Mr. and Mrs. Gidwani have come for a visit from Washington D.C. This is their 50th wedding anniversary. They met with Bodhinatha who blessed their anniversary with a shawl.

Sgt. Maj. Chaturbhuj N. Gidwani, now 72, had a 25-year military career in the US Army Reserve. An avid supporter of Hinduism Today, Gidwani began as a private at the unusually advanced age of 35. Enduring boot camp training with a platoon of teenagers, Gidwani quickly found a nitch providing needed guidance to the youngsters and earned the nickname “grandpa.” A refugee from India’s violent 1947 partition and now a staunch follower of Gandhian philosophy, he says, “I believe my military contributions helped resolve conflicts without bloodshed.” His career-long desire to see a Hindu chaplain in the US armed forces has yet to be realized, but he and others have successfully convinced the Department of Defense of the need (see “Call for Military Chaplains,” March, ’98 of Hinduism Today.)

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END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dvitiya Tithi, Sun One, Monday, July 12th.

Bodhinatha meets with Dr. Vijay, his wife Jayanthi and her parents. Bodhinatha met them all at the kumbhabhishekam of the Maha Ganapati Temple of Arizona.