“ This year, with the support of Birmingham Mochi Volleyball Club, we managed to raise nearly £ 8,000 to purchase a defibrillator for the Medlife Foundation”
Birmingham culture will fade. Stating this may hurt a few people, but it is true. A way to address this issue is for us all to make conscious efforts and bring our children to Samaj religious and cultural events. It is the duty of all parents to not forget their roots, take pride in our culture and pass on to our children our rich culture at an early age.
Namaste and Jai Shri Krishna to you all.
Our primary focus is to fulfil the aims of our Constitution and as a joint Prajapati Samaj. This essentially will help us to advance the Hindu religion and culture, not only amongst our members but also the wider community and raise funds for the future, for any unforeseen circumstances and for the not so fortunate in the world.
The Medlife Foundation offers free constructive surgery for children and adults from rural parts of India who have craniofacial birth defects / are born with cleft lip and palate deformities. The aim is to bring back smiles on the faces of patients and to give them a second chance in life. Over the past 5 years we have raised over £ 20,000 for this charity, with whom we are now partners with. This year, with the support of Birmingham Mochi Volleyball Club, we managed to raise nearly £ 8,000 to purchase a defibrillator for the Medlife Foundation. Thank you to those who supported the fundraising.
This year a Laksharachana event was held by Manjulaben Parmar to help raise funds for SPA Birmingham. The word“ Archana” means chanting and glorifying the divine’ s name and“ Laksh” means 100,000. Therefore
Laksharachana is performed by chanting, in a group, the name of the Lord in the form of mantra.
Shivratri Bhajans were held in March with over 60 people attending. This Bhajan event was supported by Sai Bhajans and the bhajans were brilliant. On Saturday 23rd April we held Hanuman Chalisa and Ram Navmi Bhajans. We had members from the wider community attending which made it a superb event.
“ This year, with the support of Birmingham Mochi Volleyball Club, we managed to raise nearly £ 8,000 to purchase a defibrillator for the Medlife Foundation”
Janmasthami was held on Saturday 27th August 2016. The event was spectacular with Rameshbhai Patel and family providing melodious Bhajans and garba. This is the first time we have ever had an outside Bhajan group for Janmasthami, garba and raas dandiya. There was a presentation on Janmasthami by two of our young members, Jessica Vipulbhai Mistry( age 14) and Davina Vipulbhai Mistry( age 9). We also had a group of youngsters from the Ashram Kant Darshan Darbar organisation who sang two lovely Bhajans. A cheque for £ 6,000 was presented to Shaligram Arayal towards the Nepal Earthquake Disaster fund.
Despite our efforts, it does feel that we give more emphasis on western culture over our own. Hinduism will continue, however, our
It is also very important not to lose our language. There seems to be a high number of youngsters who do not speak, read or write Gujarati. In support of this, we hold Gujarati classes every Thursday. Whilst the numbers of students are diminishing, it is worth noting that the students who attended Gujarati classes in the past have found it very beneficial in their later years. At the end of semesters, students had a fun evening out at the Bowlplex in Star City. Parents / Youngsters please note it is vital that our language is preserved in the years to come.
Jayaben Row is one of the foremost motivational speakers on Vedanta and its vibrancy. She encourages her audiences to live inspired lives, has been a speaker at world events, and is dedicated to bringing Vedanta to the Youth. The lecture by Jayaben was on“ GOODBYE STRESS / HELLO SUCCESS”. We were fortunate to have her presence in our Samaj. We anticipate her coming back next year.
On Sunday 17th July our Youth Team, Nikhilbhai Vinodbhai Mistry and Jayantbhai Gulabbhai Mistry organised a Bike Ride / Walk. Its aim was to get the youth together and also raise funds for our organisation. The Youth Team raised a total of £ 170.
Clockwise from left: Hanuman Chalisa, Gujarati School 2016
68 vol. 41 | Prajapati Sandesh 2016