Kiran Bedi’s folly

Kiran Bedi was once nicknamed “Crane Bedi” correctly reflecting the daring way in which she solved illegal parking in Delhi. She now may be renamed “Cunning Bedi” for the innovative manner in which she generated funds for her NGO. In this internet day and age, she preferred the travel agency bullock cart method of presenting a bill to her sponsors. She billed them Rs. 38,000 for business class and booked her economy “cattle-class” seat duly exchanging cash for comfort. Many of her opponents have been gleeful to have caught her with her hand in the cookie jar, thus giving more than just irritation to the proverbial thorn in the side of the government.

So the moralists are out in the streets giving their own interpretation of this heinous act of Ms. “Cunning” Bedi. What, apparently, was questioned is that the sponsors were unaware about this sleight of hand.

Many years ago whilst working with a fast-moving consumer goods multinational company, I learnt a few lessons and maybe some of the ground rules will help us judge this lady activist. Since there was a lot of night travelling involved in my job and that of my colleagues, the recommended class of travel was the highest available on trains – Ist AC. Re-imbursement suggested the attachment of the used ticket. It was also made very clear, with a threat of immediate termination, if the actual mode/class of travel was incorrect.

However, while talking with a close friend from the same Business Management institute, who was then working as a sales manager with a fast-moving consumer goods Indian company, I was given a very practical explanation for the “other side of the coin”. Whilst comparing the salaries of colleagues in the sales force, he proved that his salesmen were getting more cash in hand than mine. This was calculated by what he called sleeper class minus first class difference. This was condoned by senior managers as well as himself. This was “cost to company”. He thought that this was perfectly all right, since it was a legal travelling expense and what the salesmen got was tax-free cash. He convinced me that this was not wrong and was of benefit to both the company as well as the salesmen.

Of course we were both in agreement that what was really wrong was that if we gave excess stock in exchange for money to our distributors, this was clearly a bribe.

My own take on this current controversy is that –

The sponsoring NGO that paid for Kiran Bedi’s business class ticket and following good accounting practices, should have asked for the boarding pass or for the ticket as a necessary measure to re-imburse her for the ticket. Having NOT done so, it seems like they have condoned a practice that is not familiar and is not considered to be immoral in our country.

Book Review – ‘Once Upon A Time’ – a narrative by Fr. George A. Hess, S.J.

This is the story of a young boy born in the early nineteen twenties in New Jersey, to a devout Catholic family. His father’s business of manufacturing bulbs failed and they moved to Washington D.C. which was the turning point for young George. Being intelligent, in 1933 he won a scholarship to Gonzaga College, a Jesuit school, and three years later, at the age of thirteen, was convinced that he wanted to become a Catholic priest.

He was ordained in 1950 and after completing two years in Advanced Spirituality could go to Stanford University for a doctorate in Physics. He also had volunteered to serve in India. His superiors sent him to the Jamshedpur province in India. As Fr. Hess says, he does not know what he may have discovered in Physics, but he gained the opportunity to give thousands of students the confidence to face the future.

Fr. G. A. Hess chose to join this order of Roman Catholic priests who are committed to go wherever the church requires them to. The word ‘Jesuits’ is used for members belonging to the Society of Jesus who are recognized by the initials ‘S.J.’ written after their names. This society was formed by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish prince, during the Reformation period of history.

The aspirants have an extra long period of training generally spread over 16 years covering all aspects of personal development.

When young George Hess left for India, he expected never to return.

His first assignment was to set up Loyola School in Jamshedpur, which he took up in 1952 with 285 students. Loyola was given 3.5 acres of land which once housed the CNR Club. Hindi classes were held in a small school bus while the CNR Club hall housed several classes at the same time.

Under Fr. Francis MacFarland’s supervision, the construction of the new building began and today Loyola School, Jamshedpur accommodates over 3000 students.

The author has taken pains to describe his method of running a school, planning new projects and dealing with difficult students and staff. He has also been quite candid about his conflict of interest with his superiors and about how he had to adjust to the need of his province.

He developed De Nobili School, Dhanbad, which was just a small family house on the grounds of the Central Fuel Research Institute with five rooms to another Institution that rivaled Loyola School in the number of students, building and grounds. He stayed on for seventeen years.

One of his students recalls that he was deservedly on the brink of being thrown out when Fr. Hess, after having asked for an analysis from the teachers, called him in and said, ”Son, I can see that you are on top of your class but we have all five teachers complaining against you. If your behaviour does not improve, we may have to do without you.” For Rajat Bhatia, Founder & C.E.O., Neural Capital, Delray Beach, Florida, that was his turning point. This method of handling a situation in a positive manner, describes Fr. Hess’s style of moulding his students.

No one ever recalls him ever raising his voice but as a former student I can confirm that “a word to the wise was enough”.

Hess moved to take over the Loyola B.Ed. College, Jamshedpur, when its founder, Fr. Ken Judge, had to return to the U.S. due to ill health. He master-minded its move to the huge 15-acre plot on the outskirts of Telco Colony. After establishing the college in its new premises, Fr. Hess moved on to Bhubaneshwar to help in XIMB, teaching communication.

He also negotiated the purchase of the land for Loyola School, Bhubaneshwar.

Fr. Hess had 2 more interesting experiences in Bhubaneshwar. He gave us an insight on how funding agencies work and how he managed to maneouvre a $100,000 grant to establish the only Jesuit hospital in the country. Fr. Hess had his share of disappointments and failures. His long-lasting regret is that he was never able to establish an institute for communications to train students for the emerging media like television. His experience also gives us a glimpse into the general emphasis of the Society of Jesus towards a common goal, directed by a single authority and bound by the vow of obedience.

This narrative is about an American Jesuit priest who could have been an outstanding scientist, who volunteered to work in India without knowing whether he would ever return to see his parents. I would recommend this to builders of institutions, teachers, alumni and certainly to those who have a fire in their belly to work for their community.

#Once#Upon#a#Time#Fr#George#Hess#Loyola#BEd

Toilet Soaps

Have you noticed something happening to the toilet soap that you buy? Earlier life was not so complicated. All toilet soaps weighed 79gms for some odd reason. That made comparisons easy. Only Lifebouy weighed 100gms, like Sunlight tablet because it was categorised as laundry soap.

The weight of toilet soaps began to be played around with by many of the manufacturers and now the consumer had to contend with comparing price and weight, which is absolutely impossible.

This has nothing to do with "fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid" where there is a conscious reduction in the quantity offered generally equal to one use, like the shampoo sachet.

Traditionally, toilet soaps were expected to last 14 days to 18days. Thanks to the wonderful advertising, I got tempted to use Pears and was shocked to find that it dissolved in a week. Gone is the oval depressed shape.

Rotary India - Water Literacy & Implementation Plan

Proposed Water Literacy & Implementation Plan

Background : Water, like air, has been taken for granted in our country. Till surface water like lakes, ponds and rivers were a major source, there was not much anxiety. Monsoons always came and renewed these sources. Life went on for one more year. When man discovered that there was a lot more water underground, and with the technology available to construct bore wells, people believed that there was a never-ending source of water under the ground. In many places deep bore wells became the major source of water for agriculture, human consumption and industry. It takes an average of 100 years for water seep to 100 feet, so we can just imagine how quickly man will consume all the under ground water.

The organized governments have traditionally tapped surface water like lakes, ponds and rivers and used them to supply piped water to the citizens.

Monsoons in India come regularly and stay with us for more than 3 months. In certain regions the blessings from the skies continue for more than 9 months. The monsoon rains of course replenish the lakes and ponds but generally more than 80% of the rainwater flows back into a river and then into the sea.

The undersigned has planned and implemented about 60 Rain Water Harvesting and Recharge structures in and around Jamshedpur. This has been conducted with the financial assistance of Coca-Cola India and the part contribution of each participating institution in a 65 : 35 ratio.

The participating institution first gives a written approval for the structure and then also signs an undertaking to maintain the filtration system annually.

Total Global Saltwater and Freshwater Estimates

Saltwater 97.5%

Freshwater 2.5% = 100% of Freshwater

Lakes & River Storage .3%

Groundwater, including moisture,

swamp water and permafrost 30.8%

Glaciers and permanent snow cover 68.9%

Objectives :

1. To design and execute systems that can increase the harvesting and storage ofrain.

2. Making an India plan which is regional sensitive, considering storage, extent of rain

and uses.

3. Triggering mass awareness on all aspects of the uses of water including clean

drinking water, intelligent use of water, cutting all sources of wastage and

prevention of pollution of water.

4. To harvest, store and use water to ensure multi-cropping, in the rural areas.

5. Create awareness about water-borne diseases and its control.

6. To encourage treatment and re-use of water in non-critical areas like toilets,

clothes and car washing and gardening.

Plan

1. Create Awareness – Design and implement a National Quiz Contest for students.

2. To encourage intelligent use of water, we shall introduce the Rotary Quality Water Mark.

The objective of this would be to ensure that water that is consumed in institutions is properly managed. Thus, standards would be laid down regarding tank overflow, leaking taps, unrepaired flush tanks, provision of clean drinking water and creation of awareness of a helpline number in case of a major breakdown.

3. Generate interest in Rain Water Harvesting & Recharge – Seminars to be conducted in identified towns inviting the following people – i) Key decision – makers in Institutions / Commercial Organisations / Building Estates.

ii) Inviting petty civil contractors

4. The seminars will be conducted like workshops with the intention of conducting 1 or 2 actual programmes. In the 1^st year it is expected to implement 2 projects each in 10 cities. The numbers will increase arithmetically in the following 2 years, namely, 4 in the 2^nd year and 4 in the last year.

5. Our role in rural India will focus on Lift Irrigation and sustainable Watershed Management.

Lift Irrigation – Villages adjoining rivers face an anomaly where only 1 monsoon crop is grown. Although they have a river flowing by, they cannot connect to produce 2 more crops in a year since a simple device like Lift Irrigation does not exist. Instead, unscrupulous contractors use the earth from the river side to make bricks, paying a very low fee to the villagers.

Watershed – When there is plenty of rainfall and if the region lends itself to “ridge to valley” geography, we can easily implement a scheme to ensure that rain water seeps down through contour trenching, gabion dams and other such devices. The water is then harvested through wells in the valley and used for cultivation. To make an impact in rural India, it is suggested that a specific area in India is taken and made into the command area, where we will be committed initially for 10 years and in the 2^nd year of 10 years ensure that sustainability continues.

6. At the time of the inauguration of the structure, we shall also conduct a painting competition directing the attention of the children towards the aspects of Rain Water Harvesting and prizes will be given for the best entries.

On the same day we shall also project a movie on urban and rural Rain Water Harvesting.

Conclusion

The above is an integrated plan which can first be initiated in a model district and then rolled out to others, developing local expertise.

Ronald D’Costa

Centennial Governor 2004 – 05

Rotary International

District 3250