By Jawahar Malhotra
houston: The Indian Doctors Charity Clinic (IDCC) marked a major milestone on Saturday, March 28, celebrating more than 25 years of providing free medical care to underserved communities in the Houston area.
To commemorate the anniversary, the clinic hosted its first major fundraising gala at the GSH Event Center, drawing more than 800 attendees. The glittering event raised approximately $500,000.
The gala was emceed by Dr. Swati Joglekar and Dr. Pankaj Satija and featured presentations highlighting the clinic’s growth from a small volunteer-driven initiative into a well-established community resource and its future goals.
The event also recognized several families and individuals for their longstanding service and contributions to the clinic. Grand sponsors of the gala included Imagimake, a kids educational toy maker owned by Nisha Kathrani and her husband Ravi; Dr. Sunita and Dr. Suresh Moonat and Danny and Jaya Desai and their son-inlaw Ryan Dennard. A live auction and pledge was conducted by Harry Santa-Olalla, followed by dance performances by NAACH Houston and a fashion show by Shefali Jhaveri. The event was catered by Dawat Catering.
The IDCC was founded in 1999 by the Indian Doctors Association as an independent nonprofit organization with the goal of providing
free primary care, eye care and health education to uninsured and underinsured residents.
It began in a leased space in Southwest Houston near Bellaire Blvd and Tarnef and later operated for many years from the Bellaire Professional Building near Chimney Rock. Since 2023 it moved to the Gujarati Samaj of Houston (GSH) Event Center and offers medical care on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Patients receive consultations, basic laboratory testing and specialist access at no cost.
“What makes this clinic special is not just medical skill, but the spirit behind it-unity, generosity, and compassion,” said outgoing
President K.C. Mehta. “It shows what is possible when people come together with a shared purpose. This milestone marks a remarkable journey of compassion, commitment and community spirit.”
Over the years, thousands of patients have received care through the efforts of volunteer physicians, nurses and student volunteers. The clinic’s services are funded entirely through donations, with strong support from Houston’s Indian diaspora.
”In my career, I have witnessed the tragic consequences of delayed medical treatment. For many patients we are their only access to medical care and the impact ex-
tends far beyond the exam room,” said Medical Director Dr. Anil Sheth. “I volunteered as soon as the opportunity arose, after retiring from private practice. Volunteering is not just service, it is a privilege.”
Plans for the clinic’s future include expanding services, building a pharmacy and increasing access to ancillary care. The organization has already modernized operations with a new facility and electronic medical records and continues to grow its volunteer base.
In his remarks to the guests, IDCC President K.C. Mehta reflected on his two-decade long association with the clinic, as
he passed on the baton to Harish Kathrani.
“When I was invited to join the IDCC Board in 2006 by then President Dr. Sunita Moonat, I was skeptical about my role because I am not a physician but an electronics engineer and business entrepreneur. Soon I realized that for the volunteer physicians to perform well, all the non-medical functions would be my responsibility. I grew first as Secretary, then as Treasurer and manager and was elected President in 2018.”
“I was fortunate,” he continued, “to work with four different Medical Director and presidents: Dr. Sunita Moonat, Dr. K. T. Shah, Dr. Kiran Gandhi and Dr. Ravi Chandru who volunteered to start a free eye clinic in 2017.”
In 2021, the clinic lease expired in the Bellaire Professional building. The Board agreed to move the clinic to the GSH Event Center and signed a 10-year term lease. Construction began in September 2022 and the new clinic opened on July 15, 2023. Dr. Gandhi retired and Dr. Sheth volunteered as the new Medical Director in August 2023.
“Since I achieved my goal of ensuring the clinic’s functionality and it’s finance are healthy and operating smoothly, after volunteering for 20 years, I decided it is time to move on. After this successful gala I am retiring and passing on the presidency to our Treasurer, Harish Kathrani a wellknown healthcare entrepreneur.”
By Jawahar Malhotra & Manu shah
houston: With his intense look, bushy white eyebrows and quick step, Dilip Mehta often gave the impression of a man hurrying to a destination. Those who knew him well accepted that part of his personality, which would change with the flash of a broad smile when he met familiar faces.
In ways big and small, Dilip Mehta was a man of purpose, especially when it came to defending Hindu values and Sanathan Dharma to which he devoted most of his adult life. It had earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hindus of Greater Houston in 2017. Early on Monday morning, April 6, while checking emails on his computer at home, Dilip Mehta collapsed and passed away. He was 86 and lovingly known as Bheesma Pitamah of Houston Hindu society.
Dilip was born and raised in Magrol, Gujarat, where his father was a renowned doctor who “rarely charged the poor.” At 8, he lost his mother and the image of her last breath never faded from his memory. He was sent to his grandmother’s house where she told him stories from the Ramayan, Mahabharata and the Bhagwad Gita and his love for Sanatan Dharma quickly took root and stayed for the rest of his life.
By 11, Dilip had made up his mind to settle “somewhere abroad.” After majoring in Physics in Mumbai and a two-year stint as a lab instructor, he fulfilled his dream by flying to New York in 1965 to study at the University of Kansas. There, he was invited by local churches to speak on karma, liberation and other aspects of Hinduism to large crowds.
After receiving his green card, Dilip moved to Northeastern University, Boston where he completed his Master’s in Physics and landed a job as a field engineer at Digital Labs. Dilip deepened his understanding of the scriptures when he hosted Swami Chinmayananda at his home in Boston. Kusum, his wife, would cook for Swami Chinmaya and Dilip would drive the spiritual leader to different venues.
In 1982, the company relocated him to Houston to oversee the southern regions, but tired of travelling and wanting to spend more time while his daughters were growing up propelled him to quit his job. He
started an electronic repair business and when the venture folded in 2006, he took up teaching, which he continued for the rest of his life
The notion of slowing down never crossed his mind. Well into his 80s, he mowed his lawn, tended the flower beds, cleaned the house, and taught Physics lab twice a week at the Houston Community College.
Dilip Mehta was an active member of the Indo-American community. He was a founder of the Gujarati Samaj. He was a founding member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America in Houston and Hindus of Greater Houston. He was also the past president of the Hindu Mahasabha of America. He was responsible for organizing the VHPA Youth camp, which is now the highly popular Hindu Heritage Youth camp, where his daughter Nutan was Camp Director twice.
Every winter break, Dilip would go to India where he visited Hindu refugee camps and donated blankets and school supplies. He also raised funds and donated his own money to rehabilitate sexually abused girls in Kolkata.
Dilip and Kusum, who survives him, celebrated their golden jubilee anniversary in 2020. He is also survived by two daughters, Nutan, 51, married to Manesh and Sneha, 49, married to Luis, as well as three grandchildren, Yash, Kailash and Laharika.
A private funeral with close family and friends for Dilip Mehta will be held this coming Sunday, April 12. A Memorial Service for the public will be held on April 14 at 6:30 pm at the GSH Event Center at 9550 West Bellfort.
Katy: In a gathering that turned devotion into numbers that speak for themselves, Hanuman Mandir of Greater Houston achieved a profound collective milestone on March 28, 2026. At the LD Robinson Pavilion in Katy, 350 devotees joined in one sacred voice and recited the Hanuman Chalisa five full times — completing 1,500 individual Chalisa paths in a single afternoon, on the auspicious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti 2026.
Billed as Houston’s Maha Sankalp, the event ran from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM and drew families, devotees, and spiritual seekers from across the Greater Houston area. The pavilion at 5701 Katy Hockley Cut Off Rd was filled with the resonance of ancient verses, voices rising in unison in what many described as an electrifying, deeply moving experience.
The original Maha Sankalp had called for 1,000 voices to chant the Hanuman Chalisa together for the first time in Houston. While the 350 who gathered fell short of that number, their collective devotion more than bridged the gap. Chanting the Hanuman Chalisa five complete times, the congregation together completed 1,500 Chalisa paths — a total that organizers say reflects the true heart of a Sankalp: it is not the size of the gathering, but the depth of commitment that counts.
The event was the latest expression of a Mandir that has grown steadily from a spiritual vision into a living, breathing community institution — one now taking its most concrete step yet toward a permanent home.
A Vision Born in the Himalayas
The story of Hanuman Mandir of Greater Houston does not begin in Texas. It begins in the Kumaon hills near Nainital — at Kainchi Dham, the tranquil spiritual retreat established in 1964 by the revered saint Neem Karoli Baba, where pine-covered mountains frame the gentle flow of the Shipra river.
In the fall of 2019, Rigveda Acharya Shri Bibhudutta Mishra Jee performed an extraordinary eight-hour Sunderkand recitation from the Valmiki Ramayana at that sacred site — maintaining a single posture throughout with unwavering devotion. Following this recitation, a message revealed itself with unmistakable clarity: Bring Hanuman Jee’s Love, Devotion, and Strength to Houston.
Acharya Bibhudutta Mishra — Founder and President of Hanuman Mandir of Greater Houston, gold medal recipient, and a Rig Veda Pandit, Astrologer, and Orator of Hindu Scriptures with over two decades of service in the Houston community — returned home and began translating that divine call into action. Born into a traditional Brahmin lineage whose ancestors were invited by the King of Odisha for sacred Yajnyas, he brought with him not only Vedic
scholarship but the weight of a living tradition.
Today, the Mandir operates from 3734 12th St, Brookshire, TX — offering daily pujas and aarti, Sunderkand recitations, Bala Kaksha Sunday spiritual classes for children, yoga and wellness programs, food drives, and a rich calendar of Hindu festivals and community seva that welcomes all, regardless of background.
A Historic Step: Engineering Contract Signed for Brookshire Temple
In a development that marks a pivotal milestone in the temple’s journey, Hanuman Mandir of Greater Houston formally signed an engineering contract with iGET Services LLC during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.
The Houstonbased engineering consulting firm — a Texascertified Minority, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MBE/ SBE/DBE) and Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) — will provide structural engineering, permitting, and construction plans for the temple’s permanent home at 3667 12th St, Brookshire, TX 77423.
iGET Services, headquartered at 9800 Richmond Ave, Suite 440, Houston, TX, brings decades of expertise in buildings and facilities design, land and site development, and public works infrastructure.
The firm is certified by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and will coordinate directly with the City of Brookshire on all required approvals.
The contract signing transforms the Mandir’s vision from aspiration into architecture — a landmark moment for a community that has built its spiritual home
one Chalisa at a time. Looking Ahead
With engineering and permitting now underway, Hanuman Mandir of Greater Houston is firmly on the path to becoming a permanent
beacon of Sanatana Dharma for the region. The Mandir’s dual mission — spiritual, through prayer, scripture, and devotional practice; and social, through seva, health outreach, and community educa-
tion — will find its full expression in the Brookshire temple that devotees have been working and praying toward since that defining moment in the Himalayas six years ago.
