Thousands of miles away from their home state, Gujaratis in the Tristate area celebrated Gujarat Day at the Indian Consulate May 2, reminiscing the birth of the state that was officially created May 1, 1960.
In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, a patriotic fervor tinged with a bit of nostalgia seemed to be infectious among the 100-odd people, who had gathered for the celebration in the spacious ballroom of the consulate. The guests greeted each other with “Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat”, meaning hail to Gujarat, as they readied for the beginning of the event which started with ceremonial lighting of lamps by Consul General Riva Ganguly Das.
Several community elders spoke about how the state has prospered over the decades and how its economic development was spurred by Narendra Modi when he was the state’s chief minister. They also talked about the business enterprise of Gujaratis, who have settled in many parts of the world, including in the United States, and have made a mark for themselves.
“There are more than 60 million Gujaratis in India, America, and in all the seven continents, except perhaps on the moon and the mars, but someday that too could be a reality,” Sudhir Parikh, publisher of Desi Talk and a Padma Shri award winner, said in a jocular vein.
“The ancient Greeks and Romans went to war to establish empires. The modern Europeans went abroad to create colonies to exploit but Gujaratis went abroad to create wealth to enrich themselves and to enrich the societies and countries they made their homes all over the world,” he said.
The 56th Gujarat Day was also addressed by others, including H.R. Shah, chairman of TV Asia, Ramesh Patel, FIA chairman, Navin Mehta of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, as well as Sunil Naik, Raj Bhayani, Kajal Oza Vaidya, Peter Kothari and Kenny Desai. Ganguly Das also addressed the gathering, praising Gujarat and the Gujarati community in the U.S. and across the world for their hard work and dedication to public service and entrepreneurship. The consul general noted that Gujarat has given great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel who sacrificed their lives for freedom and betterment of the country.
Ramesh Patel, who reminisced about the early days of Gujarat, said that he was excited to see Gujaratis and non-Gujaratis as well at the event to celebrate Gujarat Day.
The guests’ pride in Gujarat was manifest in Dr. Parikh’s address. He said that globalization was started some 5,000 years ago when the world’s first seaport was built in Lothal in what is part of today’s Gujarat, during the time of the Indus Valley Civilization.
“Our arrival in America is perhaps the climax of our migratory history, where we excel in every field of human endeavor, not just in business and trade, for which we have been known for centuries, but in all intellectual, scientific, technological, legal, medical and cultural arenas And we remain a model minority within the larger minority of Indians and South Asians,” he said.
Earlier, a video message from Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel was played was shown. A cultural program was also conducted by community groups, including Arya Dance Company and India Performing Arts.
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