It was either the hot and humid air of Mumbai or the anxiety of being in a crowded hospital waiting room that caused big beads of perspiration to form on Damayanti's furrowed brow. She wiped her face with the palu of her saree, while her husband, Krishna nodded off beside her.
Damayanti and Krishna had arrived in Mumbai the previous day from their small town in northern Gujarat. They didn't have much time to settle in; they had to go to the hospital the very next day so that Krishna could get needed medical treatment. They were staying at Shree Khadayata Bhavan Mandal, the boarding facility established by their Khadayata Bania community. They were most grateful for this facility which gave them a place to stay in the crowded city.

The Khadayatas are one of the sub groups of Gujarati speaking Banias. Their original family is said to have stemmed from the village of Khadat. In the early part of the previous century they organized themselves into a community that pooled their resources and strove for the betterment of their people. This included making scholarships available for poor students, building boarding facilities in large cities, and sometimes even taking care of the sick financially.

* Scripture Prayers for the Bania Khedayata in India.

Pray that the Khadayata people, who hold on dearly to their roots no matter where they live, will encounter God in a way so real that they will be able to turn to Him with all their hearts.

Some information from "The Scheduled Castes" K. S. Singh, ed. Oxford University Press, USA (1994)