We were lucky to catch up with Ram Agrawal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ram, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
We had been fortunate to experiment with new ideas in the Round Rock Diwali Festival. Some of these ideas set the new norms for all events happening in the Austin area.
When we first had this idea of bringing Indian arts, music, dance form at one place, we thought of arranging a small event in a central place and keep it free to the public. The next and BIG question was “where”. We had not even thought of how it will be executed or how much investment we will need or what are the expenses. With these unknown, we still went ahead thinking, we will take care of all expenses out of our pocket. Thankfully, we received support from community and from the City of Round Rock which helped us to carry out the festival for first few years and after that we were able to fully sustain the festival by vendors and sponsors. Now, we are not just supporting the festival but also giving out so many prizes and awards to the participants.
Few years back, a team member presented the idea that, since we don’t charge any entry fees, we should collect food cans that we can donate to the local Serving Center for needy people. In addition to the risk of attendees not liking it, this was an extra work for us which required to persuade the performers to bring the food cans, collect them, haul them to the car, take them to the Service Center and all this while festival is in progress. We had challenges with performers not bringing the donations and we didn’t have time to keep tracking it. We kept improving the process a bit by bit. Collectively we donated more than $2000 worth of food to Round Rock Area Center.
Another big risk we took was in the festival of 2023. Due to tremendous growth, we are constantly being asked to move to different location, which is bigger, can accommodate more people. But we love the current location of Centennial Plaza. We experimented with changing the layout of the festival. We used to have everything on the front of stage. This year, we used the parking lot behind the stage and moved the vendors there. We were not sure, if people will like it. Would it affect the viewership and attendance. Being a small business myself, I am always mindful of fee the vendors pay. Whether they will get return of their money? So, we took this risk with two unknowns – would people go there, would vendors get business to make worthwhile of the fee they are paying?
To our surprise, this new layout not only helped people to walk freely, get some breathing room but it opened up new area where people can do picnic, sit down on the grass, enjoy the food, take pictures with friends and family. It proved we made the right decision, and we are not going anywhere else.
Ram, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
For those who don’t know me or haven’t read the previous article, here is a quick introduction – my name is Ram. I was born and brought up in a small village of central India. My school was 2 minutes’ walk from my home. In the elementary school we used to celebrate various events like Independence Day, Republic Day etc. Some highlights of these functions were plays/acts by students on the stage. I was kind of forced to perform because very few kids were good at speaking Hindi over local language (Chhattisgarhi). I hated it but had no choice. When I reached middle school, teachers sent me for regional and state competitions of debate and stage performances. Did we win any, of course…..not. But by that time, I started enjoying part of it. In high school, as a head of cultural club I started planning and organizing such events from Republic day to Teacher’s day or to welcome special guests. I was science major but this affinity with cultural programs gave me exposure to vast Indian art forms and diversity, though my exposure was very minimal and limited.
For undergrad I was lucky to be selected at one of the prestigious Regional Colleges of India. When I stepped into the college, it was like flood gate opened for me. I was overwhelmed with kids from all over the places, the hostel life, the curriculum, the information overflow was too much. I was looking for a niche where I can make a difference or at the least harbor myself and don’t get swept away in this big ocean. One day I saw a poster in the campus about a classical music program organized by SPIC MACAY (Society to Promote Indian Classical Music Arts and Culture amongst Youth) When I attended their first event, I was hooked to it. I met with the head of SPIC MACAY in Rajasthan state and presented my interest to join the organization. He was a professor of Art in University of Rajasthan and liked my enthusiasm. This was it. In couple years I became the student leader of Rajasthan chapter and got opportunities to organize programs of music maestros like R. Satyanarayana, MS Subulakshmi, Shubha Mudgal, Gundecha brothers to name a few.
These programs were planned statewide, and my responsibilities included receiving the artist at airport, planning there stay, travel between cities like Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Co-ordinate with local chapter leads, schools, food etc. I loved it so much. I travelled these beautiful places, got an opportunity to be with these iconic artists and developed my public speaking skills. I used to open the programs as an anchor. My hobby of writing Hindi poems helped in this effort as I could write few lines on the fly and mesmerize the audience. My passion and love to Indian art and culture continued when I pursued my MBA degree and when new chapter of life started i.e. I got married. My lovely wife Nisha had interest in music till the extent of watching Bollywood dance numbers on Chitrahaar (the TV show of 90s). But she was an artist in different form – fine arts and painting. So, in our abode, presence of Indian arts prevailed everywhere even when we were relocating from state to state in the United States.
This love and affiliation to various Indian art forms gave us idea of sharing them, rejoicing them, celebrating them with wider community through most known festival of India – Diwali and this is how Round Rock Diwali Festival started in 2014.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
When we started the mission was very simple straightforward – spread the awareness about vibrant Indian culture in Austin community. Connect with people, celebrate the happiness, promote local small businesses started by entrepreneurs like me. Now with the growth of festival and the exponential growth of Indian population in Austin and surroundings, my ambitions have grown as well. We have noticed that there are many hidden talents and artists, especially in fine art who are not outgoing or don’t have proper avenues to showcase their creations. I am thinking to bring them together and encourage them to continue their passion. It needs financial support to nurture the talent and to organize the exhibitions or shows. Many people have reached out to me asking and advising to setup a non-profit for greater good. I had been postponing it because, with non-profit, it comes lots of responsibilities. Now, my kids are grown up, so I hope, I could be able to carve out more time. This is about passion, community, and art’s magic. I hope to make time and resources, and maybe artist and art lovers will join us in weaving a brighter, more welcoming scene for everyone!
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
Not near death but similar feeling I had this year. I still get chills when I think about it.
To maintain the quality of the festival, the planning process starts well in advance. In the last 4 months, I give almost 8 hours per day on the festival activities. After all this hard work and spending umpteen hours on planning, meetings, managing performers, answering questions, lining up vendors, countless phone calls etc., when the day of event came, the weather forecast was not good. It had been raining since last 2 days and rain prediction for the festival day, Saturday, 28 October 2023 was also 100%. The festival is held outdoor. Rain means, performers cannot perform, vendors cannot display their product even with canopy, moreover there will be no attendance. People will stay home with kids. Meaning, no festival at all.
A day before, when rain stopped a bit, we loaded the vans with the decoration items, canopies, and all essentials for the event. We took them to a nearby building of festival ground to store. We found that all previous work like markings for vendor spots were washed out. We were not able to put the stage backdrops. Late evening, I was sitting at porch of my home with Nisha and watching the pouring rain. I knew this will be sleepless night for me.
On the morning of event day, I headed to the festival ground when it was drizzling. The vendors and suppliers were coming in confused state. I had purchased hundreds of feet of tarp even though I knew they were not going to help. The festival start time was 2 PM. Around 1:30 PM, my phone started ringing and dinging with phone calls and text messages. Everyone had one question – is the festival still happening, it’s raining hard here and my answer to each of them was – where?
Like a miracle, clouds started disappearing right around the time when first performance was to start. It was pouring rain in one mile proximity but the Centennial Plaza where the festival is held was completely dry. Every year, We start the festival with a prayer to the divine power. This year also the first performance was a prayer and when kids started performing, the only place which was not dry were my eyes – https://youtu.be/9ajT6i5HQr0?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rrdiwalifest.com www.ragrawal.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/roundrockdiwalifestival www.instagram.com/atxram
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoundRockDiwaliFestival https://www.facebook.com/atxram
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/agrawalr
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/unrealram
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/RoundRockDiwaliFestival
- Other: CBS Interview: https://cbsaustin.com/features/we-are-austin/celebrate-the-festival-of-lights-at-the-round-rock-diwali-festival
Image Credits
Lens and Beyond Photography Ram Agrawal @ramsimagery Raj Todi AS Photography