CHICAGO: In an extra-ordinary session of the Regional Executive Committee of the AAHOA held at Indo American Center in Chicago, Regional Director Sunny Gabhawalla lamented the fact that certain elements at the highest level in AAHOA are trying to dump Chicago as the venue for 2008 Convention and are canvassing for holding it in San Antonio, Texas.

This, he insisted, was being done in spite of the earlier decision to hold this prestigious Convention in Chicago. He feared that in the forthcoming meeting of the AAHOA Board of Directors, there will be a move from the Board of Directors to approve the change of the venue of 2008 Convention, and said that "we are determined to fight it."The news, Gabhawalla, further stated "has taken the members of the Midwest region of AAHOA by surprise."

Midwest Regional Committee headed by Gabhawalla and members attending this special meeting were unanimous in their displeasure at this unwanted and conspiratorial action by the Executive Committee and most have alleged that AAHOA Chairman, Danny Patel for his personal and political reasons, might have engineered this. The action has been viewed by most of the local members as creating a division in this powerful organization, which had begun to influence the local and national legislative activities, especially in the hospitality industry.

If this schism hurts the unity of AAHOA, it would be a bad development not only for AAHOA, but also for the entire Indian American Diaspora. This was the belief shared by most of the members. A letter written by Babu Patel, a member from the region, to the Chairman of the AAHOA, and circulated among the members, has argued that cancellation of this convention in Chicago would not only deprive the organization of an opportunity to host this event in one of the most sought after cities but also open up for liquidated damages running into hundreds of thousand dollars, which was not at all conducive to the promotion of the objectives of the AAHOA.

Sunny Gabhawalla mentioned that Chicago was never given an opportunity to hold an annual AAHOA convention for the past 17 years. It was after a thorough study and consideration that the earlier Board had taken a decision to hold the 2008 convention in Chicago, but now after significant amount of spadework moving the venue to San Antonio was not at all a welcome idea.

Pointing out the advantages of holding the convention in Rosemont Convention Center, Gabhawalla, the regional Director of AAHOA emphatically expressed that there was nothing inferior about holding the convention in Chicago, one of the premier cities and most favored destinations for an event like this. He said that the management of the Rosemont had extended many concessions and services including free parking, attached kitchen, high-ceiling convention halls besides a very competitive breakfast, lunch and dinner service.

Added to these, he said that the Rosemont Management would extend a free complimentary pre-convention reception to all the guests. As one of the largest facilities of its kind in the country, Gabhawalla said that the center would easily accommodate for the full contingent of the guests, as some of the largest meeting were held in this facility including JAINA and other organizations where the congregations were more than 3500.

Gabhawalla further stated that by holding the convention at Rosemont Center, AAHOA would make a net profit of over $1million, which could be passed on to the members during the 2009 convention. It was fervently hoped by the members and regional executive committee that an impassioned and just consideration would be given to the predetermined plan to hold the 2008 Convention in Chicago for this would not cause any loss or decrease the prestige of the AAHOA, but would strengthen an already powerful organization to add to its stature.

Growing organizations needs unity and unanimity of opinions, for any lack of it could prove highly divisive and weaken the foundation and could prove catastrophic to the further growth of the organization. Wisdom demands better counsel and balanced decision for the benefit of the organization, not individuals. Besides Gabhawalla and Babu Patel, other distinguished members of the region were present including Manubhai Patel, Kalpesh Joshi, PC Shah, Ken Patel, Rohit Maniar, Harish Shah and FIA Chief Iftekhar Shareef.