and now we are in Varanasi. The idea is to travel from the source of the River till its mouth to see all the places alongside," explains Elisabeth.
Interestingly, the project does not stop in India as both the artists plan to carry it on alongside the river Rhine that runs through countries like Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. The idea is to do a comparative on the lifestyle of people living along these two great rivers.
"We want to know the similarities, as well the points on which they differ. It's an interesting comparison which we intend to bring before the world," says Ani, adding, "Things would not have turned out to be as good if we had worked in isolation. I listen in while Elisabeth is talking to people. It helps me understand the background of the person and that is an advantage when I am delineating the person on the canvas."
The journey has been a learning experience for Elisabeth, even though the writer from Zurich has visited India earlier. Talking about Patna, a city that she had visited earlier, Elisabeth says, "It is unrecognizable after so many years. There is so much development." She adds, "While interviewing a weaver for my project, I became acquainted with the problems that go behind the production of these exquisite Banarasi fabrics."
Interestingly, even though Ani is on her first trip to India, she says she has enough familiarity with the country, all thanks to Bollywood, of which she is a great fan. "I just saw and loved Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The songs and dances in Bollywood films are a great attraction for us. In fact, I have many film shootings during my college days in Lucerne in Switzerland, which is a favourite haunt for Indian filmmakers. I remember, once the entire college gathered together to watch a dance sequence featuring Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta. It was a most amazing experience. In fact now, with so many shootings happening in Switzerland, people there have begun to take lessons in Bollywood dancing," ends the painter with a smile.
An entire generation sets Swiss writer, Elisabeth Gusdek and the painter from the same country, Ani Leidner, apart. Indeed, Ani was born around the time Elisabeth first visited India thirty-five years back. However the gap has become immaterial to the two women who say it is their love for one of India's holiest rivers, Ganga, that has brought them together. Now, both Ani and Elisabeth are working together on a project supported by the Swiss Government on River Ganga. Rivers are important for all civilisations and the project would be focusing on that. The duo, by interacting with people living in places located along the holy river, will be bringing forth how the river is very important in their lives .
"We are talking to people from all walks of life, including prominent people from the cities we visit, students, weavers and even milkmen. It's a joint venture where Ani makes the sketches while I write about our experiences. So far we have visited places like Haridwar, Kolkata, Patna, Allahabad and now we are in Varanasi. The idea is to travel from the source of the River till its mouth to see all the places alongside," explains Elisabeth.
Interestingly, the project does not stop in India as both the artists plan to carry it on alongside the river Rhine that runs through countries like Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. The idea is to do a comparative on the lifestyle of people living along these two great rivers.
"We want to know the similarities, as well the points on which they differ. It's an interesting comparison which we intend to bring before the world," says Ani, adding, "Things would not have turned out to be as good if we had worked in isolation. I listen in while Elisabeth is talking to people. It helps me understand the background of the person and that is an advantage when I am delineating the person on the canvas."
The journey has been a learning experience for Elisabeth, even though the writer from Zurich has visited India earlier. Talking about Patna, a city that she had visited earlier, Elisabeth says, "It is unrecognizable after so many years. There is so much development." She adds, "While interviewing a weaver for my project, I became acquainted with the problems that go behind the production of these exquisite Banarasi fabrics."
Interestingly, even though Ani is on her first trip to India, she says she has enough familiarity with the country, all thanks to Bollywood, of which she is a great fan. "I just saw and loved Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The songs and dances in Bollywood films are a great attraction for us. In fact, I have many film shootings during my college days in Lucerne in Switzerland, which is a favourite haunt for Indian filmmakers. I remember, once the entire college gathered together to watch a dance sequence featuring Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta. It was a most amazing experience. In fact now, with so many shootings happening in Switzerland, people there have begun to take lessons in Bollywood dancing," ends the painter with a smile.
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