World Gujarati Conference celebrates Gujarat's contribution to the world

Multimedia dance ballet choreographed by Miki Patel and Kalpesh Dalal.

With more than 50 per cent of the hotels in US owned by Gujaratis, every second diamond of the world polished in Surat, billionaires Ambanis, Premji, Tatas, Adanis and leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi hailing from the state, which was also entry point to India through its ports for years together, Gujarat's contribution to the world has been immense.

And to celebrate this very contribution of Gujarati language, culture, heritage, art, history, enterprise and people in all its grandeur, in a biggest gathering outside India, more than 30,000 Gujaratis converged at the Raritan Expo Center in Edison over three days for the second World Gujarati Conference Chaalo Gujarat 2008 during the Labor Day weekend.
High-voltage stage shows, speeches by globally known Gujaratis such as economist Dr.Jagdish Bhagwati and Telecom Man of India, Sam Pitroda, presence of eminent Gujarati artists from the field of dance and music, interactive seminars, multimedia presentations, property show by Gujarat Institute of Housing & Estate Developers (GIHED) – the lineup promised three days of action-packed events.
The conference was declared open after customary lighting of lamp by invited dignitaries which included Saurabh Patel, State Minister of Energy and Petrochemicals, Shaktisinh Gohil, Opposition leader of Congress, Shekhar Patel, president of GIHED and Swami Adhyatmanandji, among others.
"We have all that takes to make Gujarat a model state in India," said Dr.Jagdish Bhagwati, the keynote speaker, echoing the sentiment shared by a huge number of Gujaratis present there. "Our kids need to be reminded that Gujarat is moving to arts and science too from commerce and industry," he added.
An icing on the cake was the official proclamation by the New Jersey Governor Jon S Corzine who declared August 29 as Gujarati Day.
With the focus on educating young NRGs, a multi-screen feature film highlighted the historic past and glistening present of Gujarat on the inaugural day. A story of an NRG boy - whom the young crowd could relate to - who learns about his roots by visiting Gujarat and a multi-media dance ballet put together by Miki Patel and Kalpesh Dalal had the audience captivated.
The day ended with 14 Gujarati singers from veterans Purshottam Upadhyay, Ashit and Hema Desai and Sanjay Oza to new comers Aishwarya Majmudar and Mauli Dave, getting together for the first time on a stage outside India for performances which left the crowd asking for more.
The day two set open several seminars which went on parallel to the events in the main hall. Gujarat darshan from antariksh – a virtual space tour of the state arranged specially by Dr.Kamlesh Lulla from NASA generated a lot of interest among the attendees.
Sam Pitroda, Chairman of National Knowledge Commission and Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister were conferred Global Gujarati Achiever Awards.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was denied visa by the US government in 2005, addressed the crowd via videoconference. He requested the NRGs to send emails to PM Manmohan Singh to approve the GujCoc Bill in order to bring the perpetuators of terrorist crimes to justice.
Despite 10,000 attendees per day, the scene at the food court was quite well organized for all along. 40 chefs from Rajwadu restaurant in Ahmedabad and New Jersey prepared authentic Gujarati cuisine for the crowd from sev-tameta nu shak, bajra rotla and ghee-gol to churma ladoo and surti ghari.
The second day had its generous dose of entertainment events for all age groups. While Parthiv Gohil and Aishwarya Majmudar left the audiences mesmerized with their electrifying performances, trio – Pankaj, Manhar and Nirmal Udhas performed on the same stage under the theme – tran mausam. Manhar connected instantly with the audience when he rendered his popular Bollywood songs – 'hum tumhe chahte hai' from Qurbani and 'har kisiko nahi milta' from Janbaaz while walking through them.
The day ended, well next morning at 4 am, with a dayro – a folk form by globally acclaimed folk artist Bhikudan Gadhavi.
The last day of the conference had line up of some interesting programs from shayri ni antakshari – a shayri competition involving renowned Gujarati poets and ghazal writers, glimpses of juni rangbhoomi- old form of Gujarati theatre, dance performance by differently-abled girls from Manthan Apang Kanya Seva Sankul, Gandhinagar as well as seminars.
The seminars titled 'Challenges faced by professional Gujarati women,' 'Gujarati family dynamics and marital problems,' 'How do you get financing for your new venture,' and 'How to be a successful entrepreneur' were an instant hit with the crowd.
It was a huge effort put together by the team of Association of Indian Americans in North America (AIANA) and its president Sunil Nayak made it a point to present his team - the "unsung heroes" - to the audience. "It's generally Sunil Nayak who features as the face of AIANA. I want everyone to acknowledge the hard work of all team members who have been the pillars of our success," said Nayak.

By Hiral Dholakia-Dave