I had the good fortune of attending a
Rotary District conference of District 320, the day after I was inducted as a
member in RCMS in December,1977. Since then I have attended 38 District
Conferences in the last 42 years as a Southerner. The four conferences I missed
were because of my being out of the country attending some important business meetings.
District Conferences were smaller affairs
in those days and were held in venues which could accommodate a few hundred people.
A couple of them will always remain etched in my memory for ever.
In 1983-84 it was held at a specially
erected shamiana at the University Union Grounds in Chetpet, when Rtn Bhoja
Shetty was the governor. The enthusiastic District Governor had appealed to
Rotarians to come with their families to the conference. The organizing team
was totally unprepared for the huge turn out resulting in food running short
during meal times. Many delegates had to seek
nearby restaurants for their
meals, including yours truly. The rain
god also decided to shower Madras with copious rains during the conference days.
This resulted in the ground around the shamiana becoming slushy and the
delegates had to walk around the muddy outfield. The conference became famous
as `a muddy conference` in the Rotary
world.
The first time it was held in a five star
hotel (Taj Coromandel) was in 1988-89, when Rtn C.T.Chidambaram was the District
Governor. It was a grand affair marred by an incident. To the horror of the hotel
management a few Rotarians from some mofussil clubs were seen washing their
soiled hands in the swimming pool at the hotel during the poolside lunch
session. Another reason I remember this Conference is because I was conferred
the Paul Harris Fellowship by the District for my active involvement in the initial
years of Polio Plus campaign as a publicity convenor working closely with Krish
Chitale who was steering the campaign in the district.
As the number of Clubs and members grew the conferences moved from a five star
hotel to Kamarajar Arangam which could accommodate about two thousand participants. It provided opportunities for having a grand
stage back drop and use of audio visual aids for making presentations. The
Kamaraj Arangam could also accommodate stalls by sponsors in the foyer and
there was enough car parking space in the adjacent Congress grounds. However
since liquor could not be served at the Kamarajar Arangam, the Fellowship Room was located at a meeting hall in the adjacent
Sun Plaza building. For those who enjoyed the glass
that cheers the fellowship room provided an opportunity to have some fun moments with not only fellow Southerners but also with Rotarians from other clubs. I recall the years when the ever popular PDG
Dr. C S Ramachandran & our own PP
Anil Kumar used to entertain the audience with bawdy songs. Those were the
golden moments in any conference for all
the spirited Rotarians. The `non-spirited`
Rotarians were happy attending serious
sessions providing food for thought and also family oriented entertainment programmes
in the evenings. Of course the sumptuous spread of food at meal times and the
special gift which invariably every District Governor offered were the other incentives
for attending the Conferences.
When the District membership crossed the
2500 mark, it became necessary to shift to a bigger venue to provide even
grander Conferences. The Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam with its
massive Meeting hall and other support
facilities has been the venue of our
District Conferences since 2002-2003.
The Chennai Trade Centre has a special
significance for me. It is here that WAN IFRA ( known as IFRA India earlier),
an international association devoted to newspapers around the world, with which
I was associated as a Managing Director
for 10 years, hosted a mega
IFRA International EXPO cum conference
in 2007. It was the first time that such an Expo targeting the newspapers of
the world was being held in India. It was a huge success and I was thrilled beyond
words to have pulled off a mega event with the support of a small team headed
by our own Rtn Magdoom Mohammed. So any event I attend at this venue brings
back pleasant memories for me.
In district conferences I get to meet a lot of old friends from other
Clubs. In any conference while you renew
old friendships you also make new friends. Though I don`t have the patience to
attend all sessions, I do attend sessions which interest me; like the lecture
by a popular Guruji on the second day morning of the conference. Talks by some
well known speakers or interesting musical events appeal to me. And of course
the meal times are special; though there has been no consistency in the quality
of food served at the conferences. Having paid the full registration fee I try
to have at least one lunch and one
breakfast at the venue.
Attending a District conference is like
attending a wedding in the family. You will see almost every one dressed in
their best attire. While the office bearers wear the uniform dress recommended
by the DG, many Rotarians can be seen suited and booted- for many of them it is
an opportunity to wear the suit stitched
for their wedding reception. The festive
atmosphere in all the conferences is perceptible. I enjoy it thoroughly.
It is a pity that RCMS which used to have
nearly 100% attendance at the conferences has been having less than 30% in the
last few years. Many green Rotarians are hardly seen and have no idea about what the conferences can offer
them. It is important that they attend at least one district conference in the
early years of their association with Rotary!
By Rtn PP PHF
R.V.Rajan
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