Pride of our community

Rameshbhai Damji Devji Pattni (Vaya) awarded OBE by the Queen.

An honour for the whole community, the first time such an award has been received by a member of Parajiya Pattni Community!

DR RAMESH PATTNI OBE
Reflections on the award ceremony on the 9th of November 2021

Rameshbhai Damjibhai Pattni finally attended the ceremony for the award of OBE that had been postponed since the Covid lockdown in March 2020.

The event took place on the 9th November 2021. The award presentation was part of the first face-to-face ceremony Prince William has hosted since the start of the pandemic.

During the ceremony, he had a brief chat with Prince William on the voluntary work he had been recognised for, including contributions to interfaith relations and work for the Hindu community in the UK.

He has been actively engaged in interfaith relations over the last 2 decades, is also a founder member of the Hindu Christian Forum UK and is a former director of Interfaith Network UK.

Rameshbhai is also working with different Hindu organisations in the UK in senior roles including Vice-President of Chinmaya Mission UK, Vice-President of Hindu Forum Britain, and a trustee of the
Hindu Education Board UK.

He has been an advisor for the Hindu Help Hub that was particularly active during the pandemic, providing services to vulnerable and isolated people.

Rameshbhai believes this honour is for the whole of the Hindu community. He proudly acknowledges the support of my entire family including his late Ba and Bapuji, in the work I have been involved
and thank them for their continued support and encouragement, especially his wife Murliben.

He would like to dedicate this honour to his spiritual guide, Swami Chinmayananda, who had inspired and encouraged him to follow the path of selflessly serving the community and society at large.

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Message from Rameshbhai : Pattni Connection: Parajiya Pattni Soni Community

Dear Friends

Prominent member of the Parajiya Pattni Soni community Dr Ramesh Damji Devji Pattni (Vaya) DPhil (Oxford),  receives an OBE in The Queen's 2020 New Year honours

Vice President and Trustee of Chinmaya Mission, Vice President of Hindu Forum Britain, and Trustee of DAWN (Harrow), Dr Ramesh Pattni, has been awarded an OBE by
Her Majesty the Queen for services to interfaith relations and the Hindu community in the UK. He is the first Pattni ever to receive an OBE.

As an academic Hindu theologian and psychologist who has a DPhil from Oxford University and has been a practitioner of Vedanta for over two decades, Dr Pattni currently
voluntarily facilitates over seven weekly classes and conducts workshops and regular retreats, giving individuals practical tools and techniques to better manage their lives
and mental wellbeing. As a psychologist he also serves a volunteer counsellor at a charity (DAWN) dealing with mental health issues especially affecting women and couples.

Having dedicated much of his personal time and effort to interfaith relations in the UK, Dr Ramesh Pattni has voluntarily served as Trustee of the Interfaith Network UK, founder
and Co-Chair of the Hindu Christian Forum and Chair, Interfaith Committee of the Hindu Forum Britain (HFB) for which he now serves as Vice President. He has been an advisor
on many Government consultations and has strived to improve links between the UK government and the British Hindu community.

Dr Pattni has worked extensively with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, University of Oxford, teaching and giving public talks, guiding the public on Hindu concerns and
helped deliver practical solutions for individual wellbeing and community cohesion based on Hindu Scriptures.

His interfaith work led to an invitation to a private luncheon with Her Majesty the Queen in 2013 as Chair of Interfaith, Hindu Forum Britain, together with eight other contributors
in the UK.

Dr Pattni's involvement with Chinmaya Mission began 28 years ago. Between 1991 and 2001 he set up and ran the Kenyan branch of the Chinmaya Mission, before returning to
the UK in 2001 where he was appointed a Trustee of Chinmaya Mission UK and immediately started facilitating classes serving the Hindu community and began his interfaith
work in the UK at a national level.

As the Vice President of Chinmaya Mission UK (CMUK), he has worked tirelessly, and over the last five years, has taught practical techniques to meet the challenges facing a 
stress-ridden society. On behalf of CMUK, he was instrumental in raising funds towards the purchase of a property in Oxfordshire in 2015 and its subsequent set up as the
Chinmaya Vidya Nagari retreat centre in Oxford. Since then he has run more than 35 retreats and workshops for many attendees from diverse backgrounds and in various parts
of the UK.

Message from Rameshbhai Pattni :
On hearing the news, Dr Pattni said, "I am delighted and humbled. My sincere gratitude goes to my inspiration and spiritual guide, Swami Chinmayananda, who fortified in me the
vision of service to the people as a way of life; to my parents who were themselves great philanthropists and to my wife and children who have allowed me to dedicate time and
space in service to others. This award is shared with all those who have been part of my life and my work in interfaith relations and with the Hindu community."

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Rameshbhai Damjibhai Pattni (Vaya) appointed as Secretary General of Hindu Forum of Britain