Kapil Dudakia was born in a fantastic part of the world – Mombasa, Kenya. During 1968 difficulties arose in East Africa that led to many Asians having to flee the country. His parents being British Citizens came to the UK in the exodus that followed and the children (three brothers and one sister) came with them to face the challenges of this new country. In fact as it turns out, on the front page of the ‘National Daily’ a leading newspaper of the time in Kenya there was a photo- graph of a family with bewildered young children with the story line – ‘what will be the future of these children?’ The photograph was of none other than Kapil and his family and in this article you will see what happened to this young man.
Kapil attended primary and secondary education in Bolton, Lancashire and thereafter went to Cardiff University (part of the Russell Group of premier universities in the UK) to study BSc Hons in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Having secured his first degree he went on to complete a PGCE and later became a school teacher. His teaching career was exceptionally successful and at the young age of only 31 years, he was appointed as a schools inspector. In 1993 he became an OFSTED inspector (renowned elite group of inspectors in the UK appointed by HM the Queen) for both primary and secondary education.
Kapil is a man who likes challenges and soon inspection and being an inspector had become monotonous. It was at this time he made a remarkable decision – to retire from that profession and embark on a new challenge. He elected to become a consultant advising businesses both in the UK as well as in India on JV’s, market penetration, strategic development and so on.
In the UK Kapil is much better known for his social service both within the Hindu (Indian) community as well as within society generally. In the past his list of achievements include: Vice President and Trustee of Milton Keynes Hindu Association, Independent Member on the Milton Keynes Standards Board, founding member and Chair of the Milton Keynes Council of Faiths, member of the Local Strategic Partnership, member of the Thames Valley Police Independent Advisory Group and member of the Equality Council. With such expertise his time was in great demand by a host of government and voluntary organisations.
He became a trustee to the Fremantle Trust (care provider with t/o of £35m). He was also one of the founding members (and their first Head of Public and Media Relations) of the Hindu Forum of Britain (a national organisation representing in excess of 400 Hindu organisations in the UK). Kapil has, by his very experience, become an adviser to many national and regional organisations in the UK. In fact recently when the RSPCA killed a cow on the grounds of a Temple (ISKCON Temple in Watford Bhakti Vedanta Manor) he led a task force to get justice from both the RSPCA (who made a public apology) and also specific guidance from the British Government on Animal Welfare Law.
As you can see, Kapil and his family might have been outside of India for generations, yet it is clear that his heart is that of an Indian. They say you can take a Gujarati out of Gujarat, but never Gujarat out of a Gujarati. People like Kapil lead the way on the international arena. Their work and dedication not only promotes the country of their residence, but it also gives great value to the country of their origin, their faith and their cultural heritage.
Kapil likes to work in the back- ground, but obviously with such a high profile that is not always possible. His wealth of experience of people, society, politics and governance meant that he is well placed to make comment and observations on most things in life. No doubt it must have been this talent that was spotted by C B Patel (owner of the leading ethnic newspaper in the UK – Asian Voice) who gave him his own column. Typical of a Gujarati his column is called, ‘Kapil’s Khichadi’ and over the past several years it has tackled, head on, some of the most controversial issues arising out of society and politics. He has a canny sixth sense and if politicians had been wise to this, they would have already adopted him as their personal adviser.
Q&A
I caught up with Kapil in his recent visit to India and asked him a few questions:
OE: What brings you to India this time Kapil?
KD: I am involved with a major project to launch and promote an Indian made ‘Tablet’ (from Pantel products) with partners such as BSNL, Orange Telecom, Mauritius Telecom, Kanha Tech and Sahara Next. The consortia plans to enter the African sub-continent utilising the ‘Penta Tablet’ as a vehicle to promote value added services directly to the consumers.
OE: What type of services will this platform be offering?
KD: We are concentrating on eHealth, eEducation and eGovernance. Already some major companies with leading edge products are lining up to become partners in this massive initiative. We can work with private companies, with telecom operators and of course with local and national Governments. On my initiative, world renowned Oxford University has consented in principle to disseminate skill development courses in Asia and Africa riding on vast telecom net- works by leveraging cheap Penta tablets hence reaching out the entire population at large.
OE: They tell me that when companies come to you needing to secure orders or break into certain markets – that you have the ability to assist them with great success, can you tell me a bit more about this side of your work?
KD: Confidentiality means that I cannot of course share any specifics. However when a client approaches me with a proposition I am able to ascertain if I (and our network of partners around the world) are able to assist or not. If the answer is affirmative that means we would be able to advise and structure their proposition such that what might have taken them years to achieve can be shortened to months.
OE: How do you see developments in India?
KD: A rather tricky question. However, India with all its faults and built in difficulties still has the capacity to rise to the challenge of becoming one of the key world power houses in the coming decade. In my view states such as Gujarat have shown a way forward and if this can be replicated at the national level, can you imagine the difference it could potentially make to the lives of millions of Indians? The fate of India rests with good education, good governance, good health care and excellent infra- structure – on all of these it still has much to do.
OE: What are your plans for 2013?
KD: We have established various partnerships with leading edge technology companies and will shortly be launching an ePlatform that will take VAS offers to the masses at an afford- able price. In 2013 we aim to attract high quality service providers to come onto our ePlatform, take this not just to India, but via Mauritius to some 21 countries in Africa and even beyond. It’s going to be challenging, interesting but with great scope to work with so many wonderful people around the world.
– Kapil Dudakia
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