We had a picnic on the Father’s Day as is almost a tradition for us now. We had a record 67 Oshwals attended the picnic. The previous attendance record was held at same location four years ago. The location is central to the metro NY area Oshwal community. It was an excellent day with fun filled activities.

This year, we planned a dinner event to celebrate Father’s Day on June 20th, 2010, at Taste of India Restaurant in Willowbrook, Illinois.

We had approximately 25 people attend the event. All the families had enjoyed a Indian dinner buffet, had excellent time catching up with each other and enjoyed the conversation. Everyone enjoyed the Father’s Day dinner because it was a very relaxing Sunday for all. In true celebration of Father’s day, many of the children treated their families to this special event.

Thank you for making this event successful and truly special.

Error Resizing Image: error_loading_image
Original Image Path: “2009/11/SDC10159.jpg”
File “2009/11/SDC10159.jpg” doesn’t exist?

Our 24th annual northeast area Thanksgiving Gathering was held on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at Ramada Inn, in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Despite bitter cold and windy weather, we had a good turnout of 70 plus people including children. The event was entirely sponsored by thirteen families. A wholehearted thought goes a long way.

The evening started with the delicious appetizers as people started arriving. Everyone enjoyed tasty appetizers – bhel, batata vada, papadi ganthia and desi chai, while catching up with friends and relatives. Children played several games afterward and prizes were given to everyone. They really enjoyed the games and they were happy to be here. Our sincere thanks to Bina Beed for planning and conducting games for children.

Prior to dinner, election was carried out / held for next two year term and executive committee was elected. Results will be posted on website in a separate report. Then, mouthwatering Gujarati and Punjabi style dinner was served. People sat and chat in groups while eating dinner. Paan flavored ice-cream and paan were served after the dinner. We would like to thank Jayanti and Vijya Galaiya, and Kanchan Shah for selecting and making arrangement for the delicious food. During dinner, Keshav Shah reminded everyone about our plan for publishing the updated Oshwal Directory in 2010.

It was a great get together and everyone enjoyed it. Our special thanks to the families who contributed to cover the cost of the event. The event was sponsored, however we collected nominal token for raising money for our association as we have a minimal balance. At the end we had surplus of $500 for our association. We also would like to thank committee members and area representatives for helping out.

See below for some pictures from the event.

Error Resizing Image: error_loading_image
Original Image Path: “2009/05/1st-quarter-2009-050.jpg”
File “2009/05/1st-quarter-2009-050.jpg” doesn’t exist?

Texas-Oklahoma Oshwal samaj organized a spring picnic on April 25th, 2009, at Russell Creek Park in Plano, Texas.

We had a good turn out of about 50 people. All families participated in the potluck for appetizers, pizzas  and desserts. Jaybhai and Naynaben Shah of Sherman, Texas, were the sponsors for dinner which was very delicious: vegetable sandwiches and Kenyan style potates with kachri. Our new members, Bindesh and Minita Nagda, along with their family also joined us. They have recently moved from Kenya and were happy to meet all other families. The weather was beautiful and adults and kids were busy with volleyball, dodge ball, biking and walking. Being on a Saturday, it felt very relaxing.

We met at Ruchi Palace Restaurant in Carrollton, TX on the evening of Nov 1st, 2008. This year, about 60-65 guests were present at the Diwali dinner. We started with a social hour. This was followed by Arti, Mangal Divo and Navkar Mantra recital. Then all the members enjoyed a Punjabi dinner with variety of mistans. Later, in the childrens’ presentation, we had a variety ranging from importance of Diwali in Jainism, magic show and song recitals. Adults and children all participated in family game and antakshri. This year, we also planned a can food and basic home item drive on behalf of TX/OK Oshwal Samaj for a local TX food bank.

Similar to last 3 years, we had started our preparations for months in advance. This social gathering would not have been possible without the constructive suggestions, endless support and generous help from our Oshwal members. We also had few long-time ‘friends of Oshwals’ attend the event. At these occasions, children and adults of all ages appreciate the strength of a close knit community and make long-lasting friends.

Our annual northeast area Thanksgiving Gathering was held on Saturday, November 29, 2008, in Caldwell, New Jersey.  This year invitations went out by E-vite and an automated phone messagings system.  About 65 people attended, and spent the evening catching up with friends and relatives, and meeting several new Oshwals in the area.

The evening started with two minute prayer for the innocent people who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Mumbai. There were four classical dance performances. Two Bharatnatyam dances, by Chandni Shah (daughter of Kalpesh and Rashmi Shah, NJ) and two Oddisi dances, by Riddhi Dodhia (daughter of Manish and Jigna Dodhia). The dance performances were applaud able. Both the girls had been practicing months in advance and did an excellent job, as you all know Indian Classical dances are very hard to learn , language being the barrier. A guest singer was invited, Nanda Chakraborthy who is a famous classical dancer and a renowned Bengali singer, sponsored by (Kalpesh and Rashmi Shah, NJ). She entertained with many Bollywood songs from the black and white to the colored era. This was followed by OShwalingo (an Oshwal take on Bingo!). The Bingo consisted of all the Oshwal elements starting from, the 52 villages, last names, food, religion, language, culture, etc. This was just to touch base on our Oshwal Culture. A contest of how well the aunties could tie their husband’s ties within a minute was conducted, which caused a roar of laughter amongst the audience.  During the meeting, Keshav Shah (president) gave an update on our successful fund raising effort.

See below for some pictures from the event.

On June 15, 2008 over 40 people come together to celebrate a special Father’s Day with many friends and family at Dipak and Smita Shah’s residence in Lemont, Illinos.

Due to the weather, our planned picnic at the park was changed, but worked out for the best.

We all enjoyed the food (bhel, sandwiches, chili moogo, vada, papdi-no-lot, falafel, cake, ice cream, watermelon, bean salad, and many more!) which all the families prepared and many card games. This allowed each of us to catch up with our fellow Oshwals.

This event was successful and future plans of more family-oriented gatherings was discussed.

Special thanks to everyone who helped out!

The annual Father’s Day picnic in the New York Metro area was held on Sunday, June 15, 2008 at Haverstraw Bay Park, in Haverstraw, New York.  Over 50 people attended and enjoyed catching up, with the Hudson River as a backdrop.  There was plenty of food, including jalebi-gathiya, bagels, chai, sweet corn, veggie-kebabs, bhel, and sandwiches.

Thanks to everyone who attending for making this event a success.  Click on the picture to the left to view photos from the event.

Teaching children to appreciate differences in cultures is a key to overcoming racial intolerance, and a recent event held at Meadowbrook School Hillsdale, NJ, went pretty far toward that end.

Meadowbrook took the idea of standard lessons on cultures and ran with it. The school held its first Multi-Cultural Festival on Feb 1st 2007 and the second on April 1st 2008, in which kids could hop to Germany, skip to India and jump to Japan in the course of a day.

During the Multi-Cultural festival, each class traveled to at least seven different countries, gaining stamps to their faux passports along the way. Three of these” countrified” classrooms contained parent presentations one of which was India, the show stopper of the whole festival.

The trip to India was the greatest hit. I volunteered to represent the country India along with three other Indian friends from Hillsdale. Overnight the Art room transformed from an ordinary classroom to an exotic Indian Mela, with bright gaudy colors. We had sections like Arts and Crafts , Spices and Food, Music(Tabla, Sitar, Payal, etc.), Religious books along with books in different scripts, Currency of India, Yoga, Body Art (Henna, Bindis, etc.), Costumes with different textures and embroideries, (mainly Saris), Jewelry, A place of worship, (temple), etc.

To welcome all the “Atithis” (guests), we placed Torans on the doors displayed a beautiful Rangoli at the entrance with Diyas, etc. Of course the main highlight was the Flag of India.

The students on arrival were greeted with a Namaste, and educated with a slide show which comprised of what India really was. The students made a rakhi, which was then taken as a souvenir. The female students were mesmerized with the clothes, jewelry and the body art. Thus the students traveled India without spending a fortune on “Palace on Wheels” and left breaking the myth that India was only a “Land of Snake Charmers”.

Dr.Cozine (the principal of Meadowbrook School) who was attired in a beautiful Indian Shalwar Kameez, dramatic dangling earrings and a Bindi (which I had lent her) credited the enthusiasm and hard work of the teachers, students and parent volunteers for the success of the program.

As a token of appreciation of our hard work an article was published in two local newspapers, “Pascack Valley Community Life” and “Pascack Press” along with our pictures. These can be viewed, here.

This made my daughter Chandni K. Shah very proud of her origin and heritage as we reside in a predominantly American neighborhood.

Jai Jinendra,
Rashmi K. Shah,
Secretary at HVO Samaj – USA.

(link to newspaper article: If it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium)

Texas-Oklahoma Oshwal samaj organized a spring picnic on May 4th, 2008.

We had a good turn out of about 60 people. We were very glad to have Oshwal USA president, Mr Keshavbhai Shah, join us for the picnic. Satishbhai-Suryaben Shah were the grand sponsors for dinner which was very delicious- Ragda Pattis and Pizza. Other families participated in the potluck for appetizers and desserts. Our new Oshwal guests came from Austin, Texas, this year. The weather was beautiful and our adults and kids were busy with kite-flying, volley ball, dodge ball, biking and walking.

Keshavbhai notified us about 3 main fund-raising agenda for Oshwal community, mainly related to computers for Halari Visa Oshwal Boarding and Kanya Chhatralay, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Oswal Yatrik Grah, Palitana, and Oshwal Mahajanwadi in Bangalore.

A Diwali dinner was celebrated on Saturday evening, Nov 3rd, 2007 at Pasand Indian Restaurant in Irving, TX.

About 40-45 guests were present. We started the gathering with children’s craft which was sponsored by Avnish/Sangita Shah and Rashmi/Sandhya Shah. The craft was a coloring activity, which almost looked like a Rangoli. This was followed by Arti, Mangal Divo and Navkar Mantra recital. Then all the members enjoyed Gughara, Mathia and Punjabi Dinner. Later, in the childrens’ presentation, we had a variety ranging from importance of Diwali, Bhajans, Hello’s in different languages and a surprise fashion show. Then, the dance floor was open for garba and dances.

Similar to last 2 years, we had started our preparations for months in advance. This social gathering would not have been possible without the constructive suggestions, endless support and generous help from our Oshwal members during the planning and event time. We also had few long-time ‘friends of Oshwals’ attend the event. During this dinner, we also discussed and came to a conclusion that annual Diwali celebration and spring picnic helps us meet each other and celebrate as a big family. At these occasions, children and adults of all ages appreciate the strength of a close knit community and make long-lasting friends.

As many of you may be aware, we as Halari Visa Oshwals have been involved in JAINA for several years and we have significant impact every time we are involved. I have seen it from JAINA at Chicago to Canada to Philadelphia to Edison. We have been involved at several different levels.

To re-cap our involvement in JAINA at Edison:

We had Oshwals from different corners of the word at Edison JAINA. From Kenya Rangoli group, from England HVO president of UK, Ahswin Shah and Secretary, Shailesh Shah; several guests from India, from coast to coast of Canada and all over the USA. We had a get together on Saturday afternoon in the Sheraton and created a mini Halar in Edison.

The opening prayer was performed by Misty Shah of Vestal, NY.

Evening cultural program: Chandrakant and Ishani Shah (MA), not only co-ordinated the evening programs, but also performed Hasya Chintamani, and Ahm na Odkar. Written and directed by Chandrakant Shah.

There was a fabulous display of Rangoli Samovasaran by a Rangoli group from Kenya.

Many of you may be aware JAINA does significant work in conjunction with Virayatan and the Virayatan stall was managed by Arun Shah (NY) and his family.

Swami Shrut Pragya, has ashram in Rajkot and lots of followers of his yoga teachings. His US institutions stall was managed by Velji Bid(NJ) and his family.

Acharya Shushil Kumarji co founded JAINA with Gurudev Chitrabhanu. We have two of our Oshwals are very active in his Ashram Siddhachalam in Blairstown, NJ.

Tansukh Maru (NJ) is a presentative to United Nations as Non Governmental Organization from Siddhachalam and Jayanti Galaiya (NJ) has been a senior trustee of Siddhachalam for many years.

JAINA recognized few people for doing outstanding work in various areas. Our own Manu Shah of Hanover, MD was recognized for doing such a work in Silver Spring, MD Jain center.

Raju Shah (DC/MD) has been active in YJA for many years and Deepa Galaiya (RI/NJ) is North East regional representative of YJA. YJA is Young Jain of America, a chapter of JAINA for our youths.

Jai Jinendra.
Jayanti Galaiya

This year, the Statue of Liberty and NYC skyline were the backdrop our New York Metro area picnic, held on Fathers Day, Sunday, June 17,from 10am to 4pm, at Liberty State Park, in Jersey City, NJ.

We had a fun filled day with a record attendance of 58 adults and children. The weather cooperated for the day, with the sea breeze helping cool us off. We had jalebi-gathiya, bagels, and chai for breakfast. We grilled sweet corn and set up a fresh sandwich bar for lunch. For desert we had chilled watermelon and ice cream.
Kids took the opportunity to fly kites with guidance from the adults, and many people enjoyed walking along the waterfront.

Madhuben from Leominster MA, while having a prayer for her Father-in-law in early April at the Jain center, noticed that the Jain center needed to be cleaned up. So, she contacted one of the authorized person at the Center and asked if she could volunteer to clean up the Center. Once she recieved permission, she created volunteer team. They painted the wall, cleaned up the shelves, and did many other things, which you can see in the pictures. Thanks to Madhuben for her good thinking.

Once again, a great Thanksgiving weekend gathering was held in the Northeast. This year, the gathering took place on Saturday, November 25, in Hackettstown, NJ. About 100 people in our extended Oshwal family attended, mostly from nearby New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut areas, but some attended from as far away as Massachusetts and Missouri.

Most of the evening was spent mingling amongst the members who were able to catch up with old friends and make new acquaintances. There was a brief general meeting to announce community related news, and discuss the current happening and progress of the organization. Following dinner, some impromptu games and one of our classic “Jagdish” skits provided some laughs and entertainment.

Overall everyone enjoyed the time spent together over the holiday weekend. See the link above for pictures from the event.

We held our Regional picnic on June 18, 2006, at Leominster, MA. Madhuben and Hemendrabhai were the host for the day. There was all together 28 Oshwals who enjoyed to create your own pizza, mogo and corn on the cob. We all had a great time at the picnic, and the weather did favor us. It was beautiful day.

The rain stayed away for our recent Father’s Day picnic, on June 18, 2006. This event has become an annual tradition for the Oshwal community in the Northeast. This year, it was held at Merrill County Park in New Jersey. About 60 of us, young and old, enjoyed the company of family and friends.

Nina and Asit Harshad Amritlal Shah of Carlsbad arranged a picnic on Sunday, October 5, at Salt Creek Beach, Orange County, California. It was attended by about 35 Oshwals living in Southern California. This was the first gathering of Oshwals of Southern California. Everybody had a good time – the ocean water was a little cool, but the kids being more adventerous did not mind swimming in the ocean. Nina and Ahit had made a special effort to provide roasted Mogo and Corn as appetizers, and the main entree was the Subway sandwich. Before saying good bye and heading home, everybody was happy to have a hot cup of Masala tea.

About 55 Oshwals from US, Canada and UK, attended the 2003 JAINA convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA from July 3-6. We held our meeting on Saturday, July 5, where we introduced our families to each other, discussed Oshwal history in North America, and distributed the newly published Oshwal Directory. The editors of Jain Spirit Magazine, who were among the Oshwals from UK, attended the meeting, and introduced their magazine. Following the meeting we all enjoyed a large group dinner.

We are pleased to inform the first USA/Canada Oshwal Gathering was held in Rochester, NY from September 1-2, 2002. Nearly 100 adults and children traveled from as far away as Michigan, Montreal, and Massachusetts, and many families from Canada came to attend the event. This was a very memorable occasion in our USA Oshwals history.

We gathered at a beautiful Indian community center in Rochester. The first day, we played a series of games after lunch to help everyone get to know one another. We were then treated to some wonderful singing by Misty Arun Shah. We had a tasty dinner, which was then followed by garba/raas. The following day we gathered at a local park and had a relaxing morning hike and then a picnic lunch after which we sadly made our farewells.

It was nice to see our young people attend this function. Many friendships were begun and many others renewed, and we look forward to making this very successful first event the beginning of a tradition of regular gatherings into the future.

Please join us at our next North American Oshwals gathering, which will be next July 4th weekend, at the JAINA convention in Cincinnati, Ohio (see above)

I will be very grateful if everyone can attend our annual Thanksgiving gathering.

Jai Jinedra,

Manisha Shah, President of HVONA

Jai Jinendra! On behalf of Directors and Executives of Oshwals Canada, I would like to congratulate and thank you for hosting the first joint Canada-USA Oshwals gathering in Rochester on September 1-2, 2002.

To say the least, those of us who attended the event have nothing to say but a lot of praise for the effort that you and your dedicated team put in planning, organizing and executing this very successful endeavor. All of us experienced a lot of joy in meeting old and making new acquaintances and had a lot of fun and fellowship together. Most importantly, it was nice to see our young people attending this function in large numbers and striking friendships. It truly brought to light how much love and warmth we have for each other as Oshwals.

Where do we go from here? Let us try to make this a regular event. As discussed, we will try to get a good size delegation for the 2003 JAINA Convention in Cincinnati. Also, the Young JAINA of America�s 2004 Convention will be held in Toronto, Canada � an ideal time for us to get together once again. This is something we will discuss with our members shortly.

Let us maintain our strong bond, remain connected as a vibrant Oshwal community in North America and keep the Oshwal spirit alive.

Jai Oshwal!

Amritlal R. Shah, President Oshwals Canada