The warmth of fellowship is often experienced in Rotary through a small but memorable experience .I had my first taste of it soon after I joined the Rotary. The summer of 1984 was a seemingly endless nightmare for us, with my wife lying, virtually reborn, in a Bangalore hospital, after a gruesome road accident. I distinctly remember one sweet incident of those months – meeting a young Rotarian in a new Rotary Club in that city. His voice came across the telephone the next morning with a concern that touched us. “Any help I can organise for you, Raja? Medicines? I work in a pharma company. What about the blood transfusion you mentioned!” By the grace of God, we didn’t need any help, But the face of the young friend stands out as the only sweet recollection of that bitter summer in Bangalore. Continue reading
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I was on the Executive Committee of a body that had on it very bright thinkers. The Committee used to meet on the second Monday of every month. The meetings were memorable as much for depth of discussion as for follow up failures! I remember one session to discuss and plan for a major event about five months away. Promotional material had to be prepared and a proposal from the Chairman of the subcommittee had to be approved.
Several alternatives were discussed. One was selected and the Chairman was authorised to get the job done. Continue reading
I am delighted to know that K.C.R. Raja is starting his website, devoted to Management Education and Management of Institutions. I have had the privilege to know Raja for many years and while few have his knowledge and experience in the fields of Management Education, no one that I know updates himself so diligently and fully as he does. In a field that is forever changing, developing, reviewing and rediscovering itself, Raja is not only current but focused always on the future as well. As a person, a more affable, accommodating and genial person is hard to find. I wish his new effort every success. And I am glad he is doing it because it will benefit everybody in this field.
Kalyan Banerjee
President, 2011-12
Rotary International
The tension between continuity and change is said to constitute the groundwork of history. Not only nations but organisations experience this tension in some form and measure. Continuity is guarded by solid, stable no-nonsense administrators while change is advocated by a small band of impatient innovators. One rests largely on traditions and conventions and is highly procedure oriented. Every time you suggest a new idea they would give you five reasons why it will not work. They would sacrifice results for rules. The impatient innovator, on the other hand, tends to measure success in terms of results obtained even at the cost of bending the system. Continue reading
In 1893, in a boat that sailed from Yokohama to Vancouver, two great Indians, one, a monk and the other, an industrialist met for the first time. The monk was Swami Vivekananda, who was to take and interpret to the West, more effectively than anyone else, the religious and philosophical tradition of India. The industrialist was Jamshedji Tata, the father of Indian industry. As they got talking, Vivekananda explained his mission of preaching in the US, the universality of all religions. Jamshedji said he was in search of equipment and technology that would build the steel industry and make India a strong industrial nation. Vivekananda blessed Jamshedji, and remarked “How wonderful it would be if we could combine the scientific and technological achievements of the West with the asceticism and humanism of India!” Continue reading
One of the most satisfying projects that I have seen in my Rotary Club has been the Vocational Loan Scholarship Scheme. It has changed the lives and fortunes of many in a way that neither they nor we had visualised. The Scheme was conceived and launched in 1994 by one of the Past Presidents, Subhashis Bhattachary, soon after he became the President. During the last sixteen years it has worked very well for us and for the loan scholars.
I have had my interactions with the loan scholars. One event where they were brought together was documented by Subhashis himself. I reproduce it below, not merely because I figure in it but for the touching words of a scholar that moved many of us. Continue reading
K.C.R Raja – Coach and Counsellor
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