Global Hindu Heritage Foundation expresses its appreciation for our community members who attended the celebration of the 250th Independence Day. We thank Ranjitha Nanganuri for serving as Mistress of the Ceremony; Praharshita Vundavalli, Amrutha Sripada, Akshaya Sripada, and Sahasra for singing USA and India national anthems; Vibhod Nanganuri for chanting 12th chapter of Bhagavad Gita;  Sramani Kancharla for explaining the meaning of 12th Chapter in English; Bhairavi for performing the dance and finally eight speakers who shared their views on the celebrations. Finally, all our committee members and other volunteers, along with Ramesh Gadiraju, provided the meals.
Sashi Kant, Suresh Manduva, Ashok Mago, Lalith Sharma, Arun Chandrakantan, Radhakrishna Kambhapati, Sunil Maine, and Prakasarao Velagapudi spoke on the occasion.
Hope to share their speeches in the very future. We will start with a powerful speech by Sri Saski Kant on “A Shared Dream, 250 Years and going strong.”

Namaste, and good evening to all of you.
It is a joyous occasion to stand before the Hindu American community tonight and celebrate an extraordinary event - 250 years of the great American experiment in liberty, justice, and dignity for ALL.
Tonight is NOT JUST America’s celebration; it is OURS TOO! Not just because we are Americans, but ALSO because our ancestors watched America tell the world loudly and clearly, that people had a right to be free, live with dignity, and govern themselves. 
And that this right was NOT granted by Kings but was a birthright given to us by God. Gandhi, Ambedkar and countless other Indians learnt a lot from the great American struggle for independence.
We Indians have long practiced the concept of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam - the world is one family. And this great land has resonated with us in a big way, because there is no other nation on earth that practices this concept better than America. It has welcomed us with open arms. 
 I am especially glad to be in Texas, a state built by hard working people, ranchers and wildcatters, engineers, doctors, oilmen, and yes even Temple builders. This great state boasts Temple Gopurams besides Church Steeples. The Arti bell on Sunday rings not far from where the Church bell rings.  This is not a contradiction of the great American story, but this IS THE American story. Remember the founding principle: E PLURIBUS UNUM. Out of many - ONE.
 
We came to this country because we knew — that this was a place where hard work and good character could build a life larger than the one, we left behind. We believe in what the Founders called "the pursuit of happiness.", and we exemplify an ethnic immigrant group that understands that this great country does not guarantee happiness and success, it offers us the pursuit of it.  America offers us a dignified way to PURSUE happiness.
Two hundred and fifty years is not the end of a story. It is a milestone that is still being written. America has sometimes stumbled, corrected herself, argued fiercely with her own conscience, and kept walking toward her founding promise. That, too, sounds familiar to us. Our own civilization has always understood dharma not as a finished state, but as a PATH — something you walk every single day, sometimes imperfectly, and start fresh every morning, in pursuit of Dharma.
So tonight, let us do three things.
Let us give thanks — to the generation of Americans, 250 years ago, who dared to believe that ordinary people could rule themselves.  
Let us give back — because gratitude that stays only in the heart is incomplete. Whether it is through our children's schools, our local charities, our civic life, or simply the example of the way we treat our neighbors, let our Hindu American community continue to be known for what we contribute to it every day.
And let us look forward — to the next 250 years. To a Texas, and an America, where our children and grandchildren will never need to explain who they are, because they will simply know, in their hearts, that being Hindu and being American were never two identities in tension, but one, fully whole identity.
Vande Mataram for the land of our heritage. And tonight, with equal love in our hearts — God bless America.
Jai Hind. God Bless Texas. Happy 250th, America.