LCUK E-Newsletter October 2006


	It's that busy time of the year on the Indian calendar. We hope you all had an enjoyable Navratri, Sharad Poonam and Dashera. Most all Lohana Mahajans in UK hosted Navratri in some way or other. On behalf of the eNewsletter team and all our Reporters, we wish you Shubh Diwali and a Happy and Peaceful New Year. Our subscriptions are still increasing and many of you are sending in interesting articles and news from all around the world giving LCUK eNews a very international flavour. Thanks for the support and long may it continue. Get more of your Lohana friends and family to subscribe free at www.Lohana.info - backdated copies of eNews and articles from our Culture Corner and Readers Contributions can also be found there.



	Community News & Events

	LCUK News
	On behalf of the LCUK President Shri Kiritbhai Karia, the LCUK Trustees, Executive Committee and Central Council members, we wish you all a very Happy Diwali and healthy and proposerous New Year

	LCUK Publishes Bhajan/Prathna And Antim Yatra Books
	By the grace of God, Bhajan / Prathna books have now been published and dispatched to all LCUK Lohana Mahajans across the United Kingdom. These books are to be used at the residence of a bereaved family for the period of approximately two weeks, after which they are to be returned to the respective Mahajan committee member. In addition to the Bhajan/Prathna books we have also produced "Antim Yatra" (The Final Journey) booklets. This will be distributed to crematoriums (commonly used by Hindu Community) all over the UK to be used at the time of any Hindu Funeral.

	Lohana Community South London Diwali Concert
	LCSL are to host a Diwali Concert on Saturday 2nd December 2006. Dipti Desai, a Gujarati singer of great acclaim who has won gold medals at various awards, will be appearing in concert with her full team from India. Dipti has performed in India and recently in the Middle East, Kenya and here in UK. She sings a variety of ghazals, raas, garba, folk songs, Rajasthani poetic songs and old and new bollywood numbers with ease and finnesse. Tickets are only £10 including a light dinner. Click here for more details.

	Shree Lohana Association Birmingham Dinner & Dance
	Shree Lohana Association Birmingham Annual Dinner & Dance - This event is to be hosted on Saturday 28th October 2006 - see their website at www.lcbirmingham.org.uk for more details.

	31st Lohana Sports & Culture Festival - Nairobi, Kenya
	Nairobi Lohana Youth League will host the 31st Lohana Sports & Cultural Festival in Nairobi during the 2006 Xmas holidays, confirmed Subhash Modi (PRO of the Festival). Teams are expected from Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kampala, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu to participate along with the hosts, Nairobi. The festival started in Kisumu in 1974 with its founder members namely D P Mandavia, Jayant Badiani and Subhash Modi. The festival has the full blessings of Aroonbhai Samani (Chairman of East Africa Lohana Mahajans) and Kaushikbhai Manek (Chairman of Nairobi Lohana Mahajan Manadal). The festival includes various sports - badminton, cricket, volleyball, snooker, tennis, swimming, throwball, tabletennis, marathon, darts. Various cultural and entertainment programmes will also be hosted in the evenings - more details to follow.

	LCWL To Organise Lohana Awards Event
	LCWL believe Raghuvanshis in UK and Overseas should be recognised for their service to the Community and Success in their profession. They also believe that Non Lohanas who have assisted the Lohana Community / Hindu Culture should be recognised. They are seeking Nominations of Candidates for this Prestigious Awards. A presentation ceremony will be held at top West End Venue in March 2007 with all the pomp and ceremony. Click here to see their Diwali Diary and further details of the awards event.

	Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies Courses In Hinduism
	The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies is pleased to announce that it will continue to offer courses in Hindu Studies at five different locations during the upcoming academic year; in Harrow, Ilford, Leicester, Oxford, and Birmingham. Each of these courses is overseen and validated by the University of Wales, Lampeter, and students who complete a course and its assessment can acquire credits that contribute towards Higher Education qualifications. For more details see www.ochs.org.uk or contact them at info@ochs.org.uk.



	Forthcoming Religious & Cultural Events

	Jalaram Jayanti is being celebrated on Sunday 29th October 2006 across the UK and indeed across the world to celebrate the birthday of Sant Shree Jalarambapa. Almost al the Lohana Mahajans have their own celebrations - please see the links to their websites from www.LCUK.org.uk for more details. Australian Gold Coast Indians to celebrate Tulsi Vivah - Shri Haribhai Popat from Mumbai will be performing the musical version of the wedding of Lord Vishnu to Tulsi Devi in Queensland on November 5th 2006. The "baraat" will arrive from New South Wales. For more details click here.

	Lohana Achievers

	AAA Awards
	The Asian Achievers Awards 2006 was hosted by Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar on Monday 9th October 2006. Many nominations were received for the various categories and several Lohanas were nominated. Our congratulations to all the AAA Lohana finalists Pramodbhai Thakkar (Business in Community category), Kanteshbhai (Ken) Popat (Business Person of the Year category) and Sureshbhai Kotecha (New Market Entrant category).

	Volunteering In India
	The Asian Foundation for Philanthropy hosted a volunteering in India presentation on 19th September 2006 of Meera and Shalin Saujani's journey of a lifetime. Meera Saujani spent her summer volunteering for the Ahmedabad Women's Action Group, Gujarat. She felt strongly about 'giving something back to her country of origin and its people'. The opportunity to have a new perspective of India as a volunteer rather than a tourist was one of many reasons for Meera wanting to volunteer in India. Meera thoroughly enjoyed exploring cosmopolitan Ahmedabad, surprised by the number of coffee shops and Pizza Huts. She even admits that she liked the place so much, she would love to study there in the future. Shalin Saujani wanted to make a difference to children's lives in India and so also decided that he would like to spend his summer volunteering in India. He not only wanted to share his teaching skills with teachers in India but wanted to learn from people in India. Shalin overcame the challenge of living in an isolated village with limited water supply and electricity. His positive attitude and creative ideas lead him to make friends with the local people who he regularly played cricket with.

	Make Poverty History Campaign
	Ami Somani was involved in organising the Stand Up Against Poverty day on October 15th and 16th as we go to press with eNews. STAND UP is an exciting and innovative challenge which is attempting to set an official Guinness World record for the largest number of people ever to STAND UP Against Poverty on October 15-16. A minimum of ten thousand people must physically "STAND UP" Against Poverty; and there are just 24 hours to set this record. STAND UP is a mobilization initiative designed to coincide with global mobilizations around the International Day of Poverty Eradication and the White Band Day of the Global Call to Action against Poverty on October 17th. STAND UP will raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and publicly demonstrate the growing global support for the achievement of these Goals. Everyone can still help make a difference. The website (www.makepovertyhistory.org) includes a section where Lohana readers can email Alistair Darling, the UK Secretary of State for Trade & Industry to ask him to use his influence to listen to the serious concerns of poor countries and work with those countries to develop new deals that will help deliver trade justice.

	Educational Achievements

	Sumit Karia, son of Dr Arvind and Dr Asmita Karia of Milton Keynes, has passed his final medical exam from UCL London with distinction. He had already achieved BSc in Orthopedic Science from the same University three years ago.

	Meera Dattani, daughter of Ashok & Anila Dattani of Hatch End, Middlesex, qualified as a doctor from Imperial College London in June 2006. Congratulations to both of you on this top achievement.

	Readers Contributions

	Hindu Gods Can Now Be Found In Night Clubs!
	A chain of night clubs in London called the 'BlagClub' is using sacred Hindu iconography, including statues of Ganesh and Vishnu, for their interiors. The clubs host plenty of parties, hen nights, and stag do's where there is often hedonistic behaviour, foul language and plenty of smoke and alcohol! Not really ideal places for Hindu deities. Hindu Youth UK is spear-heading a campaign to put a stop to this offence, and is liaising with local councils and key members of the Hindu community to put pressure on the owners of BlagClub to change their interiors and marketing strategy. An on-line petition has been started. By signing this petition you will show your support for the campaign. We need 10,000 names (1% of the UK Hindu population) to show local councils that we mean business!!! Please sign the petition at http://blag.petitiontime.com. You can also support this campaign by forwarding this message to all your friends, colleagues and family members.

	Gujarati Ma Jalsa
	Do you like your Gujarati shairies? We have an avid reader who has sent some in - Click here to read them

	The Story Of Diwali - In Detroit Lingo
	The story of Diwali - in Detroit Lingo from Chandubhai Radia in USA. Click here to read for the "cool dude" alternative version of what is the story of Diwali and why we celebrate it !!

	Hindu Rituals & Routines - Why Do We Follow Them?
	Why do we chant aarti? Why do we say Namaste? Why do we chant Om? These and many more questions answered by H.H. Pujya Swami Chinmayananda - click here to read more.

	Articles from our Readers are hosted on the www.Lohana.info website. If you have any interesting articles then email them to eNews@LCUK.org.uk - please let us know if you have got the articles from another website so we can acknowledge them. Any comments and feedback welcome for all these articles - write to Feedback@LCUK.org.uk.

	Community Announcements

	Birth Announcements
	Lalit and Sarla Devani of Bromley in Kent are very pleased to announce the birth of their grand daughter Shreya, daughter of Samir and Manisha Devani on 21st September 2006. A donation of £11 has been received.

	Bhanuben and Ishwarbhai Ruparel of Streatham in South London are delighted to announce that they are blessed with the birth of their grandson Dhyan, son of Tina and Ravi Ruparel on 18th September 2006. A donation of £11 has been received.

	Congratulations to both the families and thank you for the donations.

	Bereavements
	Shree Chandrakantbhai Vrajlalbhai Nathwani of Rayners Lane (formerly Jinja) passed away on 27th August at the age of 73 years

	Smt. Nilamben Arunbhai Jagjivanbhai Gokal of Mumbai passed away in London 28th August at the age of 63 years

	Shree Satishbhai Bhimji Jina Somaiya (of Mwanza) passed away on 30th August in Moshi at the age of 60 years

	Shree Mahendrabhai Narrotambhai Unandkat of Harrow (formerly Jinja) passed away 30th August at the age of 56 years

	Shree Maganbhai Tulsibhai Samani of Borehamwood (formerly Kericho) passed away on 1st September

	Shree Jayaben Jamnadasbhai Nathwani of Finchley (formerly Malawi) passed away on 12th September at the age of 85years

	Shree Nathalal Vithaldas Karia, beloved father of Ajit Karia, passed away in Leicester on September 14th at the age of 92.

	Smt. Puja Sarbjit Dhanda daughter of Prafulbhai Govindjibhai Gadhia of Harrow and Southall (formerly Jinja) passed away on 17th September at the age of 26 years.

	Shree Rasikbhai Davda originally from Dar-Es-Salaam (Four Ways Travel) husband of Smt. Pushpaben Davda (Kisumu) passed away Monday 19th September 06 in Doncaster.

	Shree Lalitbhai Devchandbhai Budhdev of Edgware (formerly Mombasa) passed away Sunday 24th September at the age of 74 years

	Smt Nirupaben Amratlal (Prabhubhai) Lakhani of South Harrow (formerly Iganga) passed away on Wednesday 27th Sept at the age of 65 years

	Smt Nirmalaben Narshidas (Babubhai) Kotecha of Leicester (formerly Mukono, Uganda) passed away on Saturday 30th September 2006 at the age of 72 years.

	Shree Manilalbhai Nathalal Chotai aged 77 of Nairobi, Kenya passed away on Saturday 7th October 2006

	Shree Hansrajbhai Damodarbhai Kotecha of Kingsbury (formerly Kisumu) passed away on 10th October at the age of 90 years

	Shree Shantilal Sanglani of Wembley (formerly Dar-es-Salaam) passed away at the age of 85 years.

	Shree Kantilal Mohanlal Karia (Babubhai) formerly of Magu (Mwanza), Tanzania passed away on 6th October 2006.

	Shree Dayaljibhai Ghelani beloved father of Surendrabhai, Jashubhai, Subhashbhai, Navinbhai and Bipinbhai passed away in Markham, Ontario on Wednesday October 11.

	Smt Chandrikaben Nandlalbhai Nacarja of Harrow (formerly Jinja) passed away Wednesday 11th october at the age of 70 years.

	Shree Batukbhai Tribhubhai Raichura passed away in Nairobi (formerly of Kisumu) at the age of 55 years.

	Smt. Maniben Jivandas Kanabar passed away at the age of 87 years in Malawi.

	Contributions & Feedback

	If you have any contributions to make to our next e-newsletter, please email all relevant details / articles to enews@lcuk.org.uk. News items provided will be included if relevant and with space permitting. The eNews Editorial team reserves the right to make amendments if and as necessary

	Similarly, if you have any feedback to give us on this e-newsletter please email the Convenor Ajay Jobanputra on feedback@lcuk.org.uk - thank you for your time and support.