A new member of Rotary eClub One recently shared her Rotary Journey.  This article first appeared in the September, 2012, District 5450 newsletter.

Hellos, Hugs and Handshakes

by Jayanthi Raja Seenivasan, member of Rotary eClub One
Spouse of Rtn V Raja Seenivasan District Governor (2012-2013) D3230

     My Rotary journey started 16 years ago when my husband was inducted into the Rotary Club of Madras West opening up new doors of comradeship, compassion and charity. Then on, it's been such bountiful experiences and moments of sharing and giving; not just our treasure, but our time and talent too. Rotary has taught us to not just give, but give with love as always insisted by Mother Teresa. Every friendship in Rotary is a specially revered relationship sans barriers of age, caste, religion, nationality or status. The Four Way Test is life's strong guiding principle encapsulated thought provokingly in four simple lines.

     I have attended hundreds of projects with Rotary as the spouse of a Rotarian. I have enjoyed every step taken to cater to the pressing needs around us. I have admired the unity of our Rotarians and families in serving the society as well enjoying their camaraderie to the fullest.

     I think we should thank Rotary eClub One and District 5450, the first in the world to have ventured into this innovative e-connecting system. Today I am a Rotarian, I can serve locally, join hands in global projects, feed my serving spirit not just sitting through meetings but even from the confines of my favorite room. It is an awesome thought that strikes you when you are attending an e-meet that somewhere in the world, one is enjoying sound sleep, one is half way through day's work, one is having family time, one  is having a refreshing swim, one is serving locally, one is sipping a cup of morning cappuccino and one is taking a peg of his dinner sip, the list goes on. I love this moment of writing from the Chennai shores to the Colorado Springs.

     Friends, today the warmth that radiates from the calls, messages and mails of all my Rotary friends are like my daily energizers refurbishing every cell. I thank my schoolmate and dearest friend Priya Jayakrishnan who was snatched away very young by cancer last year for having been instrumental in leading us into this lovely garden of good selfless souls. I thank my husband DG Rtn V Raja Seenivasan to have joined the Rotary movement which has nurtured abundant goodness in us and given us an ocean of friends along around the world. I thank Rotary for the great opportunities it has gifted us to serve and the unmatched world of friends it has gifted us. All of us in faraway lands networking under one umbrella called Rotary to share our service above self motto and spread smiles to fill the Earth with happiness that God has gifted us in abundance is the most beautiful experience. I am rejoicing my new set of friends in Rotary eClub One led by President Tom Green and District 5450 steered magnificently by DG Mike Klingbiel. I am all set to enjoy this new friendship which has doubled, trebled the diameter of my friends circle.

     Friends, share your hellos, hugs and handshakes and that is the best way to strengthen the chords of this amazing relationship that life has bestowed on us. Let us move leaps and bounds in making our Earth, a heaven of joy and
peace.