Posted on Feb 28, 2018
The Lohana Cultural Association of Canada was the brainchild of a very committed Community Member, Vinod Sodha. He came to Toronto in December of 1974 from Kisumu, Kenya. Embarrassed by a question from a visiting guest in the following year, who asked how many Lohanas lived in Toronto, he decided to hit the white pages and compile a list of “Lohana sounding names” with the help of Babubhai  Somani.
The Lohana Cultural Association of Canada was the brainchild of a very committed Community Member, Vinod Sodha. He came to Toronto in December of 1974 from Kisumu, Kenya. Embarrassed by a question from a visiting guest in the following year, who asked how many Lohanas lived in Toronto, he decided to hit the white pages and compile a list of “Lohana sounding names” with the help of Babubhai  Somani.
 
This mamoth task took him three months to complete. He subsequently contacted Vinod Vasani, whom he knew from Kenya. They put their heads together and called an unofficial meeting to discuss the formation of an association. The first newsletter went out, calling for a general body meeting on the 25th of January, 1976, at the Bombay Community Centre. Food at this historic meeting was donated by Rasik Sedani of Bombay Bazaar. A generous donation of $1900 was collected from the general membership, and the Lohana Cultural Association of Canada was born. The meeting was chaired by Vinod Vasani, who was duly elected the first President. The association was incorporated in July of 1982.

A little bit more about Lohanas in general…

Meaning

Lohanas (Persian: لامياحاءأنأ Gujarati: લોહાણા Sindhi: لوها ڻا Hindi: लोहाना) or ‘Master of Swords’ are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group and are a Suryavanshi Kshatriya community of India that originated in Iran and Afghanistan. In India, they mainly reside in Gujarat, Mumbai and other parts of the country. They have also spread to all parts of the world.