First Ever Hindu Dharma Emblem for Boy Scouts
Troop 38 Dharma Group Award Ceremony: Participants from left, first row: Teacher Priti Parikh, Dhavan Dayananda, Amol Perubhatla, Som Radia, Siddarth Mohan, Bijon Radia, Kishan Dayananda and Group Coordinator Bimal Radia, second row: Namratha Perubhatla, Jay Mehta, Vineel Kodikanti, Akash Mehta and Anish Sankhavaram.
HOUSTON: Boy Scouts Troop 38 from Sugar Land, recently initiated a Religious Emblem program for all scouts in the troop. One of the tenets of Boy Scouts is that “a scout is reverent”. As a part of this program, 12 scouts from Troop 38 and 4 scouts from Troop 616 completed their Hindu Emblem Merit Badge under the guidance of NAHA (North American Hindu Association). They received their “Dharma Award” after completing the detailed coursework prescribed by NAHA. Bimal Radia, the Group Coordinator from Troop 38, got in touch with NAHA and formed the group of scouts who were interested in this program. Jon Sturgis (Scoutmaster for Troop 38) and Carl Sedita (ASM for Troop 38) initiated this program for both the troops. This is the first time this program was offered by Boy Scouts Troop 38 and Troop 616. It was the second largest Dharma Award group in the USA according to NAHA.
Carl Sedita, ASM Troop 38, introduces Bimal Radia and Priti Parikh for Dharma Award distribution to the Boy Scouts of Troop 38. From left: Priti Parikh, Bimal Radia, and Carl Sedita.
As a part of the program, NAHA required that a traditional teacher (Dharma Bhakta) be appointed to teach the scouts their coursework designed and provided by NAHA. So, Radia approached acharya Gaurangbhai Nanavaty of Chinmaya Mission of Houston, for guidance. Gaurangbhai appointed Priti Parikh (the Dharma Bhakta) to teach the scouts as she has over 20 years of experience teaching religious scriptures to students.
Dharma Group Scouts with the Teacher Priti Parikh, at the Saumyakashi Sivalaya for conducting 16-step Puja ceremony with the priest.
The course was conducted over two months of summer and included weekly instruction, homework, puja and field trips. Finally, all their work was graded by NAHA and approved for the Dharma Award. The following scouts earned their Merit Badge as a part of the program:
1. Bijon B. Radia
2. Som B. Radia
3. Amol Perubhatla
4. Ajith Sundarraj
5. Srisha Sundarraj
6. Kishan Dayananda
7. Dhavan Dayananda
8. Vineel Kodikanti
9. Vishu Kodikanti
10. Akash Mehta
11. Anish Sankhavaram
12. Siddarth Mohan
13. Jay Mehta
14. Anuj Mehta
15. Karthik Talwar
16. Christian Banziger
17. Yash Rahurkar
18. Arvind Ramachandran