Personal FileName： M. RizwanChinese Name： Li ZewanNationality： IndianOccupation： Professional Trainer，Cultural ConsultantTime in China： 8 yearsHe has an honest， brave and kind heart， justlike Raj， the main character in an Indian movieAwara. He is versatile and has many hobbies.
He is expert at everything from singing and acting，to cooking. But his favorite thing to do isSino-Indian culture exchange. He was the firstto introduce Indian TV dramas to Chinese audiences，and he helped to strengthen academic andfriendly relations between the two nations’ highestdrama institutes — China’s Central Academyof Drama and India’s National School of Drama.
He definitely deserves the title of an ambassadorfor modern Sino-India cultural exchange. He isM. Rizwan， a handsome young man from India.
216 People always sigh that time flies. That’s absolutely true， becausetime is always sneaking by without anyone noticing.
I don’t know when the little girl living next door to me grew upor entered college， neither do I know when she brought back a brownskinned，sturdy young Indian man with big eyes and black hair. Sincethen， whenever I pass by her door， I always hear Indian music comingfrom her home， and smell the mouth-watering fragrance of curryfloating out of the kitchen. It always sparks my curiosity， and even myimagination…
So one day， I just knocked on the door and went in to see myneighbor girl and her mysterious Indian boy.
The Road to KnowledgeThere is a Chinese saying which goes， “A waterfront paviliongets the moonlight first.” It means the advantage of being in a favoredposition. Although I’m his neighbor， I wasn’t the first to interviewhim. Both of us were busy and couldn’t find time. The deadline wasjust around the corner， and we finally settled the interview time on oneweekend evening in August.
It was time for the interview. I stood in front of his door and knocked. The door opened， a handsome young man in an orange tanktop and casual shorts appeared before me — curled black hair， big eyesand bushy brows， well-built muscles — sending out a spark of youthfulvigor， vitality and intelligence. No doubt， this was M. Rizwan， ayoung man from India bearing the Chinese name Li Zewan.
Through the hall， I entered a bigger room， laid out exactly thesame as my home. Though we are neighbors we don’t visit each other，and this was my first time to his home. Today was the day to uncoverthe veil of mystery. We sat down， and began to talk.
M. Rizwan was born in a small village in Dhanbad District inIndia. India is a major agricultural country， and seventy percent of itspopulation are farmers. He lived in countryside， but he was born andbrought up in an intellectual family. His father is an electrician. Hisgrandfathers should be considered landlords as they own a large pieceof land. He is from a big family clan， who all make their living offthe land left by their forefathers. There are four people in his family，and he is the second child， with one brother. His family is neither veryrich， nor very poor， and belongs to the middle class. His family paysgreat attention to education， and is very strict with the children as faras family education is concerned， so he was well brought up and hasdeveloped good habits of abiding the law， following the rules， beingpolite， and conducting himself well with people in society.
M. Rizwan speaks very authentic Chinese. Everyone meeting himis surprised by his fluency.
“When did you study Chinese? And why?” I asked.
“I passed the entrance exam to Jawaharlal Nehru University， thebest university in India， in 1993， and my major was Chinese，” saidRizwan. “At that time， I had only heard of China because PremierJawaharlal Nehru had a very good relationship with Chinese PremierZhou Enlai. Nehru advocated maintaining friendly relations with China，and said， ‘Indian people and Chinese people are sisters and brothers.’
This phrase was well known among all Indians at the time. I didn’
t fully understand it then， but it gave me a very deep impression. “That’s why you wanted to study Chinese， is it? 21 8 “Yes， but my real inspiration came from the principal of my seniorhigh school. When I prepared for the college entrance exam， I gotthe highest marks in my grade， which immediately attracted the principal’sattention. He asked about my future academic plans. I don’t likescience and engineering， but have a deep interest in literature and thearts， and I also wanted to study a foreign language. The problem wasI didn’t know which one to choose. So the principal said， ‘You shouldstudy Chinese because China is developing very quickly. Studying Chinesewill surely benefit you in the future. Moreover， China is a countryfull of hope.’ Thinking of his words now， what he said was quite right.
He was a far-sighted person. I have no doubt， the Chinese languagemay benefit everyone. During his study in Jawaharlal Nehru University， Rizwan not onlystudied Chinese， but also learned almost everything related to China，including Chinese literature， culture， and history， as well as computerscience， advanced English， and international history. In 1998， Rizwanfinished his post graduate degree and passed the overseas study scholarshiptest， sponsored by the Indian government. This is an India-Chinacultural exchange program organized by the Chinese ScholarshipCouncil in collaboration with the Indian Department of Education. Thenext year， Rizwan came to China and studied Advance Chinese Languageat Beijing Language and Culture University. Actually， Rizwanhad already mastered Chinese quite well in listening， reading and writingduring his five years of study in India. His only shortcoming washis speaking ability. But one year at Beijing Language and CulturalUniversity helped him to make great progress in speaking.
