Partha Krishnaswamy: New President of Hindus of Greater Houston

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HOUSTON: Partha Krishnaswamy is the new President of Hindus of Greater Houston

An outstanding community organizer, Parthasarathy Krishnaswamy, literally lives up to his name and preserves the reputation the name enjoys among Hindus.

Lord Krishna is known as Parthasarathy, as the charioteer for the warrior Arjun in the epic Mahabharat.

The board of directors of Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) unanimously named Parthasarathy Krishnaswamy to take the reins of the organization as its president commencing January 2016.  In the last seven years, as the lead organizer of the communitywide Janmashtami, the signature event of the HGH, Partha-ji’s face has become synonymous with Janmashtami at George R. Brown Convention Center.

Rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty, he dos not lead from behind, but jumps into the fray head-on to accomplish the mission.

His contributions are not confined to the HGH alone. His active participation in Bharathi Kalai Manram of Houston, Tamil Nadu Foundation and Katy Indian Cultural Association and several others are well known.

Born in a very religious and historic place of Srirangam (Trichy in the South of India), brought up and schooled in the metropolitan city of Bombay, graduating in engineering from Baroda, Partha-ji has spent nearly 20 years in Dubai, before settling in Houston in 2001.

Partha-ji has imbibed and understood various cultures, languages and religions. His fluency in Tamil, Hindi and Gujarati is commendable. With an ever smiling face and ease of communication, never displaying any frustration in public, Partha-ji has won over the entire Hindu-American community.

Eight years ago when HGH decided to formalize its Board of Directors, Partha-ji was interviewed by founder members Raj Syal, Vijay Pallod, the late Padmakant Khambatti, and the late Hari Kewalramani. With his spontaneous response to strengthen the organization, the board selected him as the vice president.

Partha Krishnaswamy has been the Vice President since then under three presidents of HGH: Girish Naik, Sharad Amin and Anshuman Desai, making him very familiar with the workings of the organization.

Partha-ji is also a founder member of the Katy Indian Cultural Association, an organization formed in 2004 to promote Indian culture and businesses in Katy. He is a part of the organizing committee that has been celebrating its Navrathri Garbha every year. The event became so popular that the Garbha was organized for a second day last year.

He also served as the President of Bharathi Kalai Manram, a Tamil cultural organization in Houston, during its 40th year anniversary in 2014.

He was instrumental in obtaining a special grant from the City of Houston and also bagging a proclamation from the Mayor of Houston declaring 28 August 2014 as BKM day. His focused efforts to stage the Broadway style historical dance drama of a novel by a renowned Indian writer, with 78 talented individuals from Houston set the bar high for future productions in the Houston Indian community.

Partha-ji also was seen managing the stage at several events of charitable organizations such as “Udavum Karangal”, “Tamil Nadu foundation” and the “International Yoga Day.”

Professionally, Partha-ji is the Vice President of FloaTEC, a company engaged in deepwater offshore technology in the Oil and Gas sector. He is married to Indrani Parthasarathy, director of a classical dance institute and who has continuously contributed toward the cultural program section of Janmashtami. They are blessed with two sons who are graduates from Texas A&M University and are currently working in Houston.

“In the past eight years as Vice President of HGH, I had the opportunity to learn from community leaders, and be supported by a great team of cheerful and enthusiastic volunteers. I am fortunate to have such wonderful support and I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as the president of HGH,” Partha-ji says.

Highly energetic and willing to volunteer, he believes in “making a difference” in whatever project he undertakes. His focus now is to make HGH a thread or a chain that connects all other like-minded organizations and temples forming a beautiful garland representing a strong and united Hindu community.

With strong support from the Advisory board and fellow committee members, Parthasarathy Krishnaswamy hopes and expects to continue the good work by HGH and expand the outreach of HGH a notch further.