Maharashra at the India International Trade Fair 2025

Maharashra at the India International Trade Fair 2025 :
A Personal Journey Through IITF 2025  and an Invitation to Experience - Maharashtra Pavilion at Hall no.3 , Bharat Mandapam,  Pragati Maidan

Some journeys in life begin quietly, without us realising how deeply they will shape us and our lives. For me, the India International Trade Fair has been one such journey.
IITF is an epitome of glorious India becoming " Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat " under our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri.Narendra Modi's visionary leadership. 
As a young student, IITF's magnitude was sheer  magic. I still remember walking into Pragati Maidan for the first time with my brother and family, wide-eyed, excited, and mesmerised. The towering pavilions, the colours, the cultures, the crafts made every state a world of its own. I would wander through the stalls, collecting memories, stories, and sometimes a small handcrafted souvenir which was all that I could afford then. Of course that made me feel so rich, proud and connected to something magnificent, our nation.
I had never imagined then that the path ahead would lead me back here not as a young visitor, but as the Resident Commissioner of Maharashtra, entrusted with the responsibility and honour of presenting my state to the country and the world.
This year, at the inauguration of the 44th India International Trade Fair, standing beside the Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Shri.Uday Samant,  the Principal Secretary (Industries), Shri.P.Anbalgan,and the MD of MSSIDC,Shri. Vikas Pansare, I felt an emotion I cannot fully describe. It was pride, humility, nostalgia and a deep sense of gratitude all rolled into one.
Beyond doubts, the theme of “Ek Bharat: Shreshtha Bharat” resonates with  Maharashtra’s spirit.
In a year when twelve of our majestic forts received UNESCO recognition, our pavilion pays tribute to the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, from Jinji to Attock, with beautifully created miniature forts that bring history alive. It also brings out the glory of Marathi as a language which has recently received "abhijaat" status.
But the pavilion is more than just displays. It is emotion, identity and home of a vibrant, soulfully rooted, and ever-evolving Maharashtra all rolled into one.
Every corner of the Maharashtra Pavilion tells a story of our artisans, our women, our cooperatives, our tribal communities and our entrepreneurs. So on the one hand you can experience live weaving of Paithani Sarees by  master weavers creating the timeless Paithani, a piece of Maharashtrian heritage and  on the other you can buy authentic tribal products from Shabari Naturals of our Tribal department.  Chandrapur's bamboo products will attract you just like bees which  have enabled forest communities to collect pure golden honey under MSKVIB's Madhuban Honey.
The pavillion has interesting  art forms like Banjara Art or Aajibai's timeless Godhadi,  the handstitched quilt. Interacting with artists like Ranjana Jadhav a Banjara Tribal from Beed or Ruma Godhadi Artist can be a treat.
Also, the timeless grace of khadi, made by rural women and cooperatives supported by MSKVIB will surely enthrall you as much as the colourful kurtis. You can also get the taste of healthy food stuff as well as Maharashtra’s traditional dairy heritage with rich, pure, and nourishing gir cow ghee. For those wanting to adorn themselves there is a variety of beautiful traditional, silver and artificial jewelry. There are groups selling spices,  Kolhapuri Chappals, handcrafted footwear and decorative articles. Every purchase you make here supports a family, strengthens a community, and keeps a tradition alive.
The State Day on November 15 is dedicated to a special cultural performance by Shashank Kalyankar and his group which will take you through a soulful journey of  Maharashtrian folk music and dance.
If you are in Delhi between November 14 and 27, I warmly invite you to step into the Maharashtra Pavilion at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan.
Come, experience Maharashtra, its colours, grace, heritage and  innovation just like our Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis. Meet our artisans, listen to their stories, taste our flavours and carry home something handcrafted, something meaningful, something made with love just like him.
Your visit, your appreciation, and your purchases will uplift communities across Maharashtra. So please come and be a part of our story  where heritage meets innovation, and pride meets progress.

R. Vimala, IAS,
Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra
Compassionate Civil Servant and
PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Unity at the Feet of the Iron Man – A Journey to the Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar

Unity at the Feet of the Iron Man – A Journey to the Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar

The preamble of our Constitution includes three timeless words, Unity, Sovereignty, and Integrity.
In school, we began our morning prayer with the pledge,
“India is my country, and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.”
Those lines may have been routine back then. But as I stood before the Statue of Unity recently, their meaning came alive in my heart. Unity, something so simple to say, yet so difficult to uphold is the strength that has kept India standing tall through centuries.
India is one of the world’s oldest civilizations. From the Mauryas to the Guptas, from the Cholas to the Marathas, our country has seen the  courage and vision of great kings. Yet history also reminds us of our greatest weakness, disunity.
Many rulers did not lose and empires did not fall due powerful enemies but due to betrayal within. Prithviraj Chauhan, Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Marathas,  were defeated only when unity gave way to ego, rivalry, or deceit.
Time and again, India has paid the price because the people stood divided.
And that is why the words Unity and Integrity in our Constitution are not just ideals but warnings from history and promises for the future.
My visit to Kevadia was not just a sightseeing trip but a pilgrimage, to pay tribute to Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, the leader whose vision enabled princely states in India to become one with our  nation.
And frankly, his towering 182 metres steel statue portraying his strength and determination made me look tiny, yet feel  deeply proud.
The statue is not just an engineering wonder but also symbol of  achievements made by collective efforts.
The Viewing Gallery at his chest level has breathtaking views of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Narmada River, and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges.
The museum at the base presents details about  his life, courage  diplomacy and his mission to unite 562 princely states into one India.
The statue transforms into a massive screen for the laser show in the  evening reflecting his spirit and sense of purpose.
Ekta Nagar, has other attractions for families with children like the Valley of Flowers, Butterfly Garden, and Arogya Van which show how nature and humans can live in harmony.
At night, the Unity Glow Garden lights up the surroundings in vibrant colours.
Travel is easy in free electric buses and eco-friendly transport which make Ekta Nagar India’s first e-city, a step towards a cleaner, greener future.
What fascinated me most was the fleet of bright pink e-rickshaws driven by local tribal women.These were not just vehicles but symbols of women  empowerment  providing dignity and opportunity for equal development. 
Having served as Deputy Commissioner (Rehabilitation) in Maharashtra for families of project affected persons, the visit gave me a perspective how development and compassion can go together, how people who sacrificed their homes and land find new beginnings.
Every year, on 31st October, India celebrates Rashtriya Ekta Diwas ,the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
On this day, the Prime Minister himself leads the nation in paying tribute to the Iron Man of India.
The Unity Parade, the floral tributes, and the Ekta Pledge, all serve to remind us that India’s strength lies not just in  uniformity, but in unity.
Sardar Patel’s had a very clear vision of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat.”
He envisaged a nation where differences of language, faith, and culture would never become walls, but bridges.That message is more relevant  today because we cannot afford to forget the lessons of our past. Every act of division weakens the dream he built and each act of unity strengthens it.
In the evening, we visited the Narmada Ghat near the Shoolpaneshwar Temple to witness the Narmada Maha Aarti.
The priests, the lamps, the chants, and the shimmering river made it a moment of quiet peace. The lamps floating on the water were shining with the same  message that  unity is light, when we stand together, India shines brighter.
Standing there, with the Iron Man's silhouette in the background, I realized that India's strength does not lie in the steel, stone, or slogans but in our spirit to stay together  through differences, through challenges, through every storm.
Sardar Patel’s statue is not just a monument. It is a mirror showing us what we can achieve when we remain  united and what we would lose if we go apart. As if the Iron Man is echoing  across to generations :
“Stay united, stay strong, and never let history repeat itself.”

R. Vimala, IAS

Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra, 

Compassionate Civil Servant & PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

The quiet crisis: Have We Stopped Listening?

The quiet crisis: Have We Stopped Listening?

It is said that God gave us one mouth and two ears so we might listen twice as much as we speak. It’s a simple piece of wisdom yet somewhere along the way, we seem to have collectively forgotten it.

Listening is rapidly becoming a lost art along with genuine human connections.Go through your last few conversations in your mind. Chances are, they ended before they even truly began.You start to share something personal, something close to your heart and before you can finish the first sentence, the other person jumps in with , “Oh, I know exactly what you mean!”, “That happened to me too, only worse!”, “You should just do X, Y, and Z.”

And soon enough, your words are no longer yours. You stop mid-sentence, a half-smile on your face, the initial warmth draining away. You realize they weren't actually listening to you, they were simply waiting to speak. They weren't processing your words; they were composing their reply.This isn't just being rude; it’s a crisis of connection.

This epidemic of inattentiveness seems to be catching on quickly  everywhere. At times in offices , a colleague may  approach a manager to discuss an issue, but before he or she can speak or explain the situation, they are interrupted by the manager with a pre-packaged solution that may just not address the core problem. The colleague walks away feeling unheard and frustrated or hurt. 

 At home,  partners have monologues or talk at each other instead of talking with each other, escalating small disagreements into full-blown arguments. So many misunderstandings and so many frictions in relationships begin not from words said but from words never truly listened to.  

And then there is the rush to be right. We even see it on game shows with  contestants eager to prove themselves, buzzing in on the answer button too soon, missing the answer and losing only because they never truly listened to the question’s end.  

We seem to be doing this constantly in life. We are simply rushing, rushing to respond, to conclude, to be right, to get our point across and in that rush, we miss the crucial the wisdom that often lies in holding back our words just to listen.

Listening, I have come to realize, is not just a polite pause between your own sentences. It's a profound, active gesture.

It's an act of respect that says, “You matter enough for me to step outside myself and my world to be with you in your world for a moment.”  

In our fast-paced, opinion-driven world, this kind of true listening has become rare. And as it fades, so does genuine connection.

Imagine if we all agreed to slow down, hold back our response for a moment longer and truly listen ,not to reply, not to debate, but simply to understand. Perhaps fewer hearts would ache from the burden of being unheard because sometimes, what a person needs most is not advice, not a solution, and certainly not an interruption. All they need is a willing, quiet ear.

So just sit back and think , do you catch yourself always rushing to speak , say something, instead of consciously listening ?

In reality listening is so basic, that we forget that it is also a skill and yet, most of us imagine ourselves far better listeners than we are.  

How many of us have sat across with someone to pour out our feelings only to notice their eyes flicking to their phone, their posture drifting away, their attention somewhere else?

Nothing feels worse than being unheard by those we count on for understanding. 

To truly listen is more than just hearing words. In fact ,listening is so central, so woven into human existence, that when it’s missing, we notice its absence more than its presence. At times, instead of learning to manage our own emotionality to handle difficult conversations, we avoid them altogether. Paradoxically, these days we may have more ways to communicate but have lesser time for conversation which is like a dance of roles. To share a feeling, there must be one willing to talk and another open to hear. 

Today, our digital lives are also expressions of this yearning.  A photo or status, posted to social media, is a thread cast into the digital sea, hoping for others to bear witness. So when we  see  our stories met with silence, we feel the ache of being invisible, just as we would be if we were ignored in person.

Whether we speak face-to-face or through electronic communication, we are still giving voice to our need to be heard. Even what we call “reassurance” is not listening because to be listened to is the way we discover ourselves as understandable, even acceptable.  

We therfore deeply value those who listen, sometimes even love them because when they give us their attention, we feel momentarily whole.  

Sometimes our conversations don’t even rise to the level of dialogue they are monologues punctuated by silence. When we understand the healing force of true listening, we can become brave enough to hear what makes us uncomfortable.

But when we take the time to feel the emotion beneath another’s words to hear the pain beneath anger, the resentment behind avoidance, the vulnerability inside impatience we give ourselves the power to soothe the bitterness that probably divides us.

Being heard is a deep need which makes us feel taken seriously, expressed, validated, acknowledged, appreciated, cared for and connected to others. The receptive listener helps us clarify what we think and feel, nourishing our experience of self.  By confirming what is understandable in us, the listener affirms our shared humanity.  

When we are not listened to, we feel cut off, unappreciated, alone.No number of “likes,” hearts, or emojis will ever nourish you as fully as one moment of undivided listening. Being listened to is like food and drink to the heart. 

The seeds of such attentive listening are sown in our  childhood. Parents who listen make their children feel worthwhile and appreciated and help them build a secure self. Such children develop their own unique talents and ideals to approach relationships with confidence. Most of us can imagine a mother with smiling eyes listening enthusiastically to a child eagerly describing some triumph or a father comforting a sad-faced toddler crying over some minor tragedy. And we also know how bad it feels to watch a parent reduce a child to tears of humiliation for making a mistake. How early or how profoundly the quality of listening begins to shape their character may not be obvious but they do have an impact a child's psyche. 

Even infants thrive on attentive listening. A baby’s cries and smiles are calls to be heard and parental attunement is social nourishment. Parents constantly adjust, intuitively listening, as the child’s needs and skills grow. A child who has been truly listened to finds it natural to seek help; one who has not may become quiet and seek solace in silence instead of support.

We do grow out of childhood, but not out of this need to be taken seriously, to have our feelings honoured and be heard. The ability  to understand not only what is said, but what is felt is empathy and listening with attention can instil a sense of belonging by removing  thoughts of being isolated. So  whenever someone approaches us to share their thoughts we can offer our complete attention by keeping away distractions and holding back judgments. 

The power to heal, inspire, and uplift lives is there in every ear that chooses to listen. Let’s begin to listen not just with our ears, but with our hearts.

R.Vimala, IAS, 

Resident Commissione Maharashtra,

Compassionate Civil Servant and PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay