Humanitarian Services- Blog #4

Several of my past blogs have been devoted to pay tribute to the people who have devoted their entire life providing humanitarian services. There may be thousands and thousands of such people, but my concentration will be only for the people I have known, or heard about, providing such services for a number of years. I intend to cover only those activities which could help hundreds or thousands of people who may not have known about these individuals or services provided by them.

In the 1^st Humanitarian Services blog I covered services provided by Mr. Ramesh Shah and his wife Dr. Jayaben Shah. 2^nd blog was devoted to the services provided by Dr. N.K. Shah of London, UK. 3^rd blog was devoted to the services provided, not by only one individual but, by a group of dedicated doctors who have been providing much needed care for hundreds of people every year. In this blog I plan to write about another dedicated couple Dr. Ashwin Pandya and his late wife Dr. Anjuben Pandya (here after referred to as Pandyas). Anjuben passed away on November 2, 2006. Up until the end Anjuben was right next to her husband every step of the way.

Pandyas are involved in a variety of humanitarian services. In this article I will cover some of those dedicated services.

In 1960’s, Pandyas graduated with M.B.B.S. Degree from B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad. Soon after graduation they decided to move to USA. To complete his residency in Child Psychiatry Dr. Pandya moved to Utica Psychiatric Center in Utica, NY.

Seeds to help people were implanted in him from his early childhood. His father was born in a small town in India. He believed in education and graduated with a law degree. In 1930’s he took a group of Boy Scouts to England. In his home town Dahod he joined a charitable organization to help lower class ‘Bhil’ community. As a freedom- fighter he fought for independence of India to aid Mahatma Gandhi. For his freedom-fighter activity, on several occasions, he was locked up in jail along with Mr. Morarji Desai, Past Prime Minister of India. His mother fought to eliminate the use of alcohol (Daru Bandhi satyagrah) and the problems it created among poor people of India. She was also arrested on several occasions and released after a temporary stay.

Dr. Pandya served his new country for two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

At Brooks Army Medical Center, he held the positions of Chief of Psychiatry and Lieutenant Colonel. At Brooks, he treated soldiers returning from Vietnam by providing psychiatric services. This service provided him a great deal of satisfaction.

At Creedmoor Psychiatric Center where he worked for more than 30 years, holding several responsible positions including specialized unit for mentally ill with criminal history. At the Bronx Alcoholism Treatment Center he provided services for substance abuse and related problems through psychiatric assessment and delineating treatment.

The Pandyas were founding -members of American Association of Psychiatrists from India. Dr. Pandya served as president and treasurer of that association. Mrs. Pandya handled most needed managerial duties. Pandyas were active participants in Nav Nirman Foundation for a period of 10 years. This is where they provided services to battered women and treated patients suffering from alcohol abuse.

The Pandyas were also the founding- members of ‘Indo--American Senior Citizen Center of New York’. Mrs. Pandya was on the Board of Director for a period of 5 years and Dr. Pandya has been very active since the inception in 1995. Since 1989, the Pandyas, along with several other well- known physicians, has organized and participated in an annual Health- Fair in New York. During this fair, hundreds of patients are provided free of charge service for a variety of ailment.

Anyone who has come in contact with Pandyas knows full well that the door to their home is always open to give help to anyone who needed it. To help start, and to control cost, several initial meetings of senor citizens were arranged at the Panyas residence.

After meeting with many older, retired seniors from India, the Pandyas saw a need to start a new senior program. For these older Indians, who left their social and professional life behind in India, and with limited opportunities or ability to interact in this country, America was “a golden cage”. The goal was to make a comforting place that these people would have to socialize and to end their social isolation. Programs started in 1995 at Gujarati Samaj Hall, and after a short break have continued at Vaishnav Temple until today. Sixty to eighty people meet there twice a month, giving them a place to meet with their peers and connect. Based on this experience, Dr. Pandya has enabled several other senior programs in the tri-state area. In Long Island senior programs are taking place in both the counties of Nassau and Suffolk.

If you desire to start any humanitarian service, I am certain that Dr. Pandya may be able to guide you in the right direction. Do not procrastinate. Pick out any area you can provide services in, and get the full satisfaction in providing services to a mankind. It does not matter which area you are willing to provide services in. If nothing else make sure to at least get five of your friends involved in providing humanitarian services.

My future blogs will cover the humanitarian services provided by the following individuals. They are not listed in any particular order.

1. Dr. Rajanibhai Shah, who built a one of a kind Jain-Temple and a community facility in Queens, NY

2. Mr. U.N. Mehta, founder of world famous “Torrent Pharmaceuticals” and various other industries in Ahmadabad, India. Mr. U.N. Mehta passed away in 1998, but his wife Sardaben, son Sudhirbhai and the other family members have continued tremendous contributions in providing humanitarian services.

3. Health Fair conducted in Cleveland, Ohio on Sept. 13, 2009. Dr. Harish Gatha was the chairperson of this event.

If you know about other such individuals please let me know. Before you mention their name make sure they have helped thousands of people with their dedicated service.

My telephone number is 516-705-8758. You can view my blogs by clicking either http://www.nickshelpinghand.com/ or http://nickshahblog.blogspot.com/. My email address isnshah@optonline.net.

Dr. Pandya could be contacted at: apandya880@yahoo.com