Vijay Patel many hardly know him |27 November 2017

In 1981, when I came to this beautiful country which is my home now, I found some people though very few, coming out of very humble background, serving the society in the forefront.

Vijay Patel is a man who has always believed in service before self and has not only contributed towards the development of society, but has done a great deal to the prosperity of the country.

His father was a mason and he lived a very difficult and hard life in his childhood. When nowadays children play with Legos, electronic games and computers, he woke up early morning to cook or help to cook the meals for the day before going for his studies. He became a civil engineer.

Nature created him with the motive of raising the downtrodden, helping people with serious ailments and life-threatening diseases. I remember in 1996, when he learned that a girl was suffering from a serious condition and needed a kidney transplant but had no resources. She approached this man and he readily offered to support. The girl is now leading a normal healthy life with a kidney from her mother.

Hardly any genuine person needing help has ever been disappointed when they approached this great philanthropist.

His assistance was in practically most fields, but most remarkably in the education and sports sectors in Seychelles. Cricket and tennis are very close to his heart and every year league matches are organised with his sponsorship. His support annually for squash and golf are also well known.

When the country hosted the Indian Ocean Island Games for the first time in 1993, he donated millions of Seychelles rupees towards its organisation. His services in the Rotary Club of Seychelles are well known and the club is proud of it.

The University of Seychelles could not escape the contribution from this philanthropist who always considers that, whatever one earns should not be for the benefit of his family or himself alone, but must also be shared with the society. He believes that “you are not born only for yourself or your family but always keep in mind the development of society as a whole”.

The local Hindu temple of Vinayaka - Lord Ganesh considered to be the saviour from destruction and effect of evils and always worshipped before commencing any celebration among the followers of Hindu Faith, would not have been in existence if he did not readily offered to construct the same when approached at a time when the temple had no funds. The whole temple was built not only without profit but with a large amount of contribution from this man. The Temple is now a monument regularly visited by tourists and is one of the most photographed entities in Seychelles. It is a place of regular worship wherein daily, followers of the Hindu Faith find solace and peace of mind. The creation of Hindu Council of Seychelles when approached by a friend from Kenya was his brainchild and I also happened to be associated with others towards its creation.

The Diwali function has become a regular event in Seychelles celebrated by the Hindu council at the swimming pool, attracting large crowds where children get special encouragement for not only demonstrating their cultural talents, but the event is a great source of fun and frolics with sparklers and fireworks adding luster to the celebrations.

Seychelles crowd eagerly awaits for this annual event when sweets are distributed free to one and all. Diwali has been declared a restricted holiday in Seychelles for those who celebrate this Festival of Lights. It is believed that the lights created from one lamp to the other spreads throughout, meaning spreading of knowledge from one to the other, where triumph prevails over knowledge and misconception defeats despair. This has become a National Festival where diverse population of which we proudly represent, in this tiny nation of only 95,000, celebrate this festival, inculcating the feeling of brotherhood regardless of faith and culture one belongs to.

President Danny Faure in his message to this year’s celebration rightly impressed “Seychelles is strengthened by contributions from diverse population, making this Day (Diwali day) a testament to the traditions we share, across continents and cultures”.

No doubt such celebrations create harmony in a multi-racial society of which we in Seychelles are composed of. As per tradition, Diwali spiritually signifies the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair.

When TV came to Seychelles in 1982, Mr Patel readily offered to sponsor the programmes to improve the quality for the benefit of the society as a whole and establishing the SBC to reach to the present level. Before the present modern crematorium came in existence in Seychelles a few years back, the mortal remains were being consumed through fire wood ‒ an age old tradition in the Hindu culture. Now the electric crematorium with a dignified auditorium ‒ Surya Auditorium ‒ where the departed souls are bid a honourable farewell, was created with major assistance from this benevolent person.

The Praslin football stadium and 25m swimming pool cannot be forgotten and exist with the major contribution from the person we are referring to. The international school continues to get assistance and the creation of Vijay International School on Praslin with regular annual contribution for its maintenance and general running, is a great contribution serving the society in Praslin. Regular annual scholarships from Vijay Construction to the deserving students usually two every year, but often increased to three depending on the need based on the deserving students are worth mentioning. Commencement of practice to sponsor local schools by the Indian Association of Seychelles (IAS) and regular distribution of breakfast material to the inhabitants of Old People’s Homes and the organisation of Christmas dinners with gift hampers for the senior citizens were initiated by him when he was the chairman of the association. IAS also took over the responsibility of organising the activities of Seychelles India Day from the Second India Day onwards, now being celebrated annually finding place in the annual official calendar of Seychelles, when Vijay was the chairman. It is heartening to see that IAS is continuing the legacy of these activities.

The sincere good wishes of a large number of people in Seychelles are with Vijay and the society at large may continue to benefit for a long time and may his actions become a lesson for many to emulate in the multi-racial society of this paradise on earth.

This article has been prepared with the contributions from many and the author extends his gratitude to all those who helped in its preparation. Last but not the least, the author expresses his thanks to the Seychelles NATION for the space provided to this article.

This is the first in the series of articles proposed to be published periodically, to extend our gratitude to those who have served the society selflessly and can be included among the architects of modern Seychelles. Many more stalwarts and contributors towards the development of our beautiful country may be remembered subsequently.

Contributed by Surya Khanna of Jeo Jyoti Foundation, Seychelles