Indian envoy to UK: Bard’s India is exceptionally rich

Prince Charles lays a wreath on Shakespeare’s grave during a visit to Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, on Saturday. (Photo: AP)

India was not unknown to iconic playwright William Shakespeare whose depiction showed the country as “exceptionally rich” with precious stones, its people deeply religious and its women famed for their dark beauty, Indian high commissioner to the UK Navtej Sarna said.

Speaking on behalf of the diplomatic corps at the 452nd birthday celebrations on Saturday of the Bard at Stratford-upon- Avon, his birthplace, Sarna said: “Shakespeare lived for the most part of his life at the time when India was ruled by Akbar, the great Moghul.

“Yet India was not unknown to Shakespeare... He picked up information and stories from sailors in London and his imagination did the rest. His India is exceptionally rich, famous for its precious pearls and stones, its people are deeply religious and its veiled women were famed for their dark beauty.” He noted that there are various references to India in Shakespearean plays. Sarna said that by the mid-1700s, less than 150 years after the world’s pre-eminent dramatist’s death, his plays had started being enacted in Calcutta and Bombay, for the entertainment of European traders.

The high commissioner said it was only a matter of time before filmmakers in India began to mine Shakespeare for material.

Meanwhile, Shakespe-are’s most famous words have been given a modern rap twist as part of a project aiming to bring the bard to a wider audience and mark his 400th death anniversary. English and drama students at Birmingham City University (UK) have been working alongside the Sonnet Man, a New York- born rap artist who delivers Shakespeare’s sonnets set to hip hop beats. Rapper and teacher Devon Glover became “the Sonnet Man” in a bid to make Sha-kespeare more accessible to young people, particularly to those from low-income backgrounds.