Well, it’s not every day l find myself sitting in the Mayor’s Parlour within the Guildhall in Bath. I was about to spend the next half an hour in the company of the recently elected 798th Mayor of the city.
Its new First Citizen is Professor Bharat Pankhani – a twice-elected ward councillor for Combe Down and the first Indian Mayor of Bath.
He took me on a journey through his life and talked about his determination to follow his own path into medicine, both practising and teaching.
His experiences of poverty and cultural differences helped shape him and fuelled his resolve to eventually qualify as an expert in Health Protection and infectious diseases control.
Education, he says, has been his liberation, and because of this, his theme for his mayoral year is Education is Empowerment.
To quote from his inauguration speech:
“It (education) is about unlocking the full human potential. It equips individuals to dream, to innovate, to contribute. Education provides us with tools not only to uplift ourselves but also to serve and uplift others and to realise their full potential. Education is also about lifelong learning, a forever cycle, for all ages, for all people. Growing up, I saw education transform lives—my own included.”
I hope you will enjoy this chat.
I will be producing an audio version of this interview, which will be available, along with lots of other previous recordings, at Wyatt’s Place on Spotify!!
Thank you, Richard. It was my pleasure to share with you my life journey.
As per my mayor’s theme, “education is empowerment,” I hope our conversation will also inspire and empower more people, especially our younger generation.
Thank you for sharing this good news story.
Best wishes.
Bharat
It was a pleasure to meet and be inspired by you Mr Mayor!
Bharat has pushed the boundaries of Mayors of Bath. There has never been another approaching his background. He is much more than the first black mayor. Inspiring interview too Richard. Good luck Bharat.