Prominent Pattni Profile
Prabhudas D Pattni
- An inspirer
Prabhudasbhai’s Objective
To make the world a better place to live in
Family & Education
Prabhudas Damji Pattni was born in April 1946 in the family of Damji Devji Pattni. He is the third son of Shree Damjibhai and Smt. Dudhiben. Damjibhai started his life in a humble was and rose up in life to become one of the most respected and revered person in the Pattni community and outside.
Parents -Late Smt Dudhiben and Late Shree Damjibhai Brothers and Sisters
Prabhudas finished his primary and secondary education in
He then came back to
His hobbies are reading, Indian classical arts - especially music, Gujarati folk music and of course social service.
Wife - Sobhaben Son - Bharat and his wife Kalpana Grand Children - Mehek and Rohan Son in law Rahul Kesarkar and
Daughter Minal
Brief History
Prabhudas went to
He went back to his engineering profession in the year 1982 when he was appointed managing director of Venus Industries Limited. This was a pioneering company manufacturing forged metal items. Here Prabhudas had the chance to expand on his creativity and the firm manufactured many items that were manufactured in
After retirement, he decided to dedicate his life to social work and has been working ever since in social field.
Social Work
From very young age, Prabhudas has been involved in social work. He has worked for many different organisations, but his longest service has been for the Pattni community and Hindu Council of
The Second All Africa Hindu Conference was held in
In recent years, he is working for the mentally handicapped people in
Positions
Achievements
1. The youngest chair of Pattni Brotherhood in 1976. Had very difficult task of healing the community after a major social problem in the community. Did this through involving the children in variety cultural shows and children’s programmes. Directed 3-4 Gujarati plays that won high critical acclaim.
2. As the secretary of Kenya Domestic Observation Programme that deployed 20,000 observers, one in each polling station throughout the country, briefed important foreign observation groups such as Carter Centre, European Union, British Parliamentarians, Commonwealth Secretariat etc. One of the most successful domestic observation programmes on the continent of
3. Pioneering work in awareness creation in HIV/AIDS in Hindus in
4. Two historic pioneering political meetings held under Prabhudas’ national chairmanship of Hindu Council of Kenya. Both were public meetings, one with the then government leaders and the other with opposition leaders.
5. As member of IFAPA and ACRL, attended many meetings and conferences for building peace in
6. Member of the pressure group for “Make Poverty History” global campaign in
7. Has given important lectures on Hindus and
8. Completely restructured Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped. Managed to get the First Lady HE Lucy Kibaki as the patron of the society. The restructuring has brought funding from international agencies such as Commonwealth Education Fund, USAID, Finland Government and Ford Foundation; for programmes for the betterment of the lives of the mentally handicapped in
9. Restructured National School Feeding Council especially the Angel Girls Rehabilitation Centre - a school for very poor girls in the slums of
Opinions
The following are some of the thoughts of Prabhudasbhai:
On Pattni Community
Pattni community needs to do a serious SWOT analysis to be able to identify the areas where there are shortfalls and at the same time identify our strengths and opportunities. This sort of exercise ideally should be done in a group and the group will come out with the right recommendations. However, I would like to make some observations.
If one reads the history of our community as written by Sagarbhai Barot, few qualities of the Pattni community really stand out. The first one is their courage. Normally in any other community when 5 prominent people sit together, they are addressed as Mahajan; but a single Parajiya Pattni is addressed as Mahajan - Soni Mahajan. This is because the Parajiyas have been protectors of people and many have lost their lives protecting people of different towns and villages. We have the commemorative stones (Khambhi or Paadia) outside many such villages and town where our ancestors have given their lives.
The second quality that stands out is our philanthropy. We always have given generously to community projects and even now there are some major philanthropists in our midst.
The third quality is our craftsmanship. Mataji herself has given us this craft. We should always value this gift of craft.
Looking at the above, we need to ask ourselves how we can improve ourselves in these three areas.
I will start with the third quality - our craftsmanship. In
Coming to the first quality of courage, we can still make a huge difference to life if we engage ourselves in issues that affect our community. I would say that the best of us should learn the craft of goldsmithing and others should have courage to explore the many different opportunities available. If there is a commitment to the well-being of the community, they will direct their generosity towards the community.
I would very much like to see a Pattni National Youth Organization and a similar Women's Organization if possible independently registered but with strong affiliation to the PPS. This should eventually lead to a Global Pattni organization bringing all Pattni organizations under one umbrella.
Immediately one thing becomes very clear that we need to re-establish our roots, re-discover our identity and then re-commit ourselves to our community to take it to greater heights. We need to remember that we are the community.
Importance of Pattni Connection website for our community
The Pattni Connection website seems to be of great need to the community. What should a community website achieve? It should inform, educate and interact. Pattni Connection website seems to be doing all the three. The website should also encourage people to exchange ideas. One must remember that a website is a very useful tool but is not the substitute for personal contact. This site will bring out the aspirations of our people.
The website has already all the ingredients of a successful website.
I want to congratulate you on the excellent website and the innovations. It is truly a great site to visit. You have really created a good meeting place for the community.
Pattni Connection brings all of them together. It is a great idea and must be kept alive and running, no matter how much effort is needed. I wish you all the best and will keep on supporting you with whatever little that I can.
On visit to Edinburgh
I informed you sometime ago that I would be going to
The African countries mainly were asking that the G8 give 0.7% of their GDP yearly for
I do not know how much we achieved but one thing I am sure of and that is that
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