THE DIVINE FOUNDATION
Greetings from Trustee Chair /PRIP Bill Boyd and his wife Lorna.
Greetings from both the Directors from Indian Sub-Continent – Y P Das & Shekhar Mehta and their respective spouses.
Greetings from over 116,000 Rotarians from India.
I deem it an honour to have been asked by the Trustee Chair/PRIP Bill Boyd to be the Trustee Representative to the vibrant Zones (33&34)as yours and this honour is all the more appreciated when Nayantara is here with me.
I have the opportunity of knowing the promoters of one of the largest business houses in India. Not only they are the leading icons of business and industry in India, but also one of the most respected families of the country.
It was in their house that Mahatma Gandhi breathed his last. The family is Birlas and the person who has been very favourably disposed towards Rotary and its fight against polio is Mrs. Rajashree Birla, wife of the late Mr. Aditya Birla who developed what is now a multi-billion dollar business conglomerate.
I asked her how she managed to stay cheerful always. She gave me a big smile, looked at me straight in the eye and said, “I donate daily.”
What a person! It was a clear message for people wanting happiness in life. Action precedes emotion. It is said that attitude is everything. Yes, you and I can make up our minds to be happy.
Helen Keller said, “The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart.” Some of the most beautiful things in life are also the most simplistic. The Habit of Giving is one such beautiful thing that lights up our heart.
The magic formula for putting more joy into your life can be summed up in one word – kindness. Just by performing random acts of kindness and helping people in need, you can bring joy to your own life, as well as the lives of others.
Whether you choose to volunteer, give aid to those who have been affected by natural disasters or donate to our Foundation you are starting a chain of random acts of kindness that has the potential to transform the world.
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.
Fifty years from now, it will not matter what your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be different because you were important in the life of a person who needed help somewhere in this earth.
Love is one investment that will never fail you and to a person in need that investment of yours is special. You have to love humanity before you decide to donate your wealth or allocate your time for service.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famous Roman philosopher, statesman and political theorist said, “We were born to unite with our fellowmen and to join in community with the human race.” What a profound statement made sometime during 100 BC.
In a lighter vein Eric Hoffer, the noted American social writer said, “It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one’s neighbour.” Since humanity it said to be divine it becomes our obligation to ensure that everyone who forms a part this humanity lives with dignity and with an equal opportunity to advance.
As Rotarians we need to have this as our objective –the development of the community around us. For those who have no objective nothing is relevant.
The one characteristic found in almost all tremendously successful persons like all of you is unlimited compassion. The fusion of your personal positive power with every member of Rotary will make you fulfill the deep desire to serve humanity in a variety of avenues without the thought of benefit to yourself.
Your generosity will be remembered with gratitude for generations by the families in whose homes you have lit a lamp to eradicate hunger and illiteracy. The future of Rotary Foundation depends on the generosity of the Rotarians today.
We need to belong to a society of other unique human beings who support each other in work, growth and vision. No great success was ever attained alone. If what we are doing is worth doing, we can’t do it alone. That is why The Rotary Foundation stresses on collective effort for any project. This collective effort will result in positive programmes which will bring us amongst others public and private blessings.
You are all unique. Uniqueness is primarily a matter of who you are and what you do.
Dear Rotarians, your genetic endowment combined with experience in life has converted your intense belief that you can accomplish feats into memorable actions.
Your quest for excellence in service is visible. But we all need help. We need guidance for tasks we undertake.
Even the most successful of us need reminders. We need to rethink, refocus. You must never forget that you are the torchbearers of the Rotary movement.
Every normal function of Rotary holds some delight. Clearly we need more energy every evening.
Thinking alone is not enough. Stephen Leacock, the well known English- born Canadian teacher and humourist said, “I am a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Similarly the more you work towards the welfare of the community around you, the more of happiness and energy is what you get.
It is said that when friends are in trouble, don’t bother them by asking if there is anything you can do. Think of something appropriate and just do it.
Your Rotary Foundation is doing just that. Think of all the children who never had formal education, till your generosity made them go to school.
Think of the girl child who had to discontinue the education only because there was no toilet in the school. Think of the children who were seated beneath trees, on hard surface and trying to learn.
Think of the children who became orphans in just one minute when Tsunami struck many parts of South East Asia including India.
Think of the millions of babies you saved because of the precious polio vaccine The Rotary Foundation reached in far off places.
Think of the children who were able to eat once a day just because you sacrificed a bottle of coke or a pizza here.
Think of the millions of children who were saved by your donation which brought them clean and safe drinking water.
The Rotary Foundation saw the needs of the people through the eyes of the Rotarians worldwide and rushed to help. You made that possible here with your generous contributions.
We were taught that the future is ours because of the beauty of our dreams. That future of a bright new world, free from diseases, hunger and illiteracy is being made a reality because of your donations to The Rotary Foundation.
A Chinese proverb says, “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Our dream of world which is peaceful can result only when we tackle issues such as hunger, illiteracy, disease and conflict, however small they may be in your vicinity.
The American author who became world famous for his writings Napoleon Hill said, “Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments.”
Sir Winston Churchill said, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” As I mentioned earlier, you are unique – because you give.
You are like no one else; just as no two snowflakes are alike. You are the only one who has the exact combination of the 30 + ingredients that defines you.
That is why there has been only one Michelangelo, one Beethoven, one Churchill, one Gandhi and one Da Vinci. All these people gave the best of what talent and treasure they had to the community. That enriched their life.
Since you are unique and one of the countless multitudes at the same time you have to fulfill the calling in your life. If you don’t do it, it will go undone.
Do you understand that you are united to each other by your dreams of an extraordinary life? Take a moment, think about this. If you can sing or do extraordinary things your ability puts you in the top 20 percent of the population. But if you donate generously your gift puts you in the top of 1 percent of the population.
Edward Everett, the American politician and educator wrote:
I AM ONLY ONE BUT STILL I AM ONE I CANNOT DO EVERYTHING BUT STILL I CAN DO SOMETHING AND BECAUSE I CANNOT DO EVERYTHING I WILL NOT REFUSE TO DO THE SOMETHING I CAN DO
You all occupy positions of leadership. Your actions will profoundly influence those who follow your example. Your ethical values provide the foundation on which a civilized society will grow.
If this population increases can you live in peace?
Because of you Rotarians, this world is slowly becoming a better place. We have prevented starvation deaths in South Asia.
Did you think about where you belong as a person? You found that the values of The Rotary Foundation compatible with your values when you joined Rotary.
We in Rotary do the same thing again and again. The excitement is not the job. It is the result.
The smile in the face of the child who goes to school, the satisfaction in the face of the mother, the happiness in the face of a youngster who is trained in a vocation, the joy in the face of the parent who sees the child saved from polio – these are the results which we see daily. The truth is people need people everyday.
Rotarians should measure their lives not by the capacity for earning but by their generosity in giving. By sparing a little of your wealth for a cause you love most, you can form an unbreakable chain of service.
In any analysis of Rotary and The Rotary Foundation we find that all our power and all our strength rests in the individual Rotarian. More and more such individual Rotarians should join together to make our Foundation bigger than what it is today.
Winston Churchill said, “Civilization will not last, freedom will not survive, peace will not be kept unless a very large majority of mankind unites to defend them.” We Rotarians have to unite and make our Rotary Foundation stronger to achieve peace in this world.
Our Rotary’s future depends in large part on the collective actions of all of you here. The expectations of TRF from you are great – perhaps greater than ever before. But you know that you can meet that expectation. I am asking you to promote a change of attitude which will play a determining role in the future of Rotary here.
I am asking you to be generous as always. I ask you to consider people’s welfare and what footprints you would like to leave. The footprints will constantly show the new path Rotary has taken to serve the people.
I wish you joy in your journey this year and you must be constantly reminded about the promises to keep. Your journey will be filled with information and inspiration.
I hope all of you are filled with resolve because the task ahead of you is not easy nor will it be always fun.
Service is serious business and we have to constantly add new chapters. We cannot expect to see the full results of our service activity and contributions in all the spheres within this year. But I believe that we can feel them in our hearts.>
What I expect from all the wonderful Rotarians here is simple – but also very complex. I hope at the end of this year each one of you will say that as a result of your work and contribution during 2011-2012 you have changed the neighbourhood, the community and the world a little bit.
Try to take your obligation very seriously. Rewrite the destiny of people who think they have no hope in the future. You can do this consciously. Touch that core in you. Do you for one moment experience that source of creation within you? This is why the theme this year is ‘Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.’
Reaching within will give you enormous unlimited power. Do you want to live the day today with your limitedness or with your un-limitedness?
You have to become aware of that ability you have to get unlimited power.
Like the tree is waiting inside the seed to come out, all the power within you is waiting to come out.
What agency in today’s world can give you an easy way to tap that power? I can say that it is The Rotary Foundation.
As you support the foundation year after year with your generous contributions, you become aware of your ability to change the world, to make a difference in the lives of people. Your life then becomes meaningful and purposeful. In short it will become a divine life.