Patel (also known as a Patidar) is surname of Indian origin mainly used by people belonging to Hindu Agricultural Communities viz. Kurmi or Kunbi, Hendre, Koli or Koeris, Teli, etc. Muslim Community people of Maharashtra and Gujarat in India and Pakistan also use Patel surname.

Distribution[link]

The name Patel is found primarily in the Indian state of Gujarat,^[1] along with Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka, as well as metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, and Delhi. Within the United Kingdom, it is the twenty-fourth most common surname nationally,^[2] and the third most common in the Greater London region.^[3] In the US, the surname "Patel" ranks 174 among the top 500 list of most common last names.^[4] The majority of those with the Patel last name are Hindus. However, Parsis and Muslims also carry the surname "Patel" (see also Muslim Patel).^[5]

Gujarat[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Patel represents a section of Gujarati population that were historically farmers and landowners; the term patel itself meaning "village headman".^[6] The Patels forms large population in the state of Gujarat in India and also the United Kingdom and the United States. Gujarati Patels were historically landowners and farmers, and traditionally strict vegetarians. The Patel community varies by religion and ideology, with disparate groups having their own samaj (social gatherings) and mandirs. Traditionally Gujarati Patels married within their own gol (circle), though this custom had faded in the modern era. Patel community is a business community.

Diaspora[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Other Indians who migrated out of what is now the state of Gujarat during the British Raj to British East Africa (Kenya and Uganda) sometimes adopted the surname Patel, and this surname was then subsequently passed onto their descendants (who now mainly reside outside Kenya and Uganda). Also, during the British Raj, some 'Patels' who migrated to British East Africa and the Union of South Africa (South Africa) adopted different surnames, usually the name of their village, their trade or even their grandfather's name. Subsequently, these surnames have been passed down to their descendants.

"Patel Motel" phenomenon[link]

The "Patel motel" phenomenon, as it is popularly known, has made a major impact on the American hospitality industry.

A sizable number of Indian immigrants to the United States came in the 1960s and 1970s. Some came to pursue higher educations, but upon graduating with MBAs, Engineering, etc. degrees could not find professional jobs or jobs that paid well. Many of them saved up and bought up undervalued and dilapidated properties and turned them into businesses.^[7] As many as 60% of mid-sized motels and hotel properties, all over the US, are owned by the people of Indian origin. Of this nearly one-third have the surname Patel - a popular one among Indian Gujaratis (those that came from Gujarat).^[8][9]

"According to the Asian American Hotel Association (A.A.H.O.A), 50 percent of hotels and motels in the United States are owned by people of Indian Origin".^[10] A large immigrant population of Gujuratis came in the 1960s and 1970s. These Patels are known as founding fathers, having worked hard and saved, then invested in many properties. Having a steady amount income and savings, they called over their distant relatives and friends from the villages of India. Upon their arrival, they would already have financial assistance from the founding fathers and start up their own businesses.

Notables[link]

It has been suggested that List of Patels be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2012.

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Namesakes with surname Patel at SurnameAnalysis.com

Parthiv Patel

[[File:|frameless|alt={{{imagealt}}}]]
Personal information
Full name	Parthiv Ajay Patel
Born	(1985-03-09) 9 March 1985 (age 27) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Batting style	Left-handed
Role	Wicket-keeper batsman
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 244)	8 August 2002 v England
Last Test	8 August 2008 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 148)	4 January 2003 v New Zealand
Last ODI	23 October 2011 v England
ODI shirt no.	42
T20I debut	4 June 2011 v West Indies
Last T20I	31 August 2011 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2004/05–present	Gujarat
2008-2010	Chennai Super Kings
2011	Kochi Tuskers Kerala
2012-	Deccan Chargers
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODIs	FC	T20
Matches	20	32	118	61
Runs scored	683	676	6202	1079
Batting average	29.69	26.00	40.27	19.98
100s/50s	0/4	0/4	14/34	0/4
Top score	69	95	206	57
Balls bowled	–	–	24	–
Wickets	–	–	0	–
Bowling average	–	–	–	–
5 wickets in innings	–	–	–	–
10 wickets in match	–	–	–	–
Best bowling	–	–	–	–
Catches/stumpings	41/8	20/8	292/45	26/9
Source: Cricinfo, 23 October 2011

Parthiv Ajay Patel  pronunciation (help·info) (born 9 March 1985) is an Indian cricketer, wicketkeeper-batsman, and a member of the Indian national cricket team. He is a left-handed batsman. He got married in 2008 (at the age of 23) to Avni Zaveri.

ODI career[link]

Patel made his ODI debut against New Zealand in January 2003.^[1] He made his Test debut in 2002 in the 2nd Test against England at Nottingham after Ajay Ratra was injured, becoming the youngest wicket-keeper in Test history at 17 years 152 days, eclipsing the previous record of Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad (which stood at 17 years 300 days since 1952), despite still not having played in any domestic first-class matches. He was dismissed for a duck in the first innings but batted for over an hour on the last day to help prevent an English victory.^[2] He was selected in the Indian squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup but did not play any games, with Rahul Dravid being used as a makeshift wicket-keeper to allow the use of an extra batsman or bowler. With this policy in place, Patel only made intermittent appearances in ODIs, usually when Dravid was injured or being rested (in full or from wicket-keeping duties). He played 13 ODIs in a two year span, and during an interrupted career managed only an average of 14.66 and a top-score of 28 and was dropped thereafter. Parthiv returned to the Indian team in 2010 in the 4th and 5th Odi vs New Zealand. He celebrated this moment by hitting two back to back half centuries.Later on he was called up for replacing injured Sachin Tendulkar in India tour South Africa .^[3]

IPL[link]

Patel was auctioned in the inaugural IPL to Chennai Super Kings. He used to be a regular in the team and opens with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden.He is now Playing with Deccan Chargers. He does not keep as Indian wicket-keeper and captain MS Dhoni is in the team. For the fourth season he was signed by Kochi Tuskers Kerala. On 16 May, it was announced that Parthiv will be leading the Kochi Tuskers Kerala for the rest of the IPL 2011 season .^[4] As a result of the termination of Kochi Tuskers franchise, Parthiv along with the other players from the franchise was once again auctioned for the 2012 IPL Season. He was picked by Deccan Chargers for $650000.^[5]

Tour of West Indies 2011[link]

With wicket-keeper captain MS Dhoni rested for the tour along with several seniors such as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, he was entrusted with the job of wicket-keeping in the tour along with Wriddhiman Saha. In the lone T20I match played in the tour, he made his T20I debut at the Queen's Park Oval at Port-of-Spain. He opened the batting along with another left-handed debutante Shikhar Dhawan and made a 26 from 20 balls (2 fours, 1 six). In the 2nd ODI against West Indies he scored 56 not out.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Parthiv Patel from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Parthiv Patel from CricketArchive

v t e India squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up 3 Harbhajan Singh 5 Dravid 7 Srinath 9 Agarkar 10 Tendulkar 11 Kaif 12 Yuvraj 18 Kumble 20 Patel 24 Ganguly (c) 28 Mongia 34 Zaheer 44 Sehwag 64 Nehra 66 Bangar Coach: Wright

Raj Patel
Born	1972 [1] London
Occupation	Economist, activist, writer
Nationality	British, American, Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
Education	University of Oxford, London School of Economics, Cornell University
Notable work(s)	The Value of Nothing Stuffed and Starved
rajpatel.org

Raj Patel (born 1972, London^[1]) is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer^[2] who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.^[3] His most recent book is The Value of Nothing^[4] which was on The New York Times best-seller list during February 2010.^[5][6] He has been referred to as "the rock star of social justice writing."^[7] He has contributed to spread the philosophy of sharing.

Biography[link]

Born to a mother from Kenya and a father from Fiji,^[8][9][10] he grew up in Golders Green in north-west London where his family ran a corner shop.^[11] Patel received a B.A in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), from Oxford, and a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics, and gained his PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University in 2002.^[2][12] He has been a visiting scholar at Yale and the University of California, Berkeley. As part of his academic training, Patel worked at the World Bank, World Trade Organization and the United Nations.^[2] He has since become an outspoken public critic of all of these organizations, and claims to have been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against his former employers.^[2][8][13]

Patel was one of many organizers in the 1999 protests in downtown Seattle, WA, and has organized in support of Food sovereignty.^[14] More recently he has lived and worked extensively in Zimbabwe and in South Africa. He was refused a visa extension by the Mugabe regime for his political involvement with the pro-democracy movement. He is associated through his work on food with the Via Campesina movement, and through his work on urban poverty and resistance with Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Landless Peoples Movement.^[10] He has written a number of criticisms of various aspects of the policies and research methods of the World Bank^[15][16] and was a co-editor, with Christopher Brooke, of the online leftist webzine The Voice of the Turtle.

He is currently a visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, a Fellow at Food First, also known as the Institute of Food and Development Policy, and a Research Associate at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.^[2]

In 2007 he was invited to give the keynote address at the University of Abahlali baseMjondolo graduation ceremony. He administers the organisation's website.^[17] In 2008 he was asked to testify on the global food crisis before the House Financial Services Committee in the USA.^[2] In 2009 he joined the advisory board of Corporate Accountability International's Value the Meal campaign.^[18]

Patel became a US citizen on 7 January 2010.^[19][20]

In January 2010 some adherents of Share International, following an announcement by Benjamin Creme, concluded that Patel could be the Maitreya.^[21] Patel denied being the Maitreya.^[21]

In 2012, he appeared in the National Film Board of Canada documentary Payback, based on Margaret Atwood's Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.^[22]

Political views[link]

Patel is a Libertarian Socialist and has described himself as "someone who has very strong anarchist sympathies."^[23] In his book The Value of Nothing he praised the grassroots participatory democracy practiced in the Zapatista Councils of Good Government in southern Mexico and has advocated similar decentralist models of economic democracy and confederal administration as templates to go by for social justice movements in the global north.

Patel has also described himself as "not a communist, I'm just open minded."^[24][25]

Quotes[link]

The question is: why are there markets of food at all? -About global food economy^[26]

We in the global north need to remember the legacy, what it is the damage we have caused, the damage that has been done in our names in developing countries, so we need to be talking about reparations as part of the local food movement, and we need to be looking at relations of power within the local, we need to be talking about things like gender justice, we need to be talking about racial justice, because these are the things that can also get papered over in terms of a local food movement, and I also think that’s one of the exciting things the Oakland Food Policy Council is how well they are taking these things on board. -On Reparations for the Global South^{[cite this quote]}

We go to supermarkets because they are convenient...Bunny chow becomes convenient because of the rhythm of our worklives, the time that we have to allocate to our food, and the way that we are allowed or not allowed to eat together and make space for food and the natural world. So all of a sudden this idea of convenience becomes a social construct...although you go into a supermarket and are told ‘here everything is made for you, you can have whatever you like and its fresh and available’ .. actually the way modern capitalism works for food is precisely the opposite...in every way that matters we are being made for our food, into the kinds of people who find this [snickers bar] to be palatable, the strangest things to be normal, all of a sudden its normal for people to live in slavery so that our food and our tomatoes in our burgers can be made cheaply...things like redbull become an integral part of the way to work.. we need fast food for example because your holding down two jobs your trying to run from one place to another you need the healthcare, of course you dont have time to cook the only place you can eat in our laps...the way we live today, the way in which we have no healthcare, the way in which we are educated to think this is normal [snickers bar], the way in which we are forced to work for minimum wage for very little, all of this is part of our food system. -On How We Are Being Made For Our Food^{[cite this quote]}

Food Sovereignty is about an end to all forms of violence against women...The food crises is gendered, 60% of the people going hungry are women or girls, in the developing world the majority of food eaten there is grown by women, and the violence that happens domestically is just one form of violence against women, the violence of not being able to sell your product in the open market, the violence of having your agricultural knowledge devalued compared to those of the scientists in the west, the violence of not being able to send your daughter to school, the violence of not being able to be regarded as an equal participant in politics, all of these are forms of violence that need to be fought on the way to achieving food sovereignty. It requires nothing less if we are to be truly democratic. - On Food Sovereignty and the Ending of Patriarchy^{[cite this quote]}

See also[link]

• Abahlali baseMjondolo
• Via Campesina
• Landless Workers' Movement
• Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Zapatistas)
• Slow Food
• Landless Peoples Movement

References[link]

Books[link]

• Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, by Raj Patel (2008)
• Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice, Eric Holt Giménez, Raj Patel (2009)
• The Value of Nothing, by Raj Patel (2010)

Forwards and Introductions[link]

Forward to No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way, by the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers (2011)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Raj Patel

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Raj Patel

• Raj Patel's website
• Stuffed & Starved Website
• A list of journalism available online by Raj Patel

Ameesha Patel
Born	Amisha Amit Patel (1975-06-09) 9 June 1975 (age 37) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actress, producer
Years active	2000–present
Parents	Asha Patel
Relatives	Ashmit Patel (brother)

Ameesha Patel (pronounced [əˈmiːʂaː pəˈʈeːl]; born Amisha Amit Patel on 9 June 1975) is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood movies. Making her acting debut in the blockbuster Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), Patel won critical praise for her performance in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), which became one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema,^[1] earning her a Filmfare Special Performance Award. She would subsequently star in a number of films, most of which proved unsuccessful at the box office. However, her performance in the 2006 film Ankahee, received critical recognition, and she followed it with a supporting role in the hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).

Her relationship with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt was often talked about in the Indian media as well as her long-running rift with her parents.

Early life and background[link]

Patel is the daughter of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, sister of Ashmit Patel and the granddaughter of the famous lawyer-politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Pradesh Committee President of Bombay. She was born in the Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer since the age of five.^[2] Her birth name is a blend of the first three letters of her father's name Amit and the last three letters of her mother's name Asha.

She studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay and was head girl for the academic year 1992–1993 before heading overseas to study Economics at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

Patel's career began as an economic analyst at Khandwala Securities Limited after graduation. Later on, she received an offer from Morgan Stanley but turned it down. After returning to India, she joined Satyadev Dubey's theatre group and acted in plays, including an Urdu language play titled Neelam (1999) that was written by Tanveer Khan,^[3] upon receiving permission from her conservative parents. At the same time she plunged into modeling appearing in several commercial campaigns. Patel has also modeled for well-known Indian brands like Bajaj Sevashram, Fair & Lovely, Cadburys Jai Lime, Fem, Lux and many more.

Acting career[link]

Debut and breakthrough, 2000–2002[link]

Patel's first opportunity for acting came in the form of an offer from her father's schoolmate, Rakesh Roshan, to star opposite his son, Hrithik Roshan, in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). The offer came immediately after she graduated from high school but she refused the project because she wanted to continue her education in USA.^[4] Afterward, Kareena Kapoor replaced her but luckily, Kapoor dropped out a few days into principal photography and Patel was given the opportunity once again during a family lunch.^[5] She readily agreed to do the project this time. The role of an exuberant college girl in love, undergoing a tortuous time at losing her lover and rediscovering a more mature relationship gave Patel scope to perform. The film was a smashing success and established Patel as a rising star, earning her awards for Best Debut at a number of award ceremonies.^[6] In her second film, the Telugu language drama Badri, she starred opposite Pawan Kalyan. The film was a major success, grossing more than Rs 120 million in India.^[7]

2001 saw her appearing in Anil Sharma's cross-border romance, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, alongside Sunny Deol. Patel signed on much before she shot into the limelight with Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai and was among 22 girls that were screen-tested from 500 girls who came to audition for the film. Patel had gone through a 12-hour audition before she got the part.^[8] The film went on to become the top-grossing film of the year, as well as the biggest hit of the 21st century, earning Rs 973 million in India.^[9] Set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, it featured Patel as Sakeena, a Muslim girl who finds refuge in Deol's house during the riots, and subsequently falls for him. Her performance was praised, and won her the Filmfare Special Performance Award, as well as nominations for Best Actress at various award ceremonies. Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM concluded, "Despite being one-film-old, Amisha Patel deserves full marks for handling the complex role with elegance. She looks the character she is portraying and impresses with a natural performance."^[10] The film was perceived as being excessively anti-Pakistani.^[11]

These successes were followed by a series of films that flopped at the box-office. In Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar (2001), she played a successful singer who was abandoned by her mother at the time of her birth.

In 2002, Patel had four continuous failures but her last release, Humraaz, became one of the highest grossing films of the year at the box office, and her performance earned her a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. The Abbas-Mustan marital thriller saw her playing a character with negative shades for the first time. She played the girlfriend of Akshaye Khanna, who marries Bobby Deol to grab his wealth – but, seeing Bobby's honesty, her character surrenders to him. Taran Adarsh commented, "Amisha Patel is just about okay as Akshaye's lover (first half), but splendid as Bobby's wife (second half). This performance should silence her detractors for sure. Also, she's looked her best with admirable outfits and perfect make-up."^[12]

Initial success and struggle phase, 2003–2011[link]

During 2003 to 2006, Patel's acting career entered a slump. Despite the relative success of Humraaz, Patel's string of unsuccessful films followed and would continue until 2006, although she did find minor box office success with Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai,^[13] in which she played a career-oriented young woman who rejects the advances of Aftab Shivdasani's character. In Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, she played the role of Sapna who is caged in protective custody of her own father. She co-starred opposite Hrithik Roshan for the second time in this film. Unlike their successful pairing in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, the film proved to be a disappointment and resulted in a critical and commercial failure. Patel's performance in the film was criticized by a section of the media, but during an interview she clarified that there was an "error" because the scene explaining that her character is supposed to be asthmatic in the film was edited out not knowing that one shot would make such a difference, thus creating confusion to the viewer about her appearing out of breath, as if she's overacting or crying.^[14]