LCNL Presidents Newsletter – 21st April 2021

Firstly, I would like to wish you, your families and friends a very Happy Ramnavmi. Lord Ram holds a very special place in the hearts of Lohanas across the globe (he was a Raguvanshi). Under normal circumstances, we would all be meeting face to face, sharing various and mouth- watering prashad and listening to melodious bhajans at our very own Dhamecha Lohana Centre (DLC). Whilst this is not the case, I do pray for everyone’s wellbeing and safety.

Our hearts and prayers are also with those that we have lost recently.  May we remember the souls, may we cherish their memories may we create a better future under their guidance and teachings.

I feel honoured and blessed that my first newsletter as LCNL President falls on such an auspicious occasion of Ramnavmi.

A bit about me

I am Dinesh Shonchhatra, the newly elected President of LCNL with responsibilities to lead and serve the community for the next two years.

I feel deeply honoured and privileged to take the President’s post which has always been a dream for me.

My seva with the Lohana community started some 40 years ago when I Joined the West London Lohana community as a committee member. I later moved on to North London, serving in the LCNL for the past 10 years. I have never looked back and have enjoyed every moment of my time serving in various roles including as Vice President, Navratri Conveyor, Diwali Magazine Conveyor and RCT Trustee. Over the years I have been able to work alongside some wonderful people who gave up their time to serve our brilliant community; they have my admiration and respect.

I am a proud father of 3 boys and run my own business which is also like my child too. I am a firm believer that with hard work, focus and dedication we can achieve so much individually – BUT TOGETHER – we are unstoppable.

I will work hard for our community, at your service and under supervision of a team that are driven to the success of our community.

Those that know me will always say I am approachable and friendly, I would very much like to think so too – so I encourage you to introduce yourself at any occasion – I look forward to meeting you all over the next few years.

Our Recent Election

Over the last weekend, our election process was completed and finalised, even under extraordinary circumstances we were able to conduct our first drive through election. This was a tremendous success and we were blessed with beautiful sunshine!

I would like to convey my thanks to all who came to the DLC in large numbers.  Your support is much appreciated. This is the first time in our history that we have conducted an election in such a manner. On behalf of my committee and the Lohana public I would like to thank the professionalism of our auditor Ashokbhai Sodha and his team. They created an efficient process, ensured the safety and wellbeing of the public and their fellow auditors – this hard work and dedication ensured a smooth election process.

My thanks to the previous committee

I would like to acknowledge and say thank you to Yatinbhai and his entire team for all the hard work and progress carried out over the last 2 years and I will ensure the high standard is maintained over the next term. Under such difficult circumstances, his team have delivered on so many fronts and we are so grateful for their efforts.

Upcoming Events

I would like to invite everyone to join my committee’s first event of the term – Ramnavmi tonight and hope you all join us to celebrate Ramnavmi, this auspicious utsav will be telecast on MATV on channel 711 from 9pm (see flyer below).

I would like to thank the Thakrar Parivar for sponsoring this event.

Our forthcoming event is taking place this Sunday where the Mahila Mandal are hosting ‘Suravali Bhajan Sandya’….. further details to follow.

In addition, next Tuesday 27th April we are celebrating the auspicious Hanuman Jayanti and reciting the divine 108 Hanuman Chalisa starting from 10am to 6pm, performed by Snehaben Makanji, Akhil and Rikhil and their team. Bipinbhai and Bartiben Kantaria will join with their group for the Hanuman Chalisa event. We are also honoured to have blessings from Pujya Ram Bapa.

Anyone who wishes to take part, registration is available on the LCNL website. I would like to thank a Lohana well-wisher and also Hansaben Vrajlal Paw and family for sponsoring this Hanuman Chalisa event.

You can join Hanuman Jayanti by going to www.lcnl.org/hc2021 and registering to take part. You will be able to complete your details and pick a rough time slot that will then allow us to allocate you a number (see flyer below).