From The President

My Dear BCAS Family,

September in Mumbai is a season of transition. As the monsoon begins to recede and the festive spirit gathers momentum, the city prepares to move forward with renewed energy. This transition invites us to pause and reflect: how can we convert reflection into renewal personally, professionally and institutionally?

The Strength to Forgive

Let's begin with Paryushan. It is perhaps the one festival that asks something genuinely difficult of us. On Kṣamāpanā, His Holiness the 79th Spiritual Sovereign, Jainacharya Yugbhushan Suriji, posed a question that I cannot shake off: We forgive ourselves so easily; why are we harder on others when it is their turn to be forgiven? Why the double standard? His answer was neutrality; extending to others the same generosity we readily extend to ourselves. This is the strength Gandhiji once located in forgiveness itself. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” There is a lesson here for all of us. We spend our careers examining other people's numbers, decisions and mistakes. Perhaps it is time we turned that same scrutiny, and the same grace, inward. So, to every member, staff colleague and friend of this Society whom I may have let down this year, knowingly or unknowingly: Michhami Dukkada