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In 2005 he made it to the guest list of the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s 75th birthday party. New Age guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar celebrated his 50th birthday in his house. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Sunil Mittal of Bharti Group have been his guests. Meet Barjinder Singh Sodhi, the unassuming and untiring president of the German chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin.
The presidency of such a leading body involves considerable responsibility yet it’s a job he does with elan. First there are the demands, he says. “Members of the Indian diaspora have a plethora of complaints against Indian missions abroad. Ask any of the organisations of Indian diaspora in Berlin and they will open their hearts out to you,” says
Sodhi.
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Horst Seehofer, federal minister of food |
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Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
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Delegates at the GOPIO meet in Mumbai |
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Federal President Horst Köhler |
And when he has time he also runs Restaurant Neumanns, one of Berlin’s top dineout destinations. Started in 1992 near the Reichstag (the bombed out German parliament of WWII), it is a restaurant that has won several awards. Offering the very best of Deutsche Küche (German Cuisine), it has bagged the "Restaurant of the Year" Award for the last five years.
Sodhi is in the thick of things when it comes to Indian affairs. He is president of the Indian Association of Friendships with Foreign Countries (Berlin chapter), and a trustee of the Indian Film Institute, New Delhi. In December 2002 the German and Berlin government honoured his contribution towards furthering the understanding of Indian culture among Germans. GOPIO honoured his services in Bombay during the 3rd Pravasi Bharati Divas, 2004, by giving him a special award.
Sodhi says that nothing gives him more satisfaction than serving his motherland. “My aim has always been to promote Indian NGOs that work for uplifting the socially backward, and to promote Indian achievements in the German media,” he says.
Senior German MPs like Klaus Riegert, Johannes Pflug, Holger Ortel, Werner Kuhn acknowledge him as “Ambassador of Indo-German friendship”. They says Sodhi with his contacts, influence and goodwill had been helping members of the Indian community in distress and need.
And that’s what makes Sodhi’s day.
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Tall in Berlin
