Following the successful tour of the Far East last year, Dr Sanghrajka went on a more ambitious tour of almost two months this year.
A summary of his tour report is given here. Photos from this exhaustive tour will b e uploaded in coming days.
Please feel free to make comments or observation on the tour.
Summary Report on Educational Trip to Singapore, Perth and Malaysia
February to April 2010
Harshad N Sanghrajka left for Mumbai on 27th January and having spent a fortnight in India, took off for Singapore on 12th February, 2010 to attend the Pratishtha Mahotsava there:
Details of the Mahotsava elsewhere on this site please click here to see it
In one sentence, the event was planned and executed perfectly.
On 17th February, Harshad left for Perth and delivered a 10 session discussion on Atmasiddhi Shastra to members of the Jain Community of Western Australia. The course in English was attended mostly by youngsters who could not understand Gujarati well. The senior members of the community who could converse in Gujarati chose to hold morning sessions at members’ homes. At the end of the trip, they resolved to form a Jain Seniors Group which would meet on the last Tuesday of each month to discuss selected topics on Jainism.
Malacca was next on the list and discussions were held on a variety of religious topics, in Gujarati in the mornings and English in the evenings from 1st March to 4th March. Malacca was in the throes of a new election of the Gujarati Vanik Sangh of Melaka.
Departure from Melaka brought Harshad and Urmila to Penang. Two days of discussions in the hall of Gujarati Seva Samaj in the evenings brought over 40 people from a small community. The reappearance of the majority on the second day proved the popularity of the discussions.
Shri Ashvin Nagbadharia, President of the Samaj was kind enough to drive us from Penang to Ipoh where we had the good fortune to see the Jain temple of Parshvanath Bhagvan. Shri Bharat Jasani and Tarulataben were perfect hosts and invited the public to a discourse on 10th March. Again, a good response of over 40 in a very small Gujarati community in Ipoh which lasted over 2 hours.
At this point it was time to trace our steps back to Singapore, the Lion city. Atmasiddhi course had been well organised and raring to go. Gujarati sessions were planned for afternoons with 60+ and English in the after dinner sessions with 50+. Over 100 certificates were issued to participants.
The last stop on the educational side was Kuala Lumpur. The 10 days were planned over the Ayambil period and afforded additional time for discussions with the ladies who were present from early morning till late afternoon. Formally the course was run in Gujarati in the early morning session and English in the after dinner sessions. A special evening was reserved for youngsters only to address their personal concerns related to Jainism on 1st April. Many interesting aspects of everyday life were discussed and explained logically to the satisfaction of all present. A summary explanation of Paryushan, Pratikraman and rituals generally was delivered using power point slides.
Departure from KL on 2nd April, with a night stop in Singapore as guests of Shri Bharat and Kirtida Mekani brought back the pleasant memories of the pratishtha and course activities in Singapore. We said a final farewell to all the EC Members at the Sangh Sthanak on 3rd, spent a couple of nights in Mumbai and arrived in Dubai on 5th. Four days of pleasant sightseeing in Dubai and back to London on 9th April to the comforts of home-sweet-home.
Grateful thanks to all organisations and individuals who made our trip pleasant and comfortable.