INDIA CLUB History

ARTICLE:
India Club: Now and Then
By: Braj Prasad

In the life of an organization, there comes three stages: origin, growth and decline. India Club is no exception. It had a humble beginning, a vibrant growth, and has a promising future. We have seen no sign for a decline yet.

ORIGIN
Back in the 1960’s, a few individuals, who were residents of Vancouver and recently migrated to Canada from India felt the need for an organization which could provide an opportunity to fulfill their social, cultured, and sports related needs. After a few informal get-togethers over picnics, wine and cheese parties, dinner and card games, they decided to finally name the group as “India Club”; thus India Club was born. Later, they drafted a constitution and spelled over the clubs’ goals and objectives. In May 1969, India Club was registered as a charitable organization under the British Columbia Societies Act.

GROWTH
The first order of business of the new club was to organize a relief fund for Bangledesh under UNICIEF. Then, they embarked on a major project: installation of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Simon Fraser University campus. This was an ambitious project which required enormous amount of money. This was beyond the resources available to the newly formed India Club. In addition, it also required collaborative efforts from the SFU Board of Government to get the approval of the project site on the campus. The club decided to go beyond their own group and extend their fundraising activities to Indo-Canadian communities of British Columbia. After gruel some efforts on behalf of some enthusiastic and committed club members the project was completed. Finally, the day arrived and on January 30, 1970, the structure of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled, garland and handed over to Dr Strand, the then Resident of S.F.U. by Late Dr J. K. Pavri.
Other major activities of the period were celebration of Shi Aurbindo’s birthday and Shi Rabindranath Tagore Centenary. During this period, the club started to look at the service-oriented activities and one of the major projects they concluded was the organization of a “walk-a-thon” to raise funds for “Operation Eye-Sight International”. Also, they collected funds to award student scholarship at the U.B.C. and collection of toys for the sick children at the Vancouver General Hospital. In fundraising drive, the club also organized “Casino Night”, which generated funds to start the“Trust Fund” to award MSE scholarship to students of U.B.C. and secondary schools. In 1981, the club decided to invite ladies and youths to take a major role in the activities of the club. Ladies organized fashion shows, “Holi” and Christmas parties, which were attended by celebrities like Consul of India, Mayor of Vancouver, and the President of the University of British Columbia. The youth group became much more active and took over the role of organizing Walk-a-Thons, Picnics, and Halloween parties. Among the popular social activities, 2-3 days out of town picnics were a major attractions and Christmas dinner was a gala event which members, especially ladies, looked forward to.
Since 1970, India Club added few service oriented programs; such as “Career Fest” and “Triple A’s” (Academic, achievers, and sports A award). “Career Fest” aimed at facilitating a dialogue between the school students and the panel of career professionals and “technocrats” who were on the threshold by choosing a career of their choice. The “Triple A’s” focused on honoring the high school graduates of Indian origin who excelled in their academic achievements as well as sporting events. This event is organized in a “mini convocation” style where a reward of $600 is generally given to six deserving graduates in academic field and $500 award to best sportsman.
“Mehfil-E-Gharal” - a social evening of music, drama, and art who came about at the same time and it added a new leaf in the cultural activities of the club.

FUTURE
The future of India Club is very much secure. Like any organization, it has “ups”and”dows”, nonetheless it has a sound foundation. It is one club which has no territorial boundaries. Members comprise of all political beliefs, multi lingual ethenic origins, and has no “labels” like Hindus, Sikhs, Gujratis, Bengalees or the like. This feature of the club appeals to many. While addressing the students and members of the India Club, Mr Ujjal Dosanjh who is a well respected member of Indian community and a successful member of Canadian Parliament spoke which is summarized as follows: India Club is one organization which in true sense represents all ethenic groups. It has no borders, in fact it is open to all and because of this belief, he is attracted to this club activities.

For the last few years, the club is gasping for more strength especially in the “Yuva Group”. Time has changed; in the beginning, the members were generally middle-aged and there were family oriented activities like Picnics, Halloween and Christmas parties, and Walk-a-Thons. Those “start-up” members have aged and the family composition has changed. The children have gone and the members’ priorities have changed. Very few young members are attracted to the club resulting in diminished interest in activities like Christmas and Halloween parties and sporting activities. The source of funding is mostly membership fee. The renewal of membership and adding new members are not an easy task. It will require connected efforts on the part of the existing members to encourage new memberships. In addition to this, a program evaluation is required to attract new member.

In spite of the doom and gloom scenarios, the spirit of India club is still alive and kicking. There is a need to change the direction of the club and motivate the members to put extra time and efforts to make the organization strong and vibrant. Long Live India Club!