When Amit Shah, the Mayor of Ahmedabad arrived in Atlanta a few weeks ago, his first reaction was that both Ahmedabad and Atlanta are most suited to enter into a Sister City relationship because of numerous similarities, especially the influence of Gandhi Center of Ahmedabad and the King Center of Atlanta towards civil rights and civil liberties. It is also a fact that both Atlanta and Ahmedabad are poised to experience economic windfall with extraordinary potentialities.

Ahmedabad Mayor, Amit Shah was leading a delegation consisting of Mrs. Madhuben Patel, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Capt. Dilip Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and Sanjeev Mehta, Convener, Indian Council of Young Political Leaders (ICYPL) to attend the two day conference on Greener Cities: Public Transit & Green Space Policies (March 12-14) organized by CIFAL and Atlanta Sister Cities Commission and supported by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MACC) in Atlanta. At the Conference, attended by over 18 countries, Commissioner Mahajan presented Ahmedabad’s Bus Rapid Transport System Project and Sabarmati Riverfront Development project to wonderstruck delegates/audiences.

The Mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, who had recently returned from the tour of Ahmedabad in February 2008, co-hosted a Banquet at the Atrium of the City Hall in downtown Atlanta. Thanking the audience, Mayor Shah took the opportunity to recognize and present the members of the Atlanta-Ahmedabad Sister City Exchange Committee members (AASCEC), Jitu Patel (Chair) and Co-Chairs, Dr. Prateen Desai,Vasav Mehta, Ashwin Patel, Vinod Patel, Subash Razdan, Dhiru Shah, Dr. J.J. Shah with citations (made of crystal from Ahmedabad) for being the true ambassadors in strengthening the socio-cultural-economic ties between Ahmedabad and Atlanta as members of AASCEC. This visit also witnessed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for “sharing best practices for Energy and Environment” by the two Mayors respectively.

The drive for a Sister City relationship with Atlanta was initially launched in 1991 by the National Federation of Indian American Associations, NFIA, in 1991, in a letter to the then Mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson. Recently in 2007 under the facilitation by the former Honorary Consul General of India, Ken Cutshaw and with assistance from Greg Pridgeon, Claire McLeveighn, Viren Mayani of the Mayor of Atlanta’s office, the Indian American community overwhelming, near unanimous, approved Ahmedabad at a Public hearing at the Global Mall over the two other choices of Hyderabad and Bangalore. Subsequently, a Committee called the AASCEC was organized under the chairmanship of Jitu Patel, the founding president of the Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta, to continue the exchange between the City of Atlanta and the City of Ahmedabad. In 2007, under the leadership of Jitu Patel, ably supported by the Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta and its President Vinod Patel, a formal application supported by detail documentation was submitted by the office of the Mayor of Ahmedabad for the Sister City relationship with the City of Atlanta. Atlanta & Ahmedabad are presently awaiting approval.

Over the following days, the Ahmedabad delegation visited the Gandhi Statue and the King Center at the Martin Luther King Historic Site; the Temples of metro Atlanta (Shakti Mandir, the Hindu Temple in Riverdale, the magnificent Swaminarayan), Luncheon reception at the Sardar Bhavan by the Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta; visit to the City Hall of Lilburn hosted by Mayor Diana Preston and fruitful meetings with the Indian American community leaders, media, politicians, professionals, and last but not the least, the famous Stone Mountain Park with meticulous logistic coordination by AASCEC Co-chairs Vasav Mehta and Vinod Patel.

On Friday March 14, at the MLK Historic District, the CEO of the King Center, Hon. Isaac Farris co-hosted the luncheon with the Gandhi Foundation of USA and the National Park Service. Introducing the Ahmedabad Mayor at the luncheon at the King Center, the Chairman of the Gandhi Foundation of USA, Subash Razdan, said, “The global peace legacy has been greatly nurtured by the reaching out to the multi-cultural Atlanta community, initially, by the late Coretta Scot King and now by Isaac Farris. Their efforts have brought the message of Gandhi and King in unison.” Mr. Farris mentioned about his dream that millions of peacemakers worldwide will continue to pilgrimage to the birthplace of Dr. King en route to paying homage to the Gandhi Statue in the historic district of Atlanta. The Mayor of Ahmedabad congratulated the Indian American community for keeping the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, who was an inspiration to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., alive. The Mayor Shah hoped to see a meaningful exchange of scholars and leaders of peace and non-violence between the King Center and the Gandhi Center for a lasting Gandhi-King peace connection. He also announced a donation of a large size Charkha (spinning wheel that Gandhi used to bring down the British Empire on its knees) for display at the Gandhi Room at the Freedom Hall. Rev. Albert E. Love of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) provided the benediction at the Luncheon attended by members of the Gandhi Foundation, the King Center, the National Park Service and numerous community leaders.

The Visitors laid the wreaths at the crypts of late Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, garlanded the life size Gandhi Statue, visited the King birth home, the Ebenezer Church (where Dr. King preached), the Gandhi Room, and the Visitor Center.

In the afternoon, the Ahmedabad Mayor called on the Mayor of Lilburn, Diana Preston, in her office at the City Hall in Lilburn to exchange greetings. Mayor Preston also handed over the symbolic key to the city of Lilburn to Mayor Amit Shah and declared him as an honorary citizen of Lilburn. Ritesh Desai of Georgia Indo American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC) coordinated the visit to Lilburn City Hall.

In the evening, AASCEC organized a glitzy Dinner-Reception for the Ahmedabad visiting delegation at the packed Banquet Hall of Ashiana, Global Mall, Norcross, with the Who’s Who of Georgia. The Dinner was attended by leaders from various Atlanta based Indian American organizations, Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, officials from the Mayor of Atlanta office, business and Chamber of Commerce leaders and many other dignitaries.

Mr. Dhiru Shah, co-chair of AASCEC for Trade and Commerce, conducted the program to a degree of perfection. After a brief welcome of the guests with bouquets and garlands, Jitu Patel, Chair of AASCEC welcomed the guests and the visitors, providing a brief background on the overwhelming endorsement that Ahmedabad had received for its twining with Atlanta.

The guest speakers at the Dinner, Teri Simmons, Chair, Atlanta City Sister Cities Commission; Dr. Augustine O. Esogbue, Chair of the New Sister Cities Committee of the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission; Craig Lesser, Managing Director of Mckenna Long & Aldridge and former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development; and Hon. Mayor of Lilburn, Diana Preston, welcomed the development of this potential twining between Ahmedabad and Atlanta.

While Teri Simmons underscored the importance of the Sister City relationship, Dr. Esogbue, acknowledging that the application by Ahmedabad was impressive, discussed at length about the process of approval of sister cities and the time frame thereof.

Craig Lesser emphasized the need to continuously monitor and strengthen the relationship between the two sister cities after the approval process is completed in order to get the real benefits of twinning the cities for generations to come.

Mayor Shah told a capacity audience at the Dinner Reception about the progress being made by the city of Ahmedabad in the areas of transportation, education, green (with concern for the environment) development, trade and industry. He felt that both Atlanta and Ahmedabad will benefit by twinning the two cities in many respects, particularly in trade, industry, education and cultural activities.

Capt. Dilip Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner, Ahmedabad City Municipal Corporation explained at length about the ongoing projects like Sabarmati River Front, Rapid Bus Transit System and Slum Clearance undertaken by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to make ‘Ahmedabad not only livable but also loveable city’.

Mr. Ashwin Patel, Co-Chair of AASCEC proposed the vote of thanks to the guests and the sponsors, especially Mr. Shiv Agarwal of Global Mall for his support.

On Saturday next day, the Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta held a reception luncheon for the Ahmedabad delegation at their Saradar Bhavan which was well attended by the leaders of the Gujarati community as well as other Indian American community and religious organizations. Mr. Amit Shah, Mayor of Ahmedabad talked about the welfare activities of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in education and health. “The corporation runs three major Municipal hospitals and several schools for the benefit of poor and needy people of Ahmedabad”, he said. At the Sardar Bhavan, Navin Patel, President of Gujarati Samaj, Dr. Mukesh Patel Chair of the Samaj and the former President Amit Shah welcomed the guests with the traditional Gujarati hospitality. Earlier, in the morning, Ahmedabad delegation toured the majestic Swaminarayan Temple, meeting the resident Swamis at the Temple where a proclamation by the Mayor of Lilburn was also presented to welcome the delegation from Ahmedabad.

The visit, though short, was worthwhile as it provided a platform to share the experiences, the visible progress and to further renew the democratic and prosperous bond between Ahmedabad and Atlanta.

For additional information, contact AASCEC Chair, Jitu Patel at 678-525-5676 or Co-Chairs Dhiru Shah at 770-664-8779 or Subash Razdan at 770-365-6516.