Speech delivered by R.W. Bro. Sisir Kr. Ghosh, Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master, Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India at the Annual Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge held on 28th February, 2009 at Freemasons’ Hall, Varanasi.

M.W. Bro. Chief Justice Devinder Gupta, recipient of Order of Service to Masonry, Most Worshipful the Grand Master, R.W. Bro. Dr. Capt. Balaram Biswakumar, recipient of Order of Service to Masonry, Grand Master-Elect, my dear R.W. Bro. S. Krishnan, recipient of Order of Service to Masonry, Regional Grand Master of Northern India, R.W. Bro. Varanasi Narasimhan, Regional Grand Master of Southern India; Right Worshipful Brethren, Very Worshipful Brethren, Worshipful Brethren and my dear Brethren all – I welcome you all to the Annual Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India in the Holy City of Varanasi, a cradle of India’s Ancient civilization and I am grateful to all those who have taken time out of their busy schedules to attend our meeting. 

Annual Meetings of Regions are a time for stock-taking and reflection on the collective performance of the Region in the past one year. The 16th of February this year marked one year since Most Worshipful the Grand Master reposed his confidence in me and installed me as the Regional Grand Master of this Region. In the past year the Region has made progress in several fields. However, let me first point out our severest hurdle i.e. dropouts. I concede, not unlike my colleagues present here today and M.W. the Grand Master, that dropouts, whether in the form of cessations or resignations, has attained the proportions of a Masonic pandemic. A quotation on the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Washington D.C. says “We receive none, knowingly, into our ranks who are not moral and upright before God and of good repute before the world". Speaking of our own Region in particular, we thus find three main areas of concern;

1. Existing Members who had joined several Lodges over the past 3-4 years, for reasons known best to them and those who persuaded them to do so, are now resigning from most of them thus raising the figures of ‘resignations’. 

2. Candidates who were mass-proposed and mass-initiated apparently without discernment or imparting a true picture of Freemasonry, and forgotten thereafter, have stopped coming to the Lodges and have either been ceased or are about to be ceased. This adds to the figures of Cessations alike.

3. Lodges, Chapters and Mark Lodges which were also hurriedly consecrated without considering their viability or revival of those who were barely functioning or had ceased to function altogether, have now in their turn stopped functioning as most of the ‘joining members’ thereof bid adieu to them. They have even stopped sending their returns. 

While we learn and cope with mistakes of the past, we are also cognizant of our own realities in the present. In the past one year under guidance from M.W. the Grand Master, I and my administration have tried to hold the Region together, quell discontent and apply a balm of empathy and understanding wherever required. I have time and again tried to take everyone along and give them a fair chance. However, I am sad to say that a very thin section of our Brethren have mistaken fair-mindedness as a sign of weakness. Brethren, Freemasonry is not a platform for grinding axes of personal vendetta or one-upmanship. Those who think it to be so, have misunderstood Masonry. Our Grand Master has time and again stressed that in Freemasonry the organisation is much larger than the individual and I concur with his sentiments, for unless we move forward together, the meaning of Brotherhood is lost. This brings me to another disturbing trend, which I have been unfortunate to witness in the past few months.Bro. Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain once said “It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not deserve them”. My dear Brethren, ranks are a token of appreciation, recognition for services rendered to Masonry. They are not weapons for an ego-battle. They are not and should certainly not be chips for bargaining. Despicable usages of recommendations, lobbying from people who ‘think’ they still control the Region,even the vile scent of dissent and for lack of a better word, blackmail, permeate the sanctorum of Masonry when the season for granting ranks arrives. Ranks, either active or past, are not decorations. They are not to be gratefully accepted and then duly forgotten. Being recipient of a rank means you are charged with duties and responsibilities which are incumbent upon you on your acceptance of such rank. While seniority is treasured and respected, that alone cannot be and should not be the criteria for ranks, efficiency and performance also have a great role to play. If you want ranks, show me your performance, if you cannot, do not seek that which you do not deserve. Masonic legend states that Freemasons have been ‘free’ men since the time of King Cyrus, let us my Brethren, not be slaves to blind ambition or petty jealousies. 

Let me now turn to our positive achievements, and I daresay, despite what I have said hitherto, they far outshine the negatives. While dropouts remain our foremost concern, we have made a substantial number of Initiations in the past year and most of these Initiates, from the information received by me, are taking Masonry seriously. One redeeming fact in all this is a growing trend in the number of young Initiates between the ages of 25-30 who are being Initiated in the Eastern Region. In the past one year we have Initiated 119 candidates in Craft which is a 5% increase, we have exalted 16 brethren in Chapter which is a 4% increase, we have advanced 31 candidates in Mark which is a 7% increase and we have elevated 11 candidates in RAM which is a 5% increase over the previous year’s figures. We have achieved these figures despite the problems I outlined earlier. I hope to improve these figures by the next Annual meeting, not like the fleeting hare, but like the slow yet steady tortoise. Many Lodges in our Region have started their own charity projects and I have had the opportunity to visit some of them. Lodge Anchor and Hope No.1 has been working on Bodhana for the past few years and the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India continues to support their efforts. Lodge Kamrup in Guwahati is also continuing with the Ojha Hem Chandra Barua Vidyamandir School - The vernacular medium school situated within Guwahati with strength of around 400 students and caters to children belonging to the poorer / lower middle classes and is operating out of land leased from the N.E.F. Railways. The Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India has undertaken to fund the purchase of computers so that this school can impart I.T. education to it’s students. Lodge Pachauri in Pratapgarh has also started an educational programme wherein an annual award in the name of Late W.Bro. Dr. B. N. Kapoor is awarded to meritorious students who stand 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Govt. Inter College from class six to class twelve. A Scholarship in the name of Late R.W.Bro. P.M. Pachauri is also given to the student who stands first in class 10 in Govt. Inter College every year. In the last week of December, 2008 four Lodges celebrated their Centenary in Kolkata over which Most Worshipful the Grand Master presided. Three Lodges out of these, notably Lodge Good Fellowship No. 71, The Sir Andrew Fraser Lodge No. 72 and The St. Mary Lodge no. 75, who celebrated their Centenary jointly, also decided to undertake some on-going charity projects jointly. M.W. the Grand Master was kind enough to inaugurate the new ‘Dental Clinic’ of the Masonic Polyclinic Association of Eastern India and the Free Eye Camp the very next morning, both of which were undertaken, organised and sponsored by these three lodges. They have also vouched to continue their support to the Masonic Polyclinic while continuing with their individual charity programmes. I have also had occasion to visit a charity project that Lodge Mount Everest-Lebong No. 53 has undertaken in the Dum-Dum area of Kolkata. 

The Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India is unwavering in it’s support for the Masonic Polyclinic Association of Eastern India. We have managed to revive it in the past year by bringing in new doctors, new equipment and introducing new services. I made a plea in the Half yearly Meetings held at Shillong that all Lodges and Individual Brethren in the Region should come forward and help the Poly Clinic, some have, most haven’t. Later this evening the Regional Grand Secretary is going to make an announcement towards life-membership and Patrons for the Masonic Polyclinic Association of Eastern India. I am making a personal appeal to you to directly stand up, introduce yourself and announce your donation here itself. The Regional Grand Secretary will note down the names and collect your donations subsequently. I personally announce a Patron’s donation of Rs. 10,000/- in cash. Those who become Patrons of the Polyclinic shall be awarded a specially designed jewel at the next Half-Yearly Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India. 

In the Half Yearly Meetings at Shillong Most Worshipful the Grand Master inaugurated the new Website of the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India. The new email addresses of the Region have also been distributed since then. He also inaugurated the Quarterly Newsletter of the Region titled ‘Light from the East’. I am informed by the Editor that many Lodges in the Region have come forward with articles, advertisements and subscriptions for the Newsletter. I congratulate our Editor, W.Bro. Ambarish Singh Roy for a commendable job and wish this Newsletter all the success it deserves. The next issue is due to be released later this week and I urge all the Lodges to subscribe to this newsletter on behalf of their Brethren.

Some Lodges in our Region have started their own Websites in accordance with the rules laid down by the Grand Lodge of India. Notable amongst them are Lodge Good Fellowship No.71, Lodge St. David in the East No. 11, The Sir Andrew Fraser Lodge No. 72 and The St. Mary Lodge No. 75. They have represented their Lodge’s history, activities and details admirably on their Websites, and I hope that more Lodges will follow suit in keeping with the times.

Brethren, Varanasi has always been a seat of Indian culture, learning and enlightenment. The Masons of Varanasi have not only proved their mettle, under the able guidance of my Deputy Regional Grand Master W.Bro. Ashok Gupta and R.W. Bro. Kumar Vijayanand Singh, by organising and hosting this Annual Meeting, but also by restoring and beautifying Freemasons’ Hall, Varanasi. This restoration does credit to those Freemason in this fair city who have come forward and contributed to this labour of brotherly love. I congratulate you one and all for your dedicated work. However, today I miss some familiar faces around me, who have perhaps been kept away for some reason or other. I wish them well. 

At this juncture, I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to M.W. Bro. Justice Devinder Gupta, OSM, our beloved Grand Master, not only for the confidence he has reposed in me, but also for providing me guidance and valuable suggestions whenever I have required it. I look forward to receiving the same support and guidance from R.W. Bro. Capt. Dr. Balaram Biswakumar, OSM, who will take over as our Grand Master later this year.

In conclusion, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Organising Secretary W.Bro. Umesh Dhandhania and all the members of the Organising Committee, who have put in their sincere efforts to see to the comforts of our guests. I thank you all, my brethren for giving me a patient hearing and I wish you a pleasant evening ahead.