February 1, 2002

My Dear Kannadigas,

As the convener for the upcoming 2002 AKKA World Kannada Conference, being held in Motor City - Detroit - on August 30th, 31st and September 1st, I welcome Kannadigas from all over the world and urge you to take an active part in this great event. The conference will be hosted by AKKA and the Pampa Kannada Koota of Michigan. It will be held at the Detroit Marriott, located in the Renaissance Center, an architectural wonder that is an intriguing cluster of steel and glass cylinders situated, ideally, on the Detroit Riverfront, in sight of Canada's Windsor, across the border.

The 2002 AKKA World Kannada Conference provides an opportunity to create an effective network of Kannada organizations to further our common goals and aspirations. It aims to address the cultural, social, spiritual and material needs of expatriate Kannadigas. Owing to our common linguistic and cultural heritage we face similar issues as we straddle the cultural divide in our adopted country. Taking a cue from immigrants of other lands and cultures, we should aim at becoming a part of this country's cultural pastiche while propagating and nurturing our own distinctive one. This will remain a distant dream unless we unite together here and reach out to Karnataka assistance. AKKA is actively working to bring representatives from Karnataka to ensure the success of this conference.

The aim of the 2002 World Kannada Conference is tripartite: It intends to forge cultural, social and business contacts among members of widely scattered organizations. This can only be achieved with widespread and active participation of individual kootas and their members. AKKA looks forward to and expects encouragement, participation, volunteer help, and financial support from all kannadigas. The conference will comprise two full days of cultural programs, scrumptious food, and plenty of professional networking opportunities. Many dignitaries and artists from various cultural fields in India are expected to attend this event. The conference committee members are working hard and conference planning and logistics are in full swing. Please contact the various conference committees to get involved in all aspects of the conference. The 2002 Kannada World Conference is being organized on an ambitious scale. Your attendance and participation will ensure its success and yield long-standing results. Please visit our web site at www.akkaOnline.org for up-to-date information about this great event.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kudur Murali
Convener
2002 AKKA World Kannada Conference
Detroit, Michigan