The whole nation is agog with charcha about the elections - so President Champaka dreamt up the idea of making April 22 evening a fellowship dinner where members were asked to come dressed as politicians and make an appropriate bhaashan.
Many of our members cooperated and one could see a galaxy of political hues! Anticipating a fun-filled evening, there was a record turnout of Rotarians and their families who enjoyed the programme, which was accompanied by drinks, snacks and dinner.
The speeches were kicked off by Vasanth who, being a true-to-life member of the BJP, extolled the qualities of Modiji and the BJP and asked for a vote which would bring about a change in the government in New Delhi.
The element of seriousness was quickly turned on its head when Vijay rose to speak about his party – the Khaan-Peen party! He bemoaned the past fate of the
country where quality was spelt Kwality, and "Walls" prevented citizens from enjoying a better taste. In a speech full of puns, he displayed the bell as his party symbol and surprised the audience when he asked people to ring a bell for him and a few in the audience – having been requested by him earlier –
pulled out bells and tinkled them. Much laughter and appreciation…! Post the speech, Raghav updated the audience that Vijay is the distributor for a brand of ice cream called Cream Bell!
Bringing a touch of realism to the evening, Amarnath related his very recent experience where he travelled on a train in a first AC coach where he had as one of his companions a lady who was clearly the wife of a politician. In the midst of their conversation, police entered the compartment, demanded that all baggage be opened up, and discovered that the lady had a suitcase full of cash!
The wonderful evening of fun and fellowship was brought to a close with prizes awarded to Nagabhushanam and Vijay for their turnout and speeches and the entertainment they provided to all, with Sarat Gopal and Alka doing the honours. Sharda, in her inimitable style, grabbed the mike at the very end to ask members to join her in congratulating and thanking Champaka for the wonderful time had by all!
The element of seriousness was quickly turned on its head when Vijay rose to speak about his party – the Khaan-Peen party! He bemoaned the past fate of the
Next came Sam, and there were no prizes for guessing that he represented the Rotary Party. He promised that the world would soon be polio free. In addition, he promised that there would be no more boring speaker meetings and all Rotary occasions would be full of fun and fellowship. Egged on by the enthusiasm of the audience he even promised that there would be no dues to be paid to Rotary International and everything would be free!
As if to be one up on Sam, RK came on with promises for everybody – no examinations for children; teachers would not have to teach; government servants would be entitled to "no work, full pay"; and all public buildings and government land would be given away free, but on strictly "first-come first-served" basis!
Hmmm - and who was this walking very slowly to the podium, holding his whole body still and saying nothing? Minus the turban, Sai represented the PM by saying as little as possible, chiefly because he had not got Madam's permission to speak at this gathering.....!
Typical of our male-dominated politics, the only woman candidate
to speak was Meena who acted the role of "desh ki bahu", Smriti Irani, complete with saffron attire. Responding to the urgings of the women in the audience she promised to pilot the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament, if elected.
The fiery best for the evening was brought on by Nagabhushanam, who mimicked the MIM leader to perfection, not only in attire and facial hair but also in the ferocity of all his statements condemning the poor performance of the ruling parties everywhere and promising that his party could bring about real change!
Getting serious for a change, Ravi Madabhushi condemned all the politicians who made empty promises to win votes. He felt that the old politicians should b voted out and young people should be voted in, who would bring about change and solve the unemployment problem.
Bringing a touch of realism to the evening, Amarnath related his very recent experience where he travelled on a train in a first AC coach where he had as one of his companions a lady who was clearly the wife of a politician. In the midst of their conversation, police entered the compartment, demanded that all baggage be opened up, and discovered that the lady had a suitcase full of cash!
Before the evening concluded, Champaka called up Mahesh Medlari, the Teach for India fellow who has been teaching for the last two years at the Government High School, Film Nagar and who has been a tremendous help to our club in all the work that we have done after adopting the school as partof our literacy projects. Mahesh is an extraordinary young man who gave up a lucrative opportunity in corporate life to join Teach for India and work for the improvement of government schools. He is moving to Pune next year where he will be handling recruitment and other matters for TFI.
PDG Sam presented a memento to Mahesh as a token of our appreciation of his great work.
The wonderful evening of fun and fellowship was brought to a close with prizes awarded to Nagabhushanam and Vijay for their turnout and speeches and the entertainment they provided to all, with Sarat Gopal and Alka doing the honours. Sharda, in her inimitable style, grabbed the mike at the very end to ask members to join her in congratulating and thanking Champaka for the wonderful time had by all!
