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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.
The festival was inaugurated by Chand Akkineni, who, on behalf of IACA and FOI, welcomed
the guests. 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. 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 cultural 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.
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 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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