The Bhavan London is beginning a new chapter. The outgoing Chairman, Sri Joginder Sanger joined The Bhavan, London during the late ’70s and joined the Executive Committee during the late ’80s has stepped down from his position and making way for the next leader to guide The Bhavan’s future path.
Joginderji considered Dalalji (Mr Maneck Dalal OBE) The Bhavan’s former chairman as his guru and because of Dalalji and Mathoorji, he joined the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London.
He was the one who started The Bhavan’s annual Diwali Banquet, which has been going on for over thirty-five years now, to raise funds for The Bhavan to meet its deficit. Former treasurer Sri Indra Sethia pointed out, The Bhavan’s treasury team breathed a
sigh of relief ever since Joginderji took the responsibility of fundraising for The Bhavan as its Vice-Chairman.
Dalalji always used to mention that he liked Joginderji because he is loyal and would always accomplish any responsibility given to him.
Joginder ji took over from Dalalji after Dalalji’s retirement in 2011 and has been its chairman for 11+ years. During his term as The Bhavan’s Vice-Chairman and Chairman, The Bhavan reached new heights in the field of art and culture.
He sincerely believed that we should make our cultural education easily accessible to our children who are the future of our cultural movement. Joginder ji’s simplicity and accessibility made him a very popular figure amongst all communities in and around London. He is known for his generosity and helpful nature toward all good and worthy causes.
During the last Executive Committee meeting Sri Shantoo Ruparell, Bhavan’s Joint Chairman mentioned Joginderji’s help every time Bhavan had a shortfall and how he made up for it by personal donations. Shantooji thanked Joginderji for all his contributions to The Bhavan. All members especially Dr Surekha Mehta who took over the fundraising job thanked Joginderji for his extraordinary guidance.
Joginderji thanked all the Executive Committee members for their role in making his work easy. He appealed to them to continue to serve The Bhavan under the
new leadership. He concluded by saying that he is always available for The Bhavan.
The Bhavan’s new Chairman is Sri Subhanu Saxena. His name was proposed by Sri Shantoo Ruparell and unanimously approved as The Bhavan’s new Chairman at the Executive Committee meeting on 21 September. Subhanuji on his part thanked Joginderji, Shantooji and the entire committee and sought their support. Sri Subhanu Saxena has been associated with The Bhavan for four decades, starting as a student, then as our Sanskrit and Veda teacher, and then moving on as our Executive Committee member.
He and his entire family have contributed in a very significant way to The Bhavan. He is an authority on the Vedas and Upanishads and has a love for Urdu poetry. In business, he has been a global executive in senior international roles, and he will bring his leadership experience to The Bhavan as Chairman. We look forward to The Bhavan flourishing further under his Chairmanship.
Subhanu Saxena is currently Managing Partner at New Rhein Healthcare LLC Private Equity and President of the New Rhein Foundation. He is a Governing Council Member of Imperial College and holds various board positions. He has been a director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital, and a member of the Health Policy Advisory Board for Gilead, and has previously held various board and advisory roles,
such as Supervisory Board members of Kiadis Pharma.
A highly accomplished global executive, his experience has spanned markets in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia and industries including pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consulting and banking. In other prior roles, Subhanu was with Cipla, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company with a presence in over
170 countries, as MD and global CEO. He has also served as a member of Novartis' Pharmaceutical Executive Committee and held previous roles with Citigroup, Boston Consulting Group, and Pepsi Co Inc.
Subhanu graduated with an MBA from INSEAD France, Fontainebleau, and an MA (Hons) in Engineering Science from Oxford University. Subhanu plays classical guitar and teaches Sanskrit and ancient Indian literature and is an executive committee member of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the largest Centre for Indian classical arts in the UK. He speaks 6 languages, Russian, French, German, and Sanskrit, in addition to his native English and Hindi.
