History of Global Village Community Club

In November of 2014 Dinesh Chandra moved to the Villages. He was very passionate about wellbeing and spiritual person who had worked as Management Consultant for Fortune 500 Companies, He met his neighbors who were from Japan, Russia, Germany, Jewish couple who migrated from Egypt and many from India, Tibet, Nepal, and other East Asia. He foresaw the value of learning from each other especially Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Naturopathy, and modern medicine as well. He was gung-ho with Vedic scriptures, Meditation, Yoga, for spiritual growth, That's how Global Village Community club was formed. Initially the emphasis was on sharing each others foods and celebrating popular festivals and then learning the role of the elderly in each society. The Indian diaspora represented many Asian and African countries since forefathers of many Indian families had migrated to other countries in 18th -19th to flea from foreign rulers. 

After the Board approved GVCC, we met first time on Wednesday, Feb 4th 2015 in Patio Room at 7 pm with 20 co-founding members and continued to meet twice a month for a year or so. Then chairman (Dinesh) moved out of the Villages and as per our bylaws Surendra Bhagi took upon himself to continue the agenda.. Surendra was well-read on Indic Spirituality Yoga, Meditation etc. So while continuing on cultural exchange on wellness, he initiated "Group Meditation" every Wednesday in person. Lot of new members joined, so meeting place was moved to the Conference Room. First Wednesday of the month was to invite Wellness and Spiritual presenters and other Wednesdays were devoted to Group Meditation. In 2017-18, One day Surendra told the members who had gathered to to dialogue wellness, that he could not continued. Having seen that this club was very unique and I myself felt that the Villagers can benefit from what other cultures especially Eastern cultures with which I am familiar, we should not let the club die. So I (Pradeep Sonawala & Sharmi) took over the reign. I have tried to call on specialists that I had known from medical (all kinds Ayurveda Acupuncture, Naturopaths, yoga masters etc. to come and present to the members. Many of our members who were experts in their field were invited to present wide variety of subjects. 

We had a presentation by Plant Based Dietician and Nutritionist, Mary Mackey. After her presentation I encouraged her to start a group that would meet once a month and learn about diet. You become what you eat. We first emphasized on Plant Based Diet. As time progress we realized that Standard American Diet as SAD it was could not be changed easily. So started talking about Vegetarian diets that allowed dairy besides plant based. Healthy Eating is a very popular activity. Thanks to Donna Hale and our in house French Chef Marie-Paule'. 

Kim Silverman who is co-author of Best seller shared her expertise during her presentation in GVCC. I thought it would be interesting to promote her unique healing practices which include Sound therapy, Aroma Therapy, Life regression modality etc. Kim's classes, once on last Thursday of the month are helpful and very popular.   

When Dinesh our ex President came back to the Villages, I asked him to do Retreats on wellbeing 2-3 times a year. Since it is 9 to 5 session on weekends, when he can invite some outstanding dialoguers, we keep Pot lunch of various cousins and rejuvenate.  

From inception of the club we have been celebrating Indian and other festivals like Diwali, Holi, (festival of colors), or Navratri (Folk dance), singing Christmas carols, etc.

In short around our mission of wellness and spirituality we add on activities which are favorites of our members. Please go to Calendar page to see the general schedule and to Events page to see Upcoming Events and past Events page.