Indian and Turkish languages have 7000 words in common! I heard about this from none other than Sushil Jiwarajka, Past Chairman, FICCI -Western Region Council, when I was listening to him at an Indo-Turkish meet in Mumbai. Many more information tumbled out of him: 9000 Indians visited Turkey last year. Turks are as hospitable as Indians; They are ardent tourists, keen to know more about India!
Culturally, there are many similarities between Turks and Indians, he emphasised. In order to substantiate his point, he went on to recite an incident that happened during one of this many visits to Istanbul: “I went to a museum an hour before its opening. The Turkish watchman, who realised I am an Indian, eagerly came to meet me and started talking about Raj Kapoor. He even launched into singing of & dancing to awara song. He then opened the Museum 30 minutes before its time to let me in. And I saw in him reflection of a lot of the Indian sentiments.â€Â
(As told to ITJ Editor by Sushil Jiwarajka)