Veerayatan Newsletter,
May 2023, Edition-40

Health based seminar inspiring hundreds of participants

Veerayatan organised a health seminar in which Mr Lalit Mohan Kapoor, a Diet and Lifestyle coach, spoke about ‘Preventing and reversing chronic disease naturally’. The seminar talked about pertinent issues such as how to implement correct eating habits, how to keep our mind healthy and the scientific reasons of fasting. Mr Lalit Kapoor spoke eloquently and inspired people to make a change in their lifestyle. He talked about:

• Eating for about 8-10 hours each day after sun rise and then giving the digestive system a break by fasting after sunset for about 12-14 hours a day and to simply consume water during that time. He gave the scientific basis of following the Jain principle of overnight fasting.
• Consuming a plant-based diet based on green vegetables and fruits
• Either fasting or consuming only fruits or some vegetables once every 8 days (which is known as Ekadashi according to the Indian calendar), thus giving our digestive system a break.

Following such a diet has led to reversing chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension etc and reducing obesity. Go to YouTube for more information on the work of Mr Lalit Mohan Kapoor.

Summer Camp at Veerayatan Rajgir

A three-day summer camp was organised at Rajgir with the guidance of Sadhvi Shri Sampragyaji for the students and teachers of Shri Chandana Swadhyay Mandir, Kolkata.

Thirty eager and excited children along with 13 teachers participated in this inspirational and fun-packed retreat and the Rajgir campus became alive with the hustle and bustle of these enthusiastic children. Days were packed with sightseeing, doing seva at Netra Jyoti Seva Mandiram (eye hospital), visiting Brahmi Kala Mandiram (the beautiful museum, created by Pujya Tai Ma, Shri depicting Jain history) and learning about the lives of various Tirthankaras. And the unforgettable, divine evenings as joy filled everybody's heart at the Parshva Jinalay!

Much appreciation for the teachers who organised this wonderful camp! Watch the video https://youtu.be/k9wW8_ceB9w

Glimpses of Achievements and Activities of Veerayatan, Kutch

With the blessings of Pujya Tai Ma and dynamic guidance of Sadhvijis, students of Veerayatan Kutch are getting ample opportunities to perform well not only academically but also in co-curricular and extracurricular activities.

We take pride in announcing that Veerayatan Institute of Pharmacy has been ranked 3^rd in the top 10 colleges in the entire Gujarat for its academic excellence. We congratulate the students and faculties for their efforts.

Job opportunities, transforming lives

We are pleased to inform that many final year students in the Engineering College have been selected and offered respectable posts in the Adani Group of Industries and Vishakha Glass Pvt. Ltd. This great opportunity for our shining students from rural India will hugely support in improving the economic status of the student’s respective families. Veerayatan provides extensive training to the final year students thus resulting in great employment opportunities.

And to improve the chances for greater job opportunities, an industrial visit to Parle Biscuit Factory, Bhuj was organised for BBA students.

Training workshops

Not only are our students provided with training but Veerayatan Kutch also provides opportunities to faculty staff to upgrade their skills and develop further in their area of expertise.

• A senior faculty member from Veerayatan Institute of Engineering was recently sent to attend a workshop on Robotics conducted by IIT Bombay.
• Faculties of Veerayatan Institute of Engineering were given an opportunity to undergo an online Energy Literacy Training course organised by ESF (Energy Swaraj Foundation, a non-profit organisation formed to establish energy independence across the world). The training has led to staff understanding more on the generation of energy, its consumption and wastage, carbon footprints, impact on the environment, means to avoid and minimise energy usage and means to adopt solar energy solutions.

Thought provoking and fun-packed activities

Veerayatan organises a brilliant Sports and Cultural event Veerotsav annually in which the students of all the Institutes participate in the various competitions. This 5-day event helps students to showcase their talents and improve other life skills. The winners were awarded trophies, medals, prizes and certificate. The College students also celebrated 'Women's Day'. They planted saplings on the premises, felicitated female faculty staff as a mark of empowered women.

And the school students celebrated Vishwa Matrubhasha Divas (World Mother tongue Day) and showed off their wonderful talents by making beautiful cards.

Various other activities have taken place to teach children to look after the environment. For instance, a craft activity was organised in the school to motivate tiny tots to plant more trees and save the environment.

Senior school students were given a chance to spend a whole day in the Science Lab, do some interesting experiments and demonstrate these to the junior students. What a great way to learn by teaching others!

School students were taken for an excursion trip to Dhinodhar hills and Vithon and they learnt about the geography of the place and visited the temple at the top.

The academic year completed in April and the school students organised a farewell party for the senior students who completed standard 10^th and 12^th. The students were given gifts and lots of love and blessings were showered on them for bright futures.

Awareness Seminars

• A Career Counselling Program was held for the standard 12 class students to empower them to select the most appropriate subjects when applying to colleges.
• A complete medical check-up camp for the school students was organised to make them aware of health and hygiene and taught them about how to prevent communicable diseases spreading from one person to another.
• An inspirational talk session on Spiritual and Moral values was arranged in Veerayatan Institute of Pharmacy where the key speaker, Pujya Swami Pradiptanand Saraswati, enriched the students by explaining the essence of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta.
• Veerayatan Institute of Pharmacy organised a Thalassemia Camp in association with Red Cross society where students were made aware of Thalassemia and their blood was tested for thalassemia.
• An HIV and TB awareness seminar was held at BBA BCA college by Red Ribbon Club. The district health executive interacted with the students and informed them about the diseases, precautions and cure.

Supporting communities affected by the ongoing drought

Veerayatan Kenya, under the banner of Food for Life Cycle for Life Trust, is providing food relief to Kenyans currently affected by the ongoing drought in the country. They have been distributing 22 kgs. of rations, including maize flour, beans, mung, rice, cooking fat, salt and porridge, and which will last for one month for a family of 6 people, to over 50,000 families – essentially this equates to monthly rations for 300,000 people for a month, or 9 million meals. The food is being packed in 20 litre plastic containers which can then be used for carrying water. The distribution is done with the support of the Red Cross.

Also, under the banner of Water for Life Trust, Veerayatan Kenya is actively installing borewells in the dry areas of Kenya – the total project will conclude with 100 borewells, giving clean drinking water to over 100,000 humans and 500,000 animals. This project is ongoing and will be completed by the end of 2024.

What fantastic work! We hope Veerayatan Kenya every success in building futures, transforming lives.

Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth students spreading the light of kindness

The students of Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth all came together the day before the coronation of the King of Great Britain and recited prayers for the health and long reign of the new King Charles III. The children also lead some wonderful coronation related activities that all the attendees (young and old) thoroughly enjoyed. Here are excerpts from the Oath created by all participants from the SCVP Coronation Celebrations:

Participation at the ‘Pure Soul’ exhibition

‘Pure Soul: The Jaina Spiritual Traditions’ exhibition is organised by the Digambar Association together with the Centre of Jaina Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The exhibition is running in London until 25 June 2023.

The teachers of Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth participated in the workshop activities which took place at the exhibition hall. The teachers created and delivered innovative lessons to around 23 children of varying ages who attended the workshop and were thoroughly engaged at each workstation where they heard stories of our Tirthankars, enacted scenes from famous stories such as the story of Neminath Bhagwan, discussed the principle of Ahimsa, played an interesting game of Jain Monopoly, and in the process learnt the key concepts and values of our beautiful faith.

Well done to all involved and we thank the organisers of the exhibition for inviting us. For more information on the exhibition: https://www.soas.ac.uk/puresoul

Children of Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth participated in the Jain festival of Ayambil

One of the aims of Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth (SCVP) is to instil the values of seva (charitable deeds) in our children. We had an opportunity to do Seva at the Oshwal Centre in London by getting involved in serving food to all those people who were doing the Ayambil Oli. The children and parents tirelessly did Seva by serving food to all. They worked in pairs and served a variety of foods for nearly two hours without flagging and full of energy throughout. They really enjoyed the experience and worked well as a team and impressed all with their attitude, care and attention when serving.

One little girl of 8 years was feeling very hungry but she told her mother that the people fasting were hungrier than her and so she continued serving right till the end and then they all sat together for lunch!

Well done to all the children and it was great to see them take this responsibility. We thank the Oshwal Centre for giving this amazing opportunity to our children.