Amit Shah, chairman of matrimonial program addressing the gathering at gala dinner

America are becoming less and less common. Guajarati Samaj of Atlanta appreciated the need to bring all young Gujaratis on a common platform symbolic of their language, heritage and culture. Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta decided to offer a unique forum for the eligible Gujarati youths in the 21-35 age groups to identify their prospective life partners in an informal atmosphere. The outcome was the first All Gujarati Hindu Matrimonial Convention held during 2005.

Elaborate planning by the volunteers started 10 weeks ahead of the event. There was no on-site registration and participants had to necessarily register online prior to August 15. A web site was created specially for this purpose. Admission was by advance registration with a payment of $ 100. All the initial hard work was well rewarded when more than 150 candidates registered for the 2008 convention.


On the night of August 22, the group leaders and participants met and set the stage for the casino night, which was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all. The newly introduced concept of icebreakers was a welcome relief to all the participants. The participants arrived early morning on August 23 the second day of the convention. As planned, they completed their first meeting in the morning. Following the lunch-break, there was one-to-one meeting with their short-listed probable. The entire program was exclusively meant for the young and eligible participants and was conducted by the young volunteers. There were also two successfully married couples from the previous convention to motivate and inspire confidence in all the participants.

The August 23 gala dinner with participants, their guardians and local Gujarati Samaj members was a fitting finale with Rax D’Souza and his musical group playing before a gathering of more than 500 people.

Mahesh Patel, explained the procedure to be followed by each of the prospective candidates. Addressing the gathering at the gala banquet, Amit Shah, chairman of the matrimonial program,

stressed the need for such events. He thanked all the office-bearers of Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta, their team members, and volunteers, who contributed to the success of the event. He said, “I sincerely salute them for their farsightedness and their dedication and devotion. I am very proud that we could organize this novel, unique yet essentially needed program.” He emphasized the necessity for more such novel programs to help the youth find their life partners. He also promised to continue this program as Gujarati Samaj’s regular event, and add some more new features next year.

When contacted some participants told  that the convention was well organized. “We were able to meet and mingle with people at the convention. We met with other participants for 10 minutes. Convention is a great way to meet nice people from various cities at one place.”

Amit Shah said  “The 2008 All Gujarati Hindu Matrimonial Convention is one of the best events of Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta. It regularly organizes events for the Gujarati community. But since last three years matrimonial convention has become a signature event. After our first event in 2005, we felt this is much-needed program to help our youth. I am thankful that community associations and businesses are supporting this event. We expected to get 70 candidates, but we got more than 150 candidates.”