Many of you may have read my article in Asian Voice on UK Lohanas where I covered the fascinating history and background of Lohanas leading to their presence in London.
Today, London represents the highest number of Lohanas outside India.
Our London Lohanas come from different parts of the world ranging from India (mainly Gujarat), Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and other African countries. It's really a beautiful fate that we are all together here. We have to thank our adopted mother country for this. It has enabled us to make new friends and relations that might have never happened if we had lived in the countries we came from.
Today's London Lohanas have really prospered in every way. We are living longer – you see many of our friends and family in their 70s and 80s and still in the pink of health. I remember as a kid in Uganda, the normal old age was around 55 years. We are living 20 years more!
Our Lohanas have also made significant progress in business and in various professions. We have a natural flair for business. Our interests are spread in real estate, hotels, nursing homes, pharmaceuticals, trade, wholesale, retail and others. Our professionals are leading in accounting, legal arena, medicine, architecture and banking. We can only be proud of our achievements. Two years ago in both Houses of Parliament there was a debate on immigrant groups in the UK. The Uganda Asians, largely Lohanas, were marked as the best immigrant group in British history. This reflected the value system of Lohanas who are very proud of looking after themselves. We have relied less on the state handouts, contributed to the nation in our taxes and hardly depended on dole. Self employment and looking after our families is in our blood. These values come from our warrior background.
The most notable achievement of Lohanas is (yet another warrior quality) being generous to the needy. Philanthropy has taken a stronghold amongst Lohanas in various ways. Today our Lohanas are leading various organisations like, Sanatan mandirs, Swaminaryan temples, Shirdi Sai organisations, Anoopam mission and Jalaram Mandir. Narendrabhai Thakrar heads the Sanatan Mandir, Satish Chatwani heads Anoopam Mission, Rashmi Chatwani, Prakash Gandecha and Pramod Thakkar head Jalaram Mandirs and Vinubhai Bhatessa is Trustee at Swaminarayan Mandir. Dinesh Thakerar and Ashok Bhagani head the Saibaba organisation.
We are at the forefront when it comes to charitable giving. One such generosity is the support for projects like Samuh Lagna where Lohanas like Manubhai and Amratlal Radia have regularly helped in getting 100 couples get married in India at one go. Most such people would have had no means to get married otherwise. Many of us support projects of food camps, medical camps and education. We are always willing to give our time and money for social and charitable purposes.
We are proud of our community achievements. Today we have two centres for Lohanas in London. These are RCT centre and the Lohana Dhamecha Centre. Yes, we can always dream for more grandiose community centres, at least we have something that the community uses.
In business, we have leading names like Dhamechas, Madhvanis, Mehtas, Sachdevs, Thakrars, Nagrechas, Chatwanis, Chotais and others.
In commerce, I have been fortunate enough to be elected as Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry for 3 years running. I also served on the board of Commonwealth Education Fund and OFWAT Thames region water regulator. I am on the international board of the World Hindu Economic Forum.
We have also made inroads into politics led by our own Lord Popat in the Upper house of Parliament and holding ministerial position. We have Lohana councillors like Bharat Thakkar and other budding politicians like Kishan Devani and Resham Kotecha. Yes, we need more Lohanas in British politics.
We have top lawyers like Sunil Gadhia and medical specialists like Bhikhu Kotecha. In the accounting profession, we have seniors like Anuj Chande. Among bankers, we have Tushar Morjaria and Jitesh Gadhia.
In sports, we still need to make good progress. I believe our next generation will positively change that.
One of our proudest moments is that we have devoted a lot of our resources over last 30-40 years to give the best education to our children. These children are now rising in the higher echelons of their respective business or professional sectors. In time to come, we shall see these young Lohanas taking up notable positions. Further, we can witness these young people embracing spirituality and yoga. I am confident that we shall see better quality of Lohanas in time to come.
Hasu Manek and I have engaged Professor Oonk, a history scholar from Netherlands University, to do more detailed research on Lohanas. We hope to find more historical background in due course.
I am damn proud of what we have achieved and more importantly very excited about our progress for the time to come.
[Subhash Thakrar can be contacted by email at [email protected]]
