Rotary As I See it in India
Over the past several years I have been working with extraordinary team of people in India and abroad in all my assignments in Rotary service to the community. So far thousands of Rotarians have helped hone our approach to service activities and projects in India, the main among them being the eradication of polio.
When I was young, there was a time when I dreamed of becoming a teacher and go from village to village and spread literacy. Though I could not become a teacher in the true sense of it and work in educational institutions, my joining the Rotary Club of Mulund made me a student all over again. In Rotary I saw an opportunity to learn and teach about service to those who were willing to hear. Soon, I found myself in the centre of various activities. Rotary in India, especially my club and district were places where I found full of life and activity and everyone was able to explore, exchange ideas, learn and also have some fun.
Honouring the vision of Paul Harris, Rotary in India was energized and started to build upon the legacy it inherited from Rotary leaders from abroad. Rotary in India was intended to be a movement to provide hope and inspiration to generations of young leaders and learners who could reform, perform and transform the community over the years.
In India, the word Rotary has assumed the meaning of ‘union.’ In Rotary, the union of individuals, helped in experiencing the universality of who we are. The wonderful experience of participating in the International Convention proves to us beyond doubt that the whole existence is just one energy manifesting itself in various people. Rotary helped us to go beyond the limitations of the physical body and the mind while undertaking great community service projects in India and elsewhere.
Rotary in India rapidly rose as a great tower – representing ascension, hope and what ordinary people have the power to do together. Clubs started all over the country slowly but steadily and today with over 3,770 Rotary Clubs and a membership exceeding 145,825 India ranks very high in the Rotary world next only to USA. This is also true in contribution to TRF. From 1985 Rotarians in India have contributed over US $179.5 million and last year India ranked number two in contributions.
The rapid growth of Rotary in India was accelerated more from 2007 onwards when the 100,000 mark in membership development was breached and so was the contribution to TRF which saw an upsurge from that period onwards and broke the ceiling with US $15 million later in 2009. Welcoming more members, the clubs became portals for members to engage with the world beyond. Understanding the need to build the future with collective effort the Rotarians in India took up the challenge to eradicate Polio and achieved what the local Governments could not do that easily – unite the various sections of the Muslim community under the banner of PolioPlus and the rest is history. I was honoured to be the convener and chairman of the Ulema Committee and when the world was skeptical about our polio eradication efforts we delivered a Polio – Free India.
Rotary in India belongs as much to the Rotarians of the world as it does to the Rotarians of India. We looked at the local residents to help build it and soon we had a variety of talented people who joined Rotary and helped to take our medical missions to Africa. This of course, is another fascinating story of how we looked beyond our borders. In addition to empowering and connecting with Rotarians around the country and the world, Rotarians in India have shown what It takes to sustain a movement in a country of 1.24 billion people who speak over 27 different languages and where no two states can claim to have the same ethnic similarity. It can be said that Rotary in India celebrates diversity and every RI President who has travelled around this mystical and vibrant country has been fascinated by the tradition, food, dress and culture of the members of Rotary with whom they have interacted.
I can proudly say that all the strands of my life came together and I really became a man, dedicated to service when I joined Rotary. Here, like thousands of other Rotarians, I am able to apply my idealism and work in communities in public service. By investing in the future of The Rotary Foundation, we have enabled Rotary to encourage and affect changes in the local communities in healthcare, literacy, mother and child welfare and development of young leaders.
The Rotary clubs across the country have attracted folks from various walks of life and have been the places for them to connect, collaborate and take home a piece of knowledge about serving humanity of what they learned together. At the end of the day the real action does not happen inside the meeting halls of the clubs but in the communities, in the schools, in hospitals and where people need us most when some natural disaster strikes. Rotarians have risen to great heights when it came to providing relief and rehabilitation to victims of floods, earthquake and even tsunami when various parts of India faced these events.
Rotary in India is dynamic. It was true when I joined the movement and it is true now. It has taken many hands to shape Rotary in India and bring it to what it is today – hands coming together to do good to the world which was never easy. It required patience and it required listening. Not just listening for show, but actively incorporating what we learned into plans and projects.
Rotary is not a piece of idea or a movement, but a vibrant reverberation left behind by those who expounded the most intricate forms of service activities but refused to be entangled in them. However, in India, we found many passionate people in Rotary getting entangled in election complaints, litigations, stewardship issues and other forms of aberration that were considered uncivilized for people belonging to this movement. The leaders of Rotary in India are seized of this problem and solutions are being found to bring about a cohesive atmosphere. I am aware that the RI Board started to view the people involved in tarnishing the public image of Rotary as representatives of two seemingly opposite dimensions, one being a person who believes in Service Above Self and another being a person who is Selfish, cohabiting with impunity.
I have been dousing the fires that were creating the smoke. The seniors in Rotary have been cautioning the contenders to some active Rotary positions, such as the RI Director, District Governor, RRFCs, RCs and other designations not to get lost in facts and non-facts. The trap of a designation to some people, has denied them the magic of Rotary. This is largely due to too many eligible contenders chasing too few opportunities for service. While their methodology to grab the positions must be frowned upon and the people admonished, the underlying fact is all of them love Rotary in India.
President –elect Barry, we will take your thoughts and concern and even reconsider and redesign service projects that are needed for the next decade and more. We are far from finished. Rotary in India is going to iterate on your programmes and we are going to continue to turn to you for feedback.
Rotary in India is developing into an economic engine for the locality where it is functioning and a cultural destination that showcases the service projects to rest of the world. Rotary in India is a gathering place – somewhere for all kinds of people to come together and learn, not just from Rotary history or current events, but from each other. More than being just a service organisation, Rotary in India is becoming a movement that helps and inspires all of us to build a collective future for ourselves and those who need our help the most. Rotary in India is for the new generation, the leaders of tomorrow who are ready to step up and build the world as it should be. Nayantara and I are happy to be a part of it.