The Doll With One Eye

Every discussion on Rotary's fight against polio in India begins with one man - Past Rotary International President Rajendra K. Saboo.

He was the pioneer who gave Rotary's efforts in India a national shape, launching dedicated NIDs - National Immunization Days - when the idea of immunizing every child in a single day seemed impossible.

The journey began with a powerful symbol.

In 1991, at a UNICEF conference at the United Nations in New York, RI President Rajendra K. Saboo painted one eye of the Daruma doll, pledging Rotary's commitment to end polio. The tradition is to paint the second eye when the wish comes true."

The tradition he explained: In Japanese folklore, a child paints one eye of the doll while making a wish and paints the second eye when that wish is realised. His wish was, of course, total eradication of polio. "That Daruma doll is still waiting for its second eye, and I hope very soon an RI President will be drawing the second eye on it," he said. 

The second eye, he said, would be painted only on the day the world becomes truly polio-free.

We have travelled far since then. India is polio-free.

But our work is not done. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain endemic. As long as polio exists anywhere, children everywhere are at risk.

So the Daruma doll waits - with one eye full of hope, and one eye waiting for history.

The day we paint that second eye is not far. And it will be Rotary's finest hour.