EDISON, NJ: The popular adage `Jyan Jya Vase Ek Gujarati Tyan Tyan Sadakal Gujarat’ (wherever there is a Gujarati there will be Gujarat all the time) came alive with the launch of the fourth edition of Chalo Gujarat at the Raritan Expo Center here.
Over 10,000 people from across the breadth and length of the country and Canada participated in the 3-day event organized by the Association of Indian Americans in North America (AIANA). The event which concluded on August 2 night was glamorous and glittering to say the least. Everything at the venue was Gujarati – the décor, the food and of course the people.
It all started with the traditional lighting of the diya and blowing of the conch (shankhnad) by Bhupendra Patel. From the very outset it was nothing but Gujarat all the way. It gave us the impression as if one was somewhere in Saurashtra, Kutch, North or South Gujarat or Ahmedabad.
Poets, writers, speakers, stage actors and literary stalwarts all gathered under one umbrella to relive Gujarat and form a link with their motherland. The young, old, men and women and whoever was someway connected with Gujarat was present on the occasion.
The 3-day conference aptly titled “Atra, Tatra, Sarvatra” ( meaning Gujarat and Gujaratis are here, there and everywhere) served as one of the largest platforms to commemorate and showcase the contribution made by Gujaratis spread across the world and the skills, traditional values, color and vigor that is so quintessential to them.
AIANA president Sunil Nayak is a master at innovation and utilizes this opportunity to highlight Gujarat in different formats every time he organizes this mega event. However the shine of his previous organizational skills took a hit on the first day of the 3-day event. The Chalo Gujarat of 2015 was a shade dimmer than the ones in 2006, 2008 and 2012. Each had a different theme and this one was no different but lacked the punch which Gujaratis are known for.
The program began with the conch sounding followed by Gujarat BJP leader Purshottam Rupala’s speech who blew the BJP bugle as hard as he could but there were few takers of his side of the story; half of which was too far-fetched or miles away from facts.
Had it not been for the traditional Dayro, the event on day one would have been a total fiasco. It was left to the shoulders of Sai Ram Dave and Osman Mir of Ramleela fame to carry the day’s boredom on their shoulder and make the end a joyous one. Call it lack of planning or poor selection of artists. In its quest to give something new and different, AIANA could not live up to its expectations on day one. Sairam was at his usual best which held the crowd in captivation but lack of time prevented him from giving his best.
While the list of dignitaries did not have any heavy weights, even with the presence including of local Congressman Frank Pallone and Indian Consul General Dhyaneshwar Mullay, there were no notable people.
On day one the audience had an overdose of Gandhi. It all started with a lifeless interview by Kajal Oza Vaidya with Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi. The 45 minute interview was lifeless, listless and directionless. Rajmohan spoke of his association with Gandhiji and Kasturba.
He listed some of the events in the Indian freedom struggle and the day Gandhiji was shot dead. He also spoke of his association with Kasturba. But in the end the 45 minute interview was of no interest to the audience.
Surprisingly, Chalo Gujarat was meant to build a bridge between the younger generation Gujaratis with their motherland and hence everything had to be in Gujarati but Rajmohan openly admitted that he had very limited knowledge of Gujarati and hence the interview was done in Hindi.
Fine, but the link with Gujarat was broken at the very outset. If that was not enough, the interview was followed by almost an hour long play – Kasturba – which was again nothing worth writing about. The play was boring to the bone and had no bearing for the present generation and the audience was of the opinion that let bygones be bygones.
In any event the starting provides the stage for the blistering performances to follow but here it was poorly missed with no sensational start to the three-day event. The musical fusion by Shyamal and Saumil Munshi was only a shadow of what they are known for.
Even the experiment of different form of Dayro like filmi Dayro based on blockbuster Hindi movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Ley Jayenge and rock Dayro by Arvind Vegda did not go down well with the audience.
Though Arvind did try to induce some life in otherwise boring proceedings but it would have taken a huge effort on his part to bring back the audience to their feet. The show titled Hunky Patel starring Upen Patel and Karishma Tanna and the family drama named Krazy Kutumb were well below expectation of the audience.
If day one was listless to say the least, AIANA made it up on day two which saw some fresh life induced into the event. While the cultural performance by eight-year old wonder boy, Varenyam stole the limelight, one of the most popular TV hosts of Aap Ki Adalat – Rajat Sharma also took the audience storm. Probably for the first time Rajat was at the receiving end and answering question instead of him posing the questions.
He gleefully answered questions from the audience and went on to say that he too was a Gujarati. In an obvious reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business magnet late Dhirubhai Ambani, Rajat said if they could succeed in life as they also hailed from Gujarat then I am also a Gujarati as I too have made it big on TV screen. He called upon the Gujarati community settled in the US to financially extend a helping hand to one child back in India and ensure that their education is taken care off.
No sooner did Parthiv Gohil took to the stage, the audience went berserk with his style of singing and came down in front of the stage for the Garba. Parthiv rocked the stage and bought the audience back to life with his songs including – `Chel chabilo Gujarati’, `Tari ankh no afini, Tara roop Ni Poonam no pagal, Tara bol na bandhani,’ ‘Chale chakkar aje rokda ne kale udhar’ and many more mesmerizing songs with the audience craving for more.
It was soon followed by Jethalal of Tarak Mehta Na Oolta Chasma fame and the female members from the audience took an opportunity to try some Garba steps with him. However it was left to television soap opera artist Darshan Pandya of ‘Itna karo na Mujhe Pyar’ serial where three ladies from the audience were given a chance to kiss Darshan. While two developed cold feet and settled for a hug, the third a younger generation girl, took this golden opportunity and went to plant a kiss on the cheek of the television star.
Kavi Sammelan was another item had the audience captivated. Late poet Adil Mansuri was paid homage at the outset after which the audience loved the event which was rendered by Harsh Brahmbhatt, in company with Gujarati poet Anil Chavda, Bhavesh Bhatt, Tushar Shukla and others.
From 8-year old Varenyam to 80-year-old Rajmohan Gandhi, ‘Chalo Gujarat’ presented a variety of artists, performers and intellectuals to the Gujaratis in New Jersey. Some of the other artists included Shyamal-Saumil-Arti Munshi, Mirande Shah, Parth Oza, Payal Vakharia, Riya Shah and Kushal Choksi, in a powerful rendition of Gujarati folk and musical extravaganza in their unique style.
A multimedia presentation on Gujarat was another novelty for the audience in which Gujarat was brought alive in various dance forms and the life of Krishna and Sudama was also enacted in an eye-catching performance. Matibani was incidentally a novel and special feature of ‘Chalo Gujarat’ with a fusion of Gujarati, western and classical music.
BJP leader Purshottam Rupala also released a special edition of Chitralekha, Gujarati magazine devoted to its founder Vaju Kotak.
The seminars which were also held as part of the celebration were not as successful as anticipated as there was lack of interest from the public. A seminar on medicine had to be cancelled at the last moment as there was no response while the one on astrology and Vastu evoked good response.
The saving grace were the colorful exhibits like an old Ambassador, Fiat car, the old Lambretta and Vespa scooters. The rickshaws and truck also attracted a lot of audience particularly the younger generation who were fascinated with the vehicles their parents once rode on the streets of Gujarat.
Another point of attraction was the `zupdi’ and the `Hichko’ so synonym with a Gujarati household.
A large number of Indian and local stores had set up their booths selling traditional Indian merchandise like dresses, blouses, sarees and dupattas. Fine Indian imitation jewelry also attracted the crowd but their prices kept the people from buying. Some other stalls included those of housing schemes.
The picture gallery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with huge cutouts also attracted the crowd who took this as an opportunity to either shake hand with lookalike of Modi or pose for a selfie with the Indian Prime Minister.
For non-resident Gujaratis (NRGs), this was a time to soak not only in the heat of New Jersey but also in the spirit of Gujarat for three days in a row and get a chance to refresh and establish a reconnect with the culture back in India.
Sudhir Vyas
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