2024 “Diwali Stamp – The Power of One Awards” Ceremony Remarks by Ranju Batra, Chair, Diwali Foundation USA, Inc

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DDR, United Nations

December 6, 2024

Thank you so much Amb. David Bakradze, for your leadership and in being the lead organizer of the 2024 “Diwali Stamp – The Power of One Awards” Ceremony, and thank you for your warm words.

Excellencies, esteemed guests and friends all…..

Greetings and a warm welcome 

 I thank each and every one of you for being part of this Award Ceremony. 

What brings us here today, actually started many years ago.  

With my kids in school, I realized we celebrated all religious holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Eid; but, there was no American celebration for Diwali.

So in 2010, I thought of having Diwali recognized by getting a Diwali stamp. I spoke to many community leaders and I was told that many had tried, but all had given up. 

So I decided to focus on it. 

I spent 7 years relentlessly seeking a Diwali Stamp to be issued by the United States Postal Service. I used only respectful and inclusive means, as Diwali is a message of peace.

I did the tedious work of designing all kinds of Paper Petitions, and getting support from everybody, politicians, diplomats, and hard working Americans.  Wherever I went, I would ask people to sign the Petition, be it at a luncheon or dinner,  supermarkets or shopping malls.  

And then mail them every week. I incorporated this grassroots efforts into my daily life. 

We had meetings with USPS, and held many press conferences to drum up public support.

I personally sent tens of thousands of petitions, that Williiam Givker, director of USPS Stamp Development, said:

“This was the biggest push, the most people writing in, and it was the volume of petitions, and not the high profile support, that swayed the Committee.”

For this journey, I thank all my friends,  members of our community, UN ambassadors and their families, and media for supporting me. Finally I thank my kids and my husband who backed me up with un-ending support during the tough years of my Journey to our Diwali Stamp. 

Finally, my journey succeeded on October 5th, 2016, when the USPS dedicated the Diwali Stamp  at a ceremony in the Indian Consulate in New York, a venue I selected over Jacobs Javits Center. 

Then I had the added honor to be invited by USPS to sell the Stamps for Day One. I agreed, and worked on it day and night with hardly any sleep, and history was made again as in 10 days I personally sold over 170,000 stamps for Day One – making Diwali Stamp the #1 Stamp, the best seller, in the United States Postal Service’s history!  

Then, at a dinner hosted by Georgia’s Ambassador Imnadze after the official Stamp Dedication, 

upon hearing my story, Belarus’ Ambassador Dapkiunas the very next day booked Trusteeship Council to celebrate the Diwali Stamp and to honor my journey. An event supported by 24 nations. It was during that event on December 5th, 2016, the idea for Power of One Awards was born.  

Then-Minister Rybakov spoke of my determined efforts as “The Power of One,” and Amb. Dapkiunas spoke of the Diwali Stamp’s journey being consistent with the highest ideals of the United Nations Charter, and making Diwali into a metaphor. 

That thought, with added prodding, morphed into Diwali Foundation USA –  resulting in the “Power of One Awards” being bestowed upon awesome people – who have toiled selflessly “to help form a more perfect,” peaceful and secure world for all of. 

I give my heartful thanks to our co-organizers: 

the Permanent Missions to the UN of Chile, Eritrea, Georgia, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Kiribati, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago and UN Alliance of Civilizations. 

And to the Speakers:

Amb. David Bakradze- I specifically thank Amb. Bakradze and the Georgian Mission for all their help and support.

Amb. Harold Adlai Agyeman

PGA78 Amb. Dennis Francis

Amb. Parvathaneni Harish- thank you for all your support including this magnificent Diya.

Amb Hanaa Bouchikhi, on behalf of H.E. Omar Hilale

Amb. Paula Narvaez Ojeda

Amb. Aida Kasymalieva

Amb. Sophia Tesfamariam

Keina Tito on behalf of H.E. Teburoro Tito and 

Amb. Kairat Umarov

I thank all the nations who have co-sponsored these awards. And a special thanks to 

H.E. Taye Astike Selassie for personally, as President of Ethiopia, for co-sponsoring these Awards that seek to promote excellence in diplomacy and enhance peace and security. 

I salute each and every one of our Honorees. In fact, our Honorees have truly achieved many victories of “Good over Evil,” and “Light over Darkness.”  Whatever the UN Charter dreams of, 

the Diwali Foundation USA’s Power of One Awardees have helped to make it a reality!

Today, we are privileged to celebrate and recognize the unique contributions of our honored Awardees, and they are: 

• H.E. Juan Ramon de la Fuente, of Mexico 

• H.E. Ferit Hoxha, of Albania

• H.E. Tarek Ladeb, of Tunisia  and

• H.E. Olof Skoog, of Sweden and E.U.

Diwali Stamp’s celebration is not of a religion or of a nation, but of the spirit of harmonious inclusiveness and cross-cultural understanding that all religions deserve. 

While my journey took seven years, the Diwali stamp is here forever. And it will be a matter of pride for generations to come. 

May God bless each nation, so every person on earth is blessed too. Happy Diwali!

 

Ranju Batra
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Ranju Batra,starting September 11, 2021,she is now a publisher of The America Times Company Ltd.and a member of the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
Since 1990, she is the Administrator of The Law Firm of Ravi Batra, P.C., Chair of the Diwali Foundation USA since 2017, and created the DF-USA’s “Power of One Award” - the “Oscars of Diplomacy” - which have been annually awarded to exceptional world class diplomats since 2017 at United Nations. Since September 2021, she is an Advisor for Legal and Humanitarian Affairs to the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations, having previous served as an Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine from 2015.
Since 2010, she chaired the Diwali Stamp Project and after a 7-year personal journey, successfully secured the Forever USPS Diwali Stamp on October 5, 2016. Joining in the USPS’ official Dedication, her person sale of over 170,000 stamps for First Day made the “Diwali Stamp" the best seller in USPS’ over 200 years history. Two months later, 24 nations, came together at the United Nations’ Trusteeship Council Chamber on December 5, 2016 to celebrate the Diwali Stamp and honor Ranju Batra for achieving it at the:  "Small Stamp for a Big Festival" - “Celebrating the living heritage of a billion people and honouring the 7-year-long quest of a woman to have it immortalised in a stamp. Organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Belarus.” It was co-organized by the permanent missions of Georgia and India, and supported by Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, France, Germany, Honduras, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Panama, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, the U.K., Vietnam and Palestine. In 2017, new nations who supported the "Power of One" Award were: were Algeria, Botswana, Malta, Republic of Korea, Romania, Spain, United States of America, IAEA-NY. In 2018, additional nations who supported were: Albania, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Oman, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. In 2019, additional nations who supported were: Bhutan, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lebanon, Philippines, South Africa, and Turkey. 50 nations. And, then, there was a Covid-19 based hiatus.

Ranju’s campaign for the Diwali Stamp was supported by many, including, Rep. Carolyn Maloney who authored two Congressional Resolutions, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Eliot Engel, Rep. Greg W. Meeks, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Grace Meng, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay who wrote the Official Poem for the Diwali Stamp Project, and many diplomats and their families, including, Palestine’s Amb. Riyad Mansour, now India’s Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and founding Executive Director of U.N. Women, A/S Lakshmi Puri. As president of the Association of Indians in America-New York during 2011–2012, she celebrated the 25th Silver Diwali in New York City, including, a history-making gala dinner at The Pierre, where United Nations Security Council Amb. Abdullah Hussain Haroon, of Pakistan, and Amb. Puri, of India, of India, jointly participated to celebrate Diwali. Her hard work to grow the Diwali celebration in 2011 was recognized by “The New York Times” as the largest such celebration in North America with “over 200,000” attendees.  Ranju has excelled and made a difference with her excellence-with-humility approach in helping to “form a more perfect nation.” Her exemplary service to society has been duly recorded and celebrated with numerous awards, citations, proclamations and Congressional Records. She regularly interacts with the multilateral diplomatic community, and during the High Level UNGA Debate, with heads of State/Government.

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