Rotary hospitality

 

Those of us who have been in Rotary since the year after the Polio Plus Campaign was launched in 1985 are accustomed to exchanging club banners. Here Jim Matthews presents the Rotary Club of Oadby banner to Farook Siddiqui, president of the Rotary Club of Delhi Saket.

After only a month as a member of the Rotary Club of Largs, near Glasgow, Catherine Ferrier has already got into the swing of exchanging club banners. But both she and Jim must admit that they did not give their banners at a meeting of the Saket Club. Instead, they did so while being treated to a delicious meal at Karim's, the award-winning restaurant in the heart of Old Delhi, by Farook.

It is, as the guide books might say, 'unprepossessing' but the quality of the traditional food can scarcely be adequately described. And nor can the hospitality of Farook and Ayesha, accompanied by their delightful daughter Madia whose fourth birthday it was a few days later.

The Siddiqui family were pleased to see with Catherine and Sally the photos from Karim's. 

They know they have an open invitation to visit in the UK.

Rotary at work... and play

Four very lucky members of the Delhi Group met the head of all the vaccination programmes in India... and were invited to a party to celebrate the exchange of rings of happy betrothed couple Neha (granddaughter of the Rotary Club of Delhi Sainik Farms president 2000-2001Dr P C Bansil) and Rishi, who will take his bride to Birmingham, England after their wedding a few days after the party we attended.

Catherine Ferrier and Debbie Hodge (a minister in the United Reformed Church and a leading light, nationally, in interfaith relations) went ahead to the home of Farook Siddiqui, the wonderfully-welcoming president of the Rotary Club of Delhi Saket and his lovely wife Ayesha to borrow party frocks (from Ayesha, not Farook)!

It was the night of the collapse of a building in Delhi with the loss of 66 lives. Traffic became even more chaotic and Jim and Sally Matthews got caught in the most extreme (and that's saying something!) traffic jam they saw in India and arrived 90 minutes late.

Sally Mathews, Ayesha Siddiqui, Catherine Ferrier and The Rev DGN Debbie Hodge with Farook and Ayesha's four-year-old daughter Madia

Indian celebrations are always a blaze of colour, and a high-decibel opportunity for dancing... with men dancihng together in a style that makes 'Strictly...' look decidedly non-competitive. This video is a big file and is LOUD so while you wait for it to load, take the time to disconnect your speakers or turn the volume right down! 

Despite being 90 years old, Dr Bansil took to the floor and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He is a remarkable and very generous patriarch. It was our pleasure to meet him.

Unlike English weddings, where British reserve can mean it takes a while to get feet moving, here the Bollywood beat soon had everyone dancing...

Just another day of Rotary service

For the British (and one American) volunteers in northern India in November 2010, the focus was Rotary's End Polio Now campaign. For hard-working Indian Rotarians, the campaign is one of many ongoing projects.

This was the scene of squalor that greeted us as we arrived at a charity being supported by the Rotary Club of Delhi Saket. The club has been providing blankets for young men at this Muslim orphanage which has its own darul-uloom (higher-level madrassa). There we met a seven-year-old who is already a hafiz -- someone able to accurately recite all 6,236 verses (80,000 words) of the Qu'ran.

     The skull-capped youngster is just visible inside the archway into the classroom.

Accompanied by President of the Rotary Club of Delhi Saket, Farook Siddiqui and his club secretary Arvind, who was our driver, Catherine Ferrier and Jim and Sally Matthews took it in turns to hand over the blankets to the young men. Only by educating its young people can any emerging country transform itself from a chrysalis to a beautiful butterfly. Hopefully, these young men will have a part to play in India's progress.