The Trustees of OERB, My fellow Office bearers, members of the Executive Committee of the OERB, the chairman of VOC, Nairobi, the family members of Shri Jayantilal Shamji Shah, ladies and gentlemen . It has been a difficult week for all of us after the sad and sudden demise of Jayantibhai and Savitaben. As a community we must take time out to reflect on this great man, Jayantibhai and his service to Society. My tribute today will consist of three parts which I think befits this occasion. First I will speak about Jayantibhai the person and a little bit about the times that he grew up in, then I will speak about his association with the OERB and the great contribution he made and finally I will speak about our personal experiences of Jayantibhai and the lessons we learnt which are very necessary for young community leaders of today. Born in October 1935, Late Shree Jayantibhai was the eldest member of the very well known Shamji Vaja Gada Family. Popularly known as “Babubhai”, Jayantibhai had his roots in Dhunia and obtained his secondary education from the then Duke of Gloucester School, now Jamhuri High School Nairobi. After his Cambridge examination in 1954, he joined his father’s small business near Thompsons Falls. Although he was capable of further studies, due to the modest family circumstances of that time, his younger brother and him joined the family business so that they could help create the wealth required to educate the rest of the siblings. He was a keen volleyball player and participated at a high level in the inter community matches of the time. He has been a resident of Nakuru for the last 48 years and was the pioneer and founder member of the famous Industrial Group of Spin Knit and Londra Group of Companies. Today the group businesses are a multi-billion Kenya shilling operation spanning many sectors such as property, trading, manufacturing, agriculture etc and geographically covering several countries. The family is very well organized both professionally and socially and is a good case study on the power of family businesses to create exceptional wealth and prosperity which is especially necessary in a country like ours. Community service flowed in every vein of Shree Jayantibhai. The list of Community services he has done in his truly magnanimous life is so large that it would take many pages to give true justice to this larger than life personality. As an Oshwal, his first focus was the growth and progress of his Community members. He had served as the Chairman and Trustee of the Visa Oshwal Community, Nakuru for many years. He always laid emphasis on education and it was under his Dynamic Chairmanship, that VOC , Nakuru founded the Lalji Nangpar Academy. Jayantibhai served as the Chairman of the Lalji Nangpar Academy for many years, during which time, the Academy which is owned and managed by the VOC Nakuru, grew from strength to Strength and became an excellent centre of learning in the Rift Valley area. He always believed that all members should have access to good and timely medical care. It was during his tenure as the VOC Chairman that he initiated a very successful Oshwal Medical Scheme for 13 Upcountry Centres. As a result of his boundless energy and enthusiasm, he was very actively involved with the Rotary Club, Nakuru Business Association, Chamber of Commerce and several other welfare organizations. Even at the age of 77 years, he was so popular, dynamic and forward thinking that he was elected as the Chairman of the Nakuru Business Association, a post he held till his tragic death. Jayantibhai has also served as the Chairman of the Nakuru Branch of the Hindu Council of Kenya. During the 2007 post- election violence, Jayantibhai was personally responsible in coordinating the charity work for the internally displaced people in Nakuru in conjunction with other institutions. At the time of his death, he was an active member of the Nakuru District Peace Committee. We hear he would personally supervise the cooking of food for the IDPs and arrange delivery on a daily basis for many weeks during the early days of the crisis. His compassion and concern for the well being of the poor has been specially and repeatedly mentioned by a number of his local colleagues with whom he sat on several committees. Jayantibhai who was married to Savitaben have one daughter – Veena and three sons – Jayesh, Mehul and Palkesh. At this really tragic and difficult time, I can understand what a terrible loss it must be, to all his children who have lost both the parents, at the same time! No amount of words can truly express our sympathies to you-all the members of the Shamji Vaja family. The second part of my tribute today will describe his association with the OERB and his significant contribution to its activities. Before I talk about Jayantibhai I would like to give a brief background and description of the OERB to enable the audience to appreciate the role that he played. Founded in 1941 the OERB as the name suggests was charged with the responsibility of uplifting the dire situation of Oshwals. Initially the relief concentrated on helping Oshwals in India and to build boarding and hostel facilities so that Oshwals from East Afica could travel to India for further education. A little later the OERB started establishing education facilities in Kenya. Today the OERB owns and manages OAN, OAM,VOB and OC. We employ 400 people and over 4,000 students study in our institutions. The combined turnover runs into hundreds of million Kenya shillings and OERB assets run into billions of Kenya shillings. It is one of the largest Oshwal organizations in the World. The OERB belongs to all the Oshwal communities of East Africa and representation is through a well-defined delegate system sponsored by individual communities of East Africa. Besides education the OERB still focuses on improving the situation of the more vulnerable members of the Oshwal community but now has started activities in providing significant relief to indigenous Kenyans. Jayantibhai was serving his second term of five years as one of the three Trustees of OERB. The role of the Trustee is to protect the assets of the OERB and to provide advice and guidance to the Office bearers and members of the Executive committee. As with any vibrant organization there were many heated arguments at meetings on issues and Jayantibhai would smile in his seat and would quietly calm things down when needed. After meetings he would individually thank members for their contribution and participation and would always have encouraging words for all. Besides his time he also gave generously in kind. During the Adhiveshan in 2009 he graciously gave Kshs 10 million towards the International Millenium Fund. This is a revolving fund that gives loans to Oshwals to undertake higher education. As a result of the generosity of all the donors we are now able to offer a sum of Kshs 1.2 million per student per year to study. At the Adhiveshan in Arusha in 2012 a decision was made to seek a charter for upgrading Oshwal College into Oshwal University. He spoke very passionately to us about how it was a very good decision and what possibilities we should explore. He used his connections in high places to to show us prime pieces of land suitable for the University. When we visited Karura Forest with him to show him the active role the OERB was playing in managing it he took keen interest and asked detailed questions about our role. He spoke about his association with tree planting and conservation activities in the Nakuru area and encouraged us to look for opportunities for collaboration. Jayantibhai was an active member of the Managing Committee of the Oshwal Education and Relief Board having served from 1982 to 1989 and from 1990 to 1994 a total of 11 years. During his tenure the following significant events were realized: 27/5/1984 Foundation Stone was laid for Oshwal Academy Mombasa, Primary Section 26/1/1986 Opening was performed for Oshwal Academy Mombasa, Primary Section 16/5/1993 Foundation Stone was laid for the new Visa Oshwal Boarding and swimming pool In 1986 he personally spearheaded an OERB project to build Kabernet Primary School which was handed over to the Government of Kenya in 1987. The school still exists today and currently over 1,000 students study there. On 29th March 2009 he performed the opening ceremony for the new multi-purpose building for Oshwal College. The last part of my tribute consists of the lessons that we young leaders must learn from the life of Jayantibhai. Any organization with a long history has its traditions and we could always rely on Jayantibhai to guide us on the OERB Constitution and the rules of Governance. Always smiling and encouraging he would temper our youth and vigour with the patience and wisdom of age. The old values of personal sacrifice for the greater good, hard work and dedication to the service of mankind, sharing of wealth to do good and absolute humility despite phenomenal success in all spheres of life are values that we must cherish for generations to come. These very same values are the hallmark of Oshwals in the eyes of the outside world. The Oshwal Education & Relief Board will forever miss the selfless services of such a dynamic, yet humble Oshwal. We are aware that all three sons of Jayantibhai are involved in community service and it is our sincere hope that another member of the family will join us at OERB to carry on with the good work. At this moment of grief and shock, on behalf of the Trustees, Advisory Committee Members and Members of the Managing Committee of the Oshwal Education and Relief Board and the Visa Oshwal Community, Nairobi, I offer our heartfelt Sympathies and pray that Jayantibhai’s and Savitaben’s soul find lasting peace, and may God give strength to all the family members to bear this irreplaceable loss. Jai Mahavir. Jai Oshwal.