Ahimsa Times 2007 08 SrNo 86

Author(s): Ahimsa Times
Publisher: Ahimsa Times

Page 9

AHIMSA TIMES - AUGUST 2007 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
was not on the flight menu. When the seniors did not achieve their goal, they found | consolation in the snacks packed by the foresight of their women, and in the fact that they got this foreign trip on a reasonable discount arranged by a curious community service.
Page 9 of 13
These senior citizens were members of the Jain Jagruti Centre (JJC) in Vile Parle, Mumbai, and they were on one of their annual international tours. The centre, which began in Vile Parle, now has 115 branches all over India tending to 58,000 members. It was formed by advocate C. S. Gosalia in 1975. He was disturbed by the fact that when he used to attend the functions of the Rotary or the Lions clubs in 5-star hotels, he had to bear the sights of people drinking and, "one man holding another man's wife by her waist". So he wanted to found a club that could match Rotary or the Lions but still be rooted in 'Indian values'.
Gosalia also wanted to unify the various factions of the Jains. He saw that the young girls in the community were growing old searching for a groom within their sub-sect. Also, there were many budding artists in need of a loan. Similarly, there were Jains all over the country who wanted many things but did not know whom to ask. So he started the Jain Jagruti Centre with the intention of uniting the Jains and giving them the best financial deals possible through the power of collective bargaining. The group negotiates with cinemas and theatres for ticket discounts, with travel agents for best air and hotel fares, with banks for good loan deals, with marriage halls for generous concessions and, of course, with God for general good times.
The centre has more than 35 branches in Mumbai and these branches try to outdo each other. "If we get a better hall, we show off. It's a healthy competition," says Deepak Gandhi, the secretary of the Vile Parle group, which has more than 1,100 members. The Vile Parle branch has an arrangement with two local theatres and a multiplex to host free shows for its members once in two months. The members also bag free tickets to Gujarati plays.
Besides religious festivals, members bond mainly during the domestic and international tours. Travel agencies themselves approach various committee members with attractive wholesale offers. The members get nearly 50 percent off on holiday tours. A common festivity among the Jain groups is at the reception of hotels, where the compare the rack rates and overtly rejoice at the discounts they have got. The group travel also ensures that nobody in the community, especially the old, feel lonely or left behind. When JJC members travel inside India, they take a Maharaj along to survive places like Goa and Kerala. The JJC takes care of love too but with parental discretion. With different sects of the Jains united by the club, young girls are now marrying at the 'right age'. They don't have to wait endlessly for a rare groom with the right ancestry anymore. The JJC conducts introductory sessions during which prospective grooms and brides are called out by numbers and a middle-class version of speed dating unfolds.
Then mass weddings ensue with the club having taken care of everything from dowry to other expenses. JJC is never short of funds, and even has a charitable trust that helps out the poor with food grains and student loans. It has almost become a social protocol among the Jains now to ask for the JJC branch they belong to. "It is a matter of social status to be a member of the JJC," says Deepak Gandhi.
Another pleasant outcome of the JJC, says Gosalia, is that women are more empowered due to increased interaction among themselves. They now make their own voting decisions. Though they still are chiefly housewives who like to discuss saas-bahu serials, jewellery and soaring vegetable prices when they gather for the JJC meets, "they no longer vote for a party just because their husband asked them to," says Gosalia.
The services provided by Jain Jagruti Centre includes, Free cinema tickets, Free play tickets, Organise subsidized international and domestic tours. Provide hall to organise social and religious functions, Mass weddings, Loans for higher education. Distribute food grains to the poor and during emergencies.
JJC welcomes new members and the conditions are, you have to be a Jain, in case of couples, at least one has to be Jain. To join, contact the Vile Parle centre on 022-26134731 between 11 pm and 12 pm, fluency in Gujarati helps. Courtesy: Rajendra Jain., E-Mail: raj@rediffmail.com
http://jainsamaj.org/magazines/august2007.htm
8/11/2009