Mukesh Jeram Patel was pleasantly surprised to be notified by the Wellington City Council (WCC) that he was among the winners of the Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards 2022.
The Council honours members of the community who have made “outstanding or lengthy contributions, usually in a voluntary capacity, to the capital and its people.”
Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards (APWs), established in 1986 and originally known as the Civic Awards, were instituted to recognise members of the community who have made a significant contribution to the city “in the areas of community service or welfare, sport, culture, the arts, recreation and education.”
The Civic Awards became the Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards in 1999.
The APWs are presented annually.
Patel is the sole Kiwi Indian among this year’s winners, announced at a ceremony held at the Te Papa National Museum on August 11.
Patel, who arrived in NZ from India in 1989, traced his penchant for community service back to his days as a Leo, or youth member of the Lions Club, in India.
“I’ve been doing community service of some nature from that time,” Patel told the Indian Weekender.
On arriving in NZ, he gravitated towards the Lions Club in his suburb.
It wasn’t long before the Wellington Indian Association (WIA) picked up the presence of the community worker on its radar, and enlisted him in 1993.
Patel quickly climbed the ladder within the organisation.
“From being the chairman of different committees, I’ve taken up the roles of assistant secretary, president, member of the board of trustees, and now I’m the chairman of the board of trustees at WIA.”
Quizzed on the nature of his service to the community, Patel replied: “The nature of my service to the community would be through the WIA, basically. I started celebrating festivals that were not being celebrated. For example, the Holi festival. It wasn’t being celebrated at the WIA on a big scale. I also played an active part in starting Ganesh Chaturthi. I’ve been chairing the social and cultural committee at the WIA and promoting Indian culture. I have taken charge of running the Diwali shows. I’ve run the Navratri show for the last so many years.”
In addition to promoting Indian culture through festivals, Patel said people have called him for help with visas or immigration issues.
Patel also helped community members with carrying out funeral services.
The WIA’s partnership with the Indian High Commission in holding cultural and community events, such as the recent tree planting to mark 75 years of Indian Independence, owed much to the collaboration established during Patel’s tenure as the WIA president in 2012.
“The Indian High Commission realised that the WIA is one of the biggest and oldest Indian community organisations in Wellington,” Patel pointed out.
This was not a first-time recognition for Patel. The New Zealand Central Indian Association awarded him for his services to the promotion of Indian culture via his community radio programme, a passion he pursued to the present day.
With Navratri starting from September 26, Patel is currently caught up with the logistics involved in inviting musicians over from India, looking after their accommodation and so on.
But the feather in his cap, he reckoned, was when he oversaw the celebration of Navratri back in 2020, when borders were sealed and Covid-19 restrictions were in place.
“That did not stop us from holding the festival. Not virtually, mind you, but physically, while being fully compliant with Covid protocols.
“That must surely be a world’s first.”
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