This BonD is a Bharatvasi

SURAT: Having served Her Majesty’s Civil Service for 22 years in the United Kingdom (UK), the now retired 52-year-old Hiten Patel, a British national who has Indian overseas citizenship, or, BonD – Bharatvasi on Duty – as he calls himself, has returned to his roots in Surat on a not so secret civic mission. This desi BonD along with a team of 700 volunteers has been working towards spreading civic awareness. "We tend to look at the management of the country’s civic order and systems as the responsibility of someone else, notably the government. But having lived in the UK for nearly three decades, I can vouch that this isn’t the mindset in successful countries. It is the citizens of the world’s developed countries, such as the USA, the UK, Japan, France, Canada, Australia, etc., who, by actively participating in duties towards their respective nations, have taken both, their countries, and themselves to a higher plane of civilization," says Patel who has travelled 43 countries around the world. Having been a diplomat with the UK High Commission, he has hands-on work experience in training ministers and civil servants, in policy development and project management and in giving advice for technicalities and training for anti terrorism security measure, which he now uses to promote his mission."Our dream is to make India truly mahan, Mera Bharat Mahan, so that the world’s current perception about India changes. From one of indiscipline, women’s safety, chaos, filth, scams, traffic troubles, etc, to one of the best in the world, bringing out the true identity of India - culture, heritage, calm and harmony. Taking into consideration Article 51A of the Constitution of India, which mentions the Fundamental Duties of Citizens, BonD was launched on August 15, 2014," says BonD who has been constantly serving the cause by alternating a stay of four months in India and two months in London with his wife and daughter. Twenty-two educational institutes have already been covered this year, and before BonD’s first anniversary, half a dozen more are planned."We recognise that to make India truly incredible, we need to change ourselves and our immediate communities, bringing in a mindset that focuses on our duties as citizens, and encourages not only improvement of our own circumstances, but also those of everyone that we come in contact with," say the volunteers aged from teens to seventies, who are on a ‘kartaviya kranti of National duty’. From the past year, our students have been following the road safety and cleanliness campaign. Children of VEDAS with teachers have been volunteering themselves on road near Adajan bridge in guiding people driving on wrong side for the last seven months, every morning for half an hour," says Bala Saraswati. BonD is a fully voluntary movement and does not solicit any funding nor is interested in making any profit. They are not driven by any political intentions, but strongly believe in putting the nation first. They seek to spread the message through Surat, Gujarat and ultimately India. “We only want denizen support in joining hands with us and helping us to take our message to the 125 crore fellow citizens. With over 67 years of independence and democratic self-governance, having achieved many significant milestones in these years, we Indians can certainly hold our heads high. However, we are on the threshold of the next big wave of change, but as a management guru Marshall Goldsmith, said, "What got us here won’t get us there," we as a nation, need to act urgently, to get there and embrace the change we want to see."