By Shobanee Muratee
Indians turned out in droves to enjoy the cultural entertainment, formal addresses and good food at the 55th Republic Day celebration at the Mahatma Gandhi Community Center Sunday January 25. The next day, Consul General of India Skand Tayal hosted a more intimate gathering at his residence in the Memorial area.
US Congressman Nick Lampson and Texas Secretary of State Geoffrey S. Connor joined the Consul General on Republic Day, January 26, to pay homage to the world’s largest democracy. Tayal praised the United States’ sacrifice of “the blood of its sons and daughters” to promote democracy throughout the world, and remarking on the steadfast commitment of India’s one billion to “the democratic values and norms.” Tayal lauded India’s agricultural successes and higher education system, and paid special homage to Specialist Soldier Uday Singh of the United States Army, “who laid down his life on 1 December while fighting in Iraq supporting ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’”
Over 3,000 people gathered at India Fair 2004, organized by India Culture Center (ICC) in collaboration with the office of the Indian Consulate and other major Indian American organizations of Bayou City.
A tribute to the seven-member crew of the Columbia Space Shuttle who lost their lives in the nation’s biggest tragedy on Feb. 1, 2003, highlighted the event. Tayal gave an address honoring Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian American woman to go to space, and the other heroes who sacrifice their lives for the country. “The cup of victory was so close to India,” recalled Tayal, “but even in her tragic demise, she brought glory to India and the Indian community here in America.” The audience especially enjoyed ‘Guldasta’ (bouquet), an hour-long poetic tribute to Chawla and homeland India. Zafar Taqvi coordinated the program, which was rendered in Hindi, Urdu and Tamil. Painting competition and essay competitions were held with ‘Space Mission’ as the theme. The elected officials and dignitaries who graced the occasion also paid their tribute to the fallen heroes. Special guest Jean Pierre Harrison, Kalpana Chawla’s husband was unable to make it to the event.
The India Consulate General office provided photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and a series of photographs taken from Columbia space shuttle, as well as a videotape of the subject and a poster for display during the celebrations.
The daylong program was in three parts. The first part was a cultural variety program featuring India’s classical, semi-classical, folk and other forms of art. The children representing Arya Samaj of Greater Houston presented an absorbing ballad on India’s freedom struggle. The multi-talented Neha Gupta, Miss India Texas, gave a brilliant dance performance. Other local dance groups also participated in the program.
The second part of the program consisted of speeches of several local luminaries. The formal part of the program began with a flag ceremony as the national anthems of India, the world’s largest democracy, and the United States, the world’s oldest democracy, were played. In addition to Consul General of India Skand Tayal, the grand patron of the event, speeches were given by U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, U.S. Congressmen Nick Lampson, Chris Bell, and newly elected Mayor of Houston Bill White, who received a warm welcome and a standing ovation. Mayor of Sugar Land David Wallace and Mayor of Missouri City Allen Owens, Councilwoman Shelly Sakula Gibbs and Councilman Ronald Green also graced the occasion.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lauded Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his peace efforts towards Pakistan. She assured that she would represent his work and leadership in Washington and make sure that he was well recognized.
Nick Lampson said that the contributions of India and the Indian community to the United States dated back to the days of Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. who drew his inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi.
“We are so much richer when we learn from other cultures,” he said. He urged everyone to not only to support but also be a part of voluntary and non-profit organizations. Lampson is a cherished friend of the Indian community and plays a very active role as a member of the Indian caucus. “We live in a great international city,” Congressman Chris Bell said of Houston. He emphasized that it was very important to continue to promote our culture. “Don’t ever forget that this diversity is what makes the United States and the State of Texas a melting pot,” he said.
Earlier, while welcoming the august gathering, Ramesh Cherivirala, president of the India Culture Center said, “ICC has been going through many transitions. With the rapid growth of our community, the organizations have also grown exponentially. As a youngest president of ICC, I would take this challenge to bring all the organizations to one platform.”
The ICC is the oldest organization for all of Indians in the Greater Houston area, with a track record of over thirty years. Introducing the board of directors, Cherivirala said that currently the ICC had over 50% of younger generation with a highly technical background as its board members. He recognized past president Lachhman Das for his leadership and service to ICC for two terms. “Mr. Das has worked extensively hard to give a shape to the India House council to bring ICC’s dream of building India House. Under his leadership only, we got the place at Hermann Park to install Mahatma Gandhi Statue,” Cherivirala added.
The work of Mr. Krishna Vavilala on the Mahatma Gandhi Statue Project was praised by the new president of ICC. “He has taken the Gandhi Statue portrait to each and every community organization to raise the funds,” he told the audience. Introduced were last year’s Treasurer and Director Harshad Patel and Secretary Raju John, along with directors, Harinath Medi, Event Chair; Amit Kataria, Event Co-Chair; Vale Subramanium, President-elect; Shobana Muratee, Secretary; Kesava Babu Chakka, Treasurer; Raj Dutta and Bangaru Reddy, who is working on innovative ways to boost the ICC membership. Cherivirala also recognized the leadership of ICC’s affiliated organizations who have been very supportive of ICC, including Keshu Patel, representative of BAPS; Shoukath Khan, president, AFMI; Padmakanth Mehta, Indian Senior Citizens Association and Prakash Patel, President of Gujarati Samaj of Houston who had helped in providing the best of facilities at the Mahatma Gandhi Center.
An Indian-born Jew of Israeli decent, now a resident of Houston, the internationally-acclaimed artist BenTzion Jacob received high praise for his contribution to the souvenir cover artwork, which depicts a series of space mission abstract images.
In his address event Chair Harinath Medi said that he was overwhelmed with the response of the people.
Emcee Ashwariaya Iyer conducted the formal part of the program and also rendered the American National Anthem in her melodious voice.