The vibes between India and China over Aruna­chal Pradesh may be cold, but there’s one corner in Kolkata that’s warming up relations between the two countries. A cosy Chinese Corner has come up in Kolkata, courtesy Chini Adda, an initiative of ‘The School of Chinese Langu­age, with active assistance of the consul general of the People’s Republic of China.

Home to the only China Town outside mainland Ch­ina, the city’s China connection is well known. But Chini Adda or The Chinese Corner (a regular informal get-together where people only speak in Mandarin) is a recent initiative to create an informal and popular platform for the people of India and China to understand each other, Madan Saraff, founder of The School of Chinese Language, told Financial Chronicle.

“It always helps to do business with China if you know the language, its culture, history and rituals,” said Saraff.

And interestingly, the number of students taking up various short-term and long-term courses at the institute and participating in initiatives such as Chini Adda is on the rise. “We are getting a good response from the business community. As many as 170 candidates have already finished short-term courses and nearly 75 are pursuing the express business class course. The largest group is from the business community, which wants to strengthen bonding with their Chinese counterparts,” said Saraff.

Mao Siwei, consul general, of the People’s Republic of China in Kolkata, said, “The school is an endeavour to usher in harmony between the people of India and China. This is what we mean in China when we say ‘We are in you and you are in us’.”

The new initiative is fast emerging as a platform for practicing Chinese language, the absence of which was significantly felt by many students of Mandarin and by those in Kolkata who are interested in the country, its language, culture, history and its people. It is also coming in handy for the rising number of Chinese companies setting up shop in India, and Kolkata in particular, to hire people.

Beginners from other institutions (which teach Chinese language) such as Calcutta University, Visva Bharati University, Ramakrishna Mission School of Languages also participate in the Chini Adda, which provides a comfortable an informal platform to those interested in China, its language and culture.

Saraff said that a number of schools had evinced interest in jointly introduc­ing Chinese language cou­rses from class IX onwards.