Paul Sabapathy CVO CBE ; A true Champion of Excellence By

Imran A. Chowdhury

Paul Sabapathy CVO CBE is one of the gems of this world. It is next to impossible to pen a few words for this luminary; a personality of a mammoth magnitude. I am personally blessed to have come into contact with this erudite, enlightened human being; it was my sheer luck.

It all happened due to the fact that our introduction coincided with the Bangladesh Liberation celebration event; the ethos ‘Joy Bangla’, was a slogan of inspiration for all the Bengalis of Bangladesh. We shared an appreciation of the spirit of the independence of Bangladesh: his feelings of camaraderie for the circumstances of the people of Bangladesh in 1971 bonded us immediately. His passion and his wide knowledge of our independence struggle was mind -blowing for me. I am the son of a freedom fighter. I am also the brother of a 17-year-old martyr freedom fighter. The fact that I was also a refugee in India in 1971 confirmed our common confluence of our shared memory stream. When I expressed my homage to the people of India for giving us shelter and saving our lives it was perhaps the most sincere gratitude that he has ever heard from anyone from my Bangladeshi fraternity. I am perhaps one of the first fortunate persons of my background to come into the proximity of Paul's larger than life compassion for others.

Mr. Sabapathy is one of the

finest gentlemen that anyone can come across in their lives; a community leader, an influencer, an adviser and above all a giant of a personality with an enormous sense of fellow feeling and empathy for other cultures.

Born in erstwhile Madras, present day Chennai, Paul is a proud alumnus of Lawrence School, Lovedale and of Madras Christian College. Paul has excelled in his multifaceted career and reached the heights of success in the fields of accounting, in the health service, in higher education, in the corporate world and in philanthropy.

He is a maker of history in the United Kingdom by being honoured by Her Majesty and being appointed to be the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands. This is a milestone record-setting achievement - the first non-white Lord Lieutenant in the whole of the United Kingdom in the 500 year history of Lieutenancy.

Since his retirement Paul has been an ambassador of the ethnic communities in the Midlands and he dedicates the majority of his time for the benefit of both ethnic and mainstream communities. He is an inspirational builder of bridges between the diverse cosmopolitan citizens of the West Midlands; an omnipresent scholar and excellent example for those who are sacrificing their time for the good for other people. Paul is a guide and adviser for everyone. His passion, advice and support for charities, fund raising, help in setting up community welfare groups and other NGO’s knows no bounds.

Paul is a great personality, a polymath and a real life philosopher who is admired by all and I hope many will be able to reach his height of achievements by emulating his footsteps. He deserves a salute from us all who are engaged in the path of learning the ropes of community affairs to follow the road to philanthropy.

(The writer is the founder and CEO of a ThinkTank & an NGOwww.c-ppp.org)