RANA

The Rajasthani contingent at the India Festival 2007 in Fremont, California presented Rajasthan in full colors on the occasion of India’s 60th Independence Day. The Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) of San Francisco Bay Area presented the Rajasthan float for the fifteenth year in a row and won the second prize for the best float in the parade that comprised of 9 state floats. This occasion brought together people from all over Rajasthan - Udaipur, Jodhpur, Falna, Jaipur, Ajmer, and more. It was a uniting and memorable experience for the families that participated in the float as well as the Rajasthani families that came to cheer the float.

The Rajasthan float was a presentation of colors, colors that only Rajasthan could throw up. Wearing a multi-colored ghagra, the 20 foot long truck bed was dressed like a kalbelia woman, with pink choli and a beautiful Hawa mahal face. The truck was carrying our beloved Isharji and Gangoreji on a beautiful deewan under a spectacular chhatri led by a procession of devotees. Devotees were seen dancing before Ishar-Gangoreji and keeping them cool with a chamar. The 3 feet high idols of Isharji and Gangoreji were air lifted to Fremont straight from Jaipur especially for the parade. Thousands of people came for their darshan in the first ever procession of Ishar-Gangore in the United States of America.

The most fascinating portion of the Rajasthan float were its people. The entire float contingent was in traditional Rajasthani dresses. The women folk were their bright lahariya and bandhej sarees and donned elegant jewelry. Mightily watched for their turbans, men dressed in white dhotis and kurtas. Beautiful girls aged 4 to 10 dressed in their choli, lahenga, and chundari with borla in their hair and kandoras on their waists. Most attractive of all were boys aged 5 to 10 wearing colored achkans, white dhotis and little colorful pagdis and jewelry in their ankles, wrists, and around their neck. The crowd cheered loudly at the sight of these traditionally dressed men, women, boys, and girls. The float was a sight to cherish for all the Rajasthani families and people from all over India and California celebrating India’s Independence Day.

Boys and girls were dancing along the float path on Rajasthani tunes performing a ghoomar dance and boys ably supporting them. These little children were practicing daily for the past several weeks to learn the dance of their ancestral homes. Even after the exhausting parade in the hot sun, these children were excited to perform several Rajasthani dances on the stage. The entire troupe of nearly 20 children trotted over from the parade route to the India Festival being held half a mile away. At the festival, they were to draw the attention of more than a hundred Rajasthani families and thousands of Indian and American guests.

Their dance was performed in the presence of Shri Romesh Jhapra, the man behind the India Festival, and Amrita Rao, a famous Indian film actress. Their performance made all the parents very happy at what the children had achieved. All the children developed a strong sense of Rajasthan through their participation in the parade, which is a big achievement for their families and the Rajasthani community in the United States. RANA hopes to develop these children into global ambassadors of Rajasthan and India.

The San Francisco Bay area is residence for over 500 Rajasthani families with parents in the ages between 25 and 45. These Rajasthanis have a very strong sense of affection for their des, even though many of them have not lived in Rajasthan as they were desavar in Mumbai, Raigad, Bangalore, Nagpur, or elsewhere in India. RANA has brought them together to provide a cultural and social platform to these families and provided them with a sense of community. RANA has nearly 200 member families and has served the Rajasthani community in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 20 years. RANA organizes celebrations of festivals including Holi and Deepawali. Besides these, RANA also facilitates bringing together businessmen and entrepreneurs in America and Rajasthan. RANA also raises funds for charitable purposes to be utilized for advancing Rajasthan and bringing happiness to its people.

You can learn more about RANA through its Web site www.rana.org or by sending an email to comm@rana.org.

After graduating from IIT Madras, Ajit Deora left Indian shores to study at University of Kansas in computer science. After that Deora worked for Intel for five years before striking out on his own. Deora was always fascinated by America, most importantly its ability to throw up successful entrepreneurs. He never believed that a regular job could help him succeed in a big way. Today Deora is considered one of the top entrepreneurial talents in town. He’s generally regarded as high energy and smart. Deora is well connected in the venture community, has been an advisor on the boards of several VC firms, and he’s a charter member of TiE.

“I started my first company called Silicon Platforms, which was acquired by a company called S3. Since then, I’ve done many startups, EnKoo being my fifth startup. Each time the startups I did either got acquired or went IPO”, says Deora.

For a serial entrepreneur, this is not a big deal, but a huge achievement to anyone venturing out for their first time.

Drawing upon his core competency, Deora’s first company was based on semiconductor design. But he has since diversified both in the semiconductor industry and in to the Bay Area high tech business.

Deora says - “So I did Silicon Platforms, I did Sand, I did a company called Chip Engines, all semiconductor-related companies, and then I did a venture fund, Beachhead Capital, investing in semiconductors, software, and networking and storage,” he said. “When Beachhead was done, I was looking for an opportunity and this particular idea for EnKoo came from my wife.”

One of the sponsors of the Rajasthan float - Puja Construction Limited - wants to invite RANA members for a dinner information meeting in Milpitas tomorrow evening at 7 PM. I understand that the time might be early for many of you and you can feel free to walk in even as late as 7:30 PM.

Our sponsors have undertaken a 300 crore Rs. project right next to Raj Vilas in Jaipur of a splendid community and would like to meet interested Rajasthani expatriates to present details of their project. Tomorrow evening’s dinner is sponsored by them.

The address is:

48369 Purpleleaf St.
Fremont, CA - 94539
Phone: 510-710-7199

Please RSVP (events@rana.org) at the earliest so we can get an accurate count.

Best wishes for the 60th India Independence Day!

RANA will once again present a Rajasthan float at the 15th Festival of India organized by FIA to celebrate India’s Independence Day. Bollywood actress Amrita Rao is the grand marshal of the parade this year. Children dressed in Rajasthani attire will be performing traditional dance along the parade route. You can also participate in the float - you MUST wear traditional Rajasthani dress to join the parade.

Parade - 12 PM to 2 PM
Stage performance - 2 PM

In line with its mission, RANA successfully presented a float last year to highlight Rajasthani heritage. This year will be no different with a grand float being prepared for the parade.RANA’s float will celebrate the traditional festival of Gangore and feature a Rajasthani Chattari. The float is being put together by Shri Raj Nathawat. The dance is being choreographed by Smt. Sheela Pasi

Floats commemorate India’s cultural heritage and the achievements of Indian-Americans in the Bay Area. This year’s parade will be a huge spectacle and nearly 100,000 people are expected to be present on Sunday. So come early, and enjoy the great weather, some Indian food, and lots of Indian culture!

See you on Sunday. Don’t forget to stop by the RANA booth at the adjoining festival!