Detroit: Despite the attempts of a few to bring disrepute, the ongoing World Kannada Sammelana organised by the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA) has evoked a great response and enthusiasm. The registration of delegates for the meet has crossed the figures expected, according to sources.

By August 30, more than 3,200 delegates had registered. On August 31, the crucial day of the conference, a large attendance of Kannadigas and their families forced the organisers to take a re-look of the kitchen arrangements.

Though the official claim of attendance at the dining hall was 5,000, www.thatskannada.com estimated a strength of 4,000 participants.

Business luncheon a failure: Despite Karnataka being the hub of India's IT activity, business and Kannadigas somehow don't seem to gel. The business luncheon turned out to be a damp squib despite the efforts of master of ceremonies (MC) Sai Prakash to woo business. The luncheon, in fact, featured the CEOs and local business magnates with Karnataka's minister for culture Rani Satish and Karnataka's IT secretary Vivek Kulkarni very much in attendance.

The team from Karnataka really missed the charisma of Chief Minister S M Krishna and there was no news (as of August 31) of any concrete business memorandum of understanding (MoU) being signed. Though Michigan governor John Engler was happy with the outcome of the meeting, he apparently failed to attract the best business interests/ investments from the local Kannadiga community.

The luncheon, however, had its fair share of big names from Karnataka, which included 25 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), cine actress turned politicial Uma Shree, film personality Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar and of course the AKKA office bearers. While the menu served was authentic Karnataka cuisine, whiz kid Nikhil Joshi gave a fine rendition of Carnatic music on the guitar.

Exhibits the cynosure: The stalls and exhibits of sarees, jewellery, books and CDs on religion and philosophy, arts and crafts were the major attraction at the conference especially among the fairer sex. Manohar Granthamala exhibited a unique collection of original manuscripts from famous writers including U R Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad, Gokak, Putina (P T Narasimhachar), Bendra, Tinam, Kuvempu and B M Shri.

Cobo convention hall: The Cobo convention hall, the venue of the AKKA conference, is four times bigger than the M Chinnaswamy cricket stadium at Bangalore. The hall is the venue for mammoth exhibitions including the annual auto show where car makers display all their models.

The premises is so huge that it is physically impossible to move around and cover the various events – seminar, meeting, speeches, cultural and literary activities that are taking place simultaneously. This correspondent badly missed 'namma oru' (our own) autorickshaw to travel the distance!