NEW YORK: When it comes to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the US later this month, there is diverse reaction — euphoria and indifference; cautious optimism of new economic fronts sprouting; as well as a heavy dose of scepticism.
Some wave it off as blase — a tedious deja vu of a diplomatic role play, with minimal results forthcoming. Others see it as an opportune moment to protest.
The euphoria is mostly among the Gujarati community, especially in the Tristate areas of New York City and New Jersey. The public reception for Modi at the Madison Square Garden (MSG) on September 28 is what they are waiting to savour, the lynchpin of his five-day visit — at least for these supporters.
The organizers were warned by the Prime Minister's Office not to make it an all-Gujarati show. So tickets were allocated to different Indian American organizations all over the country. An overwhelming response led to a lottery thrown in to determine 1,500 individual tickets.
Sellout Crowd
Seven hundred of the 20,000 total seats at the MSG have been sold to patron members, donors and advertisers, to cover the $1.5-million expense, out of which 20 seats are worth $50,000 each, said Bharat Barai, the organizer of the meet and a close confidant of Modi, in an interview to The Economic Times Magazine. "We have been fair, transparent and methodical in allocating tickets," said Barai.
Modi will be speaking on a rotating stage. By the time he's done with his speech, he would have made a 360° turn. Like at the United Nations, headphones and translations will be available for all invited dignitaries, apart from English sub-titles on giant screens. His speech will also stream live on the Fox Studios outdoor big screen at Times Square.
No community member will share the stage with Modi. Introductions to some 30-odd US Senators and Congressmen who have been invited, would be done by the emcees, former Miss America Nina Davuluri and newscaster Hari Sreenivasan. Billionaire Vivek Ranadive's daughter Anjali gets to sing the US national anthem, while playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy will in all likelihood sing the Indian anthem.
Violin maestro L Shankar will perform, to become only the second Indian-origin musician to perform at the venue, after Ravi Shankar's iconic concert for Bangladesh in July, 1971.
Actress Preity Zinta will be in the audience. Some Bollywood stars had offered their services for the occasion, but were turned down, according to a source.
In New York, Modi is also expected to visit Ground Zero after his address to the UN General Assembly on September 27 and pay his respects at the 9/11 museum there, apart from attending an NGO-organized annual meet 'Global Citizens Festival' at the Central Park, where he is scheduled to give a 15-minute talk on eradicating poverty by 2030. Around 40,000 people attend the festival every year. Modi will also attend several private receptions, including two back-to-back ones at The Pierre hotel overlooking Central Park, organized by the US India Business Council, and the Indian embassy, after his show at the MSG on the 28th.
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