Friends update - September 2009

 

I hope you had a relaxing and peaceful summer and found somewhere with a bit of sun in which to bask.

 

Summer in Oxford started at June's end with Mediterranean heat, followed swiftly by a wonderfully wet July, to which we can add an overcast and fantastically forbidding August, in pursuit of a mellow and maliciously warm September. In short we have survived yet another English summer.

 

The students are coming, tumbling into Oxford with gratitude and expectation. Over the last few weeks the streets here have been scattered with mildly embarrassed teenagers, accompanied by excited parents buying all that the offspring will need for their first year in Oxford.

 

We rarely see a more pleased expression than that 'my child is in Oxford' smile. It is a well deserved and hard won trophy, won mainly by the children, but due in no small part to parents with the vision and confidence to encourage their sons and daughters to apply to Oxford - a badge of honour for all concerned.

 

And a badge of honour must be awarded to those kind Friends who have responded to our Annual Appeal. We sent out our appeal letters in September, just in time for the postal strike. We will send more out by email shortly. So, if you have already received your invitation to make an auspicious contribution - as we approach Diwali - feel free to give online or by cheque, as detailed on the right. If you have still not received your entitlement to this wonderful opportunity worry not but give now regardless, and strike a blow for promptness.

 

Our Appeal this year is important because our income has been crunched by 40% since our banking community decided to panic and foment global mayhem. Our sympathy goes to our generous Friends who cannot give their regular gifts because of distressed markets, our thanks for all you have given, and blessings for future prosperity. In the meanwhile an infusion to our Annual Fund is most important, and only a click away (http://ochs.org.uk/donate).

 

Give now, pray to Laxmi Devi this Diwali, and get a handsome return. If you don't believe that give now anyway because an Oxford education is worth it and it will put a 'I'm a friend of Oxford' smile on your face.

 

The good news is that a new term begins and we are still here to educate and inspire new students, publish our research, host visiting lecturers and conferences, broadcast intelligent comment on radio and TV, conduct courses for the public, and internationally with our online courses. if you have not done so already view our online courses at http://ochs.org.uk/ced and tell your friends around the world how to access Oxford classes from their own homes.

 

In August, Deloitte the major international accountancy and consultancy firm launched an internal Hindu Network. The OCHS was asked to give the keynote address on the evening and we chose the topic, 'The Rig Veda and the Credit Crunch'. The evening was a success and a senior Director present suggested we write up the talk and get it published. Well, we wrote it up and the kind folk at Business India will publish it shortly, as long as the credit crunch is still news by the time it goes to press. A toe in the water of the corporate world.

 

A very special thank you to our London Friends, Ash and Deepa Unadkat, who collected £747 for OCHS through a performance of the play Baa Ne Gher Babo Aavyo. A great initiative and a great result, thank you both.

 

Thanks are also due to our Leicester Friends for their awareness and advertising campaign conducted at Navratri events around Leicester. There is nothing like combining hard work and dancing

 

We would like to thank Gateen Patel, our intern for the last six months, for offering so much of his energy, dedication, efficiency, and excellent communication skills to all he did during his time with us. He used all this to full effect in pulling together the Bhumi Project, an environmental partnership among Hindu communities and temples, which will be launched at Windsor Castle, in November - tune in next update.

 

So, until next time, welcome the autumn in with all its textures and colours and scents; enhance your 'I'm a Friend of OCHS' smile by a Diwali gift; and await in eager anticipation to see what on earth the Rig Veda has to say about the credit crunch.

 

Warm regards,

Shaunaka