I consider RI presidentship an exciting opportunity: Bharat Pandya

He became a Rotarian in 1989 as a young surgeon at 30, “by accident,” when his father’s patient J P Saxena, who was starting a new Rotary club in Borivali invited him. He was reluctant, as he had just started his surgical practice, but Saxena convinced him. Thus RI President Nominee Bharat Pandya became a charter member of RC Borivli, and was soon pushed to become club president. Having accepted the responsibility, he gave his best… doing many outstanding projects, adding 19 new members and 12 Paul Harris Fellows, “a big thing in those days.”

After his year as president, Pandya “realised that Rotary is really helping me to expand my horizons beyond my immediate circle.”

Those horizons will cover the whole world come 2028 when he assumes the role of RI President, I quip. We are having this conversation in his apartment in Mumbai, in the same building that houses the Pandya Surgical and Maternity Hospital where his wife Madhavi is the gynaecologist. The gentle, mild- mannered Rotarian smiles; “when I joined Rotary 37 years back, I never realised I would ever get the opportunity to make the whole world my horizon.”

If we want to keep Rotary alive, relevant, vibrant, effective for the next 30–50 years, we have to get younger people. Today, the young are looking for purpose and a cause.

So does he consider this an opportunity or a challenge… perhaps a daunting one? “I consider it an exciting opportunity. Looking at the scale, reach and presence of Rotary in more countries than represented in the United Nations, the responsibility begins to weigh on the shoulders. But I wouldn’t call it daunting; I’d use the word exciting.”

He is excited to take on this responsibility which will “allow me to meet and interact with more Rotarians at the grassroots levels and understand how Rotary works in different parts of the world. I am excited about the people I’m going to meet, the different perspectives I’m going to hear, and what we can accomplish together. And I think my role is not to have all the answers. My role is to listen, learn, bring people together and give Rotary a clear sense of direction. Hopefully we can together move the needle a little bit forward for Rotary.”

Asked what was more important in Rotary — membership, projects or something else, he says: “At the centre of everything is membership. If we have the members, everything is possible. If we don’t have the members, things are difficult. I would like to focus on two things — make Rotary more member-centric, more accessible, relevant, engaging, and very important, more enjoyable for members. If we take good care of our members, give them a good club experience and meaningful work, then members will take care of Rotary’s growth.

The maximum attrition happens in the first three years; the first three months are important because first impressions are sometimes the last impressions.”

Pandya suggests clubs should organise quality induction of a new member, give him a meaningful role in the club in the first three months, depending on his/her interest; provide adequate Rotary education and create a sense of belonging in the member. “Many times we induct new members and leave them on their own. We have to work on them… nurture new members.”

He gives the analogy of a new bride, who needs to be given special attention and made to feel welcome. “In the first 1,000 days a member should get continued Rotary learning, a leadership opportunity and a voice in the club’s decision-making to make him more engaged, involved and valued. He will then feel his voice matters and get a sense of belonging. Next, expose the member to a really impactful service project.” The following year that member should be made to mentor another new member, “because the best form of learning is teaching others.”

Also, adds Pandya, the Rotary experience should be personalised for different members “because everybody doesn’t have the same requirement from Rotary. To me, fellowship may be important, to you, it may be service, to a third person, the prestige of Rotary and wearing the Rotary pin, or the internationality of Rotary, where you can find open doors in new countries. These are not even new concepts, just packing of different things.”

The impact of the work Rotarians do on the communities… not the money spent but the transformation of communities, and the behavioural change this is bringing, also need focus. “Our leadership positions will end in a year, but the impact of the work we do should last for years and decades. So I am going to focus on membership and the impact of our work.”

I will focus on making Rotary more member-centric, more accessible, relevant, engaging, and very important, more enjoyable for members.

Rotary has scope to grow, apart from India, in Africa for the next 5–7 years at least. “President Yinka is already doing it, and President-elect Larry will continue I’m sure, and so will I. There are now about 50,000 members in Africa, and in the next five years, with proper focus, Rotary membership in Africa, an entire continent, can go up to 150,000.”

Pandya is happy that Rotary is also growing slowly, but steadily, in Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. However, some parts of the Rotary world are not growing and if Rotary has to grow, “we have to stop the leak and reverse the trend in those areas and encourage clubs which resist change to be more flexible and innovative.”

Membership focus includes getting more women and younger members, he says. “If we want to keep Rotary alive, relevant, vibrant, effective for the next 30-50 years, we have to get younger people.”

Today, the young are looking for a cause, as was seen in India recently with Generation Z. “They want a cause and a purpose to work on… they want to connect more and use more technology. But they are also interested in developing their own leadership skills.” If Rotary can offer these, it is well placed to attract younger members.

As for women members, if 50 per cent of our society comprises women, then they need equal representation in Rotary. Even though women members are increasing, the RIPN feels Rotary needs more women in leadership positions at all levels. It’s not possible for women to become RI Presidents or RI Directors or even DGs directly, but they have to be “encouraged to get leadership at the club, district, zone and then RI levels.”

This is happening but not fast enough thanks to the “aspiration for positions, which men, who have entered Rotary much earlier, tend to monopolise.” He clarifies that more leadership positions are needed in Rotary for women, not because they are women, but because they are capable, competent and talented. “I hope 10 years on, we’ll stop talking about women’s leadership. It will be just leadership!”

Leadership is not about standing in front of people and leading them… but standing with the people. A good leader is not somebody who builds more followers, but more leaders.

But meanwhile, to encourage more women leaders, pathways will have to be given to them… “not to be partial to them, but more welcoming and encouraging.”

I next ask Pandya on higher expectation from him as RI President as he is widely seen as an erudite, thoughtful and caring leader. What new ideas of change can he bring on the table? “I wouldn’t call myself erudite, but thoughtful and caring, yes, and I think those are two important attributes of a good leader. I agree expectations from me will be higher because of the way I’ve grown in Rotary. But my Rotary experience is going to help meet those expectations,” he says.

He recalls that as an RI Director he had focussed on health; now he wants to expand that focus to healthy communities. And this is “not just about health, but access to healthcare, preventing diseases, maternal and child health, sanitation and clean water and environment. Because you can’t have healthy communities without clean water, proper sanitation or environment.”

While Rotary should push the concept of healthy communities, with different clubs working on focus areas of their choice, such as water and sanitation, maternal and child health, environment, because all these promote health communities, “eradicating polio remains our number one priority.”

On what Rotary can do for young India, Pandya says it is already doing a lot; education affects young people the most, and “we are doing a lot in education and should step up our efforts.” Health awareness is another area of concern as 20 per cent of our population under 15 is obese, and when they turn 35–45, they’ll face problems. RYLAs are providing professional skill development opportunities. These should be expanded, along with mentoring of the young generation.

On how his hospital and surgical practice will be managed during the long time he needs to spend in Evanston for his presidential year and earlier, Pandya says he has a transition plan. “Of course, I am going to miss my operation theatre, and my operation theatre is going to miss me.”

There will be differences and disagreements. But we can resolve them without becoming disagreeable.

So how difficult was the decision to put in his nomination knowing all this? “It wasn’t a difficult decision, but it required a lot of careful thought, on the part of my family too.” But once his wife Madhavi came on board, it happened. Their daughter Sashmi is a gynaecologist and will fill in when Madhavi is away with him.

Asked how Rotary has transformed him, Pandya attributes a lion’s share in his leadership skills to Rotary. “It exposed me to a wide variety and range of people in different professions, and allowed me to really mature and develop as a leader, sharpened my public speaking skills. Earlier, in front of 10 people, I could barely speak 4–5 sentences.”

But now he is known for his meaningful speeches; do they need preparation? “For important meetings, they do; and I write down at least some points. Unless you’re a Winston Churchill, you have to do some preparation, or else your speech will be a disaster!”

So what part of heading Rotary excites him the most? “Meeting people from different cultures, countries, languages and backgrounds, looking at the work they do. We think in India we do a lot of work and we do a lot of work. But I saw in Philippines, Taiwan, Brazil, Nepal, Australia and other regions Rotarians are doing tremendous work too. I look forward to the opportunity to see Rotarians’ work all over the world and the innovations they bring to service projects to meet the needs of their communities.”

We must remember that our positions are temporary but the impact we can create can last for generations.

Also important is the work Rotary does for peace, and under the Programs of Scale, including in India (PWABHI — Partners for Water Access and Better Harvests in India), where the Rotarians are working with Mayank Gandhi and the Global Vikas Trust in some of the most backward regions of Marathwada. Remarkably, some of those farmers’ annual incomes have jumped 5, 7 to even 10 times — up from ₹40,000– ₹50,000 per acre to ₹3–₹5 lakh.

“Through our own Rotary Peace Center at Symbiosis and other Rotary Peace Centres, Rotary can definitely make a difference by creating a peace mindset in people, and focus on how to avoid conflict by bringing people together in harmony and peace.”

On the price his family has had to pay for the substantial time he has given to Rotary, Pandya agrees there has been some sacrifice on all sides when it comes to family time. “But I have tried my best to balance things; whenever I go for a Rotary engagement, my time is given only to that engagement. There is nothing which diverts or distracts me. I finish that engagement and I am back home… for my family and my profession.”

He adds, “Yes, Madhavi does get upset sometimes, but she, and my two daughters, have always been supportive. But in the last couple of years with my daughters studying out of Mumbai, with my increasing Rotary engagements, getting some family time together has been extremely challenging.

As a surgeon I have spent much of my life working to heal people, and many years working to serve communities through Rotary. Both have made me realise that you may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change someone’s world. If we can help every Rotarian do that a little more often, Rotary will have a better, bolder and more meaningful future. That is Service Above Self.”

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat