Casablanca – From its regional traditions to its cuisine and ties to Morocco, India was the subject of conversation in Casablanca as “Voyage au cœur de l’Inde” brought attendees closer to the country’s many cultural facets without leaving the city.
The Rotary Club Casablanca Mers Sultan organized the event in collaboration with the Rotary Club Casablanca Atlantique. It brought together Amit Get, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy in Morocco, and Nabila Bakkas, journalist at Le Matin Group, for a conversation about India’s culture, traditions, and its ties with Morocco.
The exchange took attendees beyond familiar images of India, exploring its regional diversity, cuisine, and cultural heritage while drawing connections between the two countries.
‘India is not only about Bollywood’
Speaking to Lifestyle Magazine, Get said Indian culture goes beyond the images and cultural references that international audiences may know best. He described a country whose traditions, customs, and ways of life vary from one region to another, from north to south and east to west.
“India is not only about Bollywood, the films, and cuisine,” he explained, inviting audiences to look beyond the familiar and discover the many layers of a country steeped in history, heritage, and tradition.
Get also drew attention to the similarities between India and Morocco, particularly in their traditions, cultures, and cuisines. For Get, these shared elements create familiar points of connection between people from the two countries.
“There is so much similarity between India and Morocco. Tradition-wise, culture-wise, cuisine-wise, and Bollywood, which already connected India and Morocco,” he said.
He also pointed to the role of tourism in strengthening these ties, noting that Indian visitors travel to Morocco while Moroccan tourists also visit India.
These exchanges give people from both countries opportunities to experience each other’s traditions and everyday life beyond what they see on screen.
A journey without a passport
For Bakkas, the idea behind “Voyage au cœur de l’Inde” was to give attendees the feeling of travelling to India through conversation and discovery. The discussion explored Indian traditions and well-known dishes while inviting participants to look beyond familiar cultural references.
She described the meeting as an opportunity to discover another country while building on the friendship between the two nations. “Today, it is a meeting built around the spirit of sharing, discovery, and travel,” Bakkas reflected.
That spirit of exchange shaped the conversation throughout. Rather than focusing on the differences between the two countries, the discussion brought attention to the traditions and cultural connections they share, while giving attendees a closer look at the diversity of Indian life.
For people who attended, the journey did not require a plane ticket. It simply began with a conversation in Casablanca.
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