We are looking for sponsors for the entire or partial event. If anyone is interested, please contact Keshav Shah at (845) 356-4097. We also need head count as soon as possible. Please email Keshav Shah [Email address: president #AT# oshwal-usa.org - replace #AT# with @ ] at the earliest with your name and number of people attending.

Event details are as follows:

• Location: Ramada Limited, 2989 Hamilton Boulevard, South Plainfield, NJ 07080 (link for map and personalized driving directions)
• Phone: 908-753-8900
• Directions: It is off the Stelton Road, Exit 5 on I-287 (link for map and personalized driving directions)
• Time: 5:00 pm onwards
• Cost:
  • $10 per person, for adults and children above 13 yrs old.
  • $5 per child, for children 6 to 12 yrs old.
  • Free for children 5 yrs old and under.

Congratulations to Sandip and Sonal Maru of Long Island, New York, on the recent arrival of their baby girl, Saaya.

Grandparents Tansukh & Manju Maru of Hazlet, New Jersey, and Hansaben & Jitubhai Patel of Florida, and Aunt (Faiba) Seema Maru are proud of the new addition to the family.

He was a husband to Raksha Kiran Shah; father to daughters Dimple and Nipa; son of Govindji Hemraj and Shardaben Govindji Shah; brother to Kirit and Rekha; cousin to Arun Premchand Shah (Nakuru,Kenya) , Ramilaben (Nairobi, Kenya), Ushaben Ashwin Shah ( Somer,Wisconcin) and Chand (UK).

May god rest his soul in peace.

He arrived in Canada in the spring of 1984 and joined his family in successfully building their businesses. Mahen always showed tremendous perseverance and fortitude, particularly in the last ten years, in spite of serious health issues. He was known as “a man with a golden heart”. Always a giver and rarely a taker, he was sought by many for his ability to inspire and motivate.

He was the cherished son of Velji Dharamshi and Paniben Chandaria, and brother of Ashok, Navin, Kapoor, Kumud and Dhiren. He will be missed by his many nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and family and friends from around the world. He was a proud son-in-law to Liladhar Khimji Jesang Shah & Lalitaben Liladhar Shah of Nairobi , Kenya. He was a proud banevi to Meena David Youngblood (Houston, Texas), Mala (Dallas, Texas), and Smita Dipak Shah (Chicago, Illinois).

The funeral ceremony took place from 2:30 to 4pm on Tuesday, September 15th, at Elgin Mills Funeral Home, 1591 Elgin Mills Rd. East, Richmond Hill, Ontario, and was followed by a reception.

Shanti Puja was held at 10:30am on Saturday, September 19th, at the Sanatan Mandir Cultural Centre, at 9333 Woodbine Ave., Markham, Ontario, followed by a lunch.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Kidney Foundation of Canada (www.kidney.ca).

About Facebook
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Anyone can join Facebook
All that’s needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. To connect with coworkers or classmates, use your school or work email address to register. Once you register, join a regional network to connect with the people in your area.

Discover the people around you
Facebook is made up of many networks, each based around a company, region, or school. Join the networks that reflect your real-life communities to learn more about the people who work, live, or study around you.

Here’s a sample of our Facebook Page:

She is survived by her husband, Chandubhai; two sons Kaushik and Shamir; daughter Rina; daughter-in-laws Maryann and Kalpana; son-in-law Himanshu Patel; grand children Ethan, Maya and Roshni.

Our heartfelt condolences to the family of Sudhaben and we pray to Almighty to rest her soul in eternal peace.

Congratulations to Nikesh and Neha Shah of Danbury, Connecticut, on arrival of their baby boy, Shailen, in September 2009. Grandparents Keshav and Kanchan Shah of Chestnut Ridge, New York, and Manu and Nirmala Parikh of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Aunt (Faiba) Shilpa Gaggar, Uncle (Fuva) Amit Gaggar, and little cousin Akash Gaggar of Hoover, Alabama, and Uncle (Mama) Dhiman Parikh of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey are extremely proud of the new addition to the family.

Our heartiest condolences to the families of Motiben Narshi Samat Shah-Dodhia of Changa, who passed away in London, UK, on August 25, 2009. She was 83 years old. She enjoyed her life for 60 years in Kisumu, Kenya, spending time with her children and grandchildren.

She was a mother to Chandrakantbhai (Nairobi, Kenya), Late Rameshbhai (Nairobi, Kenya,) Ashwinbhai (London, UK), Vasantiben Vasant Shah ( Woodridge, Illinois, USA), Sarojben Arun Shah (Nakuru, Kenya). She has 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Last year she visited Chicago, USA, to spend time with her daughter, Vasantiben Vasant Shah and family for 2 months. We all had an honor to meet and spend some time with her.
She recently suffered pancreatic cancer, and her family would like to protect our elders from this deadly disease, by encouraging early check-ups. The symtoms are stomach/abdominal pains, vomiting, and diarrhea.

May God grant her eternal peace, she will be missed by all her family and fellow Oshwals. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Proud Uncle (Kaka) Hiren Gudka, Aunt (Faiba) Mijal Gudka, Grandma (Dadi) Kamala Gudka of Boxford, MA. Grand Parents (Nani and Nana) Gitaben and Ashokbhai Shah from London. Grand Uncle Veni Sumaria, Chandu Shah, and Grand Aunt Ratan Maru from Boston, MA.

Tarachand Bhai was the eldest son of Late Dharamshi Virji Rupa Malde (of Moti Rafudar in Halar, Gujarat) and Late Jiviben Dharamshi Virji Malde.

Tarachand Bhai is survived by his wife Shushila Ben who resides in Mombasa, and his two daughters Lata (residing in Nairobi, Kenya) and Priti (in London, UK)

Congratulations to following six Atthai tapasvis:

• Chiraag Galaiya (Long Valley, NJ),
• Jayanti Galaiya (Long Valley, NJ),
• Sushila Gudhka (Kinelon, NJ),
• Seema Maru (Hazlet, NJ),
• Meena Shah (Budd Lake, NJ),
• Nimish Vora (Princeton).

Michchhami Dukkadam.

Jaina scriptures have prescribed six necessary duties for a Jaina householder, which are: sämäyika, chaturvimashati stava,vandanaka, Pratikramana, käyotsarga and pratyäkhyäna.

Pratikramana is the central theme of these necessary duties as all the other five are included in it. It has been a tradition for Swetamber Jains all over the world to do Pratikramana several times a year. The most important being the Samvantsari Pratikramana on the last day of Paryushana when a lay person confesses and atones for the sins committed knowingly or unknowingly during the past year. However, as the sutras and the prayers which are recited during the Pratikramana are mostly in Sanskrit and Prakrit (Ardhmaghdhi), most devotees do not understand the exact meaning behind the sutras and prayers.

Excellent Gujarati and Hindi texts are available on this subject but I am not aware of any works in simple English. I must confess that I am not a scholar of Jain Religion and this is not a literary translation. It is my interpretation of the sutras and prayers after going through various texts on this subject written by scholars and very able writers. My purpose of writing this book is to give a simplified unconventional English translation to make it easy for an average reader to understand the meaning of the Pratikramana stotras.

This book “Exposition of Pratikramana Stotras” includes the original verses in Gujarati, with transliteration in English followed by as accurate as possible meaning and as clear as possible commentary of the verses. This book will be very helpful to the people who are familiar with the Pratikramana stotras but do not understand the original meanings as they are not well versed in Indian dialects.

My profound gratitude to my friend Dr.Vimal Prakash Jain, retired professor of Jaina Literature of University of Jabalpur at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh India for editing the manuscript and offering many valuable suggestions and comments. I am thankful to my niece and nephew Jyotsna and Sudhir Shah for encouragement and support whenever I needed and my friend Pranay Jain for showing lot of patient and help in preparing this manuscript ready for printing.

I am also very thankful to my friend Satish Shah for many valuable suggestions and comments.

The stotras and the prayers of Pratikramana are not easy to translate as many times there are no equivalent words in English. But I have tried my best to keep the translation as true to the context as possible. In view of this if I have unknowingly misinterpreted the meaning I ask for the forgiveness of the readers and if they have right suggestion to let me know which I can include in any future editions (micchami dukkadam).

Rati Dodhia
12 Mitris Blvd.
Lincoln RI 02865, USA

Link to PDF of book: Exposition of Pratikramana Stotras (PDF, 1mb)

I am happy to provide information about the new project of GDShah High School www.gdshahschool.com being built at a cost of Rs. 2.5 Crore, under Hasmukhray Gokaldas Shah Memorial Trust, a public charitable trust established in 1968 in the memory of my younger brother who died in Air plane crash in 1966. Currently the school is located at Central Bank Road, Opp. Setawad, Jamnagar. But with the increase in number of students attending this school and need for up-to-date educational facilities, we have taken up the ambitious project to build a new High-School near Subhash Bridge, Jamnagar.The details of the new building project for which we are seeking donations for this public charitable project are as follows:

History: Hasmukhray Gokaldas Shah was born in Jamnagar on 10-11-1942. He was brilliant in his studies, very soft spoken, always smiling, straightforward personality and would win over everyone with his good nature. He studied at Nawanagar High-School, Jamnagar and then did his B.Sc. at D.K.V College, Jamnagar in 1964 and was accepted for his MS degree at various Universities in USA . After securing admission at one of the universities he left for USA on January 24, 1966 by Air India flight 101 via Geneva . Unfortunately the plane crashed on Mont Blanc before landing at Geneva , Switzerland . Dr.. Homi Bhabha, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission was also travelling by the same ill fated flight. In his memory H. G. Shah Memorial Trust was set up as a public charitable trust for education and medical services as the main purposes. G D Shah High School and other educational institutions were set up under the banner of this trust and are serving Jamnagar for last 40 years.

New Project: In this fast moving 21st century, we believe even the education and education facilities/infrastructures need to keep up with it. Trustees decided to build new school, with all modern amenities to prepare the students to keep up with the challenges in this new fast world, with better education and amenities.Trust purchased 63000 Sq. Ft. of land near Subhash bridge, Jamnagar. This is an ideal and peaceful location within 2-3 kilo meters from city. The new school building will have 21 spacious, ventilated and modern class rooms, an administrative wing, play ground, gymnasium, gathering hall and an open air theatre. The new school will accommodate all the classes from present G.D. Shah School, and add new higher secondary classes of 11th and 12th as well. Present school has medium of teaching is Gujarat only for all classes. In new school The trust will start New English medium Nursery, Pre-Primary and Primary School to begin with and later on up to High School.Main objective of the trust is to give quality education at an affordable rate to children’s of poor families and therefore school fees are very inexpensive. Proposed fees will be Rs.35.00 per month for 8th standard, Rs.40.00 per month for 9th standard and Rs.45.00 per month for 10th standard. The free ship and scholarship will also be offered. We have plans to give uniforms, textbooks, schoolbags, shoes and socks to poor and needy students as per the budget plan.

At new school building we will have in total 21 rooms, big play ground, indoor gymnasium, open air theatre, and laboratory. In morning session we will be running 6 Nursery classes in English medium covering 150 students, 14 Primary classes (1st to 7th standard) in English medium covering 700 students. In evening session we will be running 4 Higher secondary (11th and 12th standard) classes in Gujarati medium covering 150 students and 11 High school classes (8th, 9th and 10th standard) covering 600 students. In all at new school building we will be providing education to 1700 students.

Donations: We would like your generous donations to help us build this school together. The trust will spend up to Rs 100,00000 ($2,22222/£1,42857), about 40% out of total budget requirement of 250,00000($5,55555/£3,57143) towards this new school project. We like your pledges and donations for the balance 60% of project cost which is 150,00000 ($3,33333/£2,14286). Donations are tax exempt for donors in India and they will receive the 80 G certificate from the trust. The trust appeals to one and all to give donation generously to complete our new project. The names of donor or their representatives will be duly exhibited in school building. Our application under the FERA act is pending for the approval by the Indian government. We will inform you when this is done. The donation if fully subscribed will cover deficit of funds to complete project as per estimates of cost. Kindly strengthen our hands by generously donating to fulfil dreams of poor and needy children.

Donation Opportunities: Big Class Room-Donation of Rs. 150,000 (US Dollars 3334 or Sterling Pounds 2143) per room, 20 Rooms are available, Other Donation Opportunities: $560 for a computer, $689 for furniture-fixtures in a big class room, $6667 for a lobby and $11,112 for open air theatre.Details of the school project and donation opportunities are displayed on www.gdshahschool.com.

By the divine grace we are receiving positive response in our donation drive.

Donations Pledged:

1. Rs. 33.50 Lakhs, Pankaj Jaysukhlal Mansukhlal Valji Shah, Jamnagar for School Building, Cultural Hall and Library.
2. Rs. 30.00 Lakhs, Dhanjibhai Vishariya, London for School Land
3. Rs. 4.50 Lakhs, In the loving memory of Mrs. Amritben Amritlal Dharamsi Chandaria for six Nursery Rooms
4. Rs. 3.00 Lakhs, Jamnagar MLA Vasuben Trivedi for Indoor Gym
5. Rs. 3.00 Lakhs, In the loving memory of: Kishorlal Laxmichand Shah and Kusumben Kishorlal Shah Donated by their children: Vishakhaben Harishbhai Varia, Canada, Pritiben Mukeshbhai Mehta,USA, Bhavnaben Vijaybhai Mehta, USA, Ritaben Shrikantbhai Vasa, Sangli,India, Binaben Devendrabhai Punatar, Kolhapur,India, Dr. Maheshbhai Shah, Bombay, India, Bipinbhai Shah, Rajkot, India for front lobby.
6. Rs. 2.51 Lakhs, In the loving memory of Nalini Mukundray Shah donated by Mukundray Gokaldas Shah, Irvine, CA USA for Computer Room
7. Rs. 2.51 Lakhs In the loving memory of their mother Nalini Mukundray Shah donated by Maluni Bijal Shah and Shital Tarang Shah, Irvine, CA USA for Laboratory
8. Rs. 1.62 Lakhs, Hemlata Sureshkumar Sheth, London for one big class room, Furniture and Fixtures
9. Rs. 0.75 Lakhs, Jashvantray Liladhar Shah, Jamnagar for Waiting Lounge
10. Rs. 0.75 Lakhs, Bharatbhai Patel and Shailesh Chhapia, Jamnagar for Takhti
11. Rs. 0.62 Lakhs, Primary School Teacher Chandravalliben, Jamnagar for Furniture and Fixtures for 2 class rooms
12. Rs. 0.31 Lakhs, Bhogilal Patel, Baroda for Furniture and Fixtures for one class room
13. Rs. 0.31 Lakhs, Manmohan Tamboli, Bhavnagar for Furniture and Fixtures for one class room
14. Rs. 0.25 Lakhs, in the loving memory of his grandmother Nalini Mukundray Shah, donated by Raj Shital-Tarang Shah, Irvine, CA USA for One Computer

With kind regards,

Mukundray G. Shah
473 Stanford Court
Irvine, Ca 92612
Phone: 949-509-6716

JAINA 2009 Convention report from Gujarati Times (PDF)