New Jersey, America

‘Chaalo Gujarat’, a flagship event of Gujarati community in America is back. The forth edition of ‘Chaalo Gujarat’ is going to be held in New Jersey between July 31 and August 2, 2015. We briefly talked with AIANA head Sunil Nayak about the event.

We saw exhibits of Chaalo Gujarat 2015 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat at Andaz farm where they were first showcased. Who has contributed to this art work? How you conceive such exhibition in every edition of Chaalo Gujarat? How this big exhibition travels to USA? Can you elaborate the whole process?

To give best to the attendees has been the motive always. We look for elements that would immediately connect people with their old days and thus reconnect them back with their roots and would motivate them to tell the stories of our culture to their children.

It is about eight month process to conceptualize, design, manufacture, transport, erect, dismantle and store. Hundreds of tons of cargo is sent by ship and air.

We spend several nights and several hours of telephonic conversations to conceptualize the event. Team members are given specific tasks to carry out.

Curious about what happened to Chhakdo, rural props and other things brought to America for previous Chaalo Gujarat events. You can make a whole ‘Gujarat Park’ on permanent basis with this much of material.

We still have them stored at a secure place to utilize them in the future. We do plan to put up a permanent exhibition of different states of India including Gujarat.

There must be a huge dedicated team behind event of such scale. Can you share details about those who make such a grand event successful every two years?

Such a task cannot be accomplished without a committed and dedicated volunteer team. We are fortunate to have a solid team in USA as well as India.There are certain paid vendors also involved.

How Chaalo Gujarat was conceived first? Want to know about seeds of first event.

During several conversation with the college students born and brought up in USA we found out that they have no connect with their roots. They have no knowledge of their heritage and culture. They have no motivation to go back to their own or their parent’s motherland. So I got some like minded people to help me organize Chaalo Gujarat 2006. We decided to give people a journey of each aspects of our culture. We planned to educate people of their rich heritage. We worked to instill pride in them by showcasing the achievements and contributions of Gujarat and Gujaratis.

Then how Chaalo Gujarat evolved edition by edition?

After the grand success and overwhelming response from the people in the first CG, we decided to take advantage of this platform to become bridge between the Gujaratis spread all across the globe. We got better with experience, kept giving people a bigger and better experience each time and people continue to respond positively.

How the present edition of Chaalo Gujarat is different from previous editions? What are new things that are added this year?

CG 2015 will be entirely a new experience. Right from theme and the logo of the event to the program, decor, format, mediums, subjects artists etc are all different. We have tried to bring in modern and new concepts to attract the youth.

Do other Indian communities in America hold their community events on this scale?

There are other Indian communities who followed the concept. But we would claim that none of them are done at such scale.

Just curious, why this event takes place July/August period every-time?

Weather wise it is the best time. Also it is vacation in schools and colleges at that time.

How many people are expected to travel from Gujarat, India for this event in America? How many will travel to NJ from other cities of North America?

There are about 800 to a 1000 people expected to travel for this event. There are about 3000 people from the states other than NJ.

What are your observations and comments on present and future of Gujarati community in America? What are the opportunities and challenges before them as per your opinion?

We are leading in and we control quite a few industries.We control the hotel industry, Diamond Industry, Retail Industry and many other Industries.

We have been successful individually but have failed collectively. As a community we have not been able to do even basic things. With the amount of population we have and positions we hold, we can achieve much more. The younger generation have the ability but do not have the emotional connect. Food, festivals, family and films keep them somewhat informed and connected to the culture.

Does the new generation of NRIs in America connect to Chaalo Gujarat?

There have not been enough platforms with the right content to connect with the new generation. Thus they understand the language and they celebrate the festivals but they do not have any emotional connect due to lack of knowledge and exposure.

When we tweeted pictures and details of Chaalo Gujarat 2015 exhibits, someone from Britain asked why such event not in Britain! In fact such event involving pan-Gujarati associations and organizations of that particular region could take place in Africa and Middle East also! What are your comments?

Preparations for such event takes months and one needs a dedicated local team to execute the plan. Once we feel confident of a local partner. we would certainly want to do it in other states and other countries also.

There has been great excitement around Narendrabhai Modi’s address at Chaalo Gujarat in past. He is now our honorable Prime Minister. Can we expect him to address the event again this time?

We have sent the invitation and are hopeful, but do not have any confirmation on his address.

– DeshGujarat

Also read: Chaalo Gujarat 2015 to take Gujaratis on an optical voyage(photos)