Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar concluded the celebrations of 50 years of service to society with a special dinner at the historic House of Lords. This occasion was marked with the launch of a unique book called Eyes of Tomorrow.
The chief guest was Lord Gadhia and the event also saw the presence of Lord Popat, Lord Loomba and Lord Billimoria.
Eyes of Tomorrow has original messages from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister Modi and other heads of community organisations. More interestingly, the book has unique articles authored by prominent experts of the society. The theme of the book is futuristic, where experts have written about how they see their specialist sectors in 25 years' time. This makes it an interesting read where we are invited to take a ride with the imagination of the future.
We are taken by CB Patel along the memory lane of his life experiences. His reconnecting with his father, who had become a sanyasi (monk) and how his mother made huge sacrifices are moving accounts of CB’s life and perhaps are public announcements for the first time and nowhere before.
CB Patel is now a healthy 87-years-old and still fully active in business, with a fantastic sense of humour. His leadership and vision has enabled ABPL to make great strides in delivering not only weekly news but also a fantastic service to society. Over £500,000 has been donated by ABPL and Karma Yog Foundation over the last 50 years. The group has been instrumental in various campaigns, including the survival of ISKON mandir, direct flights to Ahmedabad and the opening of other mandirs.
The event was also used by CB to set the direction for the ABPL group. As one of his confidants, he has been a deep thinker of how he wanted to ensure the future of ABPL to continue to benefit society in prosperity. Such is his magnanimity in doing good for society! The idea of transferring the business to a charitable trust is unprecedented as not many commercially minded people would be able to do this. This is truly remarkable and sets in stone the deep thinking of CB’s mind, which underlines the character of someone looking at the interests of society more than himself.
CB has been hugely successful in his leadership and this has also happened with great support from his family, especially Pushpaben, Sarojben, Merul and Urja.
I certainly predict the dawn of a new ABPL.
