CHICAGO: The large turnout of Indian community of Chicago at Indo American Center near Devon Ave on June 8 was unprecedented. They were there for the combined event of Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) Kick off ceremony and Chicago Indian Consulate Expo.
The crowd was more than the capacity of the venue. Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, President FIA, one of the oldest community organizations, formally announced the Kick Off event agenda for the upcoming India Independence Day Celebrations in Chicago for August 15.
The event started with the traditional lamp lighting ceremony and for a change it was done by a spiritual guru from India, Swami Pavitranandaji from Chandod Gujarat. He has been criss crossing USA and is on the third lap of journey in Chicago. He was joined by CG Dr Ausaf Sayeed, Iftekhar Shareef and Alderman Debra Silverstein. All senior FIA members and trustees namely Bhailal Patel, Babu Bhai Patel, Ranjit Ganguly, Kanti Patel, Sohan Joshi, Rajput Sher Mohammed joined the ceremony.
Amidst applauds Keerthi announced that FIA will resume the “Taste of India Festival” event at Warren Park this year that will conclude the three day celebrations beginning with flag hosting at downtown and India Parade on Devon Ave. Keerthi also introduced FIA trustees and old members. He thanked the chief guests of the event, Indian Consul General Dr Ausaf Sayeed and Alderman of 50th ward Debra Silverstein and Senator Ira Silverstein. Both were later presented flower bouquet for a formal welcome.
Iftekhar Shareef introduced ICG Dr Ausaf Sayeed tracking his achievements from Hyderabad passport office to his community outreach programs in Chicago. He hailed him as a man in community service.
The Indian Consul General, Dr Ausaf Sayeed spoke in detail about his office’s outreach programs for the Indian community in Midwest. He clarified that Consulate Expo was not meant for issuing visa in a camp but for visa and other related information purposes only. He introduced his team of staff working at Chicago consulate and said his team was ready to provide all necessary information to community for obtaining Indian visa, OCI, NRI services, renewal of passports and related services. Speaking about functioning of Chicago consulate, Dr Ausaf said that his office has ‘open house’ events for community from time to time where people can just walk in and discuss the service related issues.
“We want this office to be a model consulate that caters to the needs of our community”, he said. Dr Ausaf also explained the emergency services of his office. For medical emergencies a service can be requested on weekends too, he said.
Later, Keerthi Kumar requested Dr Bharat Barai, a prominent community leader and senior trustee of FIA to share his views as he recently attended the swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Dr Bharat Barai, a close friend of the PM, acknowledged that it was an honor as he was ushered to the front row along with wife for the ceremony.
And what he felt, he expressed it repeating a comment he made to India Post resident editor Ramesh Soparawala when he asked his reaction for BJP victory in recent polls. Dr Barai said, “I felt it was like finally India won freedom from the British power and we have our own national government.” Dr Barai also recalled his association with Indo-American Center and FIA.
Minhaj Akhtar gave a vote of thanks on behalf of FIA.
A.Q. Siddiqui
India Post News Service
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