Khona family picnic at Shangrila water park in Mumbai

Hosted by Mr.Himmatlal Khona and family, the Khona family picnic was a enjoyable daylong reunion at Shangri La, a popular water park in Thane on December 6th, 2008. Over 50people who joined the event had a good time in the refreshing pools and playing fun games organized by Sejal and Reshma, the Khona daughter-in-laws.

New Jain Temple in Phoenix, Arizona

Visitors from India

Here are some pictures of our recent visitors from India. Mr. & Mrs. Kanti Vora on their USA and Europe tour in Summer'08.

Jatin Shah's business trip to San Francisco, CA in August 2008. Dinner at the Straits restaurant in the city.

Happy Diwali & Great New Year!

Here's a link to pictures from the Kojain Diwali celebrations in the San Francisco Bay Area on Nov 1st, 2008 at the Golden Peacock restaurant in Fremont, California. There were over 80 kutchis in attendance.

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ 28223575@ N02/sets/ 7215760869716224 9

INAUGERATION OF NEW OFFICE PREMISES OF VIJAY COTTON & FIBRE CO., AT INDORE ON SUNDAY, 16TH MARCH 2008

M/s. VIJAY COTTON & FIBRE CO. - KDO'S Leading Cotton Merchants and Exporters - inaugerated their New Office in their own newly constructed 3- storey Modern Villa named 'ADITYA' situated in Indore City's Posh Area at 209, Saket Nagar Main Road, Indore- 452 018 on SUNDAY 16th March 2008. The main office is on the Ist Floor which is fully equipped with latest Computers, Fax, Xerox machine and modern office furniture complete with pantry. The partners - Shri Shantilal Mulji Shah and Shri Vijay Shantilal Shah - have separate independant spacious offices.

The Inaugeral Function started at 9 A.M. with POOJA conducted on the 2nd floor by the leading KDO Ladies of Indore in the traditional Jain manner and presided over by Smt. Nirmalaben Shantilal Shah. Smt. Romaben Vijay Shah welcomed the guests, Kumari Divya Vijay Shah applied Tilak on their foreheads and Master Aditya Vijay Shah gave each guest a 10 Rupee Note as Prasad.

Shri Shantilalbhai and Shri Vijaybhai welcomed the Guests at the Entrance of the premises, offered them Snacks and Fruit Juices and guided them to
the Pooja Function. The Guests were also taken around the Office Area and the Guest house on the 3rd floor.

The function was well attended by leading Mill owners, Cotton Merchants and Industrialists from Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Indore City.
All Staff from the branches of Vijay Cotton & Fibre Co. situated in Kutch, Saurashtra, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra were invited to this function. They were also taken on a pilgrimage to the famous Shanker, Ganesh and Jain Temples of Indore and Ujjain.
After the Pooja, the Guests were taken to Saket Club for a lavish 10- course Lunch where all the best and famous delicasies of Indore were served. Shri Shantilalbhai and Shri Manikantbhai Dhulla ensured that the guests tasted all the items.

10th Wedding Anniversary for Kutchi.com founders

The founders of Kutchi.com, Dilip Dand and Mrinal Dand celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in Hawaii with their daughter Rhea. They live in Northern California and both work in the Silicon Valley.

Engagement Party - Devang Dand & Jinali Vora, Mumbai

Devang Dand, son of Mr. Manilal Dand and Mrs. Chandrika Dand of Matunga, Mumbai recently got engaged to the love of his life, Jinali Vora. The engagement party was at the S.N.D.T. college hall in Matunga on December 30th, 2007.

The couple danced the evening away with family and friends who had gathered to celebrate the joyous occasion. A grand wedding is planned for later this year in December 2008.

East meets West - Wedding in the Dand Family

Mr.Pravin Dand and Mrs. Veena Dand have lived in Maryland, USA for over 35yrs. Their daughter Parul recently married Jason Little of Richmond, VA. The couple celebrated their wedding in an intimate American-style Garden Wedding with the bride dressed in traditional white, on August 25, 2007 in Virginia.

This was followed by a grand Indian wedding with over 2days of celebrations at Hotel Sea Princess, in Mumbai on November 17th, 2007. Both were beautiful weddings in their own special way and gave everyone an insight into two different but unique cultures.

R.V.KHONA's VISIT TO HONG KONG

R.V.Khona of 'kutchi.com' & 'kutchicommunity.blogspot' visited HONG KONG from Thursday, 29.11.2007 to Monday, 3.12.2007 on his way to San Francisco, USA.

In Hong Kong, he stayed with his nephew Mr. Kaushik Mahesh Lodaya (SHAH) who lives there since the last five years with his wife Mrs. Dipti and his mother Mrs. Chandrikaben at Bauhinia Mansions, Near Whampoa Gardens, Hunghom, Kowloon.

Bauhinia Mansions is a housing complex of Eight - 15 Storey Towers situated in the centre of the beautiful residential area of Kowloon, Hong Kong with shady green parks and the sea front only 200 metres away. Kowloon is one of the five main islands comprising Hong Kong District the other four being Tung Chung, Lantau, Tsing Yi and Hong Kong.

The Lodayas took Mr. Khona around all the islands by Bus, Taxi, Underground train network, Trams and Ferry Service which connect the islands. The Main Business Areas are situated on Kowloon and Hong Kong ( where the majority of the British population stays and have their clubs, hotels & recreation centres). Real Diamond Business is housed in about twelve huge office blocks in one of which Mr. Lodaya's office is situated. A small pure vegetarian Restaurant is located just near this Diamond Centre.

Some of the attractions are : 1) The 26 Metre tallest Bronze Statue of Lord Buddha in the world weighing 220 Tonnes on Lantau Island atop a hill with PO Lin Monastry & Temple at the base 2) Jain Temple 3) Hong Kong Museum of Art, Heritage Museum, Space Museum. 4) Bird Garden 5) Race Course 6) The Peak - highest place in Hong Kong where there are Restaurants, Shops & Viewing Gallery from where you can see the whole town below and identify its landmarks, specially at night. Special Trams go all the way to the top on a steep unique track. 7) Discovery Bay & other Beaches 8) Ocean Park 9) Huge Docks where hundreds of Big and Small Container/Cargo Ships are being loaded / unloaded throughout the day, especially in the night.

R.V.KHONA's VISIT TO U.S.A.

R.V.Khona, of 'kutchi.com' & 'kutchicommunity.blogspot.com' , is on a Visit to U.S.A. from 4th December 2007 to 14th January 2008.

He is staying with his daughter, Mrinal and Son-in-law Dilip Dand in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He attended the 4th Birthday Celebrations of his Grand Daughter Miss Rhea Dand on 8.12.2008 held in her school Hacienda School and the following birthday party where Rhea and her friends built their own stuffed pets, dressed them up in cute clothes, and gave them names. Rhea cut her Birthday Cake and all her friends with their parents shared the Cake with Pizzas and Drinks.

Mr. Khona with the Dand family, visited Los Angeles - went around Disneyland and its beautiful suburbs Laguna Beach (Orange County) and San Diego where they visited Sea World, world's largest Zoo and its beautiful beaches. Mr.Khona got to touch baby sharks and fed the friendly dolphins.

Then they returned home to San Francisco, where they spent the day at Golden Gate bridge, the windy shore of Santa Cruz with scores of Sea Lions playing noisily on the pier. They watched the ships in the harbor at the beautiful Sausalito town in northern San Francisco.

They also prayed at the beautiful Jain 24 Tirthankar Temple of Milpitas erected by 1000 families of Jains living in San Francisco Area in the year 2000 where they meet regularly and hold religious festivals.