There are moments in life when words seem inadequate; 37 years ago, when I joined Rotary, little did I know it would take me on a journey and a point where I will be standing here as the 2028–29 RI President. I am deeply touched and humbled by the words of appreciation, wisdom and blessings that each panellist and speaker has shared.”
With these words Rotary International President-Nominee Bharat Pandya greeted Rotarians at a glittering event titled Abhinandan organised in Mumbai to felicitate him. He thanked convenor and PRID Raju Subramanian (he and his wife Vidhya, were later announced the Presidential aides for 2028–29) and governors of RI Districts 3141 and 3142 Rajan Dua and Nilesh Jaywant, for hosting the meet attended by 750 members.
An experience that remained etched in his memory was when as a young Rotarian, and only doctor in his club then, he was put in charge of the just started PolioPlus programme. As he “became involved, went into the dark areas of the slums, convincing parents, immunising children by putting two drops of polio in their mouths, that experience touched and changed me.”
From July 2028, Bharat does not belong to Bharat. Bharat also belongs to Nigeria, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Scandinavia, and everyone else, in as much as he belongs to Borivali. Let’s give the world to
this president.— K R Ravindran
Past RI President
Gradually, he realised that in Rotary, service is not an abstract concept or a phrase “but it has a human face… the smile of a child, the worry of a parent, the gratitude of a mother. It is the dignity of women whose lives change because they were empowered by Rotary, and some Rotarian cared for their kids.”
Years later, thanks to PRID Ashok Mahajan, Pandya served on the National PolioPlus Committee when India became polio-free. “Every role, every responsibility taught me something. And I realised that leadership in Rotary is not about standing in front of the people and getting their applause, but standing with them. It is about listening and understanding, bringing people together, and most importantly, remembering that positions in Rotary are temporary, but the impact of the work we do can last for years and decades. It was Lao Tzu who once said, ‘the good leader is one who people follow, but the wise leader is one who, when the task is accomplished, people will say, we did it ourselves.’”
Pandya added that his constant endeavour in Rotary had been “to build more leaders and not more followers. When I look back, I realise that I have got far more from Rotary than I could ever give back. It has given me friendships of people whose friendship is worthwhile, opportunities to learn and grow, and the privilege of working with outstanding people and leaders. I am a proud Rotarian because Rotary has continued to expand my horizons leading me to a different way of thinking and a better way of living.”
He was acutely aware that he was following distinguished leaders who had led Rotary, including five from our zones. People like Raja Saboo, Kalyan Banerjee, K R Ravindran and Shekhar Mehta had left their mark on the organisation.
Both “humbled and excited by the opportunity to lead Rotary,” he thanked his parents and elders in his own Rotary family for mentoring and guiding him. He particularly thanked his club (RC Borivli) and District 3140 (now 3141 and 3142) because “I am a product of RID 3140” for their faith, trust, support and encouragement. “But above all, I thank the person who my nephew Shyam called the wind beneath my wings, my mentor, my guide and best friend, my wife Madhavi.”
Thanking all Rotarians for their service to Rotary, the President- nominee said all opportunities in Rotary come with responsibility and they should discharge their responsibilities by remaining focused, learning from the path the ants take, not getting a wee bit distracted by obstacles in their path. “They have a single focus on reaching their objective. Focus has great power,” he said giving the example of a laser which is very weak source of energy, having only a few watts of energy, but when focused, even this small bit of energy can cut a piece of glass or drill a hole in a diamond, the toughest substance known to man.
Going ahead, in the years to come, all of them, including himself will have to focus on three important aspects — people, impact and trust. “The most important asset that we have are our members; they are the strength of Rotary and we have to focus on them to reach the goal of 1.25 million Rotarians and 125,000 Rotaractors by June 2030.”
Coming to impact, quoting a saying from our ancient texts about the importance of mitigating the sufferings of people, Pandya said this is the essence of Rotary service. At present, Rotary service was limited to “the number of projects we are doing, how much money we are spending. But our service has to solve the problems of the people, change their lives and create lasting, measurable impact in the community first.”
Talking of trust, he said it was the greatest asset Rotarians had; in today’s world, when institutions are increasingly coming under focus for improper practices and losing trust, “Rotary has to remain that organisation that still inspires trust… in our leadership, our integrity and stewardship. Trust that every rupee donated and given to Rotary will be used well, wisely and effectively.” Again, quoting from Indian scriptures, Pandya said, “The only thing that walks back from the tomb along with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a person, which outlives him/her and can never be buried.” Character builds integrity, integrity builds trust and trust is the foundation of leadership.
Rather than celebrating his nomination to the post of RI President (2028–29) he underlined the need to celebrate all Rotarians who were giving their talent and time to Rotary, and the single question was “not what Bharat Pandya is going to do as RI President, but what are we going to accomplish together in this journey of 2028–29.”
Today, our zones are really shining in Rotary, there is a strong and steady membership growth, younger leaders are emerging in India where outstanding community service is being done with TRF support. For several years now India has been No 2 in Foundation giving and last year we had crossed the $45 million mark.
As “PRIP Shekhar Mehta always says, we are the Kohinoor as far as service projects are concerned. And yet something is amiss; election disputes and conflicts come into focus.
Remember, it is okay to disagree, but we have to learn to disagree without becoming disagreeable as PRIP K R Ravindran says.”
If they all worked together with focus and harmony, they could build in our zones a Rotary “each one of us can be proud of — cohesive, forward-looking and effective, which is ready to take centre stage in the Rotary world, while remaining true to our core values. That is my wish from each and every one of you. I believe firmly that the best chapter of Rotary is yet to be written.”
If together they can write this chapter with “courage in our minds, compassion in our hearts and integrity in our action, years later, people may not remember who had led Rotary in 2028–29, but they will remember the good work that we did through Rotary… the children we immunised, the lives we were able to change, and the opportunities we were able to grasp to fulfil the hope of our community and our world.” He ended with a quote from Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”
Congratulating Pandya for his nomination, PRIP Ravindran recalled that when he had first met the man almost 15 years ago at the silver jubilee celebrations of his club, he found him to be a “man of contradictions, slight in stature, but tall in significance, with the gentlest of manners, but conviction of steel underneath, slow to claim credit, but quick to accept responsibility. Never the loudest man in the room, and yet the room agrees with what he says. And I think that is a rather useful quality to have when you are President.”
Ravindran said the RI Presidency “is not a promotion you got; it’s not even the top of a ladder that you are climbing. It’s a very different job. And nothing you’ve done up to now prepares you for it. I know, because people like me have done this job.” There will be times when he’ll have to put “the institution ahead of his own popularity. And that day will cost you something. A President must be willing to explain a hard decision, own it afterwards and take it through the organisation.”
On the great cost cutting he had done at RI during his presidentship referred to by PRID Subramanian, Ravindran said when he had asked the RI staff to cut costs, they had in turn asked what senior leaders like him had done to cut costs. “So I cut my travel cost from $1.2 million to $700,000. And I stopped all spouses coming for (Board) meetings. Because we’ve got to do what we’re telling them. And they delivered $3.5 million of savings.”
Cost cutting involved difficult decisions; like when he was in Africa and a governor organised a meeting with the then US Vice President Joe Biden, he skipped it as it involved travel from Africa, where he was, back to the US.
He told Pandya that though the 18 months he still had to prepare for his job seemed a long time, it wasn’t so. “The time will go very, very quickly. Interspersed with things that we never bargained for. A war somewhere, a disease, an earthquake, or a programme which you never planned for. Sometimes your travel is cut. Holger Knaack as President never stepped out of his house because of Covid. These are things nobody can imagine. Then you have to respond to issues that come up suddenly.” Like a past RI President, a close friend of his, making speeches against the RI staff and publicising them. When a discussion didn’t help, he had to give him a strict warning, and “he stopped talking to me.”
Some of his tips for Pandya:
• Plan your year, but also leave some room for what you did not plan.
• Decide now, before you begin, two or three things that you want to do and be remembered for.
• You will be surrounded by people who agree with you, nod their heads. Work hard to find those who disagree with you, listen to them, because they could one day save you from yourself.
• The presidency is very lonely. Turn to old friends who have nothing further to gain from you, who are not looking for a designation, job or title.
Ravindran then advised the Rotarians about what they could do for the RIPN. Stop harassing him for assignments; take that pressure off him. Save him from hassles by conducting elections in a proper manner. Help meet TRF and membership goals.
He added that credit also had to be given to Madhavi for her support in helping Pandya reach the top post at RI. He was confident that Pandya would excel in this position, “not because you’ve got a prodigious memory, or because of your resume, but because you are a decent and a kind man. That probably will be your most important qualification.”
His parting shot. “Remember that from July 2028, Bharat does not belong to Bharat. Bharat also belongs to Nigeria, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Scandinavia, and everyone else, in as much as he belongs to Borivali. Let’s give the world to this president.”
Congratulating Pandya on his nomination PRIP Kalyan Banerjee said India had got its first ever RI President in 1962, the second came 30 years later, the third after 18 years and the fourth took 12 more and the fifth had come in just 8 years. Of course, in between “we did have a person (Sushil Gupta) whose brilliance was about to break the sequence until he unfortunately left the assignment unfinished.”
The constantly reducing gap between RI Presidents from India highlighted that Rotary’s search for “outstanding leadership comes increasingly from South Asia, specifically India.
Though Bharat is not the first president from India, there is something very special about him. All the other former Rotary presidents from India have been from Kolkata in some way or the other, but he is the first one from Mumbai.”
But of course, it was not the region but the attributes of the man that were important in his selection. “We have been hearing of his excellence, deep thinking, prolific knowledge, down to earth leadership, and of being a patient listener and a spellbinding orator. He does not always go for the glitter or the grandeur but is there always smiling helpfully, and I look forward to another great memorable year of leadership in Rotary from him.”
Offering his felicitations, PRIP Shekhar Mehta said Pandya’s nomination was an honour not only for him but the entire Rotary movement in India. “But it was expected and we all knew that it would come because it was very well deserved. You had every quality that is required to become RI President.”
He was a calm person, always poised, graceful, with a huge depth of knowledge. He had a great memory and was an outstanding orator. Apart from all this, it was his humility and simplicity that made him an outstanding leader. This is just the perfect combination.
Mehta said this was “one of the most exciting roles anybody can get anytime. Very few heads of states get the opportunity that you are getting. In these three years, the number of countries you will visit, the love and affection that you will get is going to be absolutely incredible. You are going to be the representative of 1.4 million people from across the world in an amazing organisation.”
And this organisation, Rotary, was working on big goals and issues that world leaders grapple with, such as illiteracy, health, jobs for people, empowering people, particularly girls, and water and sanitation issues.
Mehta said he was confident Pandya’s year was going to be yet another shining year in Rotary’s history. In return, for his hard work, he would get the love and affection of 1.4 million people… “that is the dividend you’ll be getting over the next three years for all the hard work you have put in over long years in Rotary.”
He urged the current and incoming RI directors from our zones to work hard to take the membership in this region to 200,000. “As I’ve always said, we are the Kohinoor of Rotary; we do amazing service projects and our TRF contributions are outstanding. And with a new leader from our region, we can really work wonders.”
Video and written greetings and messages of congratulations sent by RI President Elect Larry Lunsford, Trustee chair Jennifer Jones, past RI Presidents Rajendra Saboo, Gordon McInally, Stephanie Urchick and general secretary John Hewko were displayed/read out.
Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat
The Bharat I know: Madhavi
Addressing the meeting, Madhavi Pandya, Bharat’s wife, wondered that when the organisers asked her to speak on the topic ‘The Bharat I know, ‘ “did they expect me to say that he is smart, dashing, handsome? Yes, for me he is. But he is much more. He is caring, compassionate and above all a total family man.”
She revealed that her husband is the first general surgeon and second medical doctor in RI’s history to be nominated to its highest post. “His training and practice as a surgeon have influenced his values. Surgery is about intuition, judgement, precision, evidence-based action, teamwork and ethical approach. He brings the same set of skills to everything he does in life. People often ask me, how does it feel to have your husband as President Nominee? My answer is: It’s wonderful of course. There is pride, there is happiness and there is gratitude.”
But along with all this, there was also the quiet realisation that the journey that had brought them here had involved so many people, so many experiences and so many years of commitment. She believed that he had come to this position largely due to the “support from his family, blessings from his parents and elders. My two daughters Nidhi and Sashmi have given their family time and supported us fully,” Madhavi added.
It was a no contest.
PRIDs Anirudha Roychowdhury and Raju Subramanian, members of the Nominating Committee that selected Bharat Pandya, gave an interesting account of how the process of nominating an RI President works. It included continuous interactions and inputs from one particular section of RI, followed by an online orientation on how they should evaluate the application letters from the nominees. Said Roychoudhary, “Having gone through the process I should compliment the communication, structural governance and the democratic spirit of RI. I distinctly remember the two specific instructions the Nominating Committee got from the RI general secretary — be very sensitive while interacting with each and every one of the applicants and choose the best of the six candidates.”
Subramanian added that when the time to choose came it was evident that Pandya was one of the best candidates for the job, “being far superior among the best people. The others were not a match. As one Nominating Committee member later told me during dinner, there was no competition at all.”