Jain Study Center NC Raleigh 1999 08 Twenty Years

Author(s): Jain Study Center NC Raleigh
Publisher: USA Jain Study Center NC Raleigh

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Hum Thei Ajnabi (we were strangers)
by Dina Mehta
It was August 15", 1997. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my Dad's oh so familiar car. That comforting feel of the seats and that all so familiar smell that pervaded throughout the car would be just a few of the things that I would take with me into my new home. Dharmesh, one of my brothers, was sitting in the driver's seat to my left. In the car ahead, I could see my father drinking coffee to keep awake, and beside him, was his co-pilot -- my mother. All our bags were packed, the cars were fueled up, and we were ready to go. That perfect picture of what we called home for the past seven years was about to be destroyed. We said goodbye to South Florida and we were on our way to North Carolina.
I was about to start my freshmen year at UNC, and my parents were ready to begin a new life in Durham. This included making new friends and finding their niche in society. So, off we went on our 13-hour journey, still unsure of how I would adjust to North Carolina and college life. We sat silently in the car, and I couldn't help but worry about my parents starting over in a new community, having left their old friends behind yet again...
August 16th -- the next morning -- I was unpacking in my first ever dorm room. Putting books in their place, finding room for all my clothes in the small closet, and wondering how in the world I would manage sharing my room (and phone!) with a complete stranger.
Then, there was a knock at the door. Of course, I was completely bewildered -- I knew no one in North Carolina. I had not even been here a day! Who could possibly be visiting me? Well, lo and behold. It was Mr. Ameet Shah. (My Young Jains of America counterpart who I was meeting for the first time.) He greeted me and welcomed me to this wonderful state...then he handed me some YJA work (something I later became accustomed to him doing!) Who would have known that Ameet and I would endure the tasks we did over the next few months?
Within the next two weeks, Ameet and I found ourselves sitting at the temple in front of 50 strangers (strangers to us) and pitching this so-called crazy idea to host a youth convention in Raleigh. We were bombarded with questions -- some of which we answered and some that we didn't know how to handle. "How do you propose we go about doing such a thing?” “Can the two of you pull this off?" "Where are you going to get the support you need?" "You want to bring 100 youth here for 4 days...and the date for this 'convention is in 2 12 months?" "You kids are really something, you know."
Well, that was the first of our many North Carolina Jain Center's meetings. As time passed, volunteers gathered, support arose, and a dedicated group of selfless people stood out and were willing to better serve the Jain youth of America. Of course, while the idea of the convention began, I had the full support of my parents. As my father took a leading role in the planning of the Second Southeast Regional YJA Convention, pieces of a larger puzzle began fitting together.
The JSCNC embraced my parents and fostered my ideas. The organization placed its support in the youth, which many often fear doing. They welcomed a new family as if we were old friends.
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