Sunday, May 08, 2011

“India Unveiled” in Mobile, Alabama

By Pawan Agrawal

It was Good Friday and IAGM organized the presentation of the book “India Unveiled” by the author of the book Robert Arnett.  Being Good Friday, there were two possibilities - either there will be a good turnout for the event or a disappointing one.

Well, did the audience enjoy the presentation and was it informative? Did it or did it not increase the awareness about India? Read on to find out.

The program was well publicized by Pravasi Herald, University of South Alabama, Mobile Chamber of Commerce, Mobile International Festival, IAGM members and word of mouth. The presentation was being held at USA Humanities building and schedule to begin at 6pm. The author was driving from Columbus and was to arrive at 4pm. We did not hear from him until 4.30pm but he arrived at 5 pm. This was the first sigh of relief. Mobile County Commissioner Mike Dean was one of the first people to arrive and then I saw Estella Dorn and few of the other members from Mobile International Festival. In fact, a student from the USA was there at 5pm itself.

There were only a few people from the Indian Community; the time was now 6pm. I took to the microphone and bought some time by joking about how IST (Indian Standard Time) is infamously known as Indian Stretchable Time and the program will in start in a few minutes.  Slowly people started showing up and in the next 15 minutes, there were about 75 people. The program started at 6.15 pm and the end of the program there were about 150 people. Was the program successful? Let me tell the audience of Pravasi Herald about the program and you be the judge. 

The program started with my welcoming of the audience and the author.  One of the members of IAGM Mr. Madhu Chillukuri, a close friend of the author as he was also previously from Columbus gave a great introduction of the author. The author had travelled to India extensively multiple times over a period of multiple years.  The author travelled the entire length and breadth of the country and stayed at individual houses to learn the most intricate detail of the rich culture and tradition of India.

The author’s slides were only pictures and no letters - great pictures with intricate details and clarity and lots of them. It felt as if you have been to those places yourself.  A lot of the members could recognize and associate themselves with those places as either they were from that place or that they had visited the place. The presentation was progressing very lively with a lot of interaction from the audience.  The author compared Hinduism with Christianity and bought out the similarities between the two religions.

This would be a great experience and information database at the back of the brain of our young teenagers, as they interact with the American friends and explain the similarity and commonness between the two cultures and religions. What I took home from the presentation was that striking similarity between “AUM” in Hinduism and “AMEN” in Christianity.

IAGM Community had earlier collected funds for the Japan Earthquake Relief fund and a check for $2,500 was presented to the Mobile City at the event. The presentation concluded at about 8pm with a vote of thanks from Mr. .Mahesh Batavia. It was followed by Indian snacks of Hot Chai and Vegetable Pakodas with Indian Cookie.  

You are now about to read the event from the eyes and mind Ashwin Betala, a 9^th Grader from UMS Wright in Mobile.

“On April 22, 2011, Mr. Robert Arnett was invited by the Indian Association of Greater Mobile and the Indian Student Association to present his book—India Unveiled. The event was free to the public and was well attended by several members of the Indian community and the faculty and students of the University of South Alabama Professors and City Councilman-Mr. Dean.

Mr. Arnett had a slide show of his photographs taken on his numerous trips to India and gave a very enlightening talk about his experiences in India. He travelled extensively in India over a total   period of two years during his several trips. He is the author of India Unveiled, and other books as well. Mr. Arnett spoke about how India is a beautiful country, despite its overpopulation and diseases. He spoke about how magnificent the architecture of India is and   about the people and the rich culture. He spent a lot of time with several Indian families and closely observed and appreciated the religious beliefs and customs of all the different states of the vast country.

He talked about the four major religions of India: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and how deeply devoted people are there. Mr. Arnett also showed how all the different world religions are connected. His visit across India was phenomenal, and I am honored he has presented it to us.

During his speech, he presented beautiful pictures from his trips to   India. Mr. Arnett showed us places in India where even the poorest of people maintained faith in their religion. He showed us religious ceremonies, such as special bathing in the Ganges River and the Kumbha Mela. Mr. Arnett presented pictures of people from exotic cultures in India. He showed us the major places where people in India worship.

This was a very interesting talk and I was amazed by his knowledge of India. I am truly impressed by his journey across India, and his photos from the trip. It was nice to see a westerner who knew so much about India, its culture, and its history. I am looking forward to listening to him again.”

If someone is reading this line then he has read the article and has now come to some opinion in his/her mind if the event was a success, at least he/she would understand the anxiety that an amateur organizer has. Sayonara and hope to come in touch with the readers of Pravasi Herald at the next event write up of IAGM .

Taking leave from your precious time, this is Pawan Agrawal President of IAGM.

 

Copyright 2009-2012 Pravasi Herald All Rights Reserved