Inside the SAP Stadium, nearly 18,500 people wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon address the Indian diaspora at a mammoth reception in San Jose's SAP Centre, where the organisers have promised an event as grand as the one held in New York's Madison Square Garden last year. A colourful programme is in progress as the 18,500-strong audience wait for PM Modi.
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Altogether, 45,000 people are expected to attend the event, even though the stadium can seat only 18,000. For the rest, who will be outside the venue, massive television screens have been put up and other arrangements have been made.
California has the largest population of non-resident Indians in the US, with a heavy concentration of them in the Bay Area. Over 1200 volunteers are engaged in preparations for the event, for which a record number of tickets have been sold.
As in the Madison Square Garden, the stage at SAP Centre from which the Prime Minister will address the people will be a rotating one.
Earlier, PM Modi attended a Townhall question and answer session at the Facebook headquarters, where, while answering a question from Mark Zuckerberg, he broke down as he talked about the hardships his mother had endured to raise her family.
"Everyone agrees India is the fastest growing economy. Today we are an eight trillion dollar economy and my dream is to become a 20 trillion dollar economy," the Prime Minister said.
At the townhall, Mr Zuckerberg said, "It is fitting that the leader of the world's largest democracy is setting an example of how to connect with the people". "We had a great discussion about India's future, the value of social media and the importance of family," he posted on Facebook after the event.
At Google, PM Modi said, "Technology has become a huge power for democracy. And I can see the benefits of this technology through the Narendra Modi app."
Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked about the transformation in technology as he grew up in India and said, "India was the first country where Chrome became the No. 1 browser." He announced 11 new languages on Android next month, including PM Modi's mother tongue Gujarati.
The Prime Minister also attended a roundtable on renewable energy and addressed the Startup-Konnect programme at San Jose, held to showcase India's start-up ecosystem to potential partners in Silicon Valley. He also launched the Bharat Fund, which, he said, "stands not just for India, but also for better health, agri, renewables & tech" and will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
Last night PM Modi met the world's top tech chiefs, including India-born Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Mr Pichai, sharing his plans for Digital India at a massive event at Silicon Valley, followed by dinner with 350 business leaders.
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