YJA Convention 1994 – First Timers! By Kosha Udani

Kosha Udani lives in Morris Plains, NJ. She is a wife, a mother of two boys and a lawyer. She is a second generation Jain and thankful to her family, especially her mother who has brought Jainism to the forefront of her everyday life.

In May of 1994, I turned 21 years old. Like many other young adults, I felt that I was ready to conquer the world and that wisdom was mine alone. A few years in college and a few one-off experiences in life were all that I needed to have the arrogance of a young adult who was bound for law school. But wisdom does not come so easily! That summer, I boarded a plane from Newark, New Jersey to Chicago, Illinois to attend the very first Young Jains of America (“YJA”) convention.

I did not sign up to attend. Rather, my mother decided that I would go. Like many other decisions in my life that involved religion, she had decided long back that it was her role (or rather duty) to ensure that Jainism was at the center of my life. I travelled to Chicago with my good friend Namrta. I did not have any expectations. Why? Simply because I looked at those few days over the July 4th holiday of the convention as way to leave town, fly on a plane alone with a friend and a mini-vacation. I did not research what the convention offered, who would attend, or really have any role in the process.

Even now over 25 years later, I remember being picked up at the airport by a Jain convention volunteer – a local parent in the Chicago area who had signed up to transport us kids to the convention hall. Jostling in the back seat, among other Jain kids from across the country, I did not realize at the time how special this would later prove to be. The first YJA convention in North America was an event that would help shape my life going forward.

The few days of the Jain convention were filled with activity. There were ice breakers with other young Jains from across the country – the kind of ice breakers that make you cringe – “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream” – but we laughed and got to know each other. There were many break out sessions where for the first time, I realized how we as young Jains were a community. Growing up in central New Jersey, of course I had other Jain friends, we all did. But seeing the scope of youth from across the country was eye opening. Today, the number from 1994 seems so small; the Jain community and its youth have increased in multiples in the last 25 years. It was so refreshing to be with other young adults where we could freely talk about being vegetarian without being asked that quintessential question – “If you don’t eat meat, what do you eat?” We all stayed in local hotels, roaming the halls, getting to know one another not only as Jains but as friends. The keynote speaker of the convention was the revered Chitrabhanuji. Until that time, Jain lectures were something my parents attended, not me. But I listened intently, focused on his words, and on how I could incorporate Jainism into my everyday life as an individual, as a future wife, mother and professional. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. On the last night of the convention, there was a DJ and we all danced the night away before leaving for our flights the following morning, tearfully hugging and exchanging phone numbers and promising to stay in touch from our shared conversations and ties of Jainism that continue to run deep.

Thirteen years later in 2007, after I was married (to a fellow Jain!), my sister attended a Jain convention and met her future husband. Today, my 15 year-old son Shaan is a local Mid-Atlantic representative for the YJA. I am surprised at how proud I am to write that. COVID-19 has forced YJA meetings to be on Zoom and I try to eavesdrop every chance I can. Hearing these young kids laugh and talk and have this commonality of the Jain religion is awe inspiring and reminds me of that convention weekend so many years ago.

The other day Shaan asked me if I would let him go to the YJA convention which is scheduled for the summer of 2022. I just stared at him. I told him that your mother went to the very first YJA convention. Like most teenagers, he ignored me and asked what that had to do with anything. But the significance is overwhelming. I can’t wait to drop him off at the airport next summer to start this journey of meeting other young Jains in person so that they too can talk, laugh, learn about Jainism and exchange phone numbers (they will most likely just text and Snapchat each other!). The legacy continues…