India, Feb. 13 -- Can two old souls connect without words? At the 39th Surajkund Crafts Mela, the Ismailia Folk Arts Ensemble took the stage and sparked a live bridge from Nile banks to Ganges waters. Egypt, partner this year, shares heritage that beats on in its people, traditions tough through every storm. You feel it in the drum thumps, the whirling skirts-raw links that skip maps and time.

When a Tanoura dancer spins in a blurring kaleidoscope of colour, there is a spiritual reflection that has travelled across the Nile and the Yamuna for millennia. This is the 'Habibi' spirit. While the word literally means 'my love', here in the dust and music of the Mela, it translates to a visceral friendship. It is the sound of two civilisations...