EDITORIAL

July 16 2015

PP Tony Abola

Be a Gift to the World.

This is the theme the new R.I. President K.R. "Ravi" Ravindran has chosen for 2015 -2016. It has been a tradition for the R.I. president to adopt a them for his term in office.  And Pres. Ravi Ravindran has chosen a very short but very eloquent statement as his focus for this year. It may also be added that almost every R.I. president has started his first month in office with so significant and meaningful message for the month. Perhaps a tribute to the almost impeccable way by which Rotary selects its president.

In RI President Ravindran’s first monthly message, he includes a story of two friends at childhood, one becomes king while the other remains in poverty. But at the thought of asking his king friend for help, the poor friend goes to see him with handfuls of rice from his family’s only available food source. Upon their meeting, the poor friend hardly hides his gift to his powerful friend after which they sit down and talk about their younger years together. When the poor friend returns home, he is surprised that his home has been transformed into a stately one and each of his family now well-dressed and having most of their essential needs.

President Ravi starts his message by citing the examples of Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Ghandi whose lives were their gifts to the world.  Perhaps it is not the intention for each Club or each Rotarian be live exemplary lives. Although it is never a fault to aspire to such high goals. Rather, it may be surmised that Pres. Ravi would like to see the many contributions of Rotary worldwide continue and even be surpassed. It is not an empty dream.. The biggest living example of Rotary’s gift to the world is the Polio Plus, which through the generous contributions of Rotarians has nearly eradicated polio in the world, maybe save for less than a handful of countries nearing polio-free status.

There is no doubt in our Club’s members that the past forty five years, the Club has made many such contributory gifts, maybe in not so grandiose ways nor in headline hogging ones. The projects we have embarked on and the beneficiaries who have enjoyed such gifts are numerous and need no elaborate listing. But the challenge posed by the new RI leader is there as goal for this year to continue and strive to be surpassed.

And as Pres Ravi ended his story of Sudama and Krishna, the two friends who later understood what gift to each other, he leaves us with a very meaningful line “ It is never the material value of a gift that matters – it is the love that comes with it.”