HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY



As though it were yesterday, I recall my first trip to India, in January 2001, when I was serving as District Governor for Rotary's District 7780 (covering southern Maine, southern New Hampshire and one club in Newburyport, Massachusetts).  I was very fortunate to have been able to travel to India for the purpose of immunizing children against polio.

On January 21, throughout all of India, children five years of age and younger were brought to literally thousands of distribution centers to receive their polio vaccine - just two tiny drops of this miracle drug, which would save them from paralysis and possible death, if they were to become infected with this insidious disease.  On Sunday, January 21, 2001, through the cooperation of the Indian Government, the United Nations, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Rotary International, and through the mobilization of literally thousands of volunteers from throughout the world, and with the cooperation of the Imams and Mullahs of the Muslim population, we were successful in "immunizing just shy of 200 million children, all in one day - according to the Times of India the following day. This was, indeed, a herculean effort and one of which I was proud to be a part.

Five days later, on January 26th, I experienced REPUBLIC DAY - the celebration of when the Constitution of India came into effect back in 1950.  I celebrated with the other members of the team of Rotarians who had come from the USA, but also with twelve million of my new friends!  During the parade, we were overwhelmed with the pageantry and the displays, and particularly with the 21-gun salute, but using 20 millimeter cannons!  The concussion from this was quite amazing - rocking us backwards on the bleachers, where we had gathered to watch the parade going from the Parliament buildings to India Gate. At least, we thought the cannon fire had caused the rocking.  In fact, as we were to learn several hours later, it was the after-shock of the horrific earthquake in Gujurat, which had sent tremors all the way to Delhi.

This tragic event also gave me the opportunity to mobilize many Rotarians both in the USA as well as in India and we collected sufficient funds to create and distribute more than 45,000 EMERGENCY RELIEF KITS to the victims of the earthquake.  Although it took several months to collect the funds here in the States, I was honored and pleased to "flag off" the final truck-load of these kits when I returned to India for my second trip.

So to all of my Indian friends throughout the world, I wish a safe and joyous Republic Day,

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