May 12, 2006 meeting

Hindu Samaj of Hamilton and Region

Minutes of the Sixth Meeting of the Board for the year, 2006

Held on Friday, May 12, 2006 at the Temple

Chair: Ram Kamath Secretary: Mahendra Deonarain

Present: Subhash Dighe, Abha Gosain, Indu Singh, Shikha Sareen, Shammi Ganghi, Naresh Sinha, Ram Kamath, Mani Subramanian, Perumal Rajaram, Mahendra Deonarain

Regrets: Ajay Sharma, Lalitha Kumar, Rita Varma, Rakesh Sharma, Romi Sareen

In Attendance: Raj Gupta, Naresh Singh, Hemant Gosain.

The meeting was called to order at 7:26 pm followed by prayers by Vice President, Subhash Dighe.

There was a motion by Shikha Sareen to approve the minutes of the meeting seconded by Subhash Dighe. It voted on and passed unanimously.

Ram Parivar Pran Pratishtha:

Raja Ram informed the Board that $51 696 had been collected including the donation box. The projected expenses would be $15 000. Although final figures were not available at the time of the meeting, it was expected that the final revenue figures would be closer to $75 000. The record confirmed that there were 28 yajman not 27 as reported earlier. Mani pointed out this excludes $10,000 already given for the Moorthis.

Plan for Shiv Parivar Pran Pratishtha:

Mani informed the Board that the 3^rd consignment, which contained the new Shiv Murti

Was being custom cleared in Toronto at the time of meeting. Upon receiving the consignment, a meeting with the sponsor would be set up. Mani suggested that Shiv Parivar Pran Pratishtha should take place on the July 7th weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

Dr. Hemant Gosain enquired why the old murti was rejected. To this, Mani explained that the sponsor did not like some blemishes on the old murti and he had to accommodate their request for a new one. Hemant then commented on the perceived lack of explanation during the Ram Parivar Pran Pratishtha. He further explained that many devotees had difficulty comprehending the proceedings as the chantings were in Sanskrit. In order to improve the participation of public, additional write-up in English and commentaries in English/Hindi was suggested. Mani informed the Board that he tried to maintain a balance by involving our priests to work hand in hand with invited priests with established track record in doing prathista. He would be happy to let others to step forward to organize the pending Pran Pratishtha.

Fundraising:

Ram mentioned that Vinod Chhabra was planning a fundraising event at the Ramada Inn but had to make some changes. Another fundraising event was being planned by a group comprising of Neelam Tandon and perhaps Dr. Rastogi and Dr. Naresh Agarwal. This particular group was interested in raising funds for capital projects not for everyday temple maintenance.

Also, Dr. Naresh Sinha informed the Board that the Lakshmi Mittal Team would look into the Endowment Fund proposed by our Temple. Dr. Sinha was very appreciative of Subhash's detailed letter and informed the Board that he invited Mr. Mittal to visit our temple whenever he visits Canada.

Occupancy Permit:

The electronic version of the drawing was obtained from Jai Ram Patel by Mani and was forwarded to the surveyor for modification to include grading. Ram mentioned that the surveyor would take another week to complete work required by the City. The documents associated with road widening deed are passed on the lawyer's office by Mani for completion of the deed.

Mortgage for Temple:

Ram advised the Board that as soon as the Occupancy Permit was awarded , he would proceed with a formal application for a temple mortgage through ICICI.

Sponsorship:

Subhash circulated a draft policy on sponsorship by the Temple for personnel from outside of Canada. He proposed that three of the following directors must sign: President, Vice President, General Secretary, Religious Secretary. This item would be re-introduced for approval at the next Board meeting.

Finance Committee:

The Board was informed that a financial update would be prepared as soon as the statement was received from Royal Bank. Also, the Board was informed by Ram that the current bookkeeper would not be able to do the bookkeeping. There was a discussion about re-hiring the former bookkeeper, George. Ram Kamath moved that George be hired as the book-keeper seconded by Mani. After discussion, it was voted on and approved unanimously. Ram would finalize the bookkeeping fee with George.

Repayment of Loan by Pittsburg Temple:

Mani informed the Board that the Pittsburg Temple loan of $5000(US) to us should have been repaid by our Temple last year. He emphasized that Pittsburg temple needed their loan back and that we should pay it as soon as possible. Subhash moved that we ask Mani to discuss our present financial situation with Pittsburg Temple and that if they still needed their loan then we should pay it back immediately. Seconded by Shikha. It was voted on and passed unanimously.

Donors' List

It was suggested that the Temple should compile a complete list of donors up to December 2005. Also, the Temple should send thank-you letters to donors and encourage donors to continue to support the Temple. It was pointed out that the level of donation needed to be updated. Names of some deserving donors were not on the plaque.

Roof

After some discussion on the leaking roof, Mani proposed that we set aside some funds to fix the roof once and for all along with the front canopy , seconded by Dr. Sinha. It was voted-on and passed unanimously.

Priests

There was a discussion on whether our Temple needed two priests. Raj Gupta pointed out that, in his opinion, there was not enough work for two priests and because we have limited funds, the temple should spend its resources on fixing the roof. Mani pointed out that two priests would be eventually required in order to render the full complement of services to our community. The temple location is too isolated to make the priest feel secure. Then the discussion centered around the extension of Pundit Shashi Bhushan's contract. After further discussion, Ram moved that Pundit Shashi Bhushan's contract be extended for 6 months and that we pay his passage, seconded by Subhash. Voted on and passed unanimously. Mani asked Hemant to be part of the search committee to make recommendations on priests to the Board.

Use of Temple's Email System

There was concern about the circulation of a Dance Flyer without Board's approval. Abha would investigate who sent out the flyer. Guidelines would be prepared for future use of the Temple's Email.

Wellness Club

Dr. Sinha informed the Board that the Wellness Club was scheduled to have a talk on Saturday, May 13. The topic was " Sexual harassment".

Upcoming Events:

· The Board was informed that Rakesh had organized the Gayatree Jayanti for June 10. Further information would be available soon.

· Shanta Dubey would conduct Yoga classes in the Summer '06. Dates were not yet determined.

· Well known Swami Ram Baba, will have do Hanuman Chalisa on Sunday, June 11 from 2- 5 pm at the Temple.

· Also, another well known speaker, Dr. Shankar Abhyankar, from Pune, India would give a lecture on Sunday, June 11 at 11 am.

Directors missing Board Meetings

The Board was reminded that Directors who miss more than 3 meetings would be notified by the secretary that their executive position within the Board would be in jeopardy.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 pm