There are mailers sent out to all members (many hundreds) some months before the election. Then there are reminders again to many hundreds. A day before the voting, there are phone calls. The system is followed, to a greater or lesser extent, by all the candidates. Our phones keep ringing. There are polite requests, sometimes even veiled threats. They all seem so keen to win!And what is surprising is that this is only an honorary position.

For this, I receive letters (anonymous) that tell me of the misdeeds of the earlier committee and the outgoing president, and why there should now be a change in the leadership of the club. These letters list out what the new president will do to correct the situation. One presidential candidate may also start a whispering smear campaign against other presidential candidates. The whole environment can becomequite unbecoming.

As I was entering another club one afternoon, I found some very senior corporate managers and two doctors waiting in the lobby. As other members and I entered the gymkhana, some of them came up and introduced themselves and informed us that they were candidates for the ballotting committee.

Others whom I had already known, came up and whispered requests into my ear, to please vote for them. These were all very senior people who would be difficult to meet in their offices if one sought an interview. Yet, why were they demeaning themselves to seek this un-remunerative office?It is the same with service organisations like the Rotary Club or Lions Club. The bid for the district governorship is like a miniature US presidential campaign.

There are phone calls and personal meetings. There are teas and dinners hosted. Every attempt is made-directly and indirectly-to influence the final vote. And yet, these are social or charity organisations. There is no remuneration for the president whenhe is elected. Why do they take so much trouble and incur so much expenditure, when there are no obvious gains from being elected-especially financial gains? The answer is just one word: Recognition. It is recognition of one's value, by one's peer group. Such recognition is very important for the individual.

It therefore impels people to do all they can, to win, sometimes even grab, this recognition.Some time ago, the president of CII, Rahul Bajaj, stated in a press interview that he was devoting so much time to CII work, that he was neglecting work to be done for his own company. On another occasion, Sudhir Jalan, erstwhile president of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry), expressed the same view. He had virtually taken a year's holiday from his regular job, in order to discharge his duties as FICCI president.

A few years ago, Rajendra Saboo went on to become the world president of Rotary International and moved to Evanston, USA, taking a full year's break from his business.Naturally, the business must have suffered.They will all explain this away as a service to industry, or to the community, or to the organisation; that they felt impelled to give back to society what they had themselves received from society. It is repaying a debt. To an extent, this must be true.

But an unstated reason will still be the need for recognition by their equals or peers, so that those elected in these organisations are accepted as first among equals.Travelling through Kerala, I find large houses being constructed by those who have accumulated considerable wealth after working in the Gulf. I found some of these houses unusually large and occupied by just a few old people, generally the parents of those working abroad. Many of these houses are in fact a burden to maintain, even in terms of daily cleaning, when servants are both scarce and expensive. Potential housemaids in the region have perhaps themselves gone to the Middle East.

Why have they built these white elephants? Because they couldnot resist the temptation to show to their peers from the village where they had their roots, that they have made it. And made it big. If Menon is working in Muscat, perhaps many in Muscat already know that Menon is a rich man. But that does not satisfy Menon. He would want the other Menons in his village (whom perhaps he has not met for 30 years) to know that Menon has arrived!A village in Gujarat was reputed to have the largest number of cars per capita, among villages in India. How did this come about? Because some of the people from this village had gone out into the world and achieved great success.

They came back to the village and built huge mansions. They also maintained a car there for their occasional visits. Over a period of time, the wealth and status of a person was measured by the number of cars he maintained at his house in the village. Some were reputed to have as many as seven or eight cars parked there and idling. They did not mind this mindless expenditure.

It seemed to achieve theirmajor objective-to be recognised by fellow villagers and kinsmen as having arrived! This was far more satisfying than to be recognised in a distant town by strangers who were not one's kith and kin. There are many who address gatherings and meet ministers in government and give them ideas on good management each year. The remuneration for the time and effort they put in would be far less than if they spent the same time and effort in consulting for corporates in the developed world. Yet, why do they do it? Because recognition and acceptance of an Indian by Indians means far more to them than the extra dollars they might have earned.

It is an acknowledgement that they have arrived.Expatriates working in trade in the Gulf to make a quick buck, or working in academia in the US-the objective is the same, a basic thirst that needs to be quenched. The need to be recognised, accepted and praised by one's own peer group. This is worth far more to the heart than many other accolades.

(Walter Vieira ispresident, Marketing Advisory Services, Mumbai.)