Chhotalal Narottam Jina Chauhan, one of Midlands’ most prominent Hindu community leaders, has died. He was 91. Scores of mourners attended his funeral in Birmingham last Thursday. Mr Chauhan’s unique personality and way with words was such that he was popular with everyone. He always put the interests of others ahead of his own and made personal sacrifices over decades to help make society a better place for all. He was a man of integrity, fearlessness and committed to truth and righteousness.
Born in Ponsara, Gujarat, India in December 1926, he married Jeliben in 1944. He emigrated to Kenya in 1949 before coming to England in July 1967. He was founder member of the Shree Birmingham Pragati Mandal (BPM) in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, which remains one of the most popular Hindu temples in the country. His contributions to the BPM building project, as was then called, were phenomenal.
Mr Chauhan was also, arguably, the last surviving member, of his generation, of the original Jalaram Bhajan Mandal which he has formed, along with my late grandfather Ravji Bhoja, in 1974. Members, all now deceased, included: Palanshibhai Pankhania, Naranbhai Chavda, Maganbhai Jadav, Mansukhbhai Gunchala, Lilabhai Kabira, Morarbhai Solanki – to name just a few. One of his favourite Gujarati poems translates to: this beautiful body will one day blend in with soil, on departure family will weep, curtains will close, that’s the day when our acting on this world stage will come to an end.
Tributes are continuing to pour in from all over the world. Mr Chauhan was one of a kind and will forever be missed by all those who knew him. He was a close friend of our editor Mr CB Patel, who, together with the team at Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar share the grief of this sad loss.
