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 Back To About Us Page
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Late Shree Haribhai Chunibhai Patel
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Late Shree Hariprasad Chunibhai Patel, one of the principal members of Dharmaj Samaj
in Kenya arrived in London in 1970 and immediately joined DHASOL and moulded the
path forward with the experience he had brought with him. He had a vast pool of
knowledge, experience and personal understanding of individuals that made him a
valuable asset to the society. Every one who was associated with him or worked with
him appreciated his qualities and he was popularly known as a walking directory.
You only had to meet him once and he would register your complete family association
into his memory. Sadly he passed away a few years ago and the society indeed misses
him deeply. Anyone who had worked or associated with him would have learnt a lot
from him and no one can replace his qualities.
Haribhai was very learned and had personal knowledge of the majority of the people
from Dharmaj and he had only to meet a person once to digest knowledge about that
person and his ancestors and connections etc. He had been gifted with the art of
making conversations with people of all ages, and indeed he would talk to any person
from Chha Gham Patel community and find some or other relationship and rapidly engage
in meaningful conversation.
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He was one of the most respected senior members in the whole Chha Gham community
and very few people would not come in contact with him some time or other.
He held Dharmaj Society of London together and worked very well with all the members
and made DHASOL his hobby and life interest. He was one of the most enthusiastic
and eager workers and even in his seventies was the first volunteer to travel by
public transport from South London to North London to attend Navratri festivities
daily on each of the nine days, man the entrance hall and collect donations relentlessly.
Shree Hariprasad was intelligent and most respected member of the Society for many
years and determined for the Society to remain a stable and respectable institution
representing our community. He was very eager for the Society to acquire our own
property and become a registered Charitable Organisation from an early stage. He
was President for the Society for several years and oversaw many changes and was
always seeking to engage respectable individuals to join our committee. Later he
accepted the position as an active Trustee until his passing away.
We are deeply honoured by the valuable contribution that Shree Haribhai Chunibhai
Patel made to the development of Dharmaj Society of London and very much miss his
association and in particular his guidance.
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Shree Bhaskerbhai Manubhai Patel and Shreemati Jyotsnaben
Bhaskerbhai Patel
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Shree Bhaskerbhai, his wife Jyostnaben Patel and his family have been enthusiastic
supporters of DHASOL from the early years and had remained part of the committee
for many years.
He was a popular President for the Society and had represented the Society well
at all affiliated organisations and had also been chairman of Chha Gham Nagrik Mandal
UK for several years. He had always found time for the Society despite his business
commitments and having to travel long distances from Colchester to attend regular
committee meetings and community events.
He has been a determined sponsor for any project that would benefit Dharmaj and
has enthusiastically supported our Sharda Maternity Hospital project from the very
beginning and was on the special hospital fund raising committee.
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We thank them and their family for their continued encouragement support and assistance
and know that we can continually rely on without hesitation. He still has a lot
to offer to DHASOL and we count on his continued active and positive support.
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Late Shree Jagdishbhai Rambhai Patel
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Shree Jagdishbhai Rambhai Patel was born in Njoro, Kenya on 21 Feb 1936. He spent
his childhood in Dharmaj following which he studied for his Bachelor in Arts in
Mumbai, later moving to Africa and spent his youth in Nairobi. He then moved back
to India and married and settled there, until 1985 when he came to the UK.
His travels gave him both a love for Indian culture and a broad outlook .His jovial
and friendly nature ensured a wide circle of friends and social contacts.
Jagdishbhai was an experienced book keeper and managed his own book keeping firm
and was loyal and trusted member of DHASOL. He was keen with figures and acted as
DHASOL's Treasurer for some 18 years.
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He accepted his role with professionalism and even at the ripe age of 70 he was
full of enthusiasm and carried on his duties relentlessly to perfection. He insisted
in accounting for each penny spent by the Society, and generally would not rest
until his Cashbook balanced and reconciled. No one could wriggle a penny from him
without producing valid vouchers.
He was jolly and humours and enjoyed his figure work and remained a true lieutenant
to his cause and was a back bone to our Society. He served us very well and we were
never willing to dispense with his trusted services, and he was equally attached
to us.
He sadly passed away in August 2006, whilst still holding the position of Treasurer
and his kind services are being missed a lot. It would be difficult to find a person
of his calibre, to take over his role.
His contribution in the development of DHASOL will always be remembered with great
pride, we were fortunate to benefit from his talent and his absence is being greatly
missed.
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Late Shree Pranjivanbhai K.Patel (Jamubhai)
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Late Shree Pranjivanbhai was a retired solicitor's legal clerk, attached to
DHASOL since its formation. He held the position of President and Secretary to the
Society and was an advisor on legal issues. He acted as Trustee for the Society
from the time the Society became a registered charity and he stepped down from the
position because of his poor health. Jamukaka sadly passed away in February 2009
and he will be greatly missed.
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Shree Narendrabhai Natwarlal Patel
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Shree Narendrabhai had initially come to the UK in early 1960s to study Chartered
Accountancy and indeed was one of the very few initial Chartered Accountants from
the Patel community and appropriately is still very much respected and most looked
upon for guidance and help. He has a wealth of experience in business and social
issues and his respect in the community has been of immense value to the society.
Narendrabhai has been a long standing and respectable member of the Society for
many years and honoured the Society by willingly accepting the role of President
and later as an advisor and most recently as a Trustee until his retirement owing
to work commitments.
He is a proud "Dharmajwala" and continues to carry DHASOL flag all time
and is always willing to help us when ever needed. We appreciate his contribution
to the development of DHASOL and wish him well in his retirement.
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Shree Manubhai Muljibhai Patel
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Shree Manubhai Muljibhai of Ranoli, a close long time associate and friend of Manharbhai
Hirabhai Patel, retired from his UK business several years ago and now spends most
of his retirement in India. However he came out of his retirement to play a crucial
role during 2003 and 2004 in the construction and furnishing of our Sharda Maternity
Hospital and the doctors' houses and nurses' quarters at Dharmaj.
When he came to learn that DHASOL was planning a maternity hospital for Dharmaj
he instantly volunteered his services and took upon himself to organise meetings
with architects, planners and builders to ensurethat the project was properly planned
and initiated.
Once the plans were agreed and builders chosen, he supervised the entire construction
and assured that all stages were completed on target time without compromise on
quality. His constant supervision of works and regular progress updates to us in
London ensured that the hospital would open on schedule. He did all this with absolute
dedication and true commitment without worrying about his time and out of pocket
expenses, none of which he has ever claimed from us. He handed over to us a well
documented report for all costs involved in construction and furnishing of the hospital.
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His involvement with the hospital continued after completion and of the adjoining
doctors 'houses and nurses' quarters. He willingly accepted the role of a manager
for the hospital and quickly instigated an appropriate system for proper management
and accountability. He provided us with regular reports upon usages, statistics
for births and financial performance etc.He continued with his duties until he was
sadly incapacitated following a stroke whence he had to give up on his good work.
We are truly indebted to Shree Manubhai for offering his voluntary services to us
with such dedication and commitment, which allowed our prestige project to be completed
within such a short space of time in this manner with quality end product.
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Shreemati Sushilaben & Shree Viranchibhai Patel
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Although not of Dharmaj origin, Sushilaben and Viranchibhai have adopted Dharmaj
and Dhasol with great love and affection. They have for many years volunteered and
contributed to all of our events and have become honorary life members of DHASOL.
Sushilaben is a most reliable volunteer who can be called upon at any time and she
is always dependable to say yes without any hesitation, irrespective of her own
family and commitments to their shop.
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Sushilaben has been at the forefront of catering for all of our events. It has always
been her passion to create tasty recipes and this led her to bring together the
ladies of the committee and other volunteers so that they could all do this together,
rather than use outside catering. The main idea was to help save costs and also
bring the ladies together so that they feel that they were doing something for the
Society too. Although it involves hard work and time, Sushilaben has always led
actively with the catering arrangements and this in turn has brought together a
united team spirit with-in the committee.
Sushilaben has also been involved in our Navratri festival for many years and without
fail she attends every single day to help set up the Mandir and dress Mataji. She
is a very creative and passionate volunteer and encourages others to take part.
Viranchibhai has also helped us more logistically in the sense that before we had
our own property to cook in, he would allow us to use the space at the back of his
shop to store our cooking equipment, and even allow us to prepare food there for
our events.
We greatly appreciate their help and assistance given to our Society without any
expectation of any reward or acknowledgment and hope that we continue to receive
their services for many more years.
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Dr Rashmiben Maheshbhai Patel, MBE
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We are profoundly proud that Rashmiben, daughter of Late Shree Pramukhbhai Pujabhai
Patel and Shreemati Sumitraben Pramukhbhai Patel of Dharmaj was awarded MBE for
recognition of her services to dentistry and charity.
It is a long established and eagerly awaited British tradition to look forward for
the announcement of the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The awards recognise and
reward consistently outstanding performance in all walks of public life, from education,
to sport, to healthcare.
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One such Hampstead based dentist, Rashmiben Patel's impressive achievements in the
field of dentistry earned her a deserved MBE in 2004, recognising nearly thirty
years work not only in her own practice but as an appointed dentist to the Royal
School of Hampstead and at Howard House Home for Children in Hampstead, an examiner
for the national Dental Nurses qualification, as a core mentor for the Central London
Study Group for Dentists and as an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons. She
has also been President of the Anglo-Asian Odontological Society , through which
she has organised many successful Charity events. Dr Rashmiben Patel's award was
for Services to Dentistry and Charity and for her contribution as a member of the
Standing Dental Advisory Committee. She is very proud of the many wonderful people
she has met and worked with in these areas of her profession, however she is most
proud of her family especially her children who are both dentists and practising
in London.
Rashmiben was born in 1952 in Tanzania and is the eldest of three children. She
went to India to for further education where she accomplished her qualification
as dentist. She was later to marry in India and move to London and establish her
own practice.
Dharmaj Society of London thanks Dr Rashmiben for bringing to general attention
the contribution that our community continues to make to the society we live in.We
wish her and her family well and trust that others would be inspired to follow her
lead.
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Mr Prashantbhai Chandubhai Soni - PBL Jewellers
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PBL Jewellers is recognised as a reputable family business specialising in diamond
and gold jewellery. Their pedigree can be traced to more than three generations
in the manufacture of hand made bespoke ornament creations. In fact, it was Odhavjibhai
Soni who was responsible for the on-site hand crafting of jewellery in Dharmaj.
Then Chandubhai Odhavjibhai Soni migrated to Zambia establishing a successful trading
business. In 1976 he decided to move to London to seek out new opportunities. Market
surveys reflected a need for specialist Asian jewellers and the showroom on Ealing
road was opened in 1978.
Having left university, Prashantbhai became more involved in the family business
from the early nineties. His mission has been to maintain the long standing culture
of integrity and honesty at PBLwhilst continuing to provide a diverse client base
with products that reflect changing fashion trends and the latest in designs.
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Prashantbhai and his family have been dedicated supporters of Dharmaj Society of
London for many years. They regularly sponsor our events, donate gifts for raffle
prizes and help to advertise our functions through their trustworthy business. They
have always remained loyal to Dharmaj and are well-known throughout the Samaj due
to their consistent donations to the society.
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