Mahendra Patel also known as Mek Dada has donated rupees 100 crore for the development of his hometown Nisarya. Mek Dada has taken out an FD of rupees 100 crore for the education of students and welfare of his hometown Nisarya, which is located in borsad taluka of Gujarat. In addition, Mek Dada has also done countless acts of charity for the development of his village. In this article we will see what contributions are made by Mek Dada for the development of his village and what he has achieved through his life long journey along with what we can learn from him.
Who is Mek Dada?
Mahendra Patel, also known as Mek Dada, was born in 1939 in Anand district’s Borsad taluka, in the village of Nirsaya. He spent his early years in this village and went on to achieve countless awards during his high school and college years.
In 1957, India’s then President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bombay, recognized his outstanding achievements as a true athlete-scholar and honored him with the All-Rounder Student Award while he was pursuing Inter Science. Along with this, Mek Dada was also presented with 12 prestigious awards for his excellence.
In 1960, Mek Dada graduated from L.D. Engineering College of Gujarat University, with a degree in Civil Engineering. Soon after, he went to the United States for higher education. At the very age of 22, he completed his M.E. in Structural Engineering from Yale University.
At the age of 34, he founded Patel Consultant Corporation, becoming the first Indian in the USA to establish a software consulting company. His efforts opened new opportunities for Indian talent to excel globally
A Passion for Music and Culture
At the age of 56, Mek Dada started to learn music and went on to learn thousands of bhajans and folk songs. His passion for music showed his deep connection with Indian traditions. In 2001, in his presence, a poem written by former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was sung at the United Nations, which became a moment of great pride.
Even at the age of 86, Mek Dada’s spirit of learning remained unmatched. He became the oldest person in the world to complete post-graduation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the University of Texas in America.
In addition to academics, he also shares his personal experiments and experiences on his YouTube channel, Mekji’s Corner. There, he publishes content on topics like How to Be Healthy?, Why I Don’t Take Vaccines, Why I Don’t Wear Masks, Eye Exercises, and many others related to food, health, and lifestyle.
In the last decade, Mek Dada has supported the education of more than 4,000 handicapped children in India, from kindergarten to high school. He also extended care for abandoned children, by making sure of their education and food until they became self-sufficient.
His dedication to his native village, Nirsaya, has been very remarkable. He has contributed to the development of infrastructure which included drainage systems, gutter lines, CCTV cameras, and even a public sound system. Through this system, gram panchayat messages can reach every household, and villagers can listen to bhajans directly from their homes.
He has also developed parks for children and installed various play equipment. His contributions extend to financially supporting higher education: he donated one crore rupees in fees for 120 students pursuing studies after class 12. His vision is to extend this help further—once the number of students reaches 400, he plans to provide five crore rupees in fees every year. To ensure the success of this vision, he has created a fixed deposit (FD) of 100 crore rupees.
Mek Dada is also developing 100 houses for families who do not have proper shelter. He established the Patricia Community Hall in memory of his late wife Patricia, investing 1.5 crore rupees. From the hall’s roof, he installed solar panels worth 12 lakh rupees to power street lights in the village, helping the gram panchayat save on electricity bills.
His projects also include transforming the entire village into a solar village with an investment of rupees 8 crore. This project is still in progress but the aim is to significantly reduce the financial burden of electricity for villagers.
Also, he has developed sheds for villagers to keep their domestic animals, which makes their lives easy and to become more organized.
From excelling in studies and professional success to dedicating his life to social service and village development, Mahendra Patel, also known as Mek Dada, has lived a great life. His efforts in education, infrastructure, and sustainability not only uplift his own village but also set an inspiring example of how knowledge and success can be used for the greater good of society.
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