Sunday 26 October 2014

Glimpses of KPCS, UK Activities: 2014

We have had a very busy year 2014 and it continues till the very end of this year. However, here are glimpses of the year gone by...

Click here to view a collage of Team@KPCS activities and work this year.

KPCS Annual Awards 2014

By Lakshmi Kaul, Founder & Executive Member, Team@KPCS
Bob Blackman MP receives a token of love
from Neetu Jalali (Zafran) on behalf of Team@KPCS

At the Grand Diwali Party this year, the KPCS Annual Awards were given to key role models in the community who have made a positive contribution to the various areas of work. The awards were presented by the Chairman of All Party Parliamentary Group for British HindusBob Blackman MP (Harrow East constituency). 



The award for Exemplary Community Service was given to Dr. Sundeep Kaul (Sunny bhaiya) from Sutton-Coldfield. 


For his contribution to Political Activism & Awareness of KP CauseDr.Vivek Kaul from Oxford was awarded the trophy. 


One of the integral aspects of KP heritage is the various religious traditions that are fast approaching endangerment. The award for Promotion of KP Religious Traditions was presented to Mrs. Meenakshi Labroo from Croydon.

The softer power of any community is its cultural heritage and arts. For her development and promotion of the Kashmiri handicrafts and ensemble as well as the Kashmiri Language, Neetu Jalali Singla from Epsom was given the award for Preservation & Promotion of KP Culture & Heritage.


KPCS has not only grown within the UK but its work and team has extended beyond the barriers of geograpy. One person who single handedly established the international community building for Team@KPCS, helping build global perspective within our work is Vinod Tikoo from Isleworth who received the award for Community Building & Global Networking.

We at KPCS love new ideas and earlier this year, we initiated a fantastic initiative called the KP Professional Conclave to encourage professional development and mentorship within the community. To recognise this key contribution of Ashish Raina from Luton, he was awarded the trophy for his contribution to Entrepreneurship & Professional Excellence. Dr. Shiben Durani received the award on behalf of Ashish on the evening, in his absence.

Bob Blackman MP addressing Team@KPCS at the Diwali party
 
Dr. Maharaj Kishen Ghassi congratulating Bob Blackman MP
for his contribution to the KP Cause. 

Kashmiri Pandits Cultural Society, UK (KPCS, UK) has grown and progressed as a people's movement. The various activities, our engagement with each other and also with KPs all over the world has created KPCS as a brand to reckon with. We have achieved big things together and the community is closer, more Koshur than ever before in this country.

In doing all the work, we have seen a few of us emerge as clear role models and harbingers of either chsnge or ideas that have fiercely shaped into full fledged projects. Excellence has been at the core of our work administered with utmost professionalism.

We do say our thankyous very promptly and recognise all contribution made by members across the board.

The Annual Awards are simply an extension of the year's achievements and meant to acknowledge certain role models and achievers who have made a big difference to the community. This they may have done by achieving a National or International recognition for their work/sport etc or they may have achieved this by taking up a challenge and encouraging others to do thereby making the KP community proud. The element of service in a community ranks highest and the selfless service must be recognised so more of us take it upon as our moral and personal responsibility for our community.

Our key thematic areas of work are:
1. Political engagement
2. Religious
3. Professional
4. Culture and Heritage
5. External Engagement and Networking
6. Community Service

The awards, to tie in with the basic premise of our work and in steering the direction of our work ought to recognise contribution in these areas.

Thursday 23 October 2014

KPCS Grand Diwali Party 2014 is a huge success!



The measure of success of any community event is in how participative it is and how many smiles it brings on people's faces at the event and for days and months after...remembering and rejoicing the lovely time that was had! I think it will be fair to say that the Grand Diwali Party was a lot of fun and it will leave us all smiling for  years to come, when we look back and enjoy reliving the lovely moments.



On behalf of Team@KPCS a special thanks to our Guest of Honour, Bob Blackman MP (Harrow East constituency) and Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus and Mr. Sumit Jamuar, Chairman Global GeneCorp - both have been huge supporters of the KP cause in the UK. Bob Blackman MP spoke fearlessly, without mixing his words at the Kashmir Debate in the British Parliament and makes it a point to highlight the KP cause at a number of forums.

Bob Blackman MP with Vinod Tikoo and Pankaj Raina
Vishal Singla with our Special Guest, Sumit Jamuar
(Vishal & Sumit turned out
to be batchmates from IIT days)

A picture is worth a thousand words so the best way to enjoy the moments is to look through the photographs of the evening. click here to visit the photos on our Facebook Page. Photos courtesy: Dr. Vivek Kaul

Of Diwali lights, smiles and all the glamour! 

The guests were welcomed with Champagne and warm smiles by Team@KPCS. This beautiful decoration of diyas set the right mood for all the guests.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

All Night Long!


Report on ‪#‎DiwaliParty‬ by Dr. Vivek Kaul

One is very fortunate to be born in a Great family of humanist. 
One is lucky to be born in a Beautiful place.
One is blessed to be born in a 100 percent noble community !
It is a rare privilege & honour to have been bestowed with all of the three above !
Those were my thoughts when I attended our Annual Kashmir Pandit Diwali Gala Dinner Yesterday in London !
I really felt truly honoured to be part of a community which thinks nothing but goodness of Mankind !
I have not come across such a community in my life. Individuals I have met but not a community with such a ethos.
Hatred is never a part of our family education from Childhood which reflecting back is such a great education to receive in a World full of Hatred.
Yesterday's party was a resounding success mainly due to such a decent group of people & have to raise my hats to Lakshmi Kaul ji aka Laks & Anupama Handoo ji.

Super Turbo charged duo they are.
Unique feature of the Party was the due importance given to kids !
Never have I attended a party with Kids being the focus of attention.
Whether it was fashion ramp walk , Dances , Song singing , Piano recitals , prize receiving -Kids were everywhere & were beaming with happiness.
This I think was the Hallmark of this very successful evening.

A Special Salute to Bob Blackman MP for coming to his 9th & Final Diwali function of the day.
He spoke so well about contributions made by Gentle Peace loving Hindu community of GB & welcomed newest entrant , the Kashmiri Pandits to this very elite & humane group of super citizens & role models to other immigrant communities of the UK !
Hope we all keep on positively contributing to the welfare of planet earth

Friday 10 October 2014

Diwali Celebrations and an ode to Team@KPCS!

By Anupama Handoo, Executive Member and Heritage Lead, Team@KPCS

The much anticipated KPCS Diwali party was a grand success... Vivek Kaul ji has been sharing some fantastic pictures... Thank you! A lot is being said aboutLakshmi Kaul and Anupama Handoo combo... some stuff very good (thanks guys totally flattered ;)) and some non-issues as expected (yawn!!). I have been wanting to set a fact straight... but have been getting distracted (yawn!!!).

What I have been dying to say is: My friends, the success of the Diwali party is down to only one thing - TEAM@KPCS. Kapil Dhar Shivas Bhat Shafalica Bhan Kotwal and Lakshmi - you guys are so selfless and hardworking and so damn focused... WOW!! It was like Arjun's teer - nishane par!!! Well done guys and Salut! You haven't stopped working for the party ever since it was announced and that is what made all the difference. We rocked it again guys.... muah and nalmots!


As my father Ashok Handoo Khamosh said on the way back- the success of any occasion is measured by how much the people felt engaged. It was all about celebrating talent, our kids, our successes and our camaraderie. it was about our 1st KPCS Community award winners: Meenakshi Labroo Sunny Kaul , Vivek Kaul ji, Neetu Jalali and Ashish Raina.
It was about MP Bob Blackman talking about Kashmiri cause- about Kashmir being an inseparable part of India, about him being our advocate for the past 25 years.


It was about the untiring support our kids and families give us when we (Champagne lovers;)) go out and rock the status quo on Kashmiri Pandits cause.Pankaj Raina Vinod Tikoo Chandan Kotwal Rashmi Razdan Nidhi Raina Bhat.

All said and done, ultimately it was our talented kids that stole the show- Congratulating the proud parents: Dev Dhar & Natasha Dhar; Raynoo Mattoo;Seemant Pandita Pooja-Gadoo Wahi. super proud of all you kiddos.. lasiv t pholiv. It was about having fun with hamara bacchas Shivani Bhat Anisha Safaya Mitesh Solanki Tejas, Tanishq, Shivani, Sharika, Bill - our youth our future. I am so proud of how you just soaked up the koshur ishtyle fun and went with the flow (not an ipad in sight!!!).


A special thanks to Dr. Shibhan Durani for giving away the Children's Medals and to Sunil Bakshi for all your help.
So.. the point I was making is this- It was the TEAM@KPCS that rocked last night.. and here is my toast to all those future events with our family that are yet to come. Love you all- Sezar, Pazzar t Srotchar.





With blessings from Elders and love to the younger ones!

Zarmasatam Poshte