BY AMELIA MATTHEWS
CERRITOS, CA – The World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) - USA held a meeting at the Sheraton here on May 6 to announce the hosting of it 5 th annual conference to be held in Los Angeles. The announcement was made to the local media and invited guests at an intimate gathering by WHEF –USA Chair...
CERRITOS, CA – The World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) - USA held a meeting at the Sheraton here on May 6 to announce the hosting of it 5 th annual conference to be held in Los Angeles. The announcement was made to the local media and invited guests at an intimate gathering by WHEF –USA Chair...
Avdhesh Agarwal and Vice Chair Ravi Tilak, to spread awareness and to raise funds to host the conference. Around 700 delegates are expected to attend including Hindu business leaders, professionals, academicians from around 30 countries in the world which will present ample opportunities for networking, insights into the US market and mutual growth.
The exclusively Hindu three-day business conference will take place from Nov 18 to 20 at the Hotel Irvine on Jamboree Road.
Speaking to the gathering in Hindi, Tilak highlighted the fact that there were a large number of Hindu businesses globally. The aim of the conference was to facilitate unity between them so they could influence the world. Hindus are among the highest achievers in the US in business and entrepreneurship. The objective now is to progress to the next level by opening more opportunities for investment, and promoting young Hindu entrepreneurs with the end goal being that of generating surplus wealth and to make society prosperous. Disclosing to the audience why he became interested in WHEF, Agarwal said it was time for Hindus to be proud of their identity and not conceal it under the guise of being ‘Indian.’ Tilak and he had attended the WHEF conference last year in London and being greatly impressed , they committed to hosting it in Los Angeles this year.
Swami Vigyananand the founder of the WHEF, was introduced by Tilak .The Swami had just arrived from New York. He is travelling all over the US, making personal connections , garnering support for the conference.
An IIT-Kharagpur graduate , Swami Vigyananand addressed the gathering strongly pushing a ‘Hindutva’ agenda and the right wing brand of politics it is associated with. He attributed the fall of the Hindu economy mainly to the Islamic invasion and the Bristish loot of India. Exploring the history of the Hindu economy, he explained how Hindus who were once rich, became poor and how they will prosper again. The crux of his economic philosophy is ‘ dharmasya moolam arthah’ ( economy is the strength of dharma) while underscoring that Dharma and Kama are dependent on Artha. Hindu scriptures, he said, celebrate wealth.
On the resurgence of the Hindu economy, he said this would come about collectively. Sadly, Hindus were individually successful but not collectively. This will have to change to where Hindus will work collectively to create wealth and then share it. Today, the whole world is the market and soon Europe will be a consuming society and Asia a producing one, with India being a major player. Emphasizing the objective of the conference, he said it was to get Hindus to cooperate and collaborate globally so that market access and capital is facilitated among them, and to match tech savvy Hindus with those who can convert technical innovation into business. Bala Palanisamy, Secretary, speaking about the conference said Hindu businesses were lacking in organization and a common platform. This vacuum was being filled by the WHEF. The four annual conventions which have achieved a measure of success, started with the first one in 2012 in Hongkong, 2013 in Bangkok, 2014 in New Delhi and 2015 in London. Apart form the annual conferences, a number of Regional Forums take place two or three times a year in different countries.
This year the conference will have a special forum for women under the leadership of Toni Dasgupta and Maya Panjabi.
Anil Parekh, member of the organizing committee, urged all present to support and contribute to the event . He also moderated the Q& A session. Others committee members who spoke included Sharad Mehta, Malikarjun Banda, Raghu Kuppannan, Nitin Bajaj, Nadadur Vardhan. For more info. Visit www.wheforum.org
The exclusively Hindu three-day business conference will take place from Nov 18 to 20 at the Hotel Irvine on Jamboree Road.
Speaking to the gathering in Hindi, Tilak highlighted the fact that there were a large number of Hindu businesses globally. The aim of the conference was to facilitate unity between them so they could influence the world. Hindus are among the highest achievers in the US in business and entrepreneurship. The objective now is to progress to the next level by opening more opportunities for investment, and promoting young Hindu entrepreneurs with the end goal being that of generating surplus wealth and to make society prosperous. Disclosing to the audience why he became interested in WHEF, Agarwal said it was time for Hindus to be proud of their identity and not conceal it under the guise of being ‘Indian.’ Tilak and he had attended the WHEF conference last year in London and being greatly impressed , they committed to hosting it in Los Angeles this year.
Swami Vigyananand the founder of the WHEF, was introduced by Tilak .The Swami had just arrived from New York. He is travelling all over the US, making personal connections , garnering support for the conference.
An IIT-Kharagpur graduate , Swami Vigyananand addressed the gathering strongly pushing a ‘Hindutva’ agenda and the right wing brand of politics it is associated with. He attributed the fall of the Hindu economy mainly to the Islamic invasion and the Bristish loot of India. Exploring the history of the Hindu economy, he explained how Hindus who were once rich, became poor and how they will prosper again. The crux of his economic philosophy is ‘ dharmasya moolam arthah’ ( economy is the strength of dharma) while underscoring that Dharma and Kama are dependent on Artha. Hindu scriptures, he said, celebrate wealth.
On the resurgence of the Hindu economy, he said this would come about collectively. Sadly, Hindus were individually successful but not collectively. This will have to change to where Hindus will work collectively to create wealth and then share it. Today, the whole world is the market and soon Europe will be a consuming society and Asia a producing one, with India being a major player. Emphasizing the objective of the conference, he said it was to get Hindus to cooperate and collaborate globally so that market access and capital is facilitated among them, and to match tech savvy Hindus with those who can convert technical innovation into business. Bala Palanisamy, Secretary, speaking about the conference said Hindu businesses were lacking in organization and a common platform. This vacuum was being filled by the WHEF. The four annual conventions which have achieved a measure of success, started with the first one in 2012 in Hongkong, 2013 in Bangkok, 2014 in New Delhi and 2015 in London. Apart form the annual conferences, a number of Regional Forums take place two or three times a year in different countries.
This year the conference will have a special forum for women under the leadership of Toni Dasgupta and Maya Panjabi.
Anil Parekh, member of the organizing committee, urged all present to support and contribute to the event . He also moderated the Q& A session. Others committee members who spoke included Sharad Mehta, Malikarjun Banda, Raghu Kuppannan, Nitin Bajaj, Nadadur Vardhan. For more info. Visit www.wheforum.org