TARA Singh Dhesi (pictured) is a man who holds education in very high regard.
It is thus to the benefit of his community that he chose the noble profession of teaching as a career.
Teaching alone, however, was not enough for him.
Confronted by the community's struggles every day, the Votualevu man inspired many to build more schools.
This led to the founding of the Votualevu kindergarten and Votualevu High School.
Mr Dhesi can be found walking the compound of either school today as he is the manager of both as well as the Votualevu Primary School and Votualevu Vocational Centre.
Apart from that, the 69-year-old owns two shops in the area.
He was nominated for the Pride of Fiji Award by Vijay Nand Maharaj, a former headteacher of the primary school.
Mr Maharaj said he befriended Mr Dhesi more than 40 years ago when he joined Votualevu Public School as headteacher.
He said what struck him about Mr Dhesi was his ceaseless hard work and dedication to education.
He recalled that in 1970, Mr Deshi was a member of the school committee and was elected chairman of the school board.
"He became the founding member of Votualevu kindergarten and high school," he said.
Mr Maharaj said that because of Mr Dhesi's continuous work in the field of education, he was elected an advisory councillor for the area.
"Besides being a successful businessman, he also proved to be an excellent sugar cane farmer."
Mr Maharaj said Mr Dhesi was a highly respected and prominent figure in Votualevu.
Mr Dhesi's involvement in those schools started back in 1966 when he returned to Fiji from Punjab.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr Deshi said his community work was not work but a hobby.
The Fiji-born scholar was educated in India from 1948 but returned to Fiji in 1965.
He joined Votualevu Primary and was part of the interim school committee that took over the school's management when the government transferred it as a result of a new policy.
He played a significant role in the establishment of the Votualevu Junior High School.
The move was started after he and some like-minded citizens realised that travelling all the way to Nadi for secondary education was just too much for the parents.
"We had about 1000 primary school students and to send them all the way to Nadi after that was hard for the parents," he explained.
The school was then established by 1977.
It started to offer Form Seven about five years ago.
Mr Dhesi says much of what he achieved would not have been possible without the support of his wife.
He is also the president of the Fiji Sikh Association and a leading figure at the Sikh temple in Lautoka.
* Mr Dhesi is nominated for the Pride of Fiji's medal in the 'Community Spirit' category
