MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF ROTARY

When the newly inducted Rotary club of Pune Parvati President, Maya (Gokhale) Pathak saw my Instagram post of a Rotary name tag of my father (late KP Chandrakumar), she asked me if I have any memories of what Rotary was like when I was growing up in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in the 1970s, it brought back a host of memories. Maya is a childhood friend from those days

My first memory was of a fascinating road journey in our Standard Herald, of us driving to Udupi (Karnataka)  in 1971 for a Rotary convention where families were invited.  I remember there was another district conference in Tirupati in the mid 1970s which also involved a long drive, this time in our Premier Padmini.

There were a lot of ardent Rotarians in the club ranging from people who were working in BGML and BEML, the two big PSUs in KGF, to leading businessmen and professionals like doctors from the towns of KGF and Bangarapet. If I recollect, the club had adopted a village. They also used to organise health camps and support needy students in schools.

Every Tuesday, my father would attend the Rotary Club meeting at the KGF Club. He used to wear a Rotary club lapel pin on his suit. One of his colleagues, Mr Seshan would travel with him.  I distinctly remember that my father never missed a single meeting and would make it a point to attend club meetings in other cities if he was not in KGF on Tuesdays. I think he had a record of 100% attendance. I also heard that he was instrumental in the Rotaract Club being set up in KGF – this was what one of the first office bearers of the Rotaract Club told me a few years ago when we connected on social media. My mother was a Rotary Ann but I can’t recollect whether their meetings were in conjunction with the Rotarians.

If I think back, the Four Way Test of Rotary# has probably been one of the value systems that I and my sister grew up seeing in practice in every aspect of our daily lives.  To this day, whenever I see a Rotary International sign, either on the memorabilia at my mother’s house in Cochin, or in the places I travel to , I feel proud of the fact that I am the son of a Rotarian.

Arun Kumar

10^th July 2020

PS:  Wanted to add here in the blog that over the years a lot of folks have asked me to join either Rotary or Lions International (my wife Sabina incidentally has been a Lions member for close to a decade).  I’ve politely declined as I feel that being neutral or non-aligned but following the basic principles of dharma is what matters.

# The Four-Way Test

The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at club meetings:

Of the things we think, say or do

1.    Is it the TRUTH?

2.    Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3.    Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4.    Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

 Source: https://my.rotary.org/en/guiding-principles