India Club Jakarta a popular meeting place

India Club Jakarta a popular meeting place

Joyeeta Dutta Ray, Contributor/Jakarta

Indonesia has a flourishing Indian community of business
professionals and executives who are rapidly making a name for
themselves.

As a forum for bringing them together, The India Club Jakarta
plays a prominent role.

The club is a not-for-profit organization registered in
Indonesia. The Indian ambassador to Indonesia in 1981, Mr.
Bhutani, initiated the club on Aug. 23 that year. Twenty Indian
families congregated at an informal meeting over tea and snacks
to commemorate the event.

Sometime in 1989, the first constitution of the club was
drafted out. A series of established guest artists from India
were invited for functions at the club, attracting a spurt of new
members.

The club currently has more than 500 Indian families,
including expatriates and Indians of Indonesian descent. Nalin
Rathod now leads as president, followed by Prasoon Mukherjee as
vice president. In all, the decision-making committee comprises
12 members.

The club engages in a wide variety of sociocultural
activities, often in collaboration with JNICC (the Indian
cultural center) and the Indian Embassy.

"Artists who have performed in Jakarta at the invitation of
the India Club during the past years include Sonal Mansingh,
Jagjit Singh, Anup Jhalota, Gulam Ali, Pandit. Bhimsen Joshi,
Asha Bhosale and Sonu Nigam." says Rakesh Jain, a committee
member. Each of the names he cites is renowned and respected
throughout India.

Besides this, the club organizes an annual Diwali dinner, New
Years' night, an annual sports event where games like badminton,
tennis, and table tennis are played and, of late, the Miss India
Indonesia beauty pageant, where talented young beauties vie for
the crown.

By popular demand, there are regular screenings of Hindi
films.

In social welfare, the club is known to assist the needy,
especially at times of natural calamity like the Gujarat
earthquake in India 2004, when they donated an ambulance.

Last year, Dr. Deepti Desai, a specialist in biomagnetic
therapy, was invited to administer free treatment to interested
members." One of the most popular events in 2004 was the football
championships," adds Prasoon Mukherjee.

"The India Club sponsored and supported the East Bengal Team
from India. The team went on to win the Asean Cup Championships
later. It was a moment of tremendous pride and excitement for
us", he says.

"Another well-received event was a fusion classical dance show
involving JNICC students and handicapped Indonesian children,"
continues general secretary Mirchu Samtani. The idea behind all
this is to promote interaction and close ties within the
community, foster friendship between India and Indonesia and stay
closely connected with events in India.

It is to their credit that despite the low annual membership
fee, all events and dining invitations offered since the club's
inception have been free of charge to members.

The India Club has gone to great lengths to have the
expatriate Indian community feel at home in Indonesia, while
embracing Indians with Indonesian citizenship into their fold.

Their efforts are laudable. Especially in the face of a
glaring omission -- the club has no permanent building!

"Being a not-for-profit organization, funding has always
depended on sponsorship. Meetings and events have been hosted at
mutually convenient locations -- usually offices or hotels,"
clarifies Amit Baxi, an active committee member.

"We are discussing plans to build a permanent place with a
well-stocked library, sports facilities and cultural classes for
our children", says Prasoon Mukherjee. This is the vision of our
president, Nalin Rathod. In a few months this committee will be
dissolve and a new team will be elected. We shall propose the
idea to them -- the decision will be in their hands," he says.

That does not limit enthusiasm. On March 26 and March 27 the
India Club will see yet another get-together to celebrate the
festival of Holi.

The program includes transport to Purwakarta, one night's
hotel stay, meals and a variety of fun-filled programs. As usual,
not an extra rupiah will be charged.

Going by the number of smiles in the photograph, a club
without a roof does not seem to be a major issue for most
members.

What matters is the family they have found.