
She was fun, had strong views, was pragmatic and very outspoken, yet kind and gentle to a fault bearing no ill will towards anybody – this is how former colleagues remember Dr Bharati K Patel. From being the first Rotary Fellow from West Africa and the first Rotary-sponsored student at Hawaii University in the late 60s, obtaining a Double Masters plus PhD, to her work at the Rockefeller Foundation and ICRISAT, Bharati never relied on anyone else but herself. She never compromised, just achieved and gave back.