2nd October 2008

Letter from the President

Siddhachalam Has a New Home on the Internet

October 2, 2008
Siddhachalam Jain Tirth

On the ocassion of the 139th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, an apostle of ahimsa, Siddhachalam is pleased to launch its new website. The site is intended to become Siddhachalam's primary means of communication. On this site, you will soon find more about Guruji and his historic significance. About his efforts to bring the message of the Jinas to those outside India. And to foster a community of Jains that are not blindsighted by inter se differences but are joined together in cherishing their religious roots. And the story of the making of this first tirth outside India. You will also soon be able to do online many things that you have so far done by personal visits, phone or fax. Such as requesting room to stay, attend a camp, donate for a tithi, meditation trail or other cause, check availability of a book in our new library, book a puja, update your profile or mailing address, and so on.

This site is a labor of love. I spent many weeks working on its concepts and discussing it with others. Vivek Jain of Citigroup, Sanjay Jain of Lucent-Alcatel, Rashmi Jain of Stevens Institute of Technology and Vishwajeet Kulshrestha of Standard & Poor were the initial technical sounding boards. We were committed to develop this website only through volunteer help. Within weeks, we found a gold mine of enthusiastic, mature and competent techies, designers and developers. The team that finally lead the development of the website is comprised of the following:

    »  Vivek Jain, Citigroup
    »  Vishal Jain, Thomson Reuters
    »  Darshan Shah, Saven Technologies
    »  Chintan Shah, Riya Design

The team worked on a tight schedule over days and nights. They feel proud to be part of this milestone and believe that a lot more needs to be done. On behalf of all of you, I applaud them and thank them. I have found that volunteers make a great team and find uncommon opportunities to make lasting friendships.

Welcome again to Siddhachalam's new website.

Jaipat Singh Jain
Vice Chairman and President

 

P.S.: Siddhachalam needs volunteers for many things -

    »  library help during weekends
    »  writers of content for various communications
    »  helps with office tasks
    »  teachers for camps and temple activities

Hope Road House Is Now Acharya Sushil Kumar Library

The Hope Road house was named Acharya Sushil Kumar Library recently. The library contains out of print as well as recent books on religion, ahimsa, peace, environment, vegetarianism, health and related subjects. The library has over 2,500 books (and increasing). The library has a fully-dedicated scholar-in-residence room equipped with broadband internet access. It has a beautiful idol of Saraswati in the main room. The library is open to all on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm and is non-lending at this time (scholars-in-residence have access 24x7). The library catalog is proposed to be made available on this Website.