Jain Spirit 2005 09 No23

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 9

NEWS
TAEKWONDO D
RADIO
I
HARVARD JAIN WINS PRESTIGIOUS SOROS FELLOWSHIP
DITAR
nspired at a young age by the philanthropic efforts of his Rajasthani Jain family, Harvard Medical School (HMS) student
Sachin Jain was awarded the 2004 Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
JAIPUR MAN'S RARE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE RADIO SETS
m Prakash Jain is certainly a fan of radio. The 62-year old retired government employee has the hobby
of collecting those of the antique variety. The collection is rare since most of the radio sets -- 160 in all-are in working order.
Jain started buying radio sets from scrap vendors and now claims that he has the world's best individual collection. He spends up to four to five hours a day servicing the sets and says he took up the hobby as he was worried about the era of the radio ending because of the onslaught of other multi-media and communication mediums.
The intensely competitive national scholarship spearheaded by money mogul Paul Soros is granted to highachieving immigrants or children of immigrants pursuing a graduate education. Awardees demonstrate exceptional creativity, commitment to public service and high academic achievement. Jain is no exception. In addition to a full load of coursework and practical training, Jain created the Harvard-Commonwealth Health Policy Education Initiative and secured a $28,000 grant to educate his peers about policy issues. Most recently, Jain's collaboration with HMS faculty to collect student essays on perspectives on the American health care system was acknowledged by a major American book publisher.
oung Jain, Siddharth Kiran Gudka, has certainly been aligning his chi if maybe not practising ahimsa! He has
recently been appointed as the ITF President of the British Student Taekwondo Federation in recognition of his services to Taekwondo.
"I thought radios would disappear if they are not preserved and we will not have anything to tell to the coming generation what radio was. Today, we just press the button and stereo starts playing sound," said Jain.
Jain now plans to donate his antique collection to a museum without expecting any monetary benefits in return, but with the only desire to have his initials on the collection.
He is a third-year student at Warwick University, Coventry, UK, studying Computer Systems Engineering. Siddharth commented on his appointment, saying, "It was a really nice surprise as I was not expecting it. I hope that my experience with the Warwick Taekwondo Club will help me do well in my new position."
Influenced early on by the teachings of Acharya Sushil muniji and Amrender muniji, Jain explains: "My Jain background has been a source of strength. Our religion is grounded in principles and gives us a definite framework through which to think about ethical problems and moral dilemmas. often think about anekantvada when I'm presented with a difficult interpersonal situation and try to place myself in the mind of the person with whom I am having problems."
Ty Smith
Siddharth can be contacted at sidgudka@hotmail.com
iStockphoto.com/uploaded by member: "tysmith'
Jain hopes to pursue further education in business and public policy and will dedicate his life to improving health care access and quality.
For more information, please visit www.pdsoros.org photo courtesy of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships
www.ainelibrary pro