By Mahadev Desai
On Saturday, August 13, the Indian community of Atlanta thronged
to the Gwinnett Civic Center for the 9th Festival of India (FOI)
extravaganza, with the theme, “India Unveiled”, organized by the
India American Cultural Association (IACA) of Atlanta and by
over 30 supporting community organizations. The day-long
celebrations included cultural shows, informative and
educational seminars, a fashion show, a visa camp, a health
fair, youth activities, kids corner, a festive mela (fair) with
the ambience of an Indian bazaar, with business exhibits,
non-profit organizations, corporate booths and mouth watering
food. In view of the rich variety of items for presentation, the
organizers decided to stagger the program, offering the
‘Cultural extravaganza, India Unveiled on following Saturday,
August 20, and Freedom Run/ Walk on Saturday, August 27.
Josephine Tan, Commissioner
appointed by Gov. Perdue, addressing FOI audience
Tushar Sanghvi, President IACA, said that the first FOI was held
in 1997 to mark 50th anniversary of India’s Independence.
Indians have been coming to the US since 1790. The number went
up significantly since the Immigration Act of 1965. When he came
to the US, there were hardly four thousands Indians in Atlanta
but now there are more than fifty thousand Indians in varied
professions, academic institutions, and in diverse businesses.
One of the main segments in the festivities was a series of
seminars held jointly by IACA and Georgia Indo-American Chamber
of Commerce (GIACC). Chand Akkineni, inaugurated the Seminar
saying, “As a Board member of GIACC, I would like to invite
P.R.Subramanian, the GIACC Vice President and the Seminar
Chairman, to introduce the guest-speaker, Dr.Subramanian Swamy.
P.R. Subramanian said that Dr Subramanian Swamy is a Harvard
educated eminent Economics scholar, a member of India
Parliament, a prolific author, and a China expert (he visits
China frequently) and a visiting Professor of Economics at
Harvard University. In his keynote address on Fundamentals of
India’s Renaissance, the captivating Speaker Dr.Swamy began by
congratulating IACA and GIACC for organizing the FOI year after
year to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of
India. He followed this with his far ranging talk covering
India’s past, present and future. At the advent of 21st Century,
India is garnering lot of media attention because it is showing
great promise of becoming a developed country. It has a grand
past. It is undergoing a great deal of churning and has a
glorious future as a unique country with vibrant democracy,
intellectual and economic power. With the help of PowerPoint
presentation, he said India is well placed in four key important
areas; Information technology; biotech; pharmaceuticals; and new
energy technology. Big international Corporations are not only
outsourcing their work but also research and development (R&D)
to India in preference to China. More than 100 global
Corporations have established R&D Centers in India during last
five years because they get highest intellectual capital per
dollar there.21st Century will be knowledge based and knowledge
driven so R&D work is very crucial. Unfortunately India’s R&D
budget, compared to Japan or US is woefully small. Business &
Process outsourcing (BPO) is another big revenue source. Export
revenue from IT and IT related work is expected to cross over
$25 billion and BPO will generate about $7 billion in 2005. He
alluded to world renowned IITs. Incidentally he taught at IIT,
New Delhi. At the recent gathering of IIT alumnus it was proudly
asserted that IIT=Harvard+MIT+Princeton. IIT has the highest
standards of integrity and discipline in its administration,
training and examinations. He complimented NRIs for their
stupendous progress in all walks of life in the US. NRIs also
played a big role in uplifting of the Emergency in India. India
is also excelling in fashion shows and beauty contests. Some
politicians condemn these in public, but attend in private (he
quipped!) Switching to the past, he highlighted some of the
achievements in India, like the number system, digit zero, yoga,
chess, calculus, algebra, ayurveda among others. He mentioned
names of world acclaimed scientists, mathematicians, and Nobel
Prize winners like Ramanujan, C.V.Raman, Jagdishchandra Bose,
and Gurudev Tagore, to name a few. He mentioned profundity of
Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata and names of various Gods
and Goddesses. He stressed the importance of Sanskrit. It is the
mother of all higher languages. There is a language galore in
India but they all have Sanskrit words in them. It is a core
language and most precise language, he said. Many schools in
India are now teaching Sanskrit. Summing up, he exhorted the
audience to know the right history. There have been many
attempts to distort history and portray negative image of India.
Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, M.P.
inaugurating FOI 2005.
India is a secular country but secularism has to be a two way
street. When minority is in trouble, majority must speak up.
Likewise, when majority is in trouble, minority must speak up.
India is one. One must not forget that Indian of whatever
faith-99.9% are descendants of Indians. Dr. Swamy’s hour long
insightful talk ended with much to ponder. C.N.Madhusudan,
Chairman,GIACC, thanked Dr. Swamy for his insightful talk. The
discussion on India Unveiled, by members of Panel, Dr Behruz
Sethna and Dr Cedric Suzman moderated by Robert Arnett dealt on
the similarities and challenges facing the two largest
democracies. The panelists Dr. Penelope Prime,Dr. John Graver
and Dr. Jagdish Sheth, for the topic, The Power Triad dealing
with the subject, Exploring emerging China-India-US
relationships and global impact, skillfully moderated by C N
Madhusudan, discussed at length the possible permutations in the
Triad equations in the context of respective domestic, economic
and foreign policies and security concerns. The panel of
Dr.Laurie Patton, Dr. Rashid Naim and Dr. Tara Doyle,moderated
by Dr Lawrence Carter, on Role of Religion in contemporary India
emphasized the need for Pragmatic Active Pluralism in order to
counter the outbursts of communal violence. The Art of Living
Foundation and Raksha put up a demonstration and youth events
respectively, and Dr. Uma Majumdar’s talk on Gandhi’s Pilgrimage
to Faith was well attended and received.
Commenting about the Culture program, the indefatigable, modest
Kala Subramanian, FOI Cultural Coordinator and IACA Board
Member, said “In consonance with FOI theme of ‘India Unveiled’,
the cultural event unveiled the mystics in various forms of
cultural and artistic expressions through dance and music in a
packed hall. The program began with music played by Tarang
Orchestra Youth group, followed by religious and film songs
(both in Hindi and regional) by the Tarang group artists from
South Carolina. Lalita Das, a PhD student from South Carolina
performed a scintillating Bharatnatyam dance. The rich fare
included Garba, Bollywood dances and songs, dances to Hindi
remixes, folk dances, and mimicry. The Fashion Show, Brides and
Grooms of India, showcased colorful wedding attires of more than
13 states of India. Last but not the least was the Antakshari
hosted by Vaibhav Sathe who kept both the audience and the
participants on their toes with his questions. The event
thoroughly entertained the audience of all ages and helped the
budding Indian Americans to showcase their talents and to
joyously celebrate the Indian independence.” In the nearby room,
the Children were entertained with face painting, magic show,
and other interesting activities.
Gandhi Foundation booth: Dr.Uma Majmudar, Giriraj Rao and Vinita
Thaper
People started queuing for the visa camp organized by the India
Consulate in Houston, as soon as it opened. Many people availed
of this personalized service which saved them from the anxiety
of long drawn process of corresponding with the Embassy by mail.
As in previous years, the Health Fair was well attended. Dr.
Naresh Parikh said he was happy with the turnout, and thanked
all the physicians, nurses and volunteers who devoted their
their services.
The India-American Scholarship booth manned by dedicated Dr.
Suvrat Bhargave and colleagues was right near the spectacular
gate near the entrance. Across from the IASF booth, Dr. Robert
Arnett, the author of award winning travel book India Unveiled
and illustrated, children’s book Finders, keepers? was busy
signing and selling his books. Further up, the eye-catching
booth of Ribha Event Planners and Kirti Photography, displayed
an artistic mandap, bridal decorations, wedding photos and other
accessories. Myriad booths filled the exhibition hall. From
those seeking to invest in India, to those on a spiritual quest
there were booths for just about everything. There were the
staple, such as the traditional to trendy clothing, designer
sarees, ethnic clothing and jewelry. ‘Taj Mahal beckons!”
statuettes of Indian Gods and Goddesses, painting and framed
prints of scenes from Indian epics to colorful people of
Rajasthan, and other artifacts. Many visitors were seen reading
the informative posters highlighting impressive achievements and
accomplishments of India and acclaimed Indians were mounted on
panels. Atlanta’s highly respected and accomplished author,
speaker and Professor of Religion at Emory University promoted
and signed her book, Gandhi’s Pilgrimage of Faith: From Darkness
to Light, at the Gandhi Foundation of USA (GFUSA) booth. The
Executive Director of GFUSA, GiriRaj Rao said, “It was nice that
we could share the booth with Dr Uma Majmudar. Her presence in
the booth has been a magnet for many visitors including veteran
journalist Sheila Poole of Atlanta Journal Constitution; Swami
Yogeshananda, Vedanta Center of Atlanta; Prashant Shah, the
publisher and managing editor of India Tribune; Parthiv Parekh,
Editor of Atlanta’s highly popular Khabar magazine; and youth
members of the India Development Group. The booth helped promote
the awareness of the activities and mission of the GFUSA. I wish
to thank GFUSA members Antony Thaliath, Jacob Ampat and Youth
Group volunteer Vinita Thaper for helping manning the booth and
to congratulate IACA for organizing the FOI in veneration of the
Independence Day of India.”
More than a dozen restaurants did brisk business serving
scrumptious specialties to the festival-goers.
The Festival of India, which began in 1997under long-serving
IACA Board Directors Chand Akkineni, Ani Agnihotri, and Paddy
Sharma, has now become a much anticipated and appreciated annual
event, show casing the culture and heritage of India to
Atlanta’s fast growing young Indian generation as well as to the
mainstream communities.
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