Shri Sanjay Mehta made a visit to Chicago on June 7th and 8th, which he himself describes as “an invigorating experience”. During his visit a meeting of local Hindu leadership was organized at the Gayatri Gyan Mandir Itasca by Shri Amar Upadhyay, a senior Hindu leader and VHPA governing council member from Chicago.
Sanjay Ji shared his mission and vision for VHPA through a motivating lecture on his personal journey through VHPA. He highlighted the need for unwavering resolve and focus the VHPA motto of “dharmo rakshati rakshitah” ( dharma protects those who protect dharma). Sanjay Ji pointed out the need for educating the young Hindu Americans on principles of Hinduism and orienting them towards the spiritual aspects of various Hindu festivals such as Holi, Navratri, Dushehra, and Diwali celebrated in USA. He explained that devoid of the knowledge of spiritual connection of these holly festivals the young generation will not be able to sustain the Hindu heritage in the country for long.
Sanjay Ji explained the various on going initiatives of VHPA such as HMEC, HAVAN, Santatan Dharma Scholarship, and urged the local leadership to pick up at least one of the initiatives in Chicago area and turn that into a recurring annual/semi-annual or quarterly event. While congratulating the Chicago leadership for a very successful organization of SV150 last year, Sanjay Ji highlighted the need for chapter level leadership to initiate events that can be sustained in the long term. The team discussed various options for starting some recurring events in Chicago area and raise funds. The team agreed to organize monthly meetings of the chapter leadership to come up with an execution plan for the Chicago chapter led VHPA events in the region.
Besides various local Hindu community leaders the attendees included: Shri Shamkant Seth (president VHPA Chicago chapter), Shri Vasant Pandav, Sri Sridhar Ji Damle (senior leaders of HSS), Shri Kaushik Vyas of Chinmaya Mission, and the two newly added Illinois members of VHPA governing council, Shri Kamlesh Patel and Ajay Jain.
Source: via WHN Publisher
