HereNow4U - Living Jainism Tour 2006 - 09.01 Mumbai (1)

1st December 2006

First conference of HereNow4U correspondents and editors in the train; Sudanshu Jain and his father, Mr. S. M. Jain from Surat, took over at Mumbai train station, inspiring talks with Sadhvishrees at Terapanth Bhawan Mumbai, dinner with Sudanshu Jain and his father, and some impressions on the preparations of a three-days well-to-do marriage.

Sushil Bafana and his wife Supyar were sitting in another railway car as we, and so did Mahima Bokariya. Sushil Bafana explained the situation to the conductor who talked to other passengers, and very soon, Sushil & Supyar Bafana and Mahima Bokariya got seats in our compartment. We all were happy for the opportunity to talk personally for 5 hours until reaching Mumbai. Sushil Bafana said laughingly, “Now we are here, and we can talk for five hours, nothing has to be arranged, and we do not have to adjust with any schedule. This was worth the journey from Kolkata.” Indeed, it took him and his wife 30 hours to come to Surat via Mumbai, and from Mumbai to Kolkata another 25 hours. Incredible India!

Sushil Bafana explained to us that he and Supyar had planned to receive us also at Surat Bardoli station, but our train from Jaipur was in time, and their’s two hours delayed. We again admired the talents proved during the organisation of our tour. When we headed for Terapanth Bhawan with Mahima, Mr. Mohanlal Bokariya, her father, attended and received our friends at the station.

For Mahima it was the first time that she had organised such a program as ours. She admitted her nervosity at the beginning, but then got more assured when all went so well. Sushil Bafana from Kolkata was more experienced in this field, and gave her strong support in planning.

Mahima is working in Mumbai and comes only for one or two days weekly to Surat. The whole organisation of our program in Surat was not easy for her, but when Sushil & Supyar Bafana promised to come to Surat, she felt relieved. Further, Mr. Pradip Gujrani and Mrs. Punam Gujrani who is Sushil Bafana’s cousin sister as they say in India helped also with the organizational work.

Sushil Bafana than told us that he will be free from his responsibility when Sudanshu Jain and his father, Mr. S. M. Jain from Surat will receive us at the station and he then tranquilly can go home. In Mumbai they only had some hours of stay, as his obligations in Kokata did not allow any delay.

In Mumbai, we took farewell from our dear friends who were received by some relatives. Mahima Bokariya directly went to the company where she worked since some weeks. She got permission from her boss to be out of duty for the five hours it took from Surat to Mumbai. She really is a very efficiently working young woman. Perhaps she got this talent from her mother who is working for the Railway Company since many years. In the train, she handed over a packed lunch on behalf of her mother to a colleague of her mother who looked very happy when he received it.

Sudanshu Jain and Mr. S. M. Jain took us by taxi to Mumbai Terapanth Bhawan, situated near western Express Highway.

Immediately after arrival, we went for Darshan to Sadhvishrees staying there. It was Sadhvishree Suraj Kumarji with two Sadhvis looking after her, Sadhvishrees Jagriti Jayashaji & Bimal Prabhaji, the latter is the sister of Samani Vinay Pragyaji who at this time was in the USA.

We had an extended talk with Sadhvishrees, and Sadhvishree Suraj Kumarji expressed her feelings of joy when she heard that we are editors of HereNow4U, where many books of H.H. Acharyashree are online available for everyone. She added that H.H. is a universal soul, working for whole mankind.

Sadhvishrees then showed their handmade utensils for daily use, their broom, the super fine stitches on their Saris, their eating and drinking bowls and a green water jar with a story behind. The jar went into many pieces, after a car had rolled over it. Sadhvishree Jagriti Jayashaji collected all pieces and meticulously sewed them together again. This was possible, because the jar had been made of tissue! After sewing, Sadhvishree hardened it with water & sun; now it even can hold water.

We took some rest thereafter, and then Sudanshu Jain and Mr. S. M. Jain helped us together with the caretaker of Terapanth Bhawan to contact with Mrs. Pramodha Chitrabhanu for details of our visit to Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanu at their residence next morning. Then our hosts took us for dinner in a little nearby restaurant.

When we came back and went to our room, we hardly could believe our eyes. Tons of vegetables had been delivered and were stored in three rooms. About thirty men were preparing them for further procedure by the 5 chief cooks. Some only cut the vegetables into pieces, others removed skin and seeds, it was a complex process of division of labour, all done on the ground in a position, our legs were aching by merely watching. The workers had to continue their tasks for hours; we remembered before falling asleep that Sudanshu Jain and Mr. S. M. Jain had given the information to us that they would accommodate us the next day at the home of friends in New Mumbai because all rooms of Terapanth Bhawan were full due to the marriage.