Appreciations & Recognitions

A Reflection of my Visits to India from 2006 - Present

From: RAMPUR VISWANATH <r.viswanath@yahoo.com> on Mon, 17 Dec 2018

If I remember well, I have visited India (Bangalore in particular) along with every Hazardous Materials Management Team that traveled to India for teaching courses and participating in workshops and seminars. All of you, together, put in special effort to take care of every team member and attend to their individual needs, every time a team came. In my mind, this has been an arduous task for all of you, however, you all took care of them with zeal, care, compassion, love and affection. You prepared a clean and clear schedule for every arrival and departure and made sure that everyone arrived safely and departed safely. Just imagine the number of teams and the number of team members that came to Bangalore, you were able to keep all of them in good humor by catering to their personal needs, helping them keep good health and stay safe. This is just amazing.

On the events side, you also wanted to make sure that every event was a real success and yes, they were all a real success without exception. You simply nailed down the protocols, organization structure, logistics, required resources, facility needs, publicity, communications, registrations, conduct of the events, entertainment, sightseeing and so on. You sacrificed your personal time, used your influence, asked for favors, had sleepless nights, spent your own funds on occasions, all of this was not for your benefit but it was for common good, the people of Bangalore and for the rest of the country.

In Rotary we say, "Service Above Self," or simply put, it is a selfless service for bringing awareness and imparting hazardous materials management education for the professionals, regulators, academia, students and all those interested. This has been just outstanding and very remarkable. No certificate or no memento can justify your generosity, magnanimity and your service or can completely recognize your passion, devotion and commitment to the cause. I understand that you recognize everyone at these events but no one comes forward to recognize all of you, it is a pity that we do not do a good job of that. You guys deserve all the kudos, all the honor and recognition. I, from the bottom of my heart, salute all of you and express my deep, grateful and heartfelt thanks for everything you have done.

Something very special that I noticed, every time I visited Bangalore, everyone of you treated me with utmost respect, fond love and a lot of affection. I do not know why you extended such a special attention to me but I am very much appreciative of that. In all those years (2016 - Present), I never felt alone or out of place or lack of company or lack of care, you guys were always there to help me every time I needed something. You all just took care of me all these years. I am really privileged to associate with all of you!

Just a note: Just yesterday, I had a conference call with the Career Services Department of the American Chemical Society (the largest professional society in the world) National office, they have in principle, agreed to take Career Services to India. If everything works, Bangalore will be the first city in the country (India) for this collaboration with ACS National. Please let me know, if there is interest at your end. I can provide more details of how it works, who is the target audience, who gets benefit and all that. A couple of ACS Career Services Department individuals from Washington, DC (their head office) will travel to India to work with us in making arrangements to arrange Career Services workshops and seminars. Please let me know.

Please feel free to forward this email to our common friends as you see fit.

Wishing all of you wonderful Holidays and an exciting New Year!

Viswanath

Jennifer (Jen) Koenig, CHMM

To my friends in India – I now have the personal experience to understand and communicate the beauty and charm of your country. I wish to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation for all the hospitality each of you (and many behind the scenes people) extended on our behalf.

I am from a part of the USA known for its hospitality. We call it “Southern Hospitality” and those from the part of the USA below the halfway mark (primarily on the Eastern half) consider ourselves ambassadors to all visitors. Your hospitality has outdone anything we could have dreamed of and I am humbled and honored by all your efforts on our behalf.

I wish to also extend a thanks to those we taught during our visit. I hope each of you will convey to those who attended our workshops and conferences that we appreciated their attentiveness and willingness to consider new ideas. I especially enjoyed your fledgling environmental engineers (hopefully they weren’t insulted that I called them my “baby environmental professionals”). I don’t often have the opportunity to teach such young and receptive minds. I found it refreshing. I’ve reached out to several of them via Linked In in hopes we can continue our discussions and sharing of ideas.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance to you or your students in the future. I often teach environmental topics and have many resources I am willing to share. With internet assistance, we can share many things virtually and never leave the comfort of our offices. Still, I am blessed to have been able to visit your country in person and to meet each of you. Your friendship, camaraderie and passion for living is something I will remember all my life.

Blessings in this New Year.