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President's Message (cont.)
JAINA's Convention Board, with Dr. Bipin Parikh as its conveyor and Mr. Kishore Shah and Mr. Prabodh Vidhya as its coconveyors, along with the entire dedicated convention team, is making very sincere efforts in giving us a unique, memorable convention, religiously and socially. Full involvement of YJA and YJP will bring our new generation ever closer to our religion. I invite you to come, along with your family and friends to fully enjoy and be exposed to the richness of our religion.
JAINA's Matrimonial Committee has brought many Jain youths together for life long commitments in keeping our Jain heritage alive. Thank you, Hasmukhbhai Shah, for the sincere dedication you have shown in carrying on this vital and time consuming service to our society.
JAINA's Education Committee chairman Mr. Pravinbhai Shah and JAINA Publication Committee chairman Dr. Prem Gada are developing plans to help teachers of Jain Pathshalas and Jains at various centers to publish and disseminate books to enable Jain families in North America to do Swadhaya through self-study.
JAINA's Temple Guideline Committee, under the able leadership of our past president Dr. Jagat Jain, has accomplished a lot in establishing united, non-sectarian Jain institutions in North America.
Our Sadhus, Sadhvis and scholars are the foundation on which we learn the basics of our religion. And for that, we appreciate the long-term commitment of Mr. Nirmal Doshi, in his efforts to make them available to the North American Jain community.
JAINA's Calendar project, which began two years ago, has made Jains throughout North America more cognizant of our heritage. Incorporating all of your valuable suggestions, we are now in the process of producing calendars for the year 2002. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of its newly elected chairman, Mr. Rajeev Pandya, for handling this project from its very inception.
JAINA Trustees and Patrons have proved to be the financial backbone of JAINA, without whose help we would never have been able to make the progress we have made. I sincerely thank them for their regular contributions and commitment by upholding their belief in Jainism
JAINA has too many other committees to be mentioned performing their duties faithfully. We thank all of these for their continual hard work and sincere efforts, which continue to keep JAINA strong.
Our sincere thanks to Mr. Kamlesh Amin, administrator of JAINA Headquarters, for his sincere hard work and dedication.
While we can take pride in all of the above achievements, there has been increasing concerns about maintaining our Jain unity among different Jain traditions. The non-sectarian approach taken by Jaina and so far whole heartedly supported by the Jains in North America, has become a bright and refreshing example for the Jain community worldwide. It therefore becomes the responsibility of each and everyone of us as well as the Sadhus and Sadhvis and Scholars to help preserve this unique character of Jains in North America. Those who are coming here to enlighten us about our religion would better serve the Jain community if they refrained from pursuing their own agendas or opening their own ashrams or a branch of their institution in North America. The goal of unity is paramount for us to flourish here and pass our valued religious heritage to the young generation.
Last but not the least, I find no words to express my feeling of happiness and gratitude towards the members of JAINA's Executive Board and their families, for their dedication in performing their sacred duties for JAINA. I also thank all our past presidents, who always extended their guidance to me personally, and to the entire JAINA Organization.
Finally, I do not want to fail in discharging my humble duty to thank Mrs. Asha Pandya, who, along with our joint family of two sons - Sanjay and Rajeev and daughters Renu and Deepti and our six grandchildren, let our family become a JAINA office for the past two years; helping me in each and every task that I was involved in doing for JAINA. I am sure they will all miss this fortunate opportunity given to them, but I can reassure them that I will keep them as busy as I have in the past two years with my continued commitment to JAINA.
Once again, I thank each and every member of the Jain community of North America for their wholehearted support to JAINA. I take full responsibility of not being able to do as much as I wanted or was expected to accomplish. Also for any hurt feelings, which I personally or JAINA members might have caused during the past two years, Micchami Dukadam.
Jai Jinendra and Thank You Very Much!
Dr. Mahendra K. Pandya, President, JAINA
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