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JAINA CONVENTION YOUTH SOUVENIR SECTION
The Crew
Planning it all stressed us... but we loved it!
by Shruti Parekh Convention Youth Committee
"OK guys, I think it's about time we called this meeting to order. We've got a bunch of things to do. First, committee reports. Hey Mintu and Meenesh, how's that souvenir coming along?" Seema asked patiently.
"Well, our deadline is Tuesday, and there's a lot that needs to be done before then. The essays must need to be selected, and the..." Mintu explained.
Allow me to introduce to you a "typical" JAINA Youth Committee meeting. There are about twenty-five of us who sacrificed our Friday nights to plan the convention. We all thought our work was finished after the last bell at school rang in the afternoon. Yeah, right! The night has just begun:
Mintu, Meenesh, and Tushar continue to update us on the never-ending deadlines we must meet and on how little time we have. Yikes! The convention will be here in no time. Then its Seema and Sony's turn to tell us that there's yet another schedule change! Ugh the keychains! We need to select a specific type and quality! Hey, here's an idea! Deepall's "Young, Jain, and Proud" ought to add the right touch. Decisions, decisions, decisions!
"So guys, this is our agenda for the next couple days. Meeting at Prem Uncle's house tomorrow to discuss the panel topics, meeting the following day at Shruti's house to practice the Jain rap. We have to get together at my house to make posters, banners, and go shopping for supplies. Everyone's gotta be there!" explained Sony with a smile from ear to ear. We all knew she was just thrilled at taking us away from the rest of
Jain Education International 2010_03
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Photo (from left to right):
Top row: Sejal Kamani, Kartik Shah, Mintu Turakhia, Meenesh Bhimani, Ketan Ajmera, Tushar Shah, Sanjay Shah; Middle row: Seema Bhimani, Nivita Dedhia, Sheetal Vora, Neha Dedhia, Sony Kapadia; Bottom row: Deepali Shah, Shruti Parekh Not Shown:
Sudhamshu Jain, Samir Mehta, Avinash Patil, Shilpa Patil, Julita Patil, Reena Pungalia, Manish Saraiya, Tania Shah, Sonya Sheth the world and making JAINA our life. No, really, maybe we're exaggerating a bit - but believe me, it really did get hectic at times.
It is not like we didn't have a ball! Of course there was always Denny's restaurant to look forward to after our meetings. It had become our "hangout". The waitresses must know us all by name now! Half the time we just sat there and gossiped, drank water, and watched Meenesh amuse himself with a salt-shaker, but it was just fun to be together.
I don't think anyone has ever assembled a group of youths who are all so different. Most of the time our main
problem was agreeing on anything, and everyone was always so busy! Sheetal was getting ready to run off to Japan in her kimono; Ketan, Sonya, Shilpa, and Meenesh were graduating; I had volleyball; Kartik and Tushar had finals; Sanjay had to work; Nivita was in India; Tanla was working hard at school; and Avinash and Julita were running track. Because of all of our different backgrounds and opinions, we were able to put together an all-around "awesome" convention. That's the beauty of it! The greatest thing (and I bet most of us agree) is that, despite all the sleepless nights and heated arguments, we all got a lot closer and loved every minute!!!
• 6TH BIENNIAL JAINA CONVENTION JULY 1991 · 58 For Private & Personal Use Only
•MT Pac www.jainelibrary.org
