L-R Kavin C. Parikh, Prakash Shah,

H.H.  Nawab Palanpur and Arun R. Mehta

A new community website – www.palanpuronline.com – was launched in the presence of H.H. Iqbal Mohammed Khan, Nawab, Palanpur and Ambassador Prakash Shah, former UN Under Secretary-General, at a function held at the Y.B. Chavan Auditorium in Mumbai on Sunday, November 16, 2008. The function was attended by a very large number of community members. The website is an initiative of the Vidyamandir Trust.

H.H. Nawab of Palanpur congratulated the Vidyamandir Trust for this new initiative and praised the work that the organization and other bodies set up by the community have done to foster the community spirit and develop educational facilities in Palanpur.

“The Palanpuri community has given birth to many successful entrepreneurs and businessmen,” said Shah, “and while its remarkable achievements in the diamond industry are well known, Palanpuris have done well in other industries like pharmaceuticals and steel too.”

“The community has also excelled in other areas,” he said, “citing the example of his father who won recognition as a solicitor just before the First World War.” Shah congratulated the community for moving with the times, and applauded the step of establishing an online platform that would further nourish the strong bonds between its members who were spread all over the world.

Arun R. Mehta, Chairman of the Vidyamandir Trust welcomed the launch of the website, and said that just as the setting up of modern educational institutions in Palanpur by farsighted members of the community over 40 years ago had proved to be an engine of growth and had transformed the city into a dynamic centre today, Palanpur Online too was a step of great significance. “The city could emerge as a knowledge centre in times to come,” he added.

Ashish K. Mehta introducing the features of the site

Earlier Ashish K. Mehta, a Vidyamandir Trustee and initiator of the new project, introduced the concept and features of the site. “The Palanpuri community is one that has always been unique and different - both in our peculiar traits and qualities, and in our attitude,” he said, adding. “We are the only community in the world that has seen people willingly help others in setting up businesses that ultimately compete with that of their own, and yet ensured that our industry can grow due to this. There was no self interest here, except an inherent urge to see that the community prospers and grows.”

“We are a community that has entirely left its hometown and yet have contributed on such a large scale to its upliftment and growth. And at the same time, we are a small but very strong community, perhaps the strongest that many may be aware of.

“It is important to sink in the fact that we have truly benefited from the strength of our roots and the vast culture that we have inherited. We in turn have a duty to pass on this to the next generation. They need to connect with this feeling of oneness.

“This is exactly what we want to do.  Connect, Share, Unite,” he explained, elaborating on the reasons for launching a website for this purpose by quoting Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft – “Never before in History has innovation offered the promise of so much to so many in so short a time.”

“We have consciously chosen the Web medium because it is accurate; it is quick and cost effective and can be constantly updated and modified,” Mehta concluded.

Mehta appealed to the members of the Palanpuri community to join and strengthen the site and make it more informative and more meaningful, one of the most useful and meaningful sites available, saying, “I believe irrespective of age we must take advantage of technology that is available today.