On Sunday January 11, 1998, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation was inaugurated at its temporary headquarters at Caroni by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Hon. Mr. Basdeo Panday. The Institute, sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, came into being 30 years after it was first mooted by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she visited Trinidad in 1968. The response was positive and the then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Eric Williams and Mrs. Gandhi signed a Cultural Agreement.

What was the objective in signing the Cultural Agreement and the decision to establish a Cultural Centre? In 1968, free India was just 20 years old and Trinidad a fledgling six. India had blazoned the path of anti-colonialism and the first step that it took was to remain within the Commonwealth of nations and promote understanding among countries, promote peace and not can embers of hostility. As High Commissioner of India, Mr. Inder Vir Chopra said at the inauguration, if people do not understand each other’s culture, misunderstanding and conflicts arise. That was why the leaders of India and Trinidad and Tobago took the first step to promote cultural understanding.

Prime Minister Basdeo Panday in his inaugural address, asked those at the Institute to develop it on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. He recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had devoted his life for three major causes: The Revolution against Colonialism; The Revolution against Racism; and the Revolution against Violence. The death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 did not bring an end to the struggles that he initiated. The struggles continued, and led to the dismantling of the colonies, and propelled leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King to carry on a crusade against the oppression of black people. There are many other causes that the Mahatma exposed.

Hon. Mr. Basdeo Panday said that the assassin’s bullets which ended the Mahatma’s life did not end his deeply held belief in mutual tolerance between adherents of various creeds and sects. That cause needs to be pursued. That is why Prime Minister Basdeo Panday said that the Institute should not be content simply to throw open its doors "to all in our society". He said "I would charge you to so invest this facility, that it will come to be called, simply "The Gandhi Centre, to reach out to all in the society, to encourage trust and tolerance, so that we ma all understand what Mahatma Gandhi lived for.

In Trinidad and Tobago the influences of two treat civilizations have found rich and enduring confluence. The opening of the Chief Olukun African Library and Research Centre in August last year and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in January, have linked Trinidad ad Tobago to its two primary cultural sources. As the Director of the Institute, Mr. Ramamohan Rao said, "The Institute, in a small way, will become the Sangam, the point of confluence of cultures".

The Mahatma Gandhi Institute will be a catalyst to the process of mingling of the cultures of India with other traditions in Trinidad and Tobago. The process started over 150-years ago when the first batch of indentured labourers arrived on the shores of Trinidad. The High Commissioner dedicated the Institute to the memory of those valiant men. Over the years their descendants have shared their culture and traditions with others, and many of them have journeyed to India to learn more. They have acquired a degree of excellence which can be emulated by many now without their having to perform the journey across the globe.

To start with, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute will start classes in vocal music, Kathak dance and table. It will also be conducting classes in Hindi. The Institute will also have a library; books from India and on India. It will have the collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, which have been carefully compiled in a hundred volumes – an effort which took forty years to complete. It will have selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru and on Indian Philosophy by the former President of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan. It also has a nucleus of books on Indian art, architecture, history and economy. Latest newspapers and periodicals from Indian wold also be available at the library.

Eminent teachers have arrived in Trinidad from India. They are Mr. Vishwanath Pacherwal, the music teacher, Dr. Rakesh Prabhakar, the Kathak dance teacher and Mr. Awadh Singh Thakur, the tabla teacher. Mr. Vishwanath has been an "A" grade artiste in the National Channel of All India Radio, while Dr. Rakesh Prabhakar has taught dance in the Bhatkande College in Almora, and Mr. Awadh Singh Thakur has taught the tabla at the Khaigarh University in Madhya Pradesh for nearly two decades. Their first month of stay in Trinidad has familiarized them with the favourable environment for promoting their art form, a must for any artiste.

The Institute has also drawn up a syllabus for the courses being offered. The effort has been to ensure that the students, most of whom are going to pursue music and dance as a hobby, would be able to acquire skills by attending the classes in the evenings and weekends. The courses have been drawn up on the lines of instruction imparted at Indian universities and the Institute hopes to award a diploma to the students at the end of three years.

The Institute also hopes to interact with those who have been to India to learn Indian dance and music and established their own institutions here. There is much to learn. Indian art forms have imbibed cultures from different countries and continents. Indian music and dance have become richer with their interaction with music and other art forms from Persia and other countries in West and Central Asia. Indian folk dance forms, particularly portraying Ramayana and Mahabharatha, have travelled from Indian shores to Indonesia and other countries in South-East Asia, and has returned to India to lend its flavour. Modern Indian ballet has adapted and imbibed a great deal from the dance forms in South-East Asia and the West, as was evident to people in Trinidad and Tobago when they witnessed the performances of the Mamata Shankar Ballet Troupe in September last year.

The Institute will also be conducting classes in Hindi. It should not be difficult for people of Trinidad and Tobago to learn the language of their ancestors – with a little effort. We could look forward to a V.S. Naipaul writing in Hindi, but that may take time. In the meanwhile, one could pick up enough Hindi with a little effort and understand the lyrics of Hindi songs better or follow more closely the Hindi films.

The drums that sent out signals that echoed around Caroni on the inaugural day consisted of the Tabla, the Pakhawaj and those from the African continent. That was only the beginning.