January 14, 2006

January 14, 2006


This afternoon, the Rotary District Conference official begins. However, last evening, I enjoyed the Reception Committee’s event – a social including a presentation of fashions from Mexico, where Rotarians and some of the Rotary spouses modeled various costumes from the many states in Mexico. This was followed by a dinner where I had the opportunity to renew acquaintances from past visits.

In January of 2003, I served as leader of the Group Study Exchange Team. This program of the Rotary Foundation brings a Rotarian and four or five non-Rotarians to different parts of the world for the purpose of a cultural and vocational exchange. The visits last from four to six weeks and the “sending” district later serves as the “hosting” district, and the opportunities and challenges afforded the teams are often life-changing. It was my hope upon arrival that I might have a chance to visit with some of those Rotarians who hosted me during that program, and yesterday I was able to do so with several of those couples. In the late afternoon, Ravi and I telephoned Dr. Bhim Sain in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, and we went to his office and then to his home, where we visited for a time with him and his wife, Praveena. Dr. Bhim Sain is a longtime Rotarian and has served his club and district in numerous capacities. At the cricket match, I met up with Piyush Argarwal, who hosted two of my team members and it was wonderful to catch up on the status of the team members with him.

At the evening function, Piyush brought his cell phone with him and called another of my host families, Deepak and Yogesh Sikand. It was a joy to speak with Yogesh and we arranged to meet when I return to Delhi next week, following my journey south to Pondicherry. During the reception and dinner, one Rotarian came to me and said, “Elias, I remember you from when we hosted your team three years ago.” He and his wife live in the Preet Vihar section of Delhi, and we reminisced about visiting a school that year, where the children were all dressed in colorful costumes, with faces painted in the colors of the Indian flag – stripes of orange, white and green. I will never forget the performance of their favorite song – I Love My India. They sang with such spirit and gusto and anyone sitting and watching the performance could not help but also LOVE India! Earlier in the day, I had asked Ravi if he thought I might meet up with a particular couple who had hosted the entire team in their home in Gurgaon (very near to the location of the ROTARY SCHOOL – the only one in the world). He was not sure but thought it possible. At one point during the dinner last evening, I turned to see the person about whom I had asked – Anil Mohindru. Nobody could mistake his infectious laugh. He reached forward to say “hello”, but when he looked at my face, he paused and then opened his arms wide to embrace me, saying, “Elias, I cannot believe you are here! It has been three years!” We chatted for a few minutes and then he directed me to a table where his wife, Ameeta was sitting. It was so good to see her, as well. She had been particularly kind to me and the other team members, and I will never forget the Sunday morning during our stay, when she was chanting her daily mantras in the shrine in the upstairs hall area. Out of respect to her visitors, she chanted one or two of the mantras in English. What an amazing way to be able to learn about the Hindu religion, without asking questions, but rather simply by listening. During the course of the evening, I met a number of other Indian Rotarians, who with some coaching, either on my part of theirs, we were able to reconstruct the time or times past when we had met.

My classmate, who served as District Governor in 2000-2001, when I served, Asoke Ghosh, was pleased to have the opportunity to recall a few years earlier, when we both helped to immunize Indian children against polio. Each year I have traveled to India, I have joined local Rotarians and other volunteers as they went to various booths throughout the city, and helped to administer oral polio vaccine to children under the age of five years. Recalling two childhood friends, as well as a woman who had been one of my father’s secretaries, all of whom were afflicted with the horrible paralysis of polio, I had a particular appreciation for what we were accomplishing. In the mid-1980s, Rotary International pledged to help eradicate polio from the face of the earth by the year 2005 – Rotary’s centennial year. Although the world is now about 99% polio-free, we must not lose sight of the fact that polio could spread again throughout the world, with a simple flight from an affected country to another part of the world. If we are not vigilant, and if we do not continue to immunize children in endemic countries, our children and our children’s children could be revisited by this terrible disease. Asoke and I plan to join others tomorrow as once again, Rotary mobilizes its members to bring the vaccine to the children. What a privilege it is to be a small cog in the wheel of an organization which helps to change the world.