India enters the Garden of peace, with its messenger

NEARLY eight decades after the idea of a cultural garden in Cleveland was conceived and about two dozen different ethnic communities and nationalities were given a place here, India has finally got its place in the historic Cleveland Peace Garden.

The ambitious project of the local Indian community there, which was formally launched last year, has now entered the final phase of its construction activity and is expected to be ready by next year.

It is a dream come true for all of us, Vijaya Emani, president of Federation of India Community Association (FICA) told The Indian Express. The $300,000 project is being carried out under FICA, the umbrella organization of Indian American associations in this city.

India was the only major country missing from this historic garden, which was carved out from the garden space donated by John D. Rockefeller. Among prominent communities and nationalities represented here are Greek, Chinese, Hungarian, Slovenian, German, American Legion Garden, Afrikan American Garden, Russain Garden, Hebrew Garden, Polish Garden and British Garden.

Though India was allocated land for the project in 1978, it is only last year that the work on this project began. It now gives a lot of satisfaction to us that India is present here, Emani said, adding that effort has been made to represent the various facets of India and Indian Americans in this India Garden.

In the center of the Indian Garden Gautam Pal, an eminent sculptor, has carved a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was unveiled by the Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on October 2. Mahatama’s statue was donated by two philanthropic Indian families of Cleveland. Dr Chittranjan Jain and Ashok Shendure.

On the same day, in a symbolic ceremony, the soil of India was entered into the crypt where the soil of 49 nations is preserved. This symbolic mingling of India’s soil with the soil of the nations marks the beginning of the People of India intent to be one amongst the nations of the world. It also marks the beginning of India ready to open its heart to the people of the world, Emani said. On the periphery of a large circle around the Gandhi status are six ‘Knowledge Pillars’which is a unique mix of India’s rich cultural diversity and Indian Americans. The pillars are in final phase of completion. While each of these Knowledge Pillars, in granite, will have inscription to reflect various aspects of India like arts and culture, flora and fauna, modern technology, science, and dance and music, each of these pillars are also named after an eminent Indian American of the area. Thus it is a connection between us Indian Americans and India, Emani said.

The six Indian Americans to be honored are philanthropic Dr Mohan Basna, industrial engineer Monte Ahuja, physician Dr Chandra Haria, engineer Sudershan Sadhe, Heera Fotedar and Raj Pillai, who is the chairman of the garden project. This is expected to be completed by early next year, Emani said.

After the pillars the final phase of the projectThe India Garden Gate would be completed. This is designed as replica of the gate of the famous Sanchi Stupa. We have decided to make some modifications in this replica, she said. It will now depict the flora and fauna of India through the carvings of elephants, cows, goats, monkeys, deers, peacocks, cobras, lions and lotus flowers.