By INE News Staff
LEXINGTON, MA-The Massachusetts town of Lexington, which made history last year by electing the largest number of officials of Indian origin in local elections, may break its own record this year. Ten people of Indian-origin are running for the Town Meeting in Lexington this year.
“Six out of 10 are with school going children and working. So the myth that we are working and busy is not really true,” said Narain Bhatia, a long-time resident of Lexington who has played a key role in the grass root politics and volunteering. “What is needed is the inner desire to give back your talents to benefit the society.”
Here is the list of 10 Indian-origin candidates running for the Town Meeting in Lexington:
| Precinct | Last Name | First Name | Phone | Address |
| 5 | Ahuja | Anil | 781-652-0555 | 7 Leonard Rd, 02420 |
| 9 | Bhatt | Hema | 781-402-0279 | 8 Jean Rd 02421 |
| 4 | Garg | Anoop | 781-863-6416 | 34 Sherburne Rd 02421 |
| 8 | Garimala | Nirmala | 781-862-3316 | 5 Minuteman Ln 02421 |
| 5 | Jaleel | Majaleel | 781-274-0053 | 136 Laconia St 02420 |
| 9 | Joshi | Pamela | 781-652-8197 | 88 Middle St 02421 |
| 6 | Juneja | Lakshmi | 781-861-8035 | 36 Grove St 02420 |
| 7 | Kinger | Vikas | 781-538-6620 | 13 Donald St, 02420 |
| 3 | Mudgal | Sharmila | 781-274-8026 | 18 Chadbourne Rd 02421 |
| 5 | Pandey | Rita | Not listed | 102 Maple St |
“Please join us in congratulating our fellow Indian Americans in Lexington who have taken the public-service-step to give back to the town and run for Town Meeting elections on March 1,” said Bhatia. “We have broken all records. Last year when six Indian Americans ran for the Town Meeting they made history. This year ten are running. It makes our community proud and sets example for others.”
He urged volunteers to help their campaigns since all face competition and some of them a lot of it.
“To win one has to campaign so that in the voting booth their name is recognized. Your help in canvasing, making phone calls, mailing post cards to your friends in the candidate’s precinct, holding signs and simply encouraging the candidates is very helpful. Your help is even more useful if you live in the same precinct as the candidates,” Bhatia said.
The current seven members of the Indian origin elected to the Town Meeting are: Dr. Dinesh Patel, Narain Bhatia, Pamela Joshi, Sanjay Padaki, Ravish Kumar, Syed Ali Rizvi and Saatvik Ahluwalia. Of these Joshi’s term is expiring and Ahluwalia has moved out of Lexington.
“Lexington is known to make history as the first fire in the belly, spirit, mind and action took place in the battlefield for freedom .This happened because of group of Minuteman man and women decided to work together for common purpose. Let us be free,” said Dr. Patel. “Once again the minuteman in Lexington has inspired and unearthed the Indian American spirit — the art of giving for the society we live in. IAl and GIG are helping the spirit of true volunteerism: a history is being made by Indian Americans, and especially our vibrant women.”
Bhatia said that in a participatory democracy like Lexington all the citizen groups must participate and Indian Americans cannot afford to be uninvolved.
“They are smart, educated and in fact have the desire to give back to society as our scriptures remind us. However, they need role models and empowering organizations like IAL and the Getting Involved Group(GIG) to create momentum. Lexington has done it with amazing results,” Bhatia said.
Indian Americans of Lexington wants to pass on this message of volunteerisms for the city we live in to other towns and citizens.
Be melting pot as it is much more fun seeing the growth and development of all facets of the town.
Congratulations to young, bright and vibrant community and hopefully this excitement flows in other towns and cities
2016 is the year to go
Dinesh
We wish, Lexington,MA United team of Mr.Bhatia,Dineshbhai Patel and other 8′ meet with Indian Political forum and join their communities.
Rajeudrs
I just came back from MLK ( Martin Luther King) Day event attended by over 100 people. The topic was “Conversation on Race”. Three panelist, a Chinese Asian, an African American and a Latino America; all residents of Lexington talked about personal experiences of living in Lexington and facing bias over time. This was followed by discussions at 10 tables facilitated and then summarized in the end. I was facilitator at one table. One takeaway from each table was presented. The overwhelming takeaway was ” If we want to eliminate subtle biases of race, country of origin, religion, color of skin, gender and more then we must integrate by having face to face conversations with persons from other cultures on continuing basis, understand their culture and develop relationships at adult level and in schools”.
By running for town meeting and serving the town after getting elected Indian Americans of Lexington are creating yet another avenue to integrate with the community and shape the policies of the town. The respect for Indian Americans suddenly increases for their volunteer efforts even though they are a minority. Kudos to the candidates for plunging-in and creating role models. Kudos also to IAL (Indian Americans of Lexington) and GIG (Getting Involved Group) in Lexington for initiating, encouraging and supporting the movement.
Dear Narayan Bhai,
It is a good conclusion of the meeting and helpful to community where all work in unity.
Our second Motherland is a melting pot of Multiple cultur.