CHICAGO: Members of the Gujarati community in Chicago land at large – Gujarati Samuday & Vishwa Gujarati Samaj – pulled together to celebrate Gujarat Day (Gujarat Diwas) commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Gujarat State coming into being as part of Indian Union way back in 1960 .
Attended by a cross section of Indian community members – Gujaratis and non Gujaratis – numbering over 400 at Manav Seva Mandir in Bensenville (a Chicago suburb) last week, the event turned out to be a huge success besides being unique in that the lead organizers deemed it fit to raise funds also for the recent earthquake victims in Nepal.
“This was an impromptu decision as we thought the right way of celebrating would be to share our joyous feelings by getting some cheer in the life of those who were helpless before the fury of nature. We made a strong pitch from the podium to donate funds for the victims and their families,” said Dr Bharat Barai, a community activist and a lead organizer of the event.
Bina Patel of Vishwa Gujarati Samaj acted as emcee and she did a wonderful job exhorting all those present to donate whatever they consider fit for a really good cause. Her appeal did not go in vain and donations in small and big amount kept on trickling in throughout the two hours session and. As put by Dr Barai “we could raise about $6000 without much effort.” The lead was taken by Manav Seva Mandir , a no profit socio religions organization that announced a donation of $1000.
Interestingly, there were no overhead costs involved for Gujarat Day or for the fundraiser. The total amount raised will be made over to Sewa International and the Nepal Association Chicago, said Dr Barai. The organizers had earlier succeeded in inducing a few Gujarati and non Gujarati community leaders to help them to meet expenses. Amrit Mittal, Barai famiy ,Chhotalal Patel, Dr Manish Brahmbhat, Mafat Patel and MedStar Group volunteered to shoulder much of the burden.
The MedSat Group founded by Naren Patel, a community leader was the President of Vishwa Gujarati Samaj USA that had celebrated Gujarat day last year. Naren Patel died three months ago and the MedStar Group decided to underwrite the food bill this time in his memory. The Group was represented by his family members – Smt Sumitraben, Neal, Raj and Sonal Patel.
The Nepali community was represented by one of its leaders Vishnu Prasad who joined Dr Barai, Bina Patel and Chhotalal Patel in appealing for relief funds. The event started with Chhotalal Patel welcoming the guests and Bina Patel announcing that there would be a live televised broadcast of a speech by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
A former teacher and a front tanking politician in Gujarat, Anandiben in her half an hour speech highlighted the achievements of the Gujarat government during her reign of about a year. She said that the State has made progress in health care, education, industrial development and striking relations and good rapport with the people though organizing one- to-one based meets at village and taluka levels. She also listed the daunting problems facing the people and the State and detailed her ideas to address them.
From the viewpoint of NRIs and NRGs the most interesting point was her ardent appeal to come to Gujarat for investment and its industrial progress. She said that alround efforts are made to cut down red tape and introduce one window clearance for their applications. The consensus at the meet was that Anandiben is a devoted leader and that the Gujarat State has made progress under her leadership.
The meet ended with Nirav Patel, a young community activist, proposing a vote of thanks and inviting lead volunteers to come on the stage for acknowledging their support. He thanked members of the Gujarati and non-Gujarati community for their presence and support.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
