Texas governor hosts Diwali event

TEXAS: The Governor of Texas Greg Abbott hosted a Diwali event at his home in downtown Austin last Sunday for a select group of prominent Indian Americans from all across Texas on the occasion of Diwali. The lamp has found a permanent home at the historic Governor's mansion, Abbott said at the event. The Diwali celebration has, in fact, become a regular event for the Texas Governor, for the last six years; with the only exception last year, when it wasn’t held because of the pandemic.Governor Abbott, who was dressed in a traditional Nehru jacket, welcomed prominent members of the Indian American community to his home along with First Lady Cecilia Abbott. They exchanged Diwali greetings with the guests and the governor addressed the gathering after lighting the ceremonial lamp. Abbott expressed his pride at being the first Texas governor to start celebrating the Indian festival of lights a few years back. It has become an annual event now.

Arun Agarwal, CEO of Nextt, the Dallas-based home textile industry major, and co-founder of the Indian American CEO (IACEO) council, was behind the Diwali event this year. He gifted a pair of decorative elephants to the governor and the first lady on the occasion and appreciated the Governor's friendship with the Indian American community of Texas. "Texas is currently the second largest exporter of American goods to India and the fourth largest importer of Indian goods in the United States, and it is on a growth trajectory. Governor Abbott had a successful visit to India a couple of years back to further Texas-India trade relationship and cultural ties," said Agarwal.
"Two of the world’s largest economies, Texas and India share a long and prosperous economic relationship. Indian-Americans have helped shape Texas’ economy, public policy and cultural landscape through their work in entrepreneurship, research, technology, medicine and education. The Indian diaspora has become such a critical mass in Texas, that going forward, the friendship between the two countries will only grow further. It is so nice to celebrate Diwali at the Texas Governor's mansion in Austin, it has a great symbolism of the growing influence of Indian Americans, and hence the soft power of India,” said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Indian American business leader from Houston attending the Diwali celebration at the Governor's mansion.
Some of the other Indian Americans present were Dr. Manoher Gurru, MD from Midland, Dr Satish Nayak from Andrews, Dr Deepak Chawda from Arlington, Rahul Agarwal, a student from UT Austin, Rachna Agarwal from Houston, Bangar Reddy from Houston, Ashok Mago from Dallas and Dr. Rajesh Gupta from Houston.