ANNUAL REPORT AT GENERAL BODY MEETING 2002
Bharatiya Temple of Lansing
December 1, 2002

Ved V. Gossain, Chair, Board of Trustees

Dear Friends,

It hardly seems possible that a year has already gone by. It was about a year ago that this Board took over. Let me tell you that this Board has been cohesive, constructive, and each member has worked very hard to keep this temple running smoothly. I want to take this opportunity to thank each member of the Board for their dedication and hard work. If you also agree, please give them a big hand.

The state of the temple is very good both spiritually and financially. The previously regularly-held religious activities have continued, such as the first Sunday Puja, the third Sunday Havan and the fourth Sunday Jain Puja. For the last year or so, we have had religious discussions on the sercond Sunday of every month. In addition, Satyanarayana Puja is now regularly held every month and is generally well attended. There have been weekly prayers held for peace. There have been several religious presentations by various spiritual leaders and scholasrs such as Swami Bodhananda, Meenakshi Devi ji, and Mr. Harish Chandra, to name a few. We have continued to celebrate important festivals regularly, such as Pongal, Ganesh Chaturthi, Rama Navami, Durga Puja, and Diwali. We hope that the temple is meeting everyone’s spiritual needs which, considering how diverse (but united) a group we are, is no small feat. However, if there is any one who feels that we should have any additional religious activities, all you need to do is to approach the Board, let us know what you want to do and as long as it is consistent with the mission of the temple, there would be no problem. Remember that we all belong to the temple and the temple belongs to all of us. Together we can serve everyone's needs in a pleasant and cordial way.

Financially, you all know that the temple has been debt free for the last few months. Thanks to the generous contributions by all of you. We were fortunate to have had a few successful fund-raising events, Ganesh Chaturthi, Anoop Jalota and the annual Diwali festival to name a few that made it possible for the temple to become debt-free. Our thanks to all of those who contributed towards these fund raising events and special thanks to those volunteers who took the lead in organizing these events. The annual Diwali fund raiser was the most successful. We received cash and pledges worth $40.000 which I believe is the largest amount of funds raised (or committed) for one year. So let me take this opportunity to request all of you who pledged for the year 2003 to please be sure that your pledge is received by the temple in the month of January (or if you wish to take a deduction in the year 2002 then get it in now). If we get the money early in the year, there is then a positive cash flow and we do not have to borrow against the line of credit, which obviously is more expensive because of the added interest. It is also not too early to renew your membership for the year 2003. If you are not already a member, become one, and if you have been a member, renew your membership sooner rather than later.

The temple has continued to participate in the social activities for the community that we live in. The monthly soup kitchen has continued and again my thanks to all the volunteers who have contributed their time and money towards this effort. Once again many of you contributed towards the Lansing Food Bank and perhaps Mr. Jaglan would tell us how much money was collected this year. Our thanks to Mr. Jaglan for spearheading this effort once again this year.

So where are we going? What is our future? The future lies with our young people. Towards this end, the Bal Vihar classes are being held regularly. The participation of the children and their parents is increasing. The children are learning about our religion and language. From all the feedback that we have received, Bal Vihar is doing well. The kids are happy and so are the parents. The Board thanks Mrs. Karve and her daughter Amrita for leading the efforts of Bal Vihar.

The youth classes, on the other hand are, are not going as well as one would like. Thanks to the persistent efforts of Mr. Rajiv Das, Kumar Arun and Aparna Agrawal, these classes are still being held. If you have children who are in the appropriate age group for these classes, please encourage them to attend these, volunteer your time to teach if you have any interest at all and if you have any ideas as to how these activities can be improved, please contact one of the people mentioned above. There has been a recent increase in some activities for this group. They are beginning to meet in the evenings once a month. Archana Rajendra has organized these meetings. So please contact her if you have any interest.

The activities for the senior citizens (Jeevan Jyoti) have also been rather infrequent. Recently, yoga classes have been started in the temple. You can now learn yoga right here by one of our own. Perhaps our senior citizens will take advantage of these classes also. We will be making efforts to increase the activities for our senior citizens so we can address their needs.

Finally, this is not a time to stand still. We need to move on the path of progress. As we have discussed previously, our temple is not complete yet. We need to find an appropriate place for the Navagrahas that are currently placed temporarily near the sanctum. Like any other Hindu temple we need a permanent "Yagñashala" which will be needed for various religious functions. The present arrangement we have is clearly temporary, and unsatisfactory. Moreover, this temporary arrangement is adversely affecting the roof of the temple because of the smoke. Thirdly, we need to complete the kitchen facility downstairs so that devotees can use the facility to cook food here in the temple rather than having to transport it from their homes. Fourthly, both our priest families are here now and the accommodation in the house on the premises is clearly inadequate for two families. We either need to rent another place or preferably buy a place so that we have adequate space for both the priest families. It is obviously going to take money to accomplish these goals. In a few minutes, our Treasurer will present her financial report but let me just say two things. One, that we will be coming to you to look for support of these causes and when we have some money in the bank, then and only then, we will embark on these projects. Please rest assured that we will keep you fully informed. So if you agree that these projects are worth while, then work towards raising money for these. It is every one’s responsibility to work for the temple and not just the Board’s. Secondly as your Board we are always looking for ways to save money. If you have any ideas that will lead to savings, we want to know about those.

Our temple is also getting recognition in the community. Various activities of the temple have been written up in the Lansing State Journal and have also found place on the local TV channels. The most recent example is the Thanksgiving prayers; besides all the other faiths, our faith also found space in the State Journal.

Lastly, let me say a word about the upcoming election. As has been customary, the Board has allowed a free hand to the nominating and election committee in picking the candidates for the Board for the positions that are open. However, my understanding is that this year there will be no elections because there are three positions open and there are three candidates. There can be two interpretations. One is that the community is united and there is no need for elections and every one will take turns serving their time on the Board. If that is the case (and I hope that it is so), then of course it is wonderful. On the other hand, it could mean that there are not enough people interested in the affairs of the temple and no one therefore wants to run. I hope that is not so. Let me end by saying that the founding members of this temple wanted this to be an all-inclusive temple - one that will serve the needs of the entire Hindu /Jain community. This Board has worked very hard to keep the community united and I urge each and every one of you to pitch in but stay united and continuously strive to make not only our temple a better place but the community that we live in a better to place to live.

Thank you for your attention.