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'The prime minister is talking to his Chachaji and he is crying in the PM's lap, it was such an emotional scene.'
A massive event was initially planned for the diaspora in Chicago to coincide with Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's State visit to the United States.
Three large stadiums were tentatively booked which could accommodate as many as 40,000 people.
Since the White House had not confirmed the exact dates for the State visit till May and owing to Modi's hectic schedule during the visit, the event had to be shifted to the Ronald Reagan Center in Washington, DC and the guest list curtailed to only 1,100 Indian Americans.
Dr Bharat Barai, one of Modi's oldest friends in the US, had only three weeks to raise approximately $400,000 and get all the necessary security and diplomatic clearances to make the event possible. Besides a last minute Secret Service concern, of course.
Dr Barai shares a story which reflects the human touch possessed by Modi, which according to him, makes him 'The people's prime minister' in this interview with Rediff.com's US Contributor Abhijit J Masih.
You organised the first mega event for the diaspora which Mr Modi attended in 2019 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. How did you raise funds for it?
For Madison Square Garden almost 40% of the money came from doctors. Why? Because they are my friends and then it's a chain reaction.
Within three days, 30% of the money came from hotel, motel owners. 60% of hotels and motels in the USA are owned by Indians. 30% came from small shop owners.
$5,000 is not a big amount; if I ask them $100,000, that's different. So that's how we collected money.
We did not go to big corporations to ask for money.
We were very scrupulous that we will not take any money from anybody who did business with the Government of India or the government of the USA. So, there is no conflict of interest.
What was your cost estimate for the event at the Ronald Reagan Center on June 23, 2023?
Our initial estimate was about $400,000. But three days or four days before the program, the US Secret Service (which guards the American president, vice president, their families, high-ranking officials, visiting foreign leaders, former presidents) had some concern about security in the atrium where the function was to be held.
They did not want the prime minister to come to the atrium area, because on the second floor, it had some open galleries.
Our original plan was to do the program in the atrium, which is beautiful and one of the best places.
Even the prime minister's SPG (the Special Protection Group, which protects the prime minister of India) came and said that we cannot allow the prime minister to be exposed even for a few seconds into the atrium.
Originally, we had given an invitation to almost 1,000 people. But the amphitheatre, which they suggested, can take only 600.
Besides, we had to give 40 seats to the prime minister's delegation.
So we put half the people in the atrium and placed large widescreens so that they could watch and the rest in the amphitheater. We also provided free dinner to 1,100 people.
What was the arrangement to welcome the prime minister at the venue?
I was the first to greet him both as a personal friend and more as the chairman of the US-India Community Foundation in the underground garage area.
There were eight children who greeted him with electric diyas, and then he entered the backdoor passage to the amphitheatre.
Then he met Indian-American Congressmen, while I stood in a corner along with his security and personal staff.
You know the prime minister well, what can you tell us about him?
I have to tell you about an incident that reflects his human touch.
The uncle of one of the organisers of the event from Chicago used to talk to the PM when he was chief minister (of Gujarat).
He had wished that he could attend the program, but couldn't because of his ill health.
"If only Chachaji could hear Modiji's voice even for a few seconds," his nephew told me.
That is kind of difficult, I told him, though I had access to the PM. I talked to the chief of protocol and told him that somebody knows the PM, but he's not in a physical condition to come.
"He has expressed the desire to speak to him over the phone, would it be okay for me to talk to the PM?"
He told me that I could approach him. So, I asked the PM, would it be okay.
He remembered the person and recalled that he used to call him every few days when he was the chief minister.
He told me to connect him on the phone. The nephew called his Chachaji and gave the phone to the prime minister.
While he was sitting and speaking with the phone in his left hand, the nephew became so emotional and broke down putting his head in the prime minister's lap.
Now the prime minister is talking to his Chachaji and he is crying in the PM's lap, it was such an emotional scene.
The PM was patting his back. He has not forgotten his human touch.
He didn't have to do any of these things for this guy for which he will ever be grateful.
When did you get to know of the State visit and how far in advance did you start preparing for the diaspora event held at the Ronald Reagan Center?
I remember on January 31, I got a call that prime minister is likely to come sometimes in June and would I be able to do the function.
And would I be able to raise the resources, because the government doesn't give a dime and we don't expect them to do it.
I said, we'll work on it and get it done. So we booked three venues -- the United Center (a replica of Madison Square Garden), Soldier Field (the Chicago Bears home stadium) and the University of Illinois.
So we booked three different stadiums. The date had not been finalized by the White House.
They were busy planning for the visit of the South Korean president which was on 26th April.
Finally, on 10th May, the White House announced that they will welcome him on 22nd of June.
Why did the venue change from Chicago to accommodate approximately 40,000 people to Washington, DC which could hold only 1,100?
Only around the 23rd of May I got to know that his last engagement will be the evening of Friday (23rd June).
I called Taranjit (India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu), who I have a very good relationship with, and told him that there's a lot of bad feeling amongst the diaspora that there is nothing for them and that he's the people's prime minister.
And I said, next time I meet him, I'm really going to tell him that how come in all this arrangement, the meeting with the diaspora fell through the cracks.
The ambassador explained to me how they were in a jam as the White House put down the program as the host.
But he told me that his last program is getting over at 6 pm after that "Bharatbhai aapko jo karna hai, aapko Chicago le jana hai, le jao."
Then I talked to Delhi, but they said no, he's flying that night directly to Egypt.
I asked if he can delay his departure to Egypt by about two hours. They advised to check with the PM and also with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on his way to South Africa.
I called him, he liked the idea and told me "aap PM se baat karo."
So I spoke to the PM's chief of communication. He knows that I know him (Modi_ very well and told him "aap sahib se baat karo" as the diaspora is feeling very bad since he has always interacted with them.
Next day (Memorial Day), I got the message that the PM has given a green light for a one hour function in Washington DC, but he has to leave by 8:30 pm.
So the next day we started looking for a place to accommodate 1,000 people, because logistically within three weeks' time, that's all you can do.
So we fixed up the Reagan center and this was probably around 2nd or 3rd June.
Any special moment you shared with Prime Minister Modi during his recent visit that you hold dear?
When he was talking with Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Shri Thanedar in the private room, I was standing in the corner, along with security staff in the same small room.
He called me and said "Bharatbhai, baitho". So I sat down on an empty chair.
Then he told the Congressmen, "Look, 30 years ago I came, I was outside the White House, I took the pictures, I stayed at Bharat bhai's place in 1993 and I came with a small suitcase."
Then he started laughing and said "Bharatbhai, tell the story." So I narrated the 'laundry' story to the Congressmen.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com