Huntington – Supervisor Chad A.
Lupinacci co-hosted the launch of a year of festivities commemorating Mahatma
Gandhi’s 150th birthday with Arvind Vora and Bakul Matalia of the
Shanti Fund and Hon. Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of India in New York,
where they were joined by Town and State Officials, on Friday, September 7 at
Huntington Town Hall.
"Known as Mahatma, or 'the
great souled one,' Gandhi was revered the world over for his nonviolent
philosophy of passive resistance and his devout Hindu faith," said
Supervisor Lupinacci, who served as master of ceremonies. "Gandhi was
quoted: 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of
others.' Gandhi lived, until his last day, by this philosophy."
Speakers also included New York
State Senator Carl Marcellino; Assemblyman Andrew Raia; Former Town of
Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino; Mr. Ravi Bhooplapur, President of Xavier
University School of Medicine; Mr. Kamlesh Mehta, Chairman, South Asian Times;
Ms. Seema Bhansali, Director of Corporate Affairs, Henry Schein, on behalf of
Stanley Bergman, CEO.
Delivering prayers at the ceremony
were Mrs. Sangeeta Kulkarni, who delivered the benediction; Father Walter Kedjierski
of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception; Reverend Mark Bigelow of the
Congregational Church of Huntington; and Mrs. Janki Sheth and members of the
Jain Group of SRMD.
Also in attendance were
Councilmembers Joan Cergol and Ed Smyth and Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia.
Arvind Vora and Bakul Matalia of the
Shanti Fund presented a framed photo of Gandhi to Supervisor Lupinacci at the
end of the ceremony.
Revered the world over for his
nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known
to his many followers as Mahatma or “the great-souled one,” was born on October
2, 1869. He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the
early 1900s. Following World War I, he became the leading figure in India’s
struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Imprisoned several times
during his pursuit of non-cooperation, Gandhi undertook a number of hunger
strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other
injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between
Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi on January 30, 1948 by a
fellow Hindu.
In the photo (l-r): Janki Sheth;
Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia; Assemblyman Andrew Raia; Former Supervisor Anthony
Santino, Town of Hempstead; Councilwoman Joan Cergol; Father Walter J.
Kedjierski; Councilman Edmund J.M. Smyth; Pastor Mark Bigelow; Ila Vora;
Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci; Arvind Vora, Shanti Fund; Kamlesh Mehta; Consul
General Sandeep Chakravorty; Dr. Pradeep Albert; Seema Bhansali; Ravi
Bhooplapur; Senator Carl Marcellino; Bakul Matalia, Shanti Fund.
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