Ancient gods and goddesses woven into monotheistic religion; vivid art and patterned textiles; colourful cuisine using a variety of chiles and spices; a strong devotion to family and tradition; ancient medicinal practices with an emphasis on natural remedies; and a distinct social class system
Which all sound very much like India!
In an interview with Mexico News Daily, India’s ambassador to Mexico, Pankaj Sharma, stated that both India and Mexico are old civilizations that take great pride in their histories, cultures, and customs.
Let’s begin with the arts.
New York-born visual artist Jane Zweiger has studied and shown her work throughout the globe. She studied Pattachitra painting for a month in India with expert artisans before relocating to live and paint in Mexico a year and a half ago.
Mexican and Indian art have similar visual storytelling, bright colour, expressive figuration, and attention to detail. Spiritual and devout in nature, Mexican ex-voto paintings frequently include saints and miracles. Indian Pattachitra paintings feature folklore and mythological characters and spiritual representations of several deities.
It should come as no surprise that Jane has been greatly “influenced by the vibrant colours of Mexican art,” given the vivid, bold, and metaphorical nature of her works. Both nations have generated a great deal of folk art that honours narrative in a way that is unmistakably “spiritual but also grounded in the everyday.”
The community’s role
India told me a lot about vibrant colours, hot food, spirituality, and tradition. It also showed me how similar the cultures of Mexico and India are to one another.
Just like in India, there is a general veneration for elders in Mexico. It is consoling to see young people treat the elderly with care, whether they are family members, acquaintances, or total strangers.
Aesthetics also underpins “everyday.”
A passion for taste
In Mexico, we are well aware that herbs and spices are used for purposes other than curing illnesses.
Food connects Mexico and India across an ocean, both in terms of colour and communal meaning. “To speak about these two cultures is to speak about strength,” says Alberto Harwy, head chef of Taller Xilotl in Mexico City. Both cultures are vibrant, long-standing, and replete with scents and colours.
He likens mole to curry, a cuisine that is consumed with almost religious veneration throughout every nation. An idea that is essential to city life in both nations, street food, is also mentioned by Alberto and his Indian cooking partner Anshul.
Located in the southern region of North America, Mexico (Spanish: México) is the official name of the United Mexican States. With a population of over 130 million, it is the tenth most populous country and the most populated Spanish-speaking nation. It is the 13th largest country in the world in terms of area, covering 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi). Mexico is a federal constitutional republic made up of 31 states plus the nation’s capital, Mexico City. In addition to maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east, it shares land borders with the United States to the north, Guatemala, and Belize to the southeast.