India has had civilisational links with this land since Babar, but public imagination is fired by much more recent interaction. Raj Kapoor's footprint—literally joota Japani, dil Hindustani—is folklore. He was here 14 times and as one Uzbek said to me, if there was a free and fair election, a Kapoor clan member could become president of Uzbekistan. Recently, MoS for commerce Jairam Ramesh, on energy diplomacy in Central Asia, took time off to visit the legendary city of Samarkand and call on the governor there. After the traditional chai and nan roti, diplomacy was tossed aside as the governor regaled Jairam with Raj Kapoor's famous Dost dost na raha (perhaps not an apt choice for the occasion) and exhorted Jairam and his entourage to join in. They did, in India's national interest. Bollywood was with us on the Registan Express to Bukhara, the Sharq train to Samarkand and the metro in Tashkent.
