All of us who were born and brought up in
India have experienced the warmth of our motherland,
our relationships and the pride of being a Leuva
Patidar. We know the familiar feeling of being
in the company of our relatives talking endlessly
about everything under the sun. We can vividly
remember our village, the riverbank, the joy
of small childhood games and the great hard-work
of our parents.
Although we did not have material comfort, we
had something very precious - Love and Pride
of our identity, our community.
In America, most of our kids are well mannered
and they value family. However, most of our
kids don't have the first-hand experience of
the love and pride that we experienced. Our
children won't have appreciation for our heritage,
our relationships and our identity unless we
regularly celebrate our community's existence.
Today also, some of our kids may find our passion
for community programs rather strange.
Today we are here to tell our kids about our
roots, our heritage.
What will be the status of Leuva community
after 50 years? By that time 3rd or 4th generation
of our community will be in America.
How will we remind them of the great principles
and values that our forefathers lived for? How
will our kids experience the joy and prid in
being Leuva?
If we celebrate a day specially marked to celebrate
our existence, our kids will realize the love
and joy of being in community from the young
age.
They will develop greater appreciation and
respect for our culture and heritage.
This will give them clear sense of who they
are and what are their values. This clear sense
of who they are, will enable them to make the
right choices in life.
Celebrate Leuva Day will open up new avenues
of love and respect in our family and community.
I invite our family members to celebrate this
unique day.
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