CHINO HILLS, CA: Committed to the progress and growth of women worldwide, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha celebrated its sixth annual Women’s Conference in Chino Hills, California on Saturday, March 30. Over 415 women of all ages were in attendance at the conference which focused on this year’s theme of “Timeless Traditions: Celebrating the Past, Cultivating the Future”.
The conference focused on understanding the glory of Hindu traditions, communicating them with ease, and nurturing future generations by preserving a priceless culture and traditions.
Various speakers shared insights from their personal experiences and related to the audience on the various subjects. Nidhi Turakhia, a teacher, connected with the audience through conveying her personal pride of her Hindu heritage. She spoke of the cherished values of her upbringing with emphasis on truth (satya) and compassion, and how those values have guided her in all situations of daily life.
She stressed the role of her Hindu background in forming her healthy and proud Hindu-American identity and provided examples of many successful Hindu-American women who have done the same. In highlighting her sense of pride, she also reminded the audience that the upcoming challenge is now to embed this same sense of pride in future generations. Her talk linked the audience to a priceless heritage and served as a reminder of the traditions and values of their upbringing.
As Hinduism is not just a religion, but also a way of life, Komal Parikh, a marketing strategist, spoke about living that way of life with pride and conveying it with comfort and confidence. She stressed the importance of having knowledge and understanding behind one’s religion, traditions, and values. In doing so, one can become a true ambassador of Hinduism and the Hindu way of life, better enabled to answer questions and clarify misconceptions.
Roma Patel, a project manager, made the case for preserving these values, traditions, and culture and presented realistic, actionable methods to practice and preserve them for future generations. Through personal stories and realistic examples, she illustrated how to incorporate traditions in one’s daily routines to maintain culture with language, music, and other practices.
She shared special ways one can celebrate Hindu holidays and festivals, which not only provide families with joy but more importantly, knowledge of the history and purpose behind them. The most instrumental tool shared in all the testimonials was “family time”. This one tool was stressed in order to maintain the Hindu family centric values based on shared sacrifices, and to pass on traditions and culture with solid historical foundations.
Women of all generations attended the conference, each group finding inspiration in the talks for the current phase of their lives and finding priorities to help shape their future. Kumair Bauri, a mother of young children shared, “I think this event is beneficial because it teaches mothers that we have to keep on going and keep our traditions going on forever and ever, we have to lay the stones and our children will put more stones on top.”
Shruti Kabhavna, sharing her thoughts said, “This event was really an eye opener for myself, being in India and then coming here as a teenager, what helped keep me grounded was my parents and my roots. It really showed how important it is to stay connected to your roots.” Not only did the attendees experience a rejuvenation of pride in their heritage, they felt more informed to better represent their faith and values.
Among the distinguished guests present at the conference was. Anupama Kizhakkeveettil, who is an Ayurvedic practitioner and licensed acupuncturist. Kizhakkeveettil also serves as a lead instructor for the Ayurveda Program at the Southern California University of Health Sciences. Also present at the conference was Dr. Falguni Doshi, who is the current assistant physician in charge at the Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, California.
The conference concluded with a traditional Hindu prayer for peace. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to network and socialize with one another during a post-conference reception. Participants noted the importance of holding an event focused on women and returning attendees were particularly pleased to see the continuation of discussions related to a popular theme such as ‘Timeless Traditions’.
BAPS, drawing inspiration from His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, holds this annual conference as a stage to allow discussion of various topics important to women in society and to serve as a conduit for empowering women of all ages. This year, 10 such conferences were hosted by BAPS across North America. Many women felt enriched by the discussion and identified the importance of implementing the message in their lives, particularly with their future generations.
India Post News Service
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