Netnet Camomot
THE Rotary always has a community singing in its weekly meeting program. It was an awkward moment the first time we did that 17 years ago. Like, Why are we singing during a meeting?
But if you’ve been doing it for 17 years, you have no choice but to get used to the idea. There was a time, though, when I chose Pearl Jam for the songs, and it became more of solo rather than community singing, with me of course as the soloist.
How to make Rotarians bang their heads to “Jeremy”? That’s the question.
I’ve learned to adjust. It was co-Kalayaan Rotarian Immediate Past President Doy Ramiro who suggested the Beatles since they're the favorite of our Charter President Linda Deleste--I've not confirmed that from Linda, though--so I google Beatles whenever I have to choose the song for the week. And for this week, it's "Strawberry Fields Forever."
Then, we can have "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" next week. Please don't tell them about LSD and, you know, stuff. Hehe.
A song has a way of bringing us back to a memory that the minute brain hopefully still remembers. Scents and the back of a man's head and nape also have that same effect. Any woman can relate with this. You're in a crowd, a mob, even a People Power rally, you stand there, looking around for that one familiar aura, and there he is--the love of your life. There's not much effort there. The forces of love and passion and, hmmm, lust combine to help you find each other in the middle of nowhere.
But it's the song that lingers as it plays till the last note.
That's why a love story usually has its theme song. No, not always. Only usually. There are love stories that had no time to choose a theme song--wham bam thank you ma'am--thus, not always.
But even the quickies have this one ever reliable song that can trigger raised eyebrows, the rolling of eyeballs, fire and brimstone bursting off nostrils: "Isang Linggong Pag-ibig."
"Lunes/Ng tayo'y magkakilala/Martes/Ng tayo'y muling nagkita...Sabado/Tayo'y biglang nagkatampuhan..."
And that could be community singing for a Rotary meeting--I guess everyone knows how to sing that. Everyone above 40, that is. Like "Matud Nila": "Matud nila dili ako angay..." Ayay.
Anyway, there I was, preparing the Rotary accomplishment report to be submitted to our district governor. That's the work I brought to wherever, would have carried it around to this concert if the laptop were as light as a feather, so I could finish the report sooner than later.
I found myself pausing in-between the copying and pasting of photos, the scanning of documents, the emails and texts of updates from our Club's partners in service. I had to pause so I could breathe. Too many memories in those photos.
The presidency was something I never aspired for. I was content being the Club's forever-and-ever bulletin chair and public relations chair--those are the two things I truly love to do. But for so many years, I had been pushed to be president already since I'm one of the charter members who have chosen to stay with the Club. And it's kind of SOP for the charter member to be president someday, way ahead of those who became members after the charter induction.
By January 2015, when we were having our January fellowship at the Xavier Estates clubhouse, I finally allowed myself to be pushed to the top position in the Club.
Being with Rotary for 17 years is like working for a company for 17 years. The only difference is, Rotary is voluntary.
Work can't be voluntary all the time--you need the money to survive, you have children who need money for their food, shelter, education, and there's the prestige of having work to do. To be idle and hungry are not the options you want to face daily. So, you work.
The voluntary part in Rotary, however, is in the earliest stage of recruitment--when you're invited to join and you can say yes or no. But once you're inducted, you now have the responsibility to be a good Rotarian--attending meetings, joining Rotary activities and projects, paying dues. You cannot not volunteer anymore: Ay, can't attend the weekly meeting--I'm watching the Madonna concert. Wait, that's what I did last week!
A club president sees everything. Once you're seated at the lead table or one end of a long table, can't help but sense auras that you're better off ignoring. But you see, feel, taste, hear, smell every single thing. Your thoughts running fast while uttering words--you're listening while presiding over the meeting, with your minute brain focused on, What's going on? Where are all these coming from? That's when you realize the reason behind having a Zone 1 Council of Presidents--only your classmates can relate with your story now.
The accomplishment report should be called "The Rotary Year That Has Been." That report is not pages of accomplishments. Instead, it's a story that requires reading between the lines. No matter how many photos you put in that report, it can never truly convey the real story behind the headlines.
Our Club has two weekly feeding programs. One for 241 students, the other for 96 students. I go to the first one whenever my time allows, along with its chair Joy Tabor, club secretary Kim Daguman, and the team assigned for the month. Past Assistant Governor Gigi Go has been the one supporting the second feeding program.
Whenever people say that Rotary is for the elite and it's all about tarpaulins and ballroom gowns, I look at the time spent for Rotary and wonder why people think all we do is pasosyalan.
Rotary is work. That's probably why it has many reluctant club presidents, and many hesitant potential presidents.
I had never sung "I Will Survive" before. But during our five-in-one fellowship--charter anniversary, Valentine's, Chinese New Year, February birthday party, induction of new members--last February 10, I sang the whole song with passion. Haha! If that's what the club presidency has produced out of me, then it's all worth it.
Despite the reluctance, no regrets, though. I've learned so much in the, hmmm, eight months of toil so far. Four months more to go.
And there's the report that's starting to be thicker than Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."
I have a friend who was once president of another organization. At that time, after hearing some stories about that presidency, I thought, Oh, what happened? And then, here I am. Oh, well.
