Vinnie Kudva

January 10, 2012

Belvai Vinayak Kudva is no stranger to Putnam Rotarians. Since his first visit to the local club as district governor nine years ago, he has become known affectionately as "Cousin Vinnie" to members of the local group.

He worked for Union Carbide in Benares, India, came to the United States in 1970, and in 1981 he moved to Williamson, West Virginia. Four years later, he was inducted into the Williamson Rotary club.

"You ask me, 'What is Rotary?'" he told his Putnam audience at the weekly luncheon meeting today. "I don't know the answer, because Rotary is different for different people."

He heard the motto, Service Above Self. "But that's not what it is. It sounds like Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric when she said, 'What newspapers do you read?' and she said 'Almost all of them.' It sounded like that.

"And we do a lot more than just serving other people!"

Is it fellowship? "That's a big part of Rotary." Is it the Four-Way Test?

"The more I studied about it, the more confused I got," he said. "But I'm not here to confuse you. I want to try to explain what Rotary means to me.

"What is it that makes us unique? Any successful organization has a mission and everybody works toward that mission. But in Rotary every year the whole executive board -- everybody -- changes. Show me another organization where everybody changes, from the chief executive officer to the smallest person of the Rotary districts.

"We might expect that it is a weakness, but it is not -- because we have survived for more than one hundred years, and we are one of the best organizations in the world.

"Even if you ask the international presidents, they will define Rotary differently. That is a reason every year we have a different president's theme.

"I go to India often," says Kudva. "I met these Rotarians and they invited me to their club. I was told there were people waiting to become members of that Rotary club. Very unique problem! They can't take all the people.

"As soon as the meeting was over, there were two groups. One group went to one side for meals, dinner. The others went to the other side -- to drink. I found out all those people who are waiting to join the Rotary club, they went to that group, they want to drink.

"On that side they talked about their project. It was a local school that was looking for a transportation method. They wanted to buy a bus costing about $25,000.

"After a couple of drinks, they pledged $50,000. I don't know if they collected it, or if they remembered it. But they did pledge. That is a great way to approve projects.

"For us, the fellowship is different. We get together. We talk about the projects. We come up with no money. And then we try to find out how we can get some money from somewhere else," he joked. "So this is different things for different people.

"We have a program in Rotary for student exchange. I said I wanted to try it. So we wrote to somebody in Mexico. We went to Louisville to pick her up at the airport. As she came, we saw a look of surprise on her face. She probably was expecting a white family to receive her, and we were there -- a bunch of Indians from West Virginia.

"She came to our house, and we had a great time. She stayed for one year.

"Then there is the Group Study Exchange. So I became a group study leader. Going to India, of all places.

"To be sure, I am going to a place that is totally different from my native place. India is like Europe -- there is Germany and there is France. Even though we are all Indians, we are born in different states, and the culture is completely different in the southern part and the northern part.

"I want to travel," said Kudva. Since he was inducted into Rotary, he has attended twelve international conventions.

"The international meeting in 1993 was in Australia -- Melbourne City. So I told the family, let's go. So many people. All from different countries. All wearing their native dress; all talking different languages; all different religions.

"All are Rotary. Nobody asks what color is your skin. We are all one. And that is a Rotary International experience: There were people from Australia; there were people from Uganda; there were people from South America. All talked as if they knew each other for their whole life."

One time Kudva began talking to an Indian sitting across the table from him. "We became friends," said Kudva. "And that person today is Rotary International president Kalyan Banerjee.

"He was doing a project in Bombay. He wanted to start a trade school where he would take street kids and educate them in a trade so they would become productive citizens of that place.

"He said why don't you come to my room. We can have tea together. He arranged all of that and we met his wife, Binota. And the best part is, she had brought all the stuff from India. We had tea and Indian snacks, and we had a really good time.

"Every time we go to an international convention, we make sure we meet each other. We talk a little bit. This is an experience of Rotary for me.

"We were in India at one time," said Kudva, "and I told my children -- both of them were born and brought up here -- you will enjoy some great Indian food. I took them to one of the nice restaurants. Outside on the sidewalk there was a small girl of about eight or nine years old, carrying a small child of two of three years old, begging for money.

"I called the girl. She did not come. She was not to cross the door for bothering the customers."

At Kudva's request, the restaurant manager called the girl in and told her to make a selection from the food that was there. "I expected her to eat," said the Benares native from Williamson, West Virginia. "She did not. She took a small bit and fed it to the small kid, her brother. He swallowed it whole. After a second bite, the small child looked at her and gave a smile.

"For me, that was heaven. I make a million dollars, but I will never find that kind of pleasure anywhere else.

"If I do something through Rotary, people think I am doing something for them. They are wrong. I'm selfish. I do it for myself.

"Rotary provides that opportunity for all of us.

"There are a lot of things in Rotary that I have experienced, that I have enjoyed.

"It is very difficult for me to define Rotary. But each one of you can define Rotary in your own way. How you define it is up to you. I cannot define it for you. But remember this: Rotary is a great place. Rotary is a great experience. Rotary is an opportunity. Grab it, and define your own Rotary."