"A whole people, a whole civilisation, immeasurably strange to us, seems to have been taken up into this imagination; and yet we are not moved because of its strangeness, but because we have met our own image, as though we had walked in Rosettis willow wood, or heard, perhaps for the first time in literature, our voice as in a dream."
- Extract from W.B. Yeats introduction to Tagores Gitanjali
In the beginning, the links between India and Ireland were mainly through literature. George Bernard Shaw may have been dismissive of Tagores writing, but he was certainly aware of it. On the other hand W.B. Yeats introduction to Tagores Gitanjali was largely helpful in getting the Bengali poet the Nobel Prize.
Backward and largely agricultural until the late 20th century, Ireland was in many respects Indias Third World counterpart in Europe. Under law, a woman was regarded as her husbands chattel, until the early eighties. Her domicile was his; if he happened to be in England, legally she was also in England, regardless of where she lived - that law was not abolished until 1990 when Justice Barr described it as a "relic of female slavery".
But all that is changing and women are getting jobs in a variety of professions. The first lady president, Mary Robinson, too is doing a lot to improve the quality of womens lives. So a country where artificial contraceptives were first made legally available to married couples only on prescription in 1979, is now the main exporter of Viagra. And a country which was recognised the world over for the uniqueness of its culture has now given the world a new word for virtual economy - Enyanomics, named after the Irish new-age singer and musician who sold millions of CDs worldwide without ever giving a single live concert. And, of course, the Irish pub which is now manufactured for export in Dublin and assembled anywhere from Barbados to Barcelona, is representative of the globalisation of Ireland.
But is globalisation a worry for the Irish? No, says Mary Harney, the Irish deputy prime minister who has brought a large trade delegation on a 10-day trip to explore the possibility of forging a new relationship with India in the 21st century. "Globalisation has worked in favour of preserving and promoting traditional Irish culture and language rather than threatening it," she says. "For example a number of schools now are teaching the traditional Irish language."
The infotech revolution has also made Ireland the worlds largest software exporter. The visit to India is also an attempt to find out what the two countries can do together in that field, Harney says. The two governments are establishing a working group to flesh out the possibilities. Software experts in India will also have an opportunity to get jobs in Ireland for a fixed period.
India and Ireland also hope to cooperate in the political arena. In a meeting with the Indian prime minister, Harney asked for Indias support to Ireland seeking a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council. A.B. Vajpayee in turn spoke to Harney about Indias hopes for a permanent seat on the Security Council.
India and Ireland could also avail of the opportunity to exchange ideas on the two issues that bother the two nations the most: Kashmir and Northern Ireland. "I think we have a lot to learn from such areas worldwide where there are a lot of similarities - you have got to work very hard and through constant negotiation and consultation get people together," says Harney. "Sometimes its not a question of making a choice, you have got to accommodate - equally in Kashmir youve got to find people to work together to reach a negotiated agreement. " Harney believes one way of arriving at such an agreement is to try and get the young people of both communities to meet and be together, even if its in a third country. Ireland sends young girls and boys to the US where they meet each other as Irish residents, not as Catholics or Protestants.
Tourism in Northern Ireland has also been on the rise since 1995. The US is providing investment and job opportunities to the strife-torn region. "Earlier, the tourists who came to Northern Ireland were of a certain kind, but now with more hotels and amenities that is also changing," Harney said.
Irelands economic problems in the past had caused a huge brain drain - Ireland has 3.7 million people, and it is claimed that there are 70 million Irish living abroad. The trends now in the reverse with people returning to better jobs and a cushier lifestyle.
And as some of this finds an echo in the Indian situation, perhaps the two countries will finally find that they can talk about something more than just famine and verse.
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