On the occasion of Mexico’s National Independence Day, KidZania Delhi NCR, welcomed the Mexican Ambassador, H.E Melba Pria as their guest of honor. H. E. Melba Pria, spoke to a group of kids and parents, telling them about how Mexico got independence and the celebrations that take place in the entire country. She also spoke about how Mexicans are always called Indians because of their skin and hair colour and mentioned how similar the two nations are.
We had the pleasure of talking to her a little about her country’s struggle for independence. Here is what she had to say:
It’s the 206th anniversary of Mexican National Independence Day, Please tell us a little about its history?
We were ruled by the Spanish for 300 years because of our skin and hair tone. They wanted to conquer our nation because they thought we were Indians. 300 years is a long time so conspirators and nationalists said we have to get our independence. It was interesting time because people who are from Spanish origin with Mexicans and mixed Spanish and Mexico got together and fought for independence. And that’s how the war of independence started. It took us 11 years to fight and have our nation to ourselves. When we got our independence, most of the Central America also got their independence because we are one big family.
This was the first time “The Cry of Independence” or “Cry of Dolores” ritual took place. It was a priest who rang the church bell to announce the Mexican War of Independence. Ever since then, in Mexico, every small village, town, Mexico City, every Mexican home celebrated the independence by ringing the bell and saying “Viva Mexico”. This means Long Live Mexico.
Tell us a little about your auto ride? You were the most googled person when the city first tried for the odd- even policy?
We do have other cars at the embassy, but I decided to commute in an auto. I would like to answer this question in three parts.
First reason was how I could promote Mexico in an Indian way? So we were struggling a little bit with this situation, because India is so big and so rich, that promoting something is a challenge. Especially when you are selling nothing, but the image of a country. So I decided with my colleague, that the best way was an auto rickshaw. Some people said are you serious, to which I said why not. I decided to get an auto rickshaw and paint it with the colors and images of Mexico.
Second came what kind of rickshaw do we want? We wanted something environmentally friendly, because Mexico has faced its own challenge of climate change. Therefore my second reason was that an auto will be good for the environment. So my auto is double engine with gas.
The third reason is that Indians use the auto all the time. It would connect us to the Indians. In these types of cities with this traffic the idea of an auto rickshaw just works very well.
The ministry of external affairs was a little worried and surprised but I said, millions of Indians use an auto rickshaw, then why not me?
(To this the entire crowd started to cheer for her amazing idea)
Is there any reason why you decided to come to Noida for the occasion?
I wanted to come here because of KidZania. As you know, KidZania was started in Mexico 17 years ago. I have had the honor to open KidZanias in 2 different countries One in Indonesia and the other here in Noida and Mumbai. So in a way this is the best mixture of India and Mexico. So why not host the National Day of Mexico here?
The Mexican Flag was very fascinating, could you tell us a little about it?
So the Mexican Flag is also a tricolor flag with green, white and red. The green stands for hope, white stands for purity and red stand for passion. The eagle in the middle is for power. The legends tell us that Mexico did not have a capital so people wanted to define where the capital was. They said that the god came to them and told them that wherever you find an eagle that was on top of a cactus, eating a serpent, that’s where they should have their capital. Then one day they arrived in a valley, which is now called the Mexico City.
How do people celebrate the Independence Day in Mexico?
We have pretty much the same celebration. We have lots and lots of food, we all celebrate together with family and party. Some get the rice and some get the curry.
What are the cultural similarities between Indians and Mexicans?
The first would have to be that we both are a very old civilization. In the more modern way, we are very similar to Indians. We are as noisy as you guys, as family oriented as you, we love food and eat rice and beans like you. The dress we share is pretty similar. So these few things make us very similar.
After addressing the audience, she further went on a fire fighting activity with the children from the Shikhar Foundation.
It was a pleasure to talk to such a pleasant personality.
