Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) at the event.

Boston :More than 100 local Bostonians and Indian Americans got to know each other when they met on July 28 at the Bombay Cafe, a local restaurant close to where many of the meetings of the Democratic Convention to nominate Sen. John Kerry for President.

The Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE), New England chapter, hosted the luncheon, and it was attended by several Indian-American Democrat delegates from various parts of the country.

They were joined by several elected representatives including Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, who urged those attending to contribute to the re-election campaign of Iowa State Rep. Swati Dandekar, who also addressed the meeting.

Iowa Kerry Campaign Chair and Iowa Assemblywoman Swati Dandekar, left, with Maryland State Assembly House Majority Leader Kumar Barve.

Upendra Chivukula, New Jersey State Representative, and Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer also addressed the crowd.

The refrain of all the speakers was “get involved,” instead of being observers of the American political process.

IAFPE President Vanita Shastri told News India-Times that she felt this luncheon served the purpose of bringing the local Indian-American community in touch with activists from around the country to discuss politics and how to participate.

“The IAFPE is a non-partisan body, but I felt this kind of meeting was good to energize the local community. So even though some in the Board were reluctant to host a particular Party, they realize it was a good idea,” Shastri said.

Indian American Forum for Political Education president Vanita Shastri speaking to the guests at the event.

Among those present was Sunil Das, an educator who used to work in the manufacturing sector until he lost his job a couple of years ago. Das spoke of the need to fix the education system in New England and grow more jobs in the region.

Das is running for State Representatives from District 27, which includes Pelham, Litchfield, and Hudson. He calculates his chances as good. “There are 13 seats for the House and 13 Democratic candidates running. So we are already over the primaries and I don’t have to expend resources on that. The constituency is small with just 44,000 people, so I might end up being one of the top 13 vote-getters.”

Congressman Hoyer lauded Indian Americans and spoke nostalgically of his visit to India and how all those he spoke to wanted better relations with the United States. “That was not the case some years ago. And you have played a great role in bringing this about,” he said.

Several local community leaders also addressed the meeting.