Renaming of the Calder road was highlight of the President of India’s visit – SVGIHF

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Indian Heritage Foundation (SVGIHF) says the renaming of the Calder road to India Drive was for them, the highlight of the visit of the President of India to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The renaming ceremony took place on Thursday, May 19 in Calder, which according to the SVGIHF is the community considered to have the largest population of Indians/ Indian descendants still living there.

“We believe that H.E. The President and his delegation will also fondly remember the warm welcome and enthusiasm of the people they met in Calder. Excitement, love, joy, happiness and an overall celebratory mood filled the spaces in Calder, where hundreds descended upon the area to get a first glimpse of, and take a photo with, the President of their Motherland India,” the release from the SVGIHF said.

The programme at Calder, which was  produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in SVG and the SVGIHF was described by the SVFIHF as “fantastic, lively, fitting”. It included a worship dance by Anjana Kumari, Kathak Dance Teacher of Swani Vivedananda Indian Cultural Centre in Suriname; Welcome remarks by  Frederick Stephenson, Parliamentary Representative for South Windward, the constituency in which Calder is situated; addresses by SVG’s Prime Minister, and India’s President, who was introduced by the High Commissioner, based in Suriname, for India to SVG; the National Anthems of India and SVG and a specially requested piece played on pan by Saaed Bowman; a highly appreciated cultural performance by the students and Teachers of the Calder Government School “I am an Indian”; and the unveiling of the sign to mark the INDIA DRIVE.

The huge crowd in Calder included lecturers and students from India attending the Medical Colleges in SVG, doctors and other professionals, business persons and their families from India, residents of SVG with Indian roots/heritage/ ancestry, friends, well wishers and supporters.

“The SVG Indian Heritage Foundation appreciates the bond, friendship and support already enjoyed with the Government and people of The Republic of India and the Government and people of SVG and looks forward to the strengthening of these bonds, with continued good and mutually beneficial relationships in the future,” the release said.