1964-65 New York World's Fair Groundbreaking and Dedication Booklets

PAV I L I O N OF

APRIL 8, 1 963

GROUNDBREAKING
AT THE
NEW YORK
WORLD'S FAIR
1964- 1965

Remarks by Indian and World's Fair officials
at the Pavilion of India groundbreaking cere-
monies, New York World's Fair, Monday,
April 8, 1963.

AMBASSADOR RICHARD C. PATTERSON, JR.
[Chief of Protocol] : Mrs. Gandhi, Consul General Roy,
President Moses, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure
to welcome you here on this auspicious occasion. I would
like to introduce as our first speaker, Consul General
Sunil K. Roy.

CONSUL GENERAL SUNIL K. ROY: Distinguished
guests, friends. An occasion like this is one which gives
special satisfaction to a country's representative when he
has the opportunity to partake in it. Particularly signifi-
cant for me is the spirit of cooperation in which all of us
have worked from the outset. Indeed it is in the true
spirit of Indo-American relations.

A happy set of circumstances has brought Mrs. Indira

Gandhi to America to perform the ceremony. We could
not have a more happy augury with which to begin our
work. The theme of our pavilion is to be "Progress in
Democracy." Very few people realize that our dedica-
tion to the ideals of democracy in modern times stems
from the history of our country and the very roots of
Indian tradition.

The man who laid the foundations for our freedom
in modern times was Mohandas Gandhi. The people say
he was a saint turned politician, when in fact he was a
politician trying to be saintly. In this sense, he was
reflecting the intrinsic truth that political force is an inte-
gral part of Indian philosophy and that there are no sepa-
rate divisions of religious, social and political thought.

Indeed, throughout our history there is this basic con-
cept that the rulers take their power from the people and
have the right, nay, the duty to remove unjust rulers.
The very theme, "Progress in Democracy," is linked with
our modern ideals and stems from our ancient tradition.
This enables us to show the whole growth of modern
India and, in this process, it is perhaps symbolic that

Cover: Progress in Democracy will be the theme of the Indian Pavilion at the World's Fair, as shown in architect
Mansinh M. Rana's rendering.

11963 New York World's Fair 1964-1965 Corporation

Mrs. Gandhi should be here for the ceremony.

Mrs. Gandhi symbolizes modern India because women
in India have always taken an important part in our life
by fighting side by side with their men. They have today
by natural right, an equal place with men. They are
exercising this right throughout the nation by holding
positions of leadership in village councils and throughout
our political and social structure including leadership of
our main political body, the Congress Party, of which
Mrs. Gandhi was president in 1959-1960. Thank you for
your attention and I hope that you will see the spirit of
our country through our pavilion.

AMBASSADOR PATTERSON: Thank you Mr. Min-
ister. Mrs. Gandhi, this vast and complex Fair project
requires a man of extraordinary skill and experience as
its director of International Exhibits. We are fortunate
in having such a man who has worked on Fairs such as
this practically all of his life. I have pleasure in present-
ing to all of you Mr. Allen Beach.

MR. ALLEN BEACH [Director, International Ex-

Fair President, Robert Moses, accepts a memento of Indian
handicraft from Mrs. Indira Gandhi. At right is Mr. K. N.
Wahal, Commercial Consul of India.

hibits]: Thank you Ambassador Patterson. Mrs. Gandhi.
President Moses, Consul General Roy, distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry that Governor
Poletti cannot be here today. Our much-traveled vice
president and ambassador for the Fair is today in Turkey.
He asked me before he departed, however, to relay his
congratulations to you at this ceremony.

In the early part of February 1961, Governor and Mrs.
Poletti headed the committee that visited India to present
the formal invitation to participate in the New York
World's Fair. Members of that committee were Judge
and Mrs. Samuel Rosenman, Mr. Oswald B. Ward and
Mr. William Berns, vice president for Communications.

Since then, with efficiency, the plans for India's Pa-
\ dion have progressed to realization under rhe guidance
of a special committee led by Mrs. Indira Gandhi. India's
two-story pavilion on this excellent 25,000 sq. ft. site,
across from the Federal Pavilion, will be organized under
the theme "Progress in Democracy." We know ic will
be a charming exhibit with an important story to tell to
the world.

Besides the fine work of Mrs. Gandhi, no small part
of the success of India's participation is due to the won-
derful cooperation we have enjoyed from Consul General
Sunil K. Roy and Commercial Consul K. N. Wahal.
They have worked closely with us and with Mr. Douglas
Beaton of our International Division, who has coordi-
nated our mutual efforts.

We congratulate Mr. Mansinh M. Rana, and his asso-
ciates Mr. Stonorov and Mr. Haws of Philadelphia, on
the excellent design of India's Pavilion. Of course we are
delighted to welcome to the Fair for the second time.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

AMBASSADOR PATTERSON: Thank you Mr
Beach. There is no question that since the passing of the
great Mahatma Gandhi one name which we accept as the
voice of India reverberates throughout the world. Thac
name is Prime Minister Nehru, the illustrious father of
Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Mrs. Gandhi is skilled in diplomacy
and politics and like him, she too is a voice of India. It
is a proud moment for me to present to you the brilliant
daughter of an eminent father, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

MRS. GANDHI: Ambassador Patterson, President
Muses and distinguished quests. It is indeed a very g
pleasure for me to be here this afternoon to break ground
for the Indian Pavilion. I was here a few months ago
and I did not know then of the many difficulties we
would encounter in order to participate in the New York
World's Fair. As you know, India been the victim of
aggression since then. Therefore, we are facing tremen-
dous financial, and other difficulties, in order to main-
tain our freedom, our democracy . our sense of values.
Thus, we did not know whether, in these circumstances,
we could still participate in this Fair. It will give you
some idea of the great importance we attach to the Fair
and to friendship with this great country and its people,
that despite these difficulties, our government finally made
the decision to take part.

The theme of the Fair, "Peace Through Understand-
ing," is one which is dear to the heart of India and the
interdependence of nations. In my own country, a re-
current theme in domestic matters is Unity in Diversity.
You all know that India is a country of very large size.

of enormous differences of structure, of language, oi
faith and of customs. But we are trying — all of these
different peoples still have a basic underlying unity. That
is what has given scrength to our young democracy. We
believe that it is only through the understanding ot each
■other's cultures and ways of life that friendship can be
achieved, and it is only through friendship that peace
can he achieved. In the Moslem world perhaps peace is
of the utmost importance because it is only through
peace that the world can go forward to prosperity and to
using the world's knowledge of science and technology,
now within our grasp, for the benefit of all mankind.

It gives me pleasure to be here, and I certainly hope
that here in this Meadow, many seeds of friendship will
be sown, during the period that this Fair will be held,
which will be of lasting benefit to all those who par-
ticipate I want to thank all those who have helped us
in this venture, and I wish the Fair every success.

AMBASSADOR PATTERSON: Thank you very
much Mrs. Gandhi. Every great enterprise in this world
is fundamentally the dream of one great man. This truism

may well be accepted at our World's Fair here today. This
great American is a field marshal of this monumental
project for peace and progress. Mrs. Gandhi, ladies and
gentlemen, I give you the Honorable Robert Moses.

ROBERT MOSES: Mrs. Gandhi, Ambassador Patterson,
friends. I am one of those ancients who in early youth
saw the Indian Raj through a romantic veil. My generation
was brought up on Kipling and the Barrack Room Ballads.
In the words of our own divine Daniel Webster, we beat
time to the morning drum, which followed the rising sun,
kept company with the hours and circled the earth with
one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs
of England.

We sang the Kashmiri song about the pale hands be-
side the Shalimar. heard the echoes of voices in the
bazaars and swallowed tales of monsoons, rains and
racial tensions, nabobs, howdahs, viceroys, sahibs, rajahs,
rubies, curries and whatnot. We were puzzled however
by the ominous note of the Recessional at the Diamond
Jubilee, after accepting the Suez Canal as the lifeline of
Empire.

We have lived to see the veil of romance rent, an
ancient civilization revived, independence established and
a new nation like our own, conceived in liberty and dedi-
cated to the proposition that all men are created equal,
rise and command the attention of the world. We have
come to realize that there is more than a passing resem-
blance between Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi.

In projecting the image of India, you will find that
Flushing Meadow is a better medium than Hollywood.
We welcome you to the Olympics of Progress at the
World's Fair. We assume that you will invite your most
ingenious administrators, architects, and artists to fashion
your exhibits: those who can best revive the past, mirror
the present, invoke the shape of the future, and reconcile
and integrate the claims of religion, tradition, beauty,
utility, industry and democracy.

We ask that you, Madame Gandhi, convey to your
distinguished father the respect and admiration of our
people for his part in bringing the East and West to-
gether, and in furthering the cause of international peace
through friendship and understanding.

Mrs. Indira Gandhi graciously accepts the World's Fair
medal from Robert Moses, president of the Fair, at the
conclusion of the speeches.

PAVILION OF INDIA

NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMMITTEE

Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Chairman of the Committee
Hon. Sunil K. Roy, Consul General of India, New York City
Mr. P. K. Panikkar, Director of Exhibitions, Government of India
Mr. K. N. Wahal, Consul

NEW YORK
Flushing 52, N.Y.

WORLD'S FAIR 1964-1965
Tel. 212-WF 4-1964

ROBERT MOSES, President

THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR., Chairman of the Executive Committee

WILLIAM E. POTTER, Executive Vice President

CHARLES POLETTI, Vice President, International Affairs and Exhibits

STUART CONSTABLE, Vice President, Operations

WILLIAM BERNS, Vice President, Communications and Public Relations

ERWIN WITT, Comprro/ier

MARTIN STONE, Director of Industrial Section

GUY F. TOZZOLI, fPorf of New York Authority) Transportation Section

ERNESTINE R. HAIG, Secretory of the Corporation and
Assistant to the President

CORPORATION

WILLIAM WHIPPLE, JR., Chief Engineer