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The following is the Speech given by
Sri Babu Rao Mandava at the December 7th
Annual Dinner Dance at Casperkill Country Club, Poughkeepsie
to Honor Sri&Smt. Babu Rao & Vidyadhari Mandava and
Dr.&Smt. Sunil & Seema Khurana by Hindu Samaj: SRB,
TAHST
1.
Thanks to all the people who had many kind words about
me.
What a pleasure it is to see so many familiar faces
from our native Hudson Valley.erun:
Thanks to all of you.
2.
Hindu Samaj is a great institution for all of us. It
is not only a divine place for many of us but also a community
center that could help strengthen the fabric of our Indian
community as a whole. Many of the members did a superb job
in developing it, especially Sunil, the current and previous
Trustees and many others put in relentless efforts and brought
this venture to a reality.
This
becomes a stepping stone for many more projects that we must
envision to build in future for the benefit of our children
and their children. The value of my award is greatly inflated
by the fact that I am given along with Dr. Khurana, who did
truly an outstanding job and provided much needed leadership
to the community at the time.
eight: bold">3.
I am glad that I could support this noble cause for
the community in whatever way I could. But I could not have
done it without the support, encouragement, and cooperation
of my wife and other family members nor could I have done
it without the success of our Indotronix International Corporation
and its superb management and staff.
About
7 to 8 years ago I had the opportunity of meeting Dr. Sunil
Khurana in the context of the Temple construction. I attended
several meetings that shaped up this huge project and brought
to this level. Looking at the enthusiasm, passion and dedication
of the people working with him, I got the confidence that
he could pull all the different people from different subcultures
together and make it happen for sure. I decided to give what
ever I could because it would be put to good use. I felt that
it was the moment that we had all been waiting for in this
valley since 30 years. That gave me the inspiration and motivation
resulting in appreciation from all of you today that touched
my heart deeply. So I want to thank Sunil and all others for
including me right from the beginning.mI want to thank my grand father and father who are
in heaven possibly blessing me right now. They had profound
influence on me. They helped me understand what it is to give
with compassion and share the abundance with the communities
around without expecting any thing in return.
4. There are so many others who deserved this
more than I did in our community. I never felt that I deserved
any special recognition for what I did. But I agreed to accept
when I was told that many others would be recognized on this
stage every year from now on.I also thought that this would
give a kind of encouragement to many of our community members
who can help the journey continue.
5. What we have accomplished with the Temple
thus far is not to be viewed as a destination but only an
important point in the ongoing journey. We have many challenges
ahead of us for our community.
- A Community Hall
that can be used by all Indians and shared even by others
for multiple purposes and
- A community
fund to take care of emergency needs of our community members
due to poverty, ill health, and other cases of distress
and anguish. Let us not forget that our population is getting
bigger and older requiring even a nursing home or two.
- We are a great
community of people with high education. We came from a
peace loving largest democracy in the world. Most of us
are good professionals, business entrepreneurs, engineers,
scientists, and doctors in contrast to many other ethnic
groups. However, We are part of a greater community. Those
of us who are Citizens are all Americans first. We are naturalized
in a Nation that is truly democratic offering equal opportunities
to all under the umbrella of human rights.
- We had been
participating in the growth of this country and making contributions
of our own. Health care, research and development in general,
high technology development, Motels and Hotels, are just
a few examples. Although we are over one million strong,
our values, culture, and traditions are not well known to
the main stream of America. After the unfortunate September
11 incident, it became evident that there is lack of awareness
of Indian culture in America and vice-versa. We need cross-cultural
educational programs here and in India for our own benefit
and for the benefit of all Indians of next generation here
and in India. This will help us preserve our cultural identity
and join the main stream of American life. We need to identify
and encourage those with passion in this area to coordinate
and develop some programs and actions. At least we must
recognize the need, take leadership and do what ever we
can and show the way to rest of our other communities in
U.S.
- We need to develop
community programs to help political candidates in the community
whether Republican or Democratic. I am glad that we have
some on local school boards- Ved Shrava and Chan Prasad-
that is a good start. We have talented youth with high education,
great values, blended with the best of both cultures, greater
financial and spiritual abilities, belonging to a religion
that offers a connection to a Worldwide faith. We need to
participate in political process and voice our opinions
in social, political and economic issues of our interest.
Being tolerant of other religions, races, colors, and creeds,
we can attempt to serve the greater community at a higher
level and contribute our share and give back to this great
Country individually and collectively. The greatness of
this country is derived from the loyalty and zeal with which
the new immigrants like us have been enriching the social
and cultural heritage.
6. I hope that our trustees will consider this kind of
award in future for those of us who excel in any of these
four areas, which are Greater community hall, Community fund,
Cross cultural educational programs here and in India, and
Participation in political process here. I want to thank once
again Sunil who had very kind words about me. I want to thank
the Trustees of Hindu Samaj, all other active members and
all of you here today for giving me this honor and an award
that I respect so much and share with all volunteers who take
us through this journey in future.
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Babu Rao Mandava, 12/07/01 ----
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