Nepal, Nov. 23 -- My perception of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is entirely shaped by my literary, artistic and academic associations. The organisation is not political, but for writers, artists and dreamers, it has become both a metonymic and metaphorical representation of the phenomenon of identity and the continuity of institutions related to culture, creativity and the arts.

This organisation's avowed principle was inscribed in a promise to be a trade bloc whose creation would 'provide a platform for the people of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust, and understanding'. But the force of culture, arts, literature and folklore that has bound the countries of this region for mille...