Rameshbhai Patel 'Premormi' (A special thank you to Jagdishbha Patel, Rameshbhai’s brother for providing me with the CV of Rameshbhai which has been meticulously put together).
One of the greatest Gujarati’s in London as well as the whole of the UK , Rameshbhai Patel passed away on15 October 2021 in his home town of Karamsad, India. Rameshbhai was a pioneer of bringing to the UK India’s great spiritual heritage. Rameshbhai was born on 18 September 1936 in Burma now known as Myanmar. He came to the UK in 1957 and after a short stay in Birmingham settled in London. In 1960 he started India Emporium and the India Coffee House next to the British Museum in London. It soon became a place where newly arrived Indian’s from East Africa and other countries could get Indian vegetarian food. Rameshbhai once told me that in the seventies when the Ugandan Indians started coming they would often come to his restaurant and keep looking at the menu to see what they could afford to eat. Rameshbai would go to them and quietly say to them that they could eat as much as they wanted and not to worry about the bill. In 1961 he started Navkala, an organisation which promoted Indian dance, music and plays. For almost 47 years Sunita Golwala taught Kathak and Bharatnatyam under the banner of Navkala. In 1962 Navkala took part in the world Folk Dance Festival at Royal Albert Hall in which 38 international groups took part and came first. Rameshbhai was the first person to hire Sadler’s Wells theatre for Indian ballet dance shows. The famous actress and dancer Vyjayantimala also took part in a ballet and the show was a runaway success. Over the course of forty years Rameshbhai organized over two hundred cultural events in which some of the most famous artists from India as well as new rising stars took part.
In 1963 Rameshbhai married Ushaben Patel who supported him in all his ventures and was a pillar of support. Ushaben was a quintessential Indian woman who walked shoulder to shoulder with her husband. They had a son Kalpesh born in 1968. .
Rameshbha later started the famous Mandeer Restaurant just off the Tottenham Court Road in 1974. It soon became a hub of celebrities and a centre of culture. One of the richest persons of India, Birla used to order his evening meals from the Mandeer. Rameshbhai created a Ravi Shankar hall within the restaurant where famous musicians like Ravi Shankar performed. It also became a place of Hindu weddings and many people got married there. Crucially Rameshbhai was introducing the British people to the idea of great vegetarian food as well as music, arts and culture. Baroness Dowding, founder of Beauty Without Cruelty came for the opening ceremony of the Mandeer. She was the wife of Lord Dowding. first Commander-in-Chief (C-n-C) of the new RAF Fighter Command (formed in July 1936), responsible for the air defence of Great Britain during the Battle of Britain.
Efforts were being made to start the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the first director Shri Mathur Krishnanurthi stayed with Rameshbhai for some time. In 1971 the Bhavan was opened and Rameshbhai became its founder member and general secretary for two years. In the same year he along with Richard Attenborough held an exhibition on the life of Gandhiji at the Royal Commonwealth Society as a pre-film publicity for the film Gandhi.
For a few years Rameshbhai moved to the United States. He started a vegetarian restaurant in Gainesville, Florida. On his departure from US the Mayor of Gainesville honoured Rameshbhai by dedicating a day to him called, ‘ Ramesh Patel Day’ on 17 September 1985.
Once as an introduction to the activities of our Young Indian Vegetarians Society the BBC came to the Mandeer restaurant and interviewed Rameshbhai. They asked whether the food was tested by the chefs to check if everything was right before serving the customers. Rameshbhai said that no they did not. Surprised, the interviewer asked how that was possible. Rameshbhai said that just as an artist draws a picture with his or her intuition, the chef prepares food with the confidence of an artist. Food he said had to be offered to God first so it could not be tested.
Ramesbhai had another passion and that was India’s ancient medical system Ayurveda. He was an expert in solving complex health problems of people through Ayurveda. He started an Ayurveda clinic called Kushal and hence was again a pioneer in bringing another ancient heritage of India to the UK. Hundreds of people benefitted from Rameshbai’s expertise.
Poetry was another great passion of Rameshbhai. He was perhaps one of the greatest modern poets in Gujarati language. Poetry just flowed continuously from Ramesshbhai. Even as he sat on the till collecting money from the customers in his restaurant Poetry flowed incessantly in his mind. In 1993, ‘Hridayganga’ , a book of poetry, was published by Rameshbhai in eight languages. In 2016 four of his poems were included in the school syllabus of standard 9, 10, 11 of Gujarati Secondary Board.
Rameshbhai’s other passion was Yoga which he practiced from the age of 13. In the year 2000 he released an audio film,’ Yoga and Ayurveda Cooking’. He once asked me if I did Yoga. I replied yes but not regularly. He said do you forget to eat everyday? No,I said. If you do not forget to eat everyday then why do you forget to practice Yoga everyday he asked. I have been practicing Yoga everyday now for almost 30 years.
In 2011 Rameshbhai returned to India permanently and settled in Vadodara. Here too he quickly established a cultural hub and organized many events. In 2016 he settled in his home town of Karamsad. In Karamsad Rameshbhai’s house quickly became a place of pilgrimage where people from all over the world came to see him. The highlight of their visit would be the famous Baiju Bawra Tana-Riri hall which had the photos of some of the greatest musicians of India and musical instruments. When I spoke to him a month before he passed away Rameshbhai was undertaking some huge project to further enhance the spiritual heritage of India. Over the last few years his poetry was more and more about Radha Krishna. He used to tell me that there is no way he wanted another human form of life. He has finished the cycles of birth and death and gone to Krishna.
Rameshbhai was a fearless individual who faced very many challenges and hurdles in life. However like his great fellow Karamsadis Vir Vithalbhai and Sardar Patel, Rameshbhai was a born leader and he could be hard as steel or soft as a flower. His life is a legacy which we should emulate and safeguard our Dharma for generations to come. Sat, Chit , Ananda was Rameshbhai’s favourite mantra. He was in constant bliss (Ananda) no matter what the difficulties were.
List of some of the awards given to Rameshbhai:
1992: Hind Ratna Award
2000: Kanu-Priya award by Sangeet Vidhyalaya Trust, Delhi.
2001: Trinidad Hindi Gaurav Sanmaan, in Trinidad.
2007: Gem of India award from Indo British Banquet, Delhi.
Nitin Mehta
18 October 2021.
i.
Recent Comments