CHICAGO: Consul Generals (CGs) for India may come and go after the end of their terms but not all leave their mark or impressions behind. And only a few carve out a small place in the hearts of community members they serve here.
The Indian Consul General designated Ambassador Dr Ausaf Sayeed has done both by his sagacity, sincerity of purpose and hard work not only with the members of Indian community here but even with mainstream Americans too.
To his credit there are many firsts to his credit besides leaving a legacy for his successors to work on for doing one better for the country they represent as also for the bilateral India-US relationship. Dr. Sayeed endeared himself with the Chicago Indian community a lot and this has been reflected in a number of send off parties that he attended and addressed before his term finally ended January this year.
In a talk with India Post in his office, Dr Sayeed said that one of the hugely satisfying things that he has addressed successfully to a great extent is to streamline the functioning of his Consulate and make officials more easily accessible to the general public to address and resolve their problems relating to visa, PIO-OCI cards passports, relevant documents and other small and big things. He kept up the tradition of reaching out to the community by hosting visa passport camps in Midwest states as well.
The Indian CG was quick to realize the huge contributions that the people of Indian origin were making an all walks of life – investment, trade business, medicine IT sector, education research, culture etc. – and the resultant huge rapport they have established with the US law makers at different levels – local, State and Federal. And he was never lax in tapping this resource to the fullest extent possible for improving Indo US ties and cooperation
It was one of his meets with the Indiana Governor Pence that a suggestion was thrown at his feet by the Governor, now the Vice President of USA, for establishing ‘Midwest U.S.-India Association’ on the line of US Japan Midwest Association. Dr Sayeed was quick to pick up this idea and follow it up in right earnest realizing the huge benefits that India can achieve with this platform. He forwarded the proposal to the right corners in India with his recommendatory notes and is hopeful that the idea would crystalize for good in coming months.
The US Jana Midwest Association existing since 1967 meets often and is attended by high level business and government officials from both the sides resolving irritants and speeding up collaborations in economic and non economic fields as well
Not exactly on these lines but following the broad pattern, two new Agreements were signed last year
A Memorandum of Cooperation was concluded between the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Haryana and IOWA Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in August 2016.
A MoU on Smart State Cooperation was concluded between the Illinois Department of Information and Technology (DoIT) and the State of Telangana in October 2016 to accelerate the progress of both parties toward emerging smart state technologies. Similar MoUs are expected to be concluded with the states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
It is also worth noting that Educational collaboration and Research between India and the US Midwest has sprawled in recent years. Several prestigious universities in the US Midwest such as the University of Chicago, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign/Chicago), Indiana University, Purdue University, Michigan University, Michigan State University, University of Missouri, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Minnesota, Wisconsin University, Iowa State University have their easier access in India now.
Three Midwestern Universities have opened their offices in India – University of Chicago & University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in New Delhi, while the Indiana University in Gurgaon.
The Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC), Division of the Humanities, University of Chicago, founded in 1966, regularly teaches several Indian languages such as Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
In the research and innovation areas too the Consulate has something to boast about. Prof. Kattesh V. Katti, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Radiology and Physics, Director, Institute of Green Nanotechnology, University of Missouri in Columbia, a highly-decorated Indian-American, has been carrying out research on the application of green nanotechnology to Ayurvedic medicines, which is both non-toxic and highly effective in treating various forms of cancers.
Another pioneering research that is being undertaken at the Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota is on a drug called ‘Minnelide’, which is perceived to be a novel therapy for treating Pancreatic Cancer. The research is led by Prof. Ashok K.Sajula and his team, a majority of them being research scholars of Indian origin.
UIC-Chicago is working closely with Ayush to undertake scientific research on the medicinal properties of various traditional Indian medicines. It had sponsored a major seminar in September 2015 to promote Alternate Indian Medicines.
It was a chance but it really happened for the good of historical research. Recently the Consulate was successfully able to retrieve two rare Indian artifacts which included a 10th century, Sandstone, Dancing Ganesha from Uttar Pradesh and a 4th/5th century, Terracotta idol of Lord Vishnu, apparently belonging to the Gupta period.
A US national and renowned patron of art and board member of Art Institute of Chicago Ms. Marilynn Alsdorf voluntarily sent them to the Consulate once she began suspecting that these artifacts may have not been acquired from India in an illegal manner by some art dealer and got sold it to her long time ago. The Consulate took possession of these artifacts in consultation with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The Consulate can also take pride that some of its initiatives in the sport and cultural filed are blossoming for the collective good for artists and sportsmen. The Consulate initiative to commence Kala Utsav with the sole purpose of encouraging local talents to showcase great Indian heritage here in areas of dance and music has been highly appreciated by the artists. The event at Copernicus Theater in Chicago held for the past three years in row is free and it does attract a good number of lovers of art and culture besides offering a much needed platform to scores of cultural organizations across Midwest.
The Consulate has been supportive of Amazing India fest held at Navy Pier in Chicago Downtown. The South Asian film festival that has become an annual feature for the past few years here has also received thesupport of the Consulate In the area of sport, it was for the first time that friendly Polo matches were organized in Oakbrook, a suburb of Chicago. The Delhi Polo Club played with Oakbrook Polo club last year and the event attracted a good number of Polo lovers.
Indian Consul General Dr Sayeed has been appointed the new High Commissioner of India at Seychelles Islands, an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. On the face of it, one can judge wrongly the importance of this country but both Indian leaders have realized the huge importance of closer political and economic ties with this country.
It was in this context that Indian PM Narendra Modi paid a special visit here in 2015 and this was reciprocated by President James Michel, Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Presidents R Venkataraman and Pratibha Patil have visited the Seychelles
Diplomatic ties between India and Seychelles have existed since Seychelles gained independence in 1976. India has a High Commission in Victoria while Seychelles maintains a High Commission in New Delhi.
Seychelles has broad based relations that cover a host of sectors including culture, trade and technical cooperation. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs relations between India and Seychelles have been characterized by “close friendship, understanding and cooperation” while Seychelles has described itself a “rock of dependability for India in the Indian Ocean region”.
Dr Sayeed has accepted his new assignment with challenge and is looking forward to forging greater cooperation between the two countries. He is hugely sanguine about Indian entrepreneurs collaborating with their Seychellian counterparts in the areas of fruit and seafood processing industries. There is also immense scope in the hospitality and tourism sectors wherein Indian businessmen can do a lot, he observed.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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