Home » Podcast » Dr P Ramesh on breaking barriers and bridging cultures

Dr P Ramesh on breaking barriers and bridging cultures


In this week’s episode, Geoff chats with Dr Ramesh from the South West Indian Group who were the winners of the 2022 Woolworths Community Group of the Year Award at the WA Community Achievement Awards.

Dr Ramesh was born in the small streets of Chennai, Tamil Nadu South India. He qualified as a doctor from Stanley medical college in India and did postgraduate training in the UK and Australia. He has been actively involved in community support programs, charitable activities and cricket. His passion is to promote multiculturalism, harmony, happiness and peace. Along with a small team, he formed the South West Indian Group (SWIG) in Bunbury WA which shared his passion and vision: Breaking Barriers, Bridging Cultures.

South West Indian Group (SWIG ) is a not-for-profit community volunteer group promoting harmony, wellness, and unity through their Indian themed events and various fundraising and community efforts. During the Covid 19 pandemic, SWIG campaigned for ventilators in India. SWIG events contribute towards education for girls living in poverty as well as Aboriginal communities. SWIG, in collaboration with City of Bunbury Council, planted 260 seedlings on World Environment Day on the 5th June 2022.

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Links

Check out the website: http://www.swig.org.au/  

Connect on facebook: SWIGBunbury

Contact The South West Indian Group at: swigbunbury@gmail.com.au

 

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Transcript 

[00:00:08] Christine

Welcome to Inspirational Australians, where we share stories of Australians making a difference in their communities and in the lives of others. We at inspirational Australians acknowledge the Wurundjeri and Bunurong people of Kulin Nation as the traditional owners and custodians of the lands and waterways on which this podcast is produced.  We pay our respect to elders, past and present,  and those who are emerging and extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At Inspirational Australians, we are inspired by the world’s oldest living culture and pay homage to their rich storytelling history. When we share stories on our podcast.

[00:00:57] Geoff

This week’s podcast guest is Dr. Ramesh,

[00:01:01] Geoff

who is representing the South West Indian Group or SWIG as they more commonly known.

[00:01:06] Geoff

They were the winner of the twenty twenty two Woolworths Community Group of the

[00:01:11] Geoff

Year Award, which is part of the WA Community Achievement Awards. It was such

[00:01:15] Geoff

a privilege for me to be there to witness all of the winners of course,

[00:01:21] Geoff

but SWIG fantastically, a wonderful social inclusive,

[00:01:27] Geoff

multicultural group, who all looked amazing on the night. But it was so such

[00:01:32] Geoff

a privilege to, to be there to witness their success. Now Dr.

[00:01:39] Geoff

Ramesh was born in Chennai in South India, and qualified as

[00:01:43] Geoff

a doctor from stanly Medical College in India and did post-graduate training in the

[00:01:48] Geoff

UK and also in Australia. Been actively involved in community support, programs,

[00:01:54] Geoff

charity charitable activities and cricket. His real passion, though,

[00:02:00] Geoff

is to promote multiculturalism harmony, happiness, and peace. He is part of

[00:02:06] Geoff

a group that formed the South West Indian Group in Bunbury and the West and which has

[00:02:14] Geoff

a real passion and vision for breaking barriers and bridging cultures. Dr. Ramesh,

[00:02:21] Geoff

congratulations to you and your members from SWIG for winning the award. And welcome to the podcast.

[00:02:29] Dr Ramesh

Thank you so much, Geoff,  and thanks for giving me an opportunity to join this podcast as well.

[00:02:35] Geoff

Fantastic.

[00:02:36] Geoff

 Well, it’s absolutely our pleasure to hear

[00:02:39] Geoff

a bit more about your story and that of how SWIG started. So tell us when,

[00:02:46] Geoff

when did we come about?  And when and where did the whole thing start?

[00:02:54] Dr Ramesh

So the I arrived in Australia in two thousand eleven,

[00:02:59] Dr Ramesh

February and when I arrived there was a few scattered Indian groups,

[00:03:05] Dr Ramesh

Arab population around Southwest of Western Australia. And most of the concentration was in Perth or elsewhere,

[00:03:14] Dr Ramesh

mostly in Eastern States. And when I arrived, we felt a passion and

[00:03:19] Dr Ramesh

a need for building a multicultural platform that can be used as a networking area for not just for Indians,

[00:03:28] Dr Ramesh

but also the multicultural population of the Western Australia. So there was a team of four of us myself and

[00:03:35] Dr Ramesh

a couple of three others. We put our heads together in some brainstorming sessions

[00:03:41] Dr Ramesh

for a couple of weekends and then decided this. We could probably form

[00:03:45] Dr Ramesh

a group that will just not just promote India to Indians,

[00:03:49] Dr Ramesh

but also promote India to the non-Indians as well. And that,

[00:03:54] Dr Ramesh

so we started the group ourselves as the Indian group in late twenty eleven and

[00:04:00] Dr Ramesh

launched it officially in May two thousand throughout the Southwest Indian group shortly for swink,

[00:04:06] Dr Ramesh

which was the easier for people to pronounce as well. So that’s how we started. So we were really,

[00:04:11] Dr Ramesh

our passion was to celebrate the incredible India as migrant Indians to Australia.

[00:04:19] Geoff

Fantastic. There were four to start with how many are in your group now?

[00:04:27] Dr Ramesh

So when we started in twenty twelve,

[00:04:30] Dr Ramesh

we had only four members allowed families. Now we are looking at around seven

[00:04:34] Dr Ramesh

hundred to eight hundred members, including families and Children,

[00:04:39] Dr Ramesh

and not just the Indian population. I have to say it’s a, we have a membership,

[00:04:44] Dr Ramesh

but we keep it free. So we have a member. Our members consist of multi-national nationalities from Australia,

[00:04:52] Dr Ramesh

South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,  England and around the world. So we actually are probably unique in that,

[00:05:01] Dr Ramesh

that we have a global representation of ethnicities in our group. Even though we are not as huge

[00:05:08] Dr Ramesh

as some of the other Eastern state groups,

[00:05:10] Dr Ramesh

but our group is unique in that that our members are from around the World,  not just from India.

[00:05:16] Geoff

That’s fantastic. And it’s so important to include people who are new to the country, who probably don’t know

[00:05:24] Geoff

a lot of people that have been connected into the broader community.

[00:05:28] Geoff

They don’t

[00:05:29] Geoff

know what services are available and how to access them. And to become part of

[00:05:34] Geoff

a group that supported is so important. So I

[00:05:38] Dr Ramesh

think absolutely yes. Yeah,  absolutely.

[00:05:42] Geoff

So what’s SWIG’s vision?

[00:05:44] Dr Ramesh

So as I mentioned earlier, our passion as

[00:05:48] Dr Ramesh

a team is to promote multiculturalism and use of an Indian themed event as

[00:05:54] Dr Ramesh

a networking platform for the multicultural population. And really our mission and motto, if you like,

[00:06:01] Dr Ramesh

was really the breaking the barriers amongst the different cultural communities and

[00:06:07] Dr Ramesh

to bridge cultures ourselves. So we keep our simple strapline as you might have seen, was breaking barriers,

[00:06:14] Dr Ramesh

bridging cultures. So we want to be that bridge. We want to create

[00:06:17] Dr Ramesh

a sense of belonging to all the multicultural population in Australia and in South

[00:06:24] Dr Ramesh

East and by bunbury as well. So really our mission was breaking culture,  breaking barriers and bridging cultures.

[00:06:32] Geoff

Critically important.

[00:06:33] Dr Ramesh

Absolutely.

[00:06:35] Geoff

What are some of the events that you undertake to bring people together?

[00:06:40] Dr Ramesh

So when we started it earlier in twenty twelve,

[00:06:44] Dr Ramesh

we really were promoting our networking platforms as Bollywood themed events and we evolved we created some flagship events,

[00:06:54] Dr Ramesh

one of the most Diwali of the festival of lights. And we’ve been running it for the

[00:06:58] Dr Ramesh

last eleven years with a sell out crowd that ranges anything between six hundred to seven hundred people

[00:07:04] Dr Ramesh

since two thousand twelve. And we also,

[00:07:07] Dr Ramesh

we just didn’t want to do just Indian Bollywood themed events. So we also done

[00:07:11] Dr Ramesh

a lot of Community wellness programs such as yoga, meditation, and last year,  the year before,

[00:07:18] Dr Ramesh

as well. And last year we didn’t. We did some local tree planting events with the

[00:07:23] Dr Ramesh

City of Bunbury Council. And we planted about two hundred and eighty seedlings in last June in the,

[00:07:29] Dr Ramesh

on the world environment day on the fifth of June. And we were evolving as we

[00:07:35] Dr Ramesh

growing in population and growing in membership. But we are trying to develop more

[00:07:40] Dr Ramesh

and more community themed events and we are planning to do blood drive blood transfusions,

[00:07:46] Dr Ramesh

camps and various other charitable activities. So that that’s what we are doing.

[00:07:51] Dr Ramesh

But our flagship events are being Holi, the colour by colour kristie. Well,  along with the Diwali,

[00:07:58] Dr Ramesh

which happens usually around November and well represented by the local,  multicultural population, including schoolchildren,

[00:08:05] Dr Ramesh

and attended by several dignitaries. So from the politicians on to the businesses,  this one

[00:08:11] Geoff

would be amazing to bring everybody together in such a special way.

[00:08:17] Dr Ramesh

Absolutely, yes, yeah, we agree on that,  and that’s why our event events have been well received,

[00:08:23] Dr Ramesh

not just by the Indian population in the south-west,  but also from the non-Indian population as

[00:08:27] Geoff

well. It’d be great to bring children on a journey to have them at a very early age,

[00:08:32] Geoff

understanding culture and colour and friendship and that you,  that you develop

[00:08:40] Dr Ramesh

agree. I agree,  totally agree with that.

[00:08:43] Geoff

Some of your events must be very colourful.

[00:08:46] Dr Ramesh

Oh yes,  yeah. All our events are very, very colorful,

[00:08:50] Dr Ramesh

especially the holy festival of colors. It’s we keep it along the ocean side and

[00:08:56] Dr Ramesh

well represented by also all ages and the Diwali events by themselves are

[00:09:03] Dr Ramesh

really a colourful joyous occasion. And we also keep it as

[00:09:07] Dr Ramesh

a family themed events. So kids from all of all ages that perform attend,

[00:09:14] Dr Ramesh

and also enjoy the buffet dinner we provide at the end of the evening. So that for

[00:09:20] Dr Ramesh

a family it’s a good night out at a low cost ticket. Prices are so

[00:09:25] Geoff

fantastic,  so you’re not really just about social inclusion and about health promotion,  bringing people together,

[00:09:31] Geoff

but also fundraising and very broad community activities.

[00:09:37] Dr Ramesh

Exactly.  Yes, absolutely. We,

[00:09:40] Dr Ramesh

we just didn’t want to be. We wanted to be quite unique in that that we promote

[00:09:45] Dr Ramesh

everything, just happiness, joy, health and community wellness,

[00:09:49] Dr Ramesh

all in one package.

[00:09:51] Dr Ramesh

So we wanted to be slightly different from several other groups

[00:09:56] Dr Ramesh

that promote their themed events, but we wanted to be a slightly different

[00:10:02] Geoff

how do you fund your event?  Some of these events would be quite costly to put together.

[00:10:08] Dr Ramesh

So our events and our team committee is really managed,  mainly by volunteers. There’s no paid staff in our team,

[00:10:16] Dr Ramesh

so we’re all busy doctors or engineers or various other activity,

[00:10:21] Dr Ramesh

but their jobs. So we run mainly on volunteers and volunteer support and for the event overheads,

[00:10:28] Dr Ramesh

some of the events we rely heavily on the grants support from Lottie West,

[00:10:33] Dr Ramesh

the office of multicultural interest, local city councils,  along with sponsors. And because in a not for profit group Association,

[00:10:43] Dr Ramesh

we really wanted to match the event or heads to what we raise as revenue. So we’ve

[00:10:50] Dr Ramesh

been fortunate and because a lot of the other events are free community events. We actually,

[00:10:56] Dr Ramesh

our time is what we call as an in-kind donation is really to support those

[00:11:01] Dr Ramesh

community free events as well. So we’ve been fortunate that we are well supported

[00:11:05] Dr Ramesh

by the local government and the federal and the state government as well. So we’ve

[00:11:11] Dr Ramesh

been fortunate and the local, the Indian consulate in Perth,

[00:11:15] Dr Ramesh

that’s been very supportive and our event and embraced all of our events very well as well.

[00:11:22] Geoff

I think the local state and federal governments are very fortunate to have

[00:11:26] Geoff

your organisation, your group South West Indian group in the community.

[00:11:33] Dr Ramesh

Yeah,  we are also thankful to the mutual understanding and respect that we bring to us

[00:11:38] Dr Ramesh

once again to say the and of a sense of belonging to the Australian population and Australian culture.

[00:11:46] Geoff

They are fantastic. This episode is proudly sponsored by Woolworths who are supporters of the community achievement awards. In

[00:11:58] Geoff

Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia,  we thank the team at Woolworths for the outstanding support of our community

[00:12:07] Geoff

contributes. How do you measure your success,  the success of your events and programs

[00:12:15] Dr Ramesh

at the on the even day we measure our

[00:12:19] Dr Ramesh

success really by the one hundred percent attendance. And so far we’ve been having

[00:12:24] Dr Ramesh

sellout events for the last two years. B, community,

[00:12:28] Dr Ramesh

charitable events which are free or the wellness programs.

[00:12:32] Dr Ramesh

And the flagship event

[00:12:33] Dr Ramesh

is the Diwali festival in bunbury. And we’ve been fortunate and there as a measure as a quantitative measure,

[00:12:41] Dr Ramesh

we use the local media and also we use SurveyMonkey to measure what’s happening with our events. And by that,

[00:12:51] Dr Ramesh

we always look for positive and constructive ways to improve the quality of the

[00:12:56] Dr Ramesh

programs and the events so that it’s enjoyed by everyone. So we use those and we

[00:13:02] Dr Ramesh

have multiple feedbacks written feedbacks,  and electronic feedbacks and various portals from the attendees. And we actively

[00:13:09] Dr Ramesh

encourage because we run purely on volunteer basis,

[00:13:14] Dr Ramesh

all reply and wrap up all the feedbacks within the first four weeks after an event.

[00:13:19] Geoff

Yeah. Fantastic. No wonder you so successful. How did you go during covid?

[00:13:26] Geoff

Were you able to maintain any programs online or were you not terribly affected?

[00:13:32] Dr Ramesh

Oh, yes we,  we were bound by the local state and the federal regulations for getting during the

[00:13:39] Dr Ramesh

covid. As you’re aware,  Western Australia has been fortunate for the first two years during the covid

[00:13:44] Dr Ramesh

outbreak because of the border closures and aspects. So during that time,

[00:13:49] Dr Ramesh

most of our events went online like the yoga and meditation events. And the Diwali

[00:13:55] Dr Ramesh

events that we ran, we kept it as per the government regulation in

[00:13:59] Dr Ramesh

a covid safe environment.

[00:14:01] Dr Ramesh

And we managed to keep everything within the

[00:14:06] Dr Ramesh

hygienic measures that government advised us. And we were able to function for the

[00:14:12] Dr Ramesh

first two years when covid was rampant everywhere else. But since then we obviously

[00:14:17] Dr Ramesh

managed to keep everything as a combination of almost like

[00:14:21] Dr Ramesh

a hybrid versions of programs between can we online and some face to face

[00:14:28] Dr Ramesh

events. And we’ve been fortunate in that way,

[00:14:31] Dr Ramesh

and we have also been actively involved during the covid not just here. We’ve also

[00:14:36] Dr Ramesh

been involved in covid fundraising activities,  online portals and donations and so on. And especially when India was going through

[00:14:44] Dr Ramesh

a tough time in the second round of the covid attack,

[00:14:49] Dr Ramesh

we managed to promote actively for ventilators and other covid support equipments sent from Canberra to Delhi,

[00:14:58] Dr Ramesh

especially in some other parts of India. I imagine the prime one being the

[00:15:02] Dr Ramesh

ventilators. I spoken to the then federal health minister on behalf of the

[00:15:07] Dr Ramesh

southcoast Indian group. And we actively promoted with the support of local federal and state politicians as well. So that’s

[00:15:14] Dr Ramesh

a proud achievement of moments and to support and give back to the Australian and

[00:15:20] Dr Ramesh

the Indian communities around the World,

[00:15:22] Dr Ramesh

as well as making sure people don’t just go and don’t get hampered by the covid

[00:15:28] Dr Ramesh

outbreak that is happening around the world.

[00:15:31] Geoff

Yeah,  fantastic. So I think I’ve said fantastic few times,

[00:15:35] Geoff

but what you’re doing is really truly magnificent. How many people do you think

[00:15:42] Geoff

swig may have touched or involved in an event or an activity across your years since twenty eleven?

[00:15:51] Dr Ramesh

So each year we look at our multiple events that we run right from the festival of colours,

[00:15:57] Dr Ramesh

to the charitable activities and the developments I suspect you’re probably attaching

[00:16:02] Dr Ramesh

to probably thousands through the year. And also the media photos that we have.

[00:16:09] Dr Ramesh

We’ve been promoting multiple other activities, not just our events,

[00:16:14] Dr Ramesh

and also some of the community wellness programs happening around the World and the

[00:16:19] Dr Ramesh

one other communist one being the International yoga day. So I think we have

[00:16:23] Dr Ramesh

touched probably thousands, not just through our events,  but also through our online portals concerning where such

[00:16:30] Dr Ramesh

a small group in remote regional Western Australia. And I think we have that

[00:16:36] Dr Ramesh

several people through our multiple portals. Once again,  going back to what I mentioned earlier,

[00:16:42] Dr Ramesh

it’s about bringing the sense of belonging to the population in Australia and

[00:16:47] Dr Ramesh

probably around the World as well. And our Facebook has been fairly active. And we

[00:16:53] Dr Ramesh

have probably about nine hundred followers along with some Instagram followers as well. So we’re still evolving, obviously we have

[00:17:00] Dr Ramesh

a day job of being the health professionals and various other things. But we try

[00:17:05] Dr Ramesh

and do whatever we can. Ideally we have multiple aspirations, but being

[00:17:10] Dr Ramesh

a not for profit volunteer run group.

[00:17:13] Dr Ramesh

We think we

[00:17:13] Dr Ramesh

are proud of what we are doing so far.

[00:17:17] Geoff

That’s really terrific.  Going back to last year’s awards, it must have been

[00:17:23] Geoff

a real thrill to have been nominated and then to have made the

[00:17:27] Dr Ramesh

finals. Absolutely.  Yes. We were really,

[00:17:31] Dr Ramesh

really thrilled to be nominated to start with. And we are also really thrilled to

[00:17:35] Dr Ramesh

be thrilled to have been there in such an eventful evening for us. Yes,  definitely.

[00:17:43] Geoff

It must have been great validation to have been announced as the winner for what you’re doing.

[00:17:48] Dr Ramesh

Absolutely. We were so humbled and we are proud to have won the award,

[00:17:52] Dr Ramesh

especially when there are so many worthy competitors around and who are doing some

[00:17:57] Dr Ramesh

amazing stuff. Amazing activities around we were really humbled to

[00:18:02] Dr Ramesh

a one through that group. And when we look at all the activities that’s been happening and again, once again,

[00:18:08] Dr Ramesh

by predominantly volunteers in various parts of the region of Western Australia.  Yes. Yeah, it was

[00:18:14] Dr Ramesh

a thrilling moment. But we are also humbled by the appreciation and

[00:18:21] Dr Ramesh

validation of what we’ve been doing in the last ten,  eleven years.

[00:18:25] Geoff

Awesome. Well the,  I can say the Woolworths community group of the year award is very hotly contested.

[00:18:33] Geoff

Always and many,  many nominations to have won the award really shows that you are doing

[00:18:40] Geoff

a great deal in your community and a very well valid so well done to you.

[00:18:45] Dr Ramesh

Thank you.

[00:18:46] Geoff

What are your most vivid memories from the awards night? What did you take away from the night itself?

[00:18:53] Dr Ramesh

So I think I think the right from the Start obviously being nominated and then to

[00:18:57] Dr Ramesh

have gone on to be the witness was a touching moment. Well,

[00:19:02] Dr Ramesh

we really enjoyed the multicultural ambience and the integration of the different communities, different achievers and amazing calibre. Once again,

[00:19:16] Dr Ramesh

we have to keep going back to the belonging. But once again, it was

[00:19:20] Dr Ramesh

a really selling moment for everyone to feel have

[00:19:24] Dr Ramesh

a sense of belonging and even during the awards ceremony. And after the awards

[00:19:28] Dr Ramesh

ceremony, we met so many friends. And we mean people,

[00:19:32] Dr Ramesh

we met people who’ve been doing some awesome events and charitable activities. Yes.

[00:19:38] Dr Ramesh

It was the memory loss. Meeting those in

[00:19:42] Dr Ramesh

a way innovative and incredible individuals and groups that are doing some so much

[00:19:48] Dr Ramesh

charitable activities around Australia and Western Australia. It is just a very salient,

[00:19:54] Dr Ramesh

really Australian moments for us for us actually.

[00:19:57] Geoff

Yeah. It’s really Inspirational,

[00:19:59] Dr Ramesh

isn’t it? To hear so many wonderful stories. Inspirational is probably a good word. Yes, that’s right. Yeah.

[00:20:05] Geoff

Well,  the awards nominations are currently open in

[00:20:09] Geoff

a number of the States still for the twenty twenty three awards. So if anybody

[00:20:13] Geoff

would like to nominate someone head to awards Australia dot com,

[00:20:17] Geoff

forward slash community achievement awards. So please get to that website because

[00:20:23] Geoff

by nominating someone you can actually really impact person,

[00:20:27] Geoff

your nominating who will make such a difference to them.

[00:20:30] Geoff

And it’s

[00:20:31] Geoff

a real privilege to be nominated as Ramesh has just said

[00:20:37] Geoff

On a personal note Ramesh what, what drives you as an individual?  You’re a doctor. What is your driving passion?

[00:20:49] Dr Ramesh

Well I think my, my driving passion really is I just didn’t want to have a, just

[00:20:54] Dr Ramesh

a normal day being a doctor being this,  doing everything normal. So we wanted to be everything unique and slightly,

[00:21:05] Dr Ramesh

almost like diverse in what I’m able to do and contribute to the community and to

[00:21:11] Dr Ramesh

my own pleasures as well. So I always think I wanted to be creative,

[00:21:16] Dr Ramesh

collaborative and compassionate to what I’m doing. Not just in the job,

[00:21:21] Dr Ramesh

but I would say the job itself. So I,

[00:21:24] Dr Ramesh

I think that probably drives me being passionate about whatever I wanted

[00:21:30] Dr Ramesh

a set of set out to do. And There’ll be ups and downs in what we’re trying to

[00:21:36] Dr Ramesh

have and what your passion and passion is,

[00:21:39] Dr Ramesh

but being able to be resilient and to have the mental and the physical strength to

[00:21:46] Dr Ramesh

achieve or make an attempt in achieving what you wish. My mission was.

[00:21:53] Dr Ramesh

So, and I’ve been fortunate that I have

[00:21:55] Dr Ramesh

a good network of Family friends and the community support throughout my life. And

[00:22:02] Dr Ramesh

obviously my resilience and the strength comes from probably more from my mother

[00:22:08] Dr Ramesh

and so and also being able to do things with humility, humbleness,

[00:22:14] Dr Ramesh

and being able to smile through the adversity. So I think being able to smile

[00:22:20] Dr Ramesh

through the adversities is probably my strongest strength or whatever. And

[00:22:26] Dr Ramesh

everything else comes through the being collaborative and respectful to the Human

[00:22:31] Dr Ramesh

beings. It doesn’t matter what last social class they had and being appreciative

[00:22:37] Dr Ramesh

and respectful to everyone else. That’s probably I would say is my strength really?

[00:22:43] Geoff

It’s a great attitude and a wonderful message for all of our listeners. Absolute take on board. Yeah.

[00:22:51] Geoff

Now I’m presuming that you’re a GP. Is that correct?

[00:22:57] Dr Ramesh

Uh no, I’m a specialist geriatrician and physician. Okay. I deal with adults as well as older

[00:23:04] Dr Ramesh

adults and my special interests are Parkinson’s disease movement disorders and stroke and alzheimer’s disease. So I deal with

[00:23:16] Dr Ramesh

a few thousand patients every year with various age groups right from age group of thirty nine,

[00:23:22] Dr Ramesh

right up to one hundred and two. So I deal with the complex alzheimer’s Parkinson’s

[00:23:28] Dr Ramesh

disease patients as well as in the stroke and other aspects of rehabilitation as

[00:23:32] Dr Ramesh

well. So I’ve been once again a part of almost like

[00:23:38] Dr Ramesh

a neurological Sabine subspecialty interest, but I deal with all the complex,  older adult problems. That’s my,

[00:23:46] Dr Ramesh

that’s my specialty of interest.

[00:23:49] Geoff

So if anybody’s in the Southwest come and see Dr.

[00:23:52] Geoff

amesh who will look after you? Well, and are you in Banbury?  Do you consult in Banbury?

[00:23:59] Dr Ramesh

Yeah,  I’m based in Banbury and I in the South. I do clinics in busselton and I also do

[00:24:06] Dr Ramesh

work for the public hospital system as well as

[00:24:09] Dr Ramesh

a private system. And I also do some clinics at the Hollywood hospital once

[00:24:13] Dr Ramesh

a morning looking mainly at complex Parkinson’s disease patients,

[00:24:18] Dr Ramesh

along with their neurology colleagues in Perth as well. Yeah. Oh, well,

[00:24:25] Geoff

congratulations on all that you do personally and also of course that of the South,

[00:24:30] Geoff

West Indian group. For all the good work,

[00:24:33] Geoff

all the connections and the difference that you make in so many people’s lives.  It’s certainly been

[00:24:41] Geoff

a privilege to talk to you today.

[00:24:44] Geoff

Where can our listeners connect with Southwest

[00:24:47] Geoff

Indian group and learn more about what you do or how they get involved?

[00:24:52] Dr Ramesh

We use various social media portals,  but generally I recommend most of the community groups and listeners,

[00:25:01] Dr Ramesh

if they want to do is to follow us on swing bunbury Facebook page that has about

[00:25:07] Dr Ramesh

nine hundred followers and it’s rising by the day or by emailing us through swing

[00:25:13] Dr Ramesh

bunbury@gmail.com, those are the two portals,

[00:25:18] Dr Ramesh

but the Facebook portal is probably the most followed one and keeps everyone up to

[00:25:22] Dr Ramesh

date with all our events, all the charitable events,

[00:25:26] Dr Ramesh

as well as the iconic events that we run as well. So SWIG bunbury,  Facebook page would be the best

[00:25:33] Geoff

sounds like if you’re in the South West,

[00:25:34] Geoff

you don’t want to miss out on the Facebook page like it and find out what’s going

[00:25:39] Geoff

on and when it’s going on Ramesh, it’s been such a pleasure to talk with you on the podcast today,

[00:25:47] Geoff

is there anything that you would like to add that maybe we haven’t covered or you would like to tell

[00:25:54] Dr Ramesh

people?  Yeah, thank you Geoff. It’s been a pleasure as well,

[00:25:58] Dr Ramesh

but going back to some of the era the event and the awards. I do encourage the

[00:26:04] Dr Ramesh

listeners to nominate those unsung heroes in the local area,

[00:26:09] Dr Ramesh

who’ve been doing some awesome charitable activities. Not everybody is going to be a winner, but at least just

[00:26:15] Dr Ramesh

a validation and recognition of the these unsung heroes. It’s a big, big,

[00:26:22] Dr Ramesh

big recognition of the activities. And I would love to,

[00:26:25] Dr Ramesh

I’d like to thank Woolworths for continued for the continued support to these

[00:26:30] Dr Ramesh

awards events and recognising that community groups as most of the community groups

[00:26:35] Dr Ramesh

like us, are run by volunteers with just

[00:26:38] Dr Ramesh

a simple passion and mission of being charitable to the communities that’s there from the awards perspective. From my perspective,

[00:26:47] Dr Ramesh

I think I’m thankful for the Australian community to encourage us and

[00:26:54] Dr Ramesh

give us a sense of belonging and making us feel

[00:26:57] Dr Ramesh

a part of the wider population. I think I’m thankful for that and thank you also

[00:27:02] Dr Ramesh

for your time for doing this awesome interview.

[00:27:07] Geoff

Well,  it’s absolutely our pleasure and our honour. As I mentioned, Dr. Ramesh, it’s such

[00:27:15] Geoff

a pleasure to talk with you today. I hope our listeners have really enjoyed hearing

[00:27:22] Geoff

about the Southwest Indian group and all that you do. And maybe if you’re inspired

[00:27:28] Geoff

around the country to do something similar, please reach out to Dr.

[00:27:33] Geoff

Ramesh to find out more because social inclusion is Critically and vitally

[00:27:39] Geoff

important in our communities. As we grow more multicultural every year. We need to

[00:27:45] Geoff

be inclusive and be caring. And kind so thank you so much for your

[00:27:51] Geoff

words today and everybody and till next week please be kind and remember that together we make a difference.

[00:28:00] Dr Ramesh

Thank you Geoff.

[00:28:05] Christine

The Inspirational Australian’s podcast is brought to you by awards Australia; we recognise, celebrate and share the stories of inspirational Australians through our awards Programs across the country. To find out more, to nominate an inspirational Australian in your life, or to partner with our awards, visit awards Australia dotcom. If you enjoyed today’s story, we’d love it if you could subscribe, rate and review to make sure you don’t miss an episode and to help our guests reach more people with their inspirational stories.