Cricket and cinema, the two main attractions for Indians, seem to have caught the imagination of Greg Ballard, Mayor of Indianapolis City in the United States and one of his accompanying delegates in trying to foster closer ties between Andhra Pradesh and Indiana State.
Participating in an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Tuesday, Mr. Greg, who is leading a trade mission to India, said that cricket was not exceptionally strong in the United States. “I aim to change that. We already have a cricket field,” he added.
Not only that, he was planning to build a second cricket field and organise a US Amateur Cricket Championship in the fall of 2014. It would send a signal to the rest of the world that Indianapolis was an extremely inclusive city. When a participant sought to know if he could visit Indianapolis to play cricket, Mr. Greg said opportunities for different teams from around the world would be offered after the championship event.
Business tie-ups
Seeking to promote Indianapolis for business tie-ups, he said it would be a win-win situation for both. IT, pharma and life sciences were among the areas that could be tapped from Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Gregory Glade Hancock, a choreographer, who runs Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre (GHDT) at Carmel, Indiana, has met some of the Telugu film personalities, including well-known director K. Vishwanath, to explore the possibility of choreographing in Telugu movies.
He said that Mr. Vishwanath had, in fact, offered him to work in one of his films two years ago, but it was yet to take shape.
Mr. Hancock, who created over 120 dance works showcasing many different ethnicities, genres and styles, said that he was always interested in Indian culture and music.
He said that he was keen on bringing contemporary ballet from the West. He liked Shahrukh-Madhuri Dixit starrer Devdas immensely and praised Ms. Dixit for her dances.
Ms. Amber Ross, senior project director, Develop Indy, B. Ashok Reddy, Chairman, CCI, Andhra Pradesh, Raju Chinthala, president, Indianapolis Hyderabad Sister Committee and Suresh Chitturi, vice-president, CII, AP, spoke.
