MESSAGE FROM APSA PRESIDENT,

DEVINDER MAHAJAN

Dear Arya Bandhus:

On behalf of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha America (APSA), I am delighted to extend warm greetings to all the delegates attending the 18^th Arya Maha Sammelan in New Jersey.

At the very outset, let me extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Ramesh Gupta & Dr. Rajinder Gandhi, Co-chairman of the host committee & Dr. Bhushan Verma, coordinator of APSA Sammelan Committee & all the members & volunteers of various committees, who have been working tirelessly to make this Sammelan a memorable experience for all the attendees. I am sure that you are not only going to enjoy their hospitality but all the discourses, group discussions & entertainment program planned for you.

As in the previous two Maha Sammelans, this year again the theme is “Vedic Heritage and Youth”, which is a very crucial topic on which the future of Arya Samaj and Vedic heritage depends, particularly in North America. Engaging our youth in a process whereby they become aware and proud of their culture, religion and heritage must be a priority of the first few immigrant generation in North America. Otherwise, we stand a risk of losing our identity. Hence we have chosen to stress on this theme once again this year and encouraged a major participation of our youth in the Maha Sammelan.

I am very excited to announce that this year we completed the first phase of Jeevan Prabhat Pandicherry, one of the biggest projects ever taken by APSA. The cost of construction of this facility, 1^st phase only, is $375,000 & will house 50 children & the supporting staff. Thirteen children & the management team moved to this facility on April 6 2008. These children either victims of Tsunami or from very impoverished families are being raised just like any middle class family in India. They are sent to private schools so that they receive the best possible education & thus become the model citizens & preserve the future of Arya Samaj. I would like to thank all the folks without whose generous donations the construction would not have been possible & Arya Samaj Greater Houston which provided the seed money to buy the land for this project. Our thanks to Acharya Vachonidhi ji who lead the construction team & completed the project in a record time, at a very reasonable cost.

I am very happy to report that the Sammelan we held in Dallas last year bore its fruits. After the Sammelan, a group of people from Dallas visited Arya Samaj in Houston & initiated a Sanskriti School in January 2008 with 20 children in Dallas. We happily provided the curriculum developed by DAV Sanskriti School, Houston to Dallas, New Jersey & Toronto Arya Samajs so that they could derive the benefit of our experience in Houston. Personally to me, the main purpose of the Sammelan is to multiply our successes & reduce our mistakes in order to spread the mission of Arya Samaj & the message of Vedas.

After the Sammelan in Houston in 2006, we adopted the new bylaws, formed various committees for different tasks & created an organization of team work. I want to extend my sincere thanks to each & every member of the Executive and Working Committees for their cooperation, help & contribution.

Devinder Mahajan