Who is Sourabh Phadke, Indian invited to attend King Charles coronation

London: A 38-year-old architect joined a traditional building skills program and expanded his repertoire by training as a stonemason. But he never thought that one day he would be attending the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and brush shoulders with heads of the states and governments.

It was a dream come true moment for Sourabh Phadke, a Pune-born architect and teacher who has been named among the selected charity champions invited to attend the Coronation ceremony of King Charles III.

After hearing the news, Sourabh says he is still absorbing the news and approaching it with the spirit of the unknown.

The 2,200-strong congregation that will be assembled at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday for King Charles III’s Coronation will include royalty, world leaders, and also a number of Indian community workers associated with the monarch’s charity initiatives over the years.

Guests attending will include members of the royal family, and international representatives from 203 countries, including approximately 100 Heads of State, alongside community and charity champions.

One among them is this 38-year-old, who was chosen for his association and great success through the causes supported by the Prince's Foundation, the charity founded by Charles when he was the Prince of Wales.

Sourabh is a graduate of the Prince’s Foundation’s Building Craft Programme and the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts – set up in Dumfries House, Scotland, by Charles as the Prince of Wales. He was part of the cohort of students who completed the “live build” of the summerhouse at the heart of Hillsborough Castle’s walled garden in 2018-19.

Architect turned teacher

Originally trained as an architect, Sourabh joined the foundation's Traditional Building Skills program and expanded his repertoire by training as a stonemason.

During the course, Phadke's work stood out as he was based for four months at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, the Scottish headquarters of the Prince's Foundation, and he and his fellow students built a new education pavilion on the estate.

"It's still sinking in, and I don't know what to expect, considering I've never been to a Coronation before. It's with that spirit in mind that I'm approaching it," said Sourabh when asked about his royal invitation to Westminster Abbey.

The architect also received an Albukhary Foundation Scholarship to do an MA at the Prince's Foundation's School of Traditional Arts, where he now works as a tutor.

Having led a nomadic existence in India, traveling from place to place teaching and also building schools, Sourabh moved to the UK a few years ago when his wife Persis won a scholarship to do a geography Ph.D. at King's College in London.

"It was an opportunity for me to become a student again and become part of the [Prince's Foundation] program. I was really happy that I got the opportunity. Even though I'd done stonework in the past, I hadn't trained as a stone mason," he recalled.

Helped in community building

Growing up in India, Sourabh worked in communities around the country – helping design and construct buildings using local materials such as mud, stone, and bamboo.

"It could be houses, toilets, schools, anything that a community needed. It could be in deprived communities, schools, farmers, or women's collectives. I basically lived where I was working and moved from place to place. The circumstances would differ widely, but in some cases, we would reach a place and start building, let's say, a toilet in open land where there was no toilet, and we would camp outdoors. It taught me a lot," Sourabh said.

Building classrooms from scratch

Having originally trained as an architect, Sourabh made the decision to change direction as he said he found it "disgusting" the way education was preparing students not for joy or satisfaction but as units meant to earn money.

He then worked as a teacher and was part of a group that started a school on the outskirts of Pune in a couple of years, constructing the classrooms from scratch.

"The recent changes in his life had helped me realize how much I loved my work. Crafts and skills are opportunities to reflect. I might be building a toilet in India or working with a student on a project in the UK, but it's still the same. We need to be able to respect everything in the same way – it can offer us the same joy and the same love," he said.

Prince's Foundation

The Prince's Foundation was set up to provide holistic solutions to challenges facing the world and champion a sustainable approach to communities – a subject close to the heart of the 74-year-old monarch.

Gordon Neil, Executive Director of the Prince's Foundation at Dumfries House, said "We are so proud of Sourabh's achievements, before he arrived to study with us at Dumfries House, all the way through our traditional craft skills program, and while at the Prince's Foundation's School of Traditional Arts.

"His selflessness and dedication to study are being greatly rewarded by being a guest of ours at this weekend's Coronation, which is sure to be a special day for our charity founder His Majesty the King as well as Sourabh and his fellow guests."

The charity works nationally and internationally, with a focus on the heritage-led regeneration of the Dumfries House estate in Scotland and the wider community.

Inputs from PTI