Hindu Society of North Carolina

Author(s): Hindu Society of North Carolina
Publisher: Hindu Society of North Carolina

Page 10

Dr. Ganga Dhar Sharma
Mrs. Saroj Sharma
As an old saying goes, "Behind every successful man is a woman," but Mrs. Saroj Sharma walks beside her husband, Dr. Ganga Dhar Sharma, and legitimately shares with him the credit for establishing the Hindu Society. As a founding member of the Society she has worked with him and other members to make it a voice of the Hindu Community in this area. She has spent countless hours mobilizing community support for several projects, most importantly, fund-raising for the Hindu Bhavan.
Dr. Ganga Dhar Sharma, our current HSNC president, popularly called "Sharmaji," is a pioneer of religious revival among the Hindus of the Triangle area and a source of inspiration to the Hindu community in North Carolina in general. For several years Dr. Sharma's house was synonymous with the Hindu Society. Indeed he acted as de facto priest of the Hindu community. He is on call almost seven days a week to perform ritualistic ceremonies in the Hindu homes. Dr. Sharma is the founding President of the Hindu Society. He was the conveyor of the first organizational meeting of the Society in the fall of 1976. Prior to the purchase of the first Hindu Bhavan, his house was the administrative base of the Society. Dr. Sharma was born in Shikohabad (Uttar Pradesh), India. He earned his M.S. in Zoology from the Agra University in 1950. He went to Canada in 1959 and studied at McGill University, graduating with a Master's degree in Entomology in 1962. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from McGill. In 1995 he left India for a teaching assignment at the University of Ife IN Ibadan, Nigeria and stayed there for two years. From 1967 to 1972 he worked in Khartoum as an UNESCO advisor to the Government of Sudan. Since moving to Raleigh in 1972 Dr. Sharma has taught as a science teacher in various schools in North Carolina. He has authored more than few dozen articles and three high school textbooks in areas of zoology and botany.
While abroad with her husband, Mrs. Sharma founded the India Association at McGill University (1963); The India Association in Ibadan, Nigeria (1965); and the India Association and religious group in Khartoum, Sudan (1967). In Khartoum she also served as secretary and later as vice-president of the International Women's Club for four years. Mrs. Sharma was born in Kanpur, India, and received her Master's degree in Hindi language and literature from Allahabad University in 1957.
He has been a member of the Lions Club of Raleigh since 1978. Dr. Sharma and his wife, Saroj Sharma, the current president of Hindi Vikas Mandal live in Raleigh. They have five children.