A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HEART OFAMERICA

Group Study Exchange is perhaps themost fascinating and the mostpopular educational programme ofthe Rotary Foundation. I wasfortunate enough to be selected asTeam Leader for the Group StudyExchange Team traveling to RotaryDistrict 6740, Eastern Part of thestate of Kentucky in USA. Fouryoung professionals were selected asmy team members.

A brief introduction of my teammembers would be worthwhile here-There were three ladies and agentleman. The gentleman, who was

the youngest of all, was Anindo Roy from Nashik. He was trained as a mechanical engineer, but hadrecently founded a Resume Writing Firm. Anuradha Totey, from Amravati, was an ophthalmicsurgeon. She was an accomplished Kathak dancer and had a flair for compeering. Swati Gokhale,from Nashik was an Obstetrician andGynecologist. She had won theNational Award for bravery as aschoolgirl for saving some peoplefrom getting electrocuted. VaishaliBalajiwale, also from Nashik, was ajournalist, psychologist and counselor.She hailed from a renowned family ofNashik that owned the Balaji Temple.All these were exceptionally talentedpersons with outstandingachievements in several fields. Theyimpressed not only the SelectionCommittee but also our Americanhosts!

Getting selected was indeed a moment of great joy and satisfaction for all of us, after going throughintense preparation for several months. But we soon realized that the harder part lay ahead. GSE isno picnic, to quote the manual. The schedule is demanding and hectic and it is hard indeed towithstand the rigorous schedule.

GSE is also a lesson in teamwork. Five persons have to come together and travel to a foreign land,working in full harmony for a month for the success of the programme. We built ourselves into areal team by staying together in all our GSE related activities, right from the day of selection. Weappeared for our US VISAs, got our Overseas Health Insurance, attended the District Conference atGoa, got our Uniforms stitched, bought gifts for host families, compiled presentations, and finallyattended the orientation at Nagpur- all together, as one solid team! This gave us an opportunity for

tackling our interpersonal strains andstresses and idiosyncrasies and by thetime we boarded the plane for US on23rd March 2008 we were alreadyfeeling like one strong family.

Our journey to USA, as expected, wasprolonged and strenuous. We landed inDetroit, Michigan on a cold morningon 23rd March. The airstrip was totallycovered with snow. Many of us sawsnow for the first time in our life. FromDetroit, it was a short flight to

Lexington in Kentucky. We were overwhelmed to find a big reception committee of Rotariansincluding District Governor Tom Ashford, GSE leader Bill Crawford. GSE members Michael andJacqueline. District GSE Chair Josephine Richardson and her husband Bill had traveled nearly 200miles to greet us. We were put up in a luxurious hotel called Hilton Suites.

Our tour started right off, as DistrictGovernor Tom himself came up toshow us around Lexington and thesurrounding countryside. Lexingtonis located in the Bluegrass region ofKentucky. The state of Kentuckyowes her claim to fame as the horsecapital of the world to the Bluegrassregion. The grass really takes abluish hue in the morning.Thousands of acres of beautifullymanicured lawns, pretty farmhouses,barns and gently rolling plains makethis area one of the most beautifulplaces on earth. We visited theKeeneland Race Course which hosts racing events every year in spring and fall. The breed ofracehorses produced in Kentucky is known as thoroughbred. They are among the best racing horsesin the world. The soil and water in this region are probably responsible for producing sturdy and

healthy horses. There is big money in horseracing as well as horse breeding.Thoroughbreds are treated like royalprinces. They fetch an astronomical pricefor mating the mares. We had anopportunity to see live mating at the ‘ThreeChimneys horse farm’.

Next day our coordinator Bob Ross took usto a historic village called ‘ Shakers’village of the Pleasant Hill’. We also sawthe ‘Old Kentucky Home state park’displaying an old country estate withnineteenth century ambience. The statesong of Kentucky ‘ My Old KentuckyHome’ was composed at this very place by

poet Stephen Foster. We learnt this song by heart and amused our hosts by singing it on severaloccasions.

One of our most inspiring excursionswas to the birthplace of PresidentAbraham Lincoln. The birthmemorial is constructed around asymbolic log cabin similar to the onein which Lincoln was born. There isa fascinating museum at this sitedepicting scenes from Lincoln’s life.Americans have great regard fortheir historical monuments, thoughthe history is only 200 years old; andthey go to great lengths to restore themonuments and preserve them inexcellent condition.

DG Tom showed us the prestigiousproject of RC of Lexington. Theyhave constructed a baseball fieldcovered with a special kind ofmatting for physically challengedchildren. The project, which costthem a whopping half a milliondollars, was taken up in thecentennial year of Rotary.

An unexpected bonus for us was anopportunity to listen to our favoriteformer President APJ Abdul Kalam,who visited University of Kentucky,Lexington on 24 March. Headdressed a gathering of nearly 1000people. Indians settled in and around Kentucky had thronged to listen to their favourite leader.

On 27 March we gave our maiden presentation to R. C. of Lexington. Presentations formed animportant part of our mission and we had given considerable thought to it. Our presentation would

usually begin with a dance recitalby Anuradha- Ganesh Vandana inOdissi style. Vaishali would follow,giving a glimpse of ‘Life aroundTemples’ in India. Next, Swatiwould present a picture of the ‘Rural Health facilities in India’giving a true portrayal of theground realities. Anindo, in hislively style, would give apresentation about Indian EconomyIndustry, and Lifestyle. Finally, Iwould round up with an overviewof ‘India through the Millenia’. We

used this formula successfully, withminor variations, presenting India to 11Rotary Clubs, a couple of schools andcolleges and to the audience at theDistrict Conference. We had someteething trouble with the audio systemand computers at Lexington but werecovered fast, and all our subsequentpresentations went off without a hitch.

We bid farewell to Lexington with aheavy heart on 28 March and weretransported to Carlisle, hometown ofGSE leader Bill Crawford. We passed

the famous sign ‘ small town with big heart’ as we entered Carlisle and true to these words, Carlislereceived us wholeheartedly. Here we got the first real of taste of rural USA, the Heart of America.We became a part and parcel of this lovely little community over the next 3 days. The experiencewas to be repeated again and again over the next 3 weeks. Every little town that we visited hadsome unique attraction of its own, giving it a distinct flavor. But all of them showered the samewarmth, hospitality and good cheer upon us.

Carlisle, though a county seat, has apopulation of just 2000 people. TheCarlisle Rotary Club presided over bysilver haired Jock conley was just likeone big family and we soon gotassimilated in this family. Our teammembers invaded the Metcalfe family’skitchen and tried their hand at cooking anIndian meal. The result was somewhatimperfect by Indian standards, but ourAmerican hosts adored it!

Carlisle had a multitude of beautifulchurches belonging to various sects. Infact, entire Eastern Kentucky is known as

‘The Bible Belt’. All our hosts were devout Christians and regular churchgoers. We visited anumber of churches and had an opportunity to learn a lot about Christianity.

Bill and Alex took us to the RedRiver Gorge State Park. Here wehad our first look at the deepforests and scenic mountains ofEastern Kentucky. We also got aglimpse into the lifestyle of earlysettlers, who came to Kentuckyfrom Virginia under the leadershipof pioneer Daniel Boone. Weenjoyed a hearty trek up to a loftystone formation called NaturalBridge.

Though we loathed to leave Carlisle, the date of departure came. And on 31 March we were placedunder the care of AG Meena Mohantyfrom Richmond. Meena’s parentshailed from Orissa and imagine ourdelight when we sighted some Indiandelicacies on the breakfast table!

We were in a privileged position inRichmond as the city Mayor ConnieLawson was a Rotarian. She drove usaround in her own private van, neitherusing an official vehicle nor achauffeur. In fact, we never saw achauffeur on this entire trip. Allvehicles, powerful cars with automatictransmissions were self-driven by menand women in their late seventies andeighties. There were no domestic

servants either. Our host families performed all manual chores, with us trying to lend a feeble handat times. It was humbling to watch my host Dr. Frank Miller, Past President of American College ofObstetrics and Gynecology hauling up my heavy suitcase up the stairs of his palatial house inLexington!

The American work ethic, in my opinion, is the key to the legendary prosperity of this nation. Soare other virtues, like discipline, honesty, punctuality, cleanliness and respect for law. Worth

emulating aren’t they, for a countrylike India?While at Richmond, we were taken toa University town called Berea. ThisUniversity was one of the first USA toadmit Black students. A quote from theHoly Bible carved on a huge dial onthe campus proclaims- ‘ God has madeof one blood all peoples of the Earth’The University also has a uniquesystem of offering on-campus jobs tostudents, in lieu of tuition fees.Students greeted us at the receptioncentre and one of them, Sam, gave us alively tour of the campus.

We also saw the Kentucky Horse Park, which has almost everything related to horses. There is ahuge museum depicting evolution of the horse the animal and use of horses for martial and sportspurposes, and live demonstrations of horse riding and equestrian sports. A veritable Mecca for horselovers!

My host, David Tincher, turned out to be a musical genius. In fact his entire family was musical. Wewere soon to learn that Eastern Kentucky has a great musical tradition and is the home of BluegrassMusic and Country Music. I shared our Indian music with David and his wife Julie as they had agreat time dancing to the tune of ‘Roop Tera Mastana’.

On 3rd April we packed our bags for Ashland, on the great river Ohio. Our coordinator DonMaxwell, a seventy five year old veteran, dominated the scene at Ashland. Don, a bachelor, cared

for us like a loving parent. Hispunctuality, dedication and physicalstamina were marvelous. Besidesserving in Rotary, he also served onthe city council, managed a railwaymuseum and fed nuts to raccoonsthat came to his doorstep. We metmany such fine specimens ofHumanity in US. They are whatmakes the country great.

Don took us to the Carter caves,which has many interesting rockformations and also across the riverOhio to the fascinating HuntingtonMuseum. This area is known as theTri-state area as the state borders ofKentucky, West Virginia and Ohiomeet here. We saw huge bargesfilled with coal sailing down theriver Ohio. We also saw a liveconcert featuring country music anda cute dance form called tap-dance.

We said goodbye to Don on 6th Apriland were transferred to the custodyof James Glass from Pikeville. JamesGlass turned out to be a Foundation

Alumnus, having led a GSE team to Poland. He had invaluable insight into the programme andwent beyond the call of his duty to make our stay at Pikeville memorable. James took us to JennyWiley state resort park, to enjoy a break for 2 days, all by ourselves.

Jenny Wiley is a paradise in the mountains of Kentucky. Situated on the banks of an artificial lakethis resort offers wonderfulopportunities for outdooradventures. We had a gala timehere, exploring the picturesquehillsides, playing quaint gameslike Frisbee Golf and- thanks toJames Glass- fishing and rifleshooting! We also made atentative attempt at IndianCooking.

On the morning of 8th April weleft Jenny Wiley and enteredPikeville, in the heart of theAppalachian mountains. Thislittle town with a population of6000 boasts of a Rotary club

with a strength of 115 members and has provided leadership to the District in the form of DGERakesh Sachdeva. Pikeville is a town that moves mountains, in a literal sense. The Big Sandy River

used to flow through the town,constantly flooding and creatinghavoc. So the town just broke up anearby mountain and diverted theriver! It is supposed to be thegreatest engineering feat ever, nextonly to Panama Canal.

Pikeville has excellent medicalfacilities for a small town and wehad very satisfying vocationalvisits. We were in for some veryexciting tours too. At Kellogg’sfactory we saw the entire assemblyline for making a cookie- fromraw dough to the final package.

We also saw coal mines in action, natural gas rigs, and airstrips created by slicing off tops ofmountains!

Our journey continued deeperinto mountains as we leftPikeville for Whitesburg on April11 bidding farewell to mywonderful hosts Dave and CathyDenby. Whitesburg had a specialattraction for us, this being thehometown of GSE coordinatorJosephine. Myself and vaishalimade ourselves at home at herpicturesque house nestling in ahillside. The mountains gothigher at Whitesburg and we gotto do some real hard core hikinghere in the company of stalwartslike Roy and Barbara. We shared

a wonderful evening of danceand music with our hosts at thecountry cabin, and each one ofus tried our hand -or ratherfoot -at ball dance. The localradio station put us on air. Onthe whole, we spent some ofthe most enjoyable momentsof our tour at Whitesburg.

We moved on to Somerset on14th April. The countrysidenow took a different look aswe came out of the mountains.I was overwhelmed to find the

Indian tricolor fluttering at the home of my hosts John and Christie Adams! How thoughtful! AtSomerset we visited a community college, an institutionwhere they impart practical vocational skills. We saw hugeworkshops and hangars for repairing aeroplanes,helicopters and automobiles. The scale was awesome andalso some interesting departments like cosmetology,nursing assistants and physiotherapy. At Somerset we metanother GSE alumnus, Winter Huff, who took it uponherself to show us one of the most scenic spots in kentucky,the Cumberland Falls famous for ‘Moonbow’. We alsoenjoyed an unforgettable musical evening at Winter andJim Huff’s ‘Flintstone’ style house and a lavish party at DrParson’s splendid home which resembled a medieval castle!

The inevitable date of departure came on 17th April as JohnAdams loaded our baggage with meticulous precision on histruck and off we drove to Nashville, Tennessee forattending the joint District Conference. On the way we didget a chance to take a quick look at the most famous natural

wonder of Kentucky, the mammoth cave nationalpark.

Nashville, Tennessee is the capital of country musicand the venue for the joint District Conference wasa sprawling hotel, aptly named Sheraton MusicCity.

The conference was a compact affair compared tothe Rotary Conferences we have here in India, butthe precision and punctuality was amazing. Weheard some very fine speakers, but no speakerexceeded the time allocated to him. Neither were there apologies for sessions running late, norrequests to subsequent speakers to cut down their speeches. Our organizers have a lot to learn!

We had the good fortune of getting introduced to RI President Wilfrid Wilkinson. He is the verypicture of simplicity and modesty. We alsogot the opportunity to get introduced toincoming GSE teams from Japan, Korea andEngland.. At the conference, we had onemore opportunity to meet DG Tom, FirstLady Polky, Bill and his wife Joyce andmany more prominent Rotarians from theDistrict. We gave our own presentation andit was very well received. With a deep senseof accomplishment we departed for our finaldestination, Northern Kentucky on 20th

April.

I reached Bellevue, northern Kentucky with my host PDG Jerry Schneider and his wife Mary Lou.Across the river Ohio, lay the great Metropolitan city of Cincinnati. For the first time on our tour,we saw some skyscrapers and got a distinct big town feel. Northern Kentucky boasts of a fantasticCreation Museum at Florence and a fabulous aquarium at Newport. We gave presentations to three

clubs in this area. A grand farewell wasgiven to us on 22rd April, with TeamLeader Bill and his members attending.Many warm hugs and tearful farewellswere exchanged and we said ‘ adieu’ to RIDistrict 6740 on 23April, each of usproceeding our own way for a personaltour of US!

GSE gave us an opportunity to get a firsthand glimpse into the life of an Americanfamily. This is truly an experience that

money cannot buy. We shed many misconcepts about American life and were instrumental inspreading some awareness about Indiatoo. What is more important- we createdbonds of everlasting love andfriendship. The story begins, rather thanends here. That is the magic of GSE!