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AHIMSA TIMES - JANUARY 2008 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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Club. Participants were provided free board, lodging, calipers, walkers, tricycles, wheelchairs, as well as surgery, if needed. The aim was to reach out to the disabled everywhere.
CHANDRASWAMI (JAIN) AWAITS COURT NOD TO GO ABROAD Chandraswami, once a powerful Political Guru, known to be close to former prime ministers, is blaming his stars for not being able to travel abroad for the past 12 years. But he is keeping his fingers crossed for a court order for traveling abroad. Swami has zeroed in on four places among the 118 countries, he has already visited. "I will visit the United Kingdom, France, Mauritius and Dubai to meet my friends and followers there. Chandraswami, now 57, had access to top politicians, like P V Narasimha Rao and Chandra Shekhar at the height of their
power and influence.
Originally called Nemi Chand Jain, Chandraswamy is facing trial in 11 cases of violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and the stipulated penalties on him could well run into millions of rupees. He was even charged in what was called the St Kitts case that sought to show that another former prime minister, VP Singh had stashed away wealth in a bank in the tiny Caribbean island by allegedly forging the signature of his son, Ajeya Singh. But the charges
could not be proved in court. According to him, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is a prospective prime minister. Modi stood up in this election on his principles and proved to the world that even when his party had forgotten the principles, he still stood by them and this is where he got the political mileage and could be a strong contender for the post of PM.
ABDUCTED BOY, MIHIR JAIN OF JAIPUR TRACED Jaipur, Jan 18: Mihir Jain, an 11-year-old schoolboy, who was allegedly kidnapped about a week ago, was found later at the Jaipur Highway. He was recovered from a hideout of abductors near the express highway. Mihir, son of a jeweller Rakesh Jain, was forcibly taken into a van by some four persons as soon
as he alighted from school auto outside his house on January 11. Special Operation Group of Rajasthan police had since been handling his case. Mihir is a sixth-standard student.
JAIN FAMILY OF 180 MEMBERS At a time when the joint family tradition has become a thing of the past and where nuclear families thrive, the 180member Narasinganavar Jain clan in northern Karnataka is an exception in modern India. As one of the largest joint families in Asia, with its lineage dating back to the 16th century, the Narasinganavar clan has defied all odds to live as a contented lot under one roof at Lokur, a placid hamlet about 20 km from Dharwad and 400 km from here. The family's ancestors hail from Hatkal Angada village near Miraj in Maharashtra. At 90, Tammanna Jinappa is the oldest, while his brother Bhimanna, 75, is the patriarch, presiding over the fortunes of the grand family comprising 60 children, 50 women and 70 men.
Rooted to the soil, with farming as its main occupation, the clan is self-reliant and self-sufficient in meeting its needs by harvesting grains such as wheat, maize and corn for consumption and generating income. Besides cultivating cotton, sugarcane and oilseeds, the men are involved in growing a variety of vegetables, including potatoes and onions on their 280 acres of farmland. Living a frugal life, the joint family is financially sound and debt free, with an annual income of Rs.0.8-Rs.1.2 million depending on the monsoon and the market rate for the farm produce. The annual expenditure, largely on farm labour and machinery, is judiciously limited to Rs.1 million.
Devout Jains, the family consumes daily about 50 kg of maize, 20 kg of wheat flour and 40 litres of milk, drawn from its huge dairy. Though individual families share different rooms with porticos, all the members converge on the spacious dining hall for meals. Many of them also gather in the common hall upstairs to watch television. The grand family has about 100 votes. In the gram panchayat polls, the family calls the shots in choosing the candidate. The 35-year-old stone mansion is a treasure trove of antiques, artifacts and collectors' items left behind by successive generations over the last four to five centuries. Courtsey: Mahavir S. Chavan.
JAIN STUDY CIRCULAR NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB SITE The quarterly Jain Study Circular was started in USA by Jain Study Circle about 29 years ago with the purpose of providing some basic knowledge of Jainism to the Jains in US and Canada. Up until December 2007, the Jain Study
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