BE THE MIRACLE

DG Rtn. Shashi Sharma’s talk to RCB last Tuesday

Every year, the Governor gives the year a name. I have named my year the Miracle Year. The new Governor who will start from July 1, 2019, has named his year the Smart Year.

Why have I called my year the Miracle Year? I think this is important to know. Miracle has got seven letters and the
number seven is very important to me as I believe it is the most powerful number I have encountered. Seven days in a week, 52 weeks (which add to seven), 365 days in a year (which adds up to 14, again a multiplication of seven), seven seas, seven wonders, the pilgrimage involves traveling to seven hills.

I always say, jokingly, that for Hindus, marriage involves around seven pheras, which is nothing but revolving 360 degree and 360 can be divided by any number but not by 7. That is why they say marriages are made in heaven and not to be broken. That is why I have made my strategy turn around, that there is a net growth of 700 memberships and for which we are number one in the world. We have given the target of $ 7 million for The Rotary Foundation and we are hopeful of reaching that.

What I began with on July 1 is started our journey with blessings from the elderly people at old age homes. In a survey of Mumbai, I found 55 old age homes with around 4,000 resident senior citizens. I tried to find what necessitated them staying in old age homes and came across a situation where a leading businessman’s parents were staying in an old age home. Apparently, the son and daughter-in-law took their ageing parents’ signatures on the property papers and sent them here. I came to know about a daughter who was given the best quality education by her mother, a single parent, who, after getting a job with Microsoft said to her mother, “You stay here in an old age home, I’ll come within six months and then we will go to the US!” She has not come back in the last 13 years. So, I wanted to take blessings from them. And, we started creating miracles.

The journey which we took for diabetic awareness, skin donation, organ donation, eye donation from Mumbai to Goa got us into The Guinness Book of World Records. A guy who ran for 89.1 km blindfolded on 23rd February got us a world record. Things are happening very well and that is why I say:
‘MIRACLES ARE BOUND TO TAKE PLACE’ AND I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT THAT.

At the Official Club Visit this morning, I was very happy and I asked Vijay: ‘How you feel about it?’ He said, “Wonderful!” And I feel very good about it. You Bombay people are not only the best Club in India but the best Club in the world. The reason behind it is that the service you provide, THE SERIES OF ACTIVITIES YOU DO – BE IT TOWARDS FIGHTING DISEASE, PROVIDING CLEAN WATER AND ENSURING BETTER SANITATION OR COMPLETE LITERACY, VOCATION TRAINING AND SO ON AND SO FORTH – ARE UNMATCHABLE.

 

 

I was talking to the Inner Wheel Club President Pallavi ji and Das madam the other day and I came to know that they are doing a project worth Rs 1.82 crore which is the highest for Inner Wheel, at least in Mumbai. And if you are doing so much, normally the Governor gives marks for the performance of the President. Coming into contact with a good human being like Vijay, I must say he is warm, everlasting and a rich man of life. I am very fortunate to have known him.

Vijay has served Rotary as a good leader and, as a Miracle President, with sincerity, dedication and openness to new ideas throughout the year. He has attended almost all Co-Presidents’ installations and almost each and every District event. The seriousness with which he takes Rotary will ensure that your Club rock not just in the District but also in the world. Also, after going through the book, I must say, your President has scored 98 per cent marks. The remainder two per cent marks will be added only when he reaches US$ 1.5 mn.

Friends, this Club has been very close to me. Rtn. Rajnikant Reshamwala and I were fighting the election together for the same panel during 2006-07. We have an excellent relation with Rtn. Rumi Jehangir, PP. Rtn. Ashish Vaid, my friend Nirav Shah, leading from the front, Pradeep Saxena, PP. Rtn. Paul George, Rtn. Bimal Mehta and, I want to talk about
three important people.

First, Rtn. Satyan Israni, the man who has given Race For Humanity, an excellent programme, to the District. I want to put it on record that my year’s success, if i have to give some credit to the Clubs, I think your Club deserves the highest.

Then, Rtn. Sanjiv Saran Mehra, for the amazing idea of the Corporate Cricket Tournament that happened for the first time. And, what to say about PP. Rtn. Sandip Agarwalla! I think Sandip has led the District from the front. On the public image front, as a District Secretary and on the Foundation.

“We are capable of consciously freshening our own destiny with knowledge, understanding, learning to choose the right path and undertaking a journey to serve others.” – DG Shashi Sharma

We have formed a focus team with 16 people – this team is going to work with him. Along with him, the team is going to work with all other six teams, because the guidance of Sandip Agarwalla is tremendously important, as we all know.
I think we look forward to your leadership qualities which will enable us to touch the US$ 7 million figure.

In a closed-door meeting, someone asked me: when will there be a leader from our own Club? I’d like to answer openly. Your Club deserves to have a Governor because we look forward to the Bombay Club. And the day is not far! But the condition is that Bombay Rotarians should be seen in the District. And, I say openly, Sandip Agarwalla deserves to be Governor!

What kept me going was my dream to achieve something big, my desire to live a better life and live for others, the commitment of giving and the way of living.

HISTORY HAS PROVEN THAT THOSE WHO DARE TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE ARE THE ONES WHO BREAK ALL HUMAN LIMITATION.

Discover the essence of your own self and build upon it. You must be the first citizen rather than the second citizen of someone else. We are capable of consciously freshening our own destiny with knowledge, understanding, learning to
choose the right path and undertaking a journey to serve others.

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ACCORDING TO ME ARE THOSE WHO SELECT THE AREA OF THEIR INTEREST AND THEN FOCUS UPON ACHIEVING THEM.

I quote of our former President, APJ Abdul Kalam, ‘As a President and a scientist, I have learned the three fundamental principles of attribute: knowledge, sweetness and value acquisition. ‘Work with integrity and succeed with integrity’ should be the motto of anybody’s life. That is the only way society as a whole can progress and create peace and harmony in the world.

WHAT YOU ARE TODAY IS FATE BUT WHAT YOU WILL BE TOMORROW IS KARMA, WHICH PEOPLE FORGET.’

We have to inculcate a positive attitude about what we can do for society and mankind so that together we can build a Rotary movement by creating a miracle.

Nothing is impossible. Seven million is not an impossible target to achieve. If you keep showering your blessings
upon me and President Vijay, we believe it will happen.