Work in a group… to achieve the impossible Kalyan Banerjee

“During our childhood, he was a very busy man. In Rotary and United Phosphorus Ltd. He spent much less time with us than an average dad. But whenever he spent, he made it count. At UPL, they have lunch break for an hour. He would come home during that time. Before eating, he would play cricket with us for 15–20 minutes in our compound. And it was fun. He appreciates good humour and includes it in his speeches. His own sense of humour is impish and wicked. And it comes out occasionally. As a father, as a person, he is solid and larger than life. Our family revolves around him and his work at UPL. And later his work in Rotary. He is ever dependable. Even today, I think we as children depend upon him more than he on us.”

This excerpt was read out by RID 3141 PDG Sandip Agarwalla at a recent meeting of RC Bombay where a biography of past RI President Kalyan Banerjee titled ‘Tirelessly Yours’ was unveiled. He was quoting Rama Chatterjee, Banerjee’s daughter.

Written by Ganesh Vancheeswaran, the book sums up this Rotary stalwart’s long years in both UPL as well as Rotary.

Engaging Banerjee in a Q & A session, Agarwalla said that from the industrial hub of Vapi to RI presidentship, Banerjee’s journey had been exceptional and “a roadmap of a life dedicated to service,” which had been captured in this book.

At the outset, Banerjee clarified that the book wasn’t his but his club members’ idea, and to write it the author had interviewed him a few times, as also his two children, friends, Rotarians and business associates. A central message of the book and his life’s story was that “if you work with a group, you can do the impossible… and achieve whatever you set out to do.”

The growth of members from India is absolutely amazing. And we have maintained it year after year.
– PRIP Kalyan Banerjee

The two underlying mantras of his life and work were best summed up in the themes of two RI presidents… imagine — “a lot of imagination goes into all Rotary leadership — and once you’ve imagined, ‘make your dreams real’”. Make dreams real was the theme of Dong Kurn Lee, while Imagine Rotary was the theme of Jennifer Jones.

On Rotary’s progress in India, the past RI president said, “India has evolved unimaginably. The US may have the largest number of members and give more money each year to TRF, but we are number two in both, and the growth of members from India is absolutely amazing. And we have maintained it year after year. Sometimes I feel we need to control this a bit because, sometimes it gets out of hand… but I don’t want to get into that.”

Recalling his year as TRF trustee chair, Banerjee said TRF-giving that year had gone up from $230 million the previous year to $300 million for the first time. “The number might be going towards $500 million in the next couple of years, if not earlier.”

On the polio legacy and what next, Banerjee said that till there was total elimination, Rotarians would have to “keep immunising children of the world without fail on a regular basis as we have been doing. Because if Pakistan and Afghanistan still have polio, it can come back at any time.”

Other important Rotary goals are of course literacy, water management and healthcare, where a lot of work was already happening, and “Rotary is now looking at peace initiatives all over the world.”

Asked by Agarwalla to describe his most difficult moments as RI President, he said these included going to Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure that the children would be given polio drops as there was opposition to this in several quarters. Once in Pakistan, after he had met the President, “he said go and meet the Leader of the Opposition.” But the latter was not available, and would come in only at 2am. “So we waited for him; met him at 2am and told him you have to immunise all your children. He said: We have no problem. But what are you going to do about America throwing bombs on us? Why don’t you give us some peace first? After that, we will listen to you.’”!

But the most dangerous thing he did as RI President was to visit Afghanistan to meet President Hamid Karzai. He was advised against the visit, and clearly told by the RI staff at Evanston that he would have to go alone and nobody from Rotary would accompany him. “I said, ok, I’ll go alone, but how will I meet him. I was then told that the American army stationed in Afghanistan would help me meet President Karzai. They sent Binota, my wife, back to my home in Bombay, saying we don’t know what will happen in Afghanistan! Of course, she didn’t know why exactly she had been sent back! Anyway, I managed to go via Pakistan to Afghanistan. And I tell you, it was pretty scary over there.”

Banerjee recalled that he stayed in a guest house “which was far from a normal hotel. It was just a room, and they said keep the door and windows closed, and don’t open them even if somebody knocks and don’t go out. On the third day, they took me to the army headquarters, where a brigadier put me in a jeep and we drove through Kabul. All the shops were closed, and there were gunmen… army people… standing on top of every building with their guns drawn out. It was a war-torn city. We had to go through three gates with a security check at every point. Finally, we reached Karzai’s room. He walked in, and said, welcome and thank you for coming over here. And that was it.” Promises were made, but they haven’t been kept, he added wryly.

You don’t have the largest membership, but the support you give to The Rotary Foundation is the highest in the world, year after year.
– PRIP Kalyan Banerjee on RC Bombay

On the younger generation of Rotarians, Banerjee said that the more senior Rotarians have to understand that the youngers members will act a little differently, and should be given the space to do so. But younger Rotarians also need to understand that “after coming into the club, they cannot start something entirely different and new on their own. They need to continue to follow what the clubs have been doing and the traditions that have been set up. Please don’t think that as a new club president, you have to start a new project of your own.

Because after you go, nobody will remember what you did. Do something that continues what your club has been doing, and will continue to do long after you have gone.”

Club president Bimal Mehta welcomed the gathering. DG Manish Motwani participated in the event.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat