My father would have been one hundred and three years old today. He would have taught my children, all that he taught me. The values, the generosity, the leadership skills, and intrinsic appreciation of the goodness of humanity.
I remember him for his laughter, his sense of humor that caught you off-guard. I remember the rides to school in the morning when he had stories to tell me. I remember when he helped me with my school projects, the large cardboard charts that were decorated with serrated colored paper stripes on the edges. His calligraphy was perfect. I learned from him that Mahatma Gandhi, respectfully hailed by Indians as the Father of the Nation, was ambidextrous: in prison, when his right hand was fatigued with continuous writing, he trained his left hand to write and takeover the letter writing and books that perforce were written by hand.
So now, all I can say is, “You were really great, Papa, Rotarian Past District Governor D. m. Desai! You gave your life to Rotary International … and taught me the Four-Way Test.”