e-Interview with the MW Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India,
MW Bro. Justice Devinder Gupta, OSM.
November 2009
Brethren,
As most of my regular readers know, I have a special interest, fascination, and love for India. A passion that has drawn me there on several occasions and has given me some of my most fond memories of Freemasonry.
So it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the current Grand Master of India, the Most Worshipful Brother Justice Devinder Gupta, OSM.
M.W. Brother Justice Gupta, Thank you kindly for taking time out of your busy schedule to have this interview with me today.
Q.:- Come November you will have been a Freemason for 36 years and during that time you have not only risen to the pinnacle of our glorious Craft, but also in your public service, as a Chief Justice. With such staggering personal accomplishments, how do you feel that Freemasonry has helped you to develop on a personal level?
Ans.:- Looking back I feel that there has been tremendous impact of freemasonry in my life. I was born in a family wherein we were taught to lead what in India we call a DHARMIC way of life. After joining freemasonry I found no difference in the masonic teachings and what we were taught in our family ‘to follow the straight and undeviating line of conduct as laid down for our pursuit in the volumes of the sacred law wherein the limits of good and evil are defined for our instructions. In order to follow the undeviating line of conduct, every Man is bound always to behave himself towards others, as in reason he would desire they should in like circumstances deal with him’.
On joining Freemasonry I learn that its mission is to engage and inspire good men, who believe in a Supreme Being, to live according to Masonic tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. The mission is guided by the core values of the fraternity: Freemasons strive to be honest, truthful and reliable, living in a just and upright manner. Freemasons embrace diversity of opinion, religious, ethnic, cultural, social and educational differences. I continue to practice these principles.
During my profession as a lawyer for 23 years and later as a judge and Chief Justice for 15 years I continued to apply the principles learnt in Freemasonry. I found that in its essence Freemasonry, as a whole, is a way, a life, of values and morals integrated together and becoming a part of us. It is not morals and values thought of and practiced in isolation or in fragments but by being integrated into our lives. And such an integrated life goes by the popular terminology in India a DHARMIC way of life. My profession was such which gave me sufficient opportunity in my life to practice those high principles taught in Freemasonry. I think only Freemasonry could have moulded my life like that.
Q.:- At the Conference of Masonic Grand Lodges of Asia/Pacific you gave a speech on “Bringing about improvement to Freemasonry”, but more specifically about your vision of “Masonic Liberalization,“ in which you outlined an action plan in which you would implement during your tenure. I must say that I felt it was a very ambitious plan and I wonder now, several years later if you feel that the original plan was on track or if there is anything you would change in hindsight?
Ans.:- As a matter of fact, due to some unforeseen circumstance at the last moment, I was unable to undertake journey to Sydney to attend the annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of NSW & ACT and the Asia/Pacific Conference of the Masonic Grand Lodges. Any how I had sent my paper to be read in the Conference. I did not received any intimation whether the said paper was actually read or not, but for the benefit of my brethren, the article was made available to them.
Yes I did talk about my plan on Masonic Liberlisation saying –
“I am strongly of the view that in this era of Globalization and Economic Liberalization there is also need for what I would like to call as “Masonic Liberlisation”. When I took over as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of India in October 2006 I suggested the following Vision and Mission Statement for Freemasonry in our country.
Vision:
Mission:
- Adopt “Each One Bring One” as a slogan so that we not only have more men in Freemasonry but also more Freemasonry in more men;
- Spread the message and philosophy of Freemasonry widely to instil more Freemasonry in men;
- Check dropouts by vigorous efforts at Lodge level;
- Endeavour to make Freemasonry more vibrant and dynamic.
In fact Grand Lodge of India has issued a circular letter to all the Lodges under its jurisdiction suggesting some of the modalities that can be followed by which such Masonic Liberlisation can be achieved.
I feel that since the problems faced by the Grand Lodges all over the world are somewhat similar, the steps suggested to be taken by Grand Lodge of India, to bring about Masonic Liberlisation, may also be relevant to Grand Lodges elsewhere, of course subject not only to the actual condition of Freemasonry obtaining in the jurisdiction of the different Grand Lodges, but also on account of the cultural, ethnic, economic and other differences, that inevitably exist between jurisdictions. Nevertheless, I take this opportunity for sharing various steps which Grand Lodge of India has been advising the Lodges to implement, to bring about Masonic Liberlisation which I feel can bring about improvement in Freemasonry”.
During my tenure as the Grand Master I have tried to implement my strategy by adopting various means and mechanism. Initially I was under an impression that results might be available soon. But I was wrong. Now i realise that it is just like sowing seeds of a plant, which come to fruiting after a long gap and not at least before a decade or so. In any case the strategy has started working now. Though the results are not yet visible but I am clear in my mind and of the firm belief that I have been able to make a positive impact on the minds and outlook of the brethren which definitely will yield results the years to come.
Q.:- During your years in office, Freemasonry in India has indeed been thriving. I have had the great honour of partaking in several Grand Lodge functions and visiting numerous lodges around India and have found that not only were the Brethren especially hospitable and friendly, but they were very much involved and ambitious about Freemasonry. Why do you think that Freemasonry in India is so vibrant and refreshing?
Ans.:-
I think it is the positive impact of the policies adopted to bring Masonic Liberlisation and spread the message and philosophy of Freemasonry as widely as possible by instilling more Freemasonry in men which has made Freemasonry vibrant in the country. As a Grand Master my effort has been to reach personally each and every Freemason and meet him on level. One to one contact with brethren and trying to remove or clarify their doubts, if any, by senior brethren has its own impact. My emphasis always has been to encourage younger masons and bring them in front to manage the affairs of the Lodge with Past Masters performing the role of advisors only.
Q.:- I have read some statistics you outlined in one of your previous speeches about the amount of lodges and their membership from year to year, and I believe that most countries would like to see the same results.
2006 – 342 Lodges, 16,500 Brethren
2007 – 351 Lodges, 17,229 Brethren
2008 – 356 Lodges, 18,004 Brethren
This massive increase I’m sure is the envy of many other Grand Lodges and I have several questions regarding them.
1 – What do you believe is the driving force behind new membership?
Ans.:-
In the paper ‘
Bringing about improvement to freemasonry’ I had mentioned about various circulars issued by the Grand Lodge of India to its Lodges and ways and means to be adopted and suggested that with some modification according to their own requirements the same could be adopted in various Grand Lodges. I mentioned:
In fact Grand Lodge of India has issued a circular letter to all the Lodges under its jurisdiction suggesting some of the modalities that can be followed by which such Masonic Liberlisation can be achieved.
I feel that since the problems faced by the Grand Lodges all over the world are somewhat similar, the steps suggested to be taken by Grand Lodge of India, to bring about Masonic Liberalisation, may also be relevant to Grand Lodges elsewhere, of course subject not only to the actual condition of Freemasonry obtaining in the jurisdiction of the different Grand Lodges, but also on account of the cultural, ethnic, economic and other differences, that inevitably exist between jurisdictions. Nevertheless, I take this opportunity for sharing various steps which Grand Lodge of India has been advising the Lodges to implement, to bring about Masonic Liberlisation which I feel can bring about improvement in Freemasonry.
Q.:- What advice would you give to other Grand Lodges to help foster growth within their jurisdictions?
Ans.:-
In detail I had mentioned about 5-‘R’s Strategy to be adopted for bringing about
improvement in Freemasonry and implementation of the Vision and Mission, which ultimately would help the other Grand Lodges to foster growth within their jurisdiction. For full details my paper be read, a copy of which I am sending to you separately.
Q.:- What are the statistics for 2009?
The statistics up to 30th September, 2009 are that there are 366 Lodges and 18,559 Brethren. Out of 366 Lodges only 361 lodges are functional. One stands merged and the other four sand erased.
Statistics as on 25.10.2009 of the membership within the Grand Lodge of India
EASTERN REGION
Lodges: 55
Members: 2322
NORTHERN REGION
Lodges: 105
Members: 4777
SOUTHERN REGION
Lodges: 127
Members: 8722
WESTERN REGION
Lodges: 74
Members: 2738
TOTAL
Lodges: 361
Membership: 18559
Q.:- In the past few years Freemasonry in India has seen several media outlets discuss Freemasonry in the public eye. Most notably and perhaps the most well distributed was the Speaking Tree article in the Time of India. In the past Freemasonry had been mistakenly viewed as elitist or a closed society, as the Grand Master, how do you feel the perceptions of the Indian public have changed, or have they at all?
The Grand Lodge had, in order to demystify Freemasonry adopted a unique way in conducting Divine Service. Immediately after I took over as the Grand Master I attended the 8th World Conference of the Grand Masters at Paris from 2nd December, 2006. In that Conference I read a paper ‘
DIVINE SERVICE - A UNIQUE INDIAN MASONIC CEREMONY’. The broad theme of the conference was “Spiritual Openness in the Modern World” and one of its sub themes was “Exchange of live experiences of Regular Grand Lodges of the World”. It is in this context, that I shared my experience of a rather unique Ceremony, which we Grand Lodge of India had adopted in our country, for public demonstration projecting the underlying principles of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, as propagated by Freemasonry and identifying common threads for linking these principles, with the teachings contained in the Religious Books of the Major Religions of the World. How the ceremony is conducted and what is the mechanism of making general public aware of the fundamental of freemasonry, you will find in the paper, a copy of which I am sending to you.
Since the media is also invited to attend the Divine Service, the event is often reported in the local newspapers with appropriate photographs and sometimes these
Divine Services are also shown in Television by way of news clippings. The feed back so far received shows that the public is quite impressed by the Divine Service and at the end of it, are now better informed about Freemasonry and its objectives and laudable purposes.
After this step another major step was taken to allow the non-masons (families and friends of the Masons) to witness a ceremony in which Long Term Service Jewels are Presented by the Grand Lodge to those who have completed 25, 40,50 and 60 years of continued service to Freemasonry.
The Installation ceremony of the next Grand Master at Chennai will also be conducted, for the first time, in presence of non-Masons (by invitation).
The
Website of the Grand Lodge is very informative also provide sufficient material of interest to a lay man.
Small cards like visiting cards are available to be given to a lay man when it is notice that he is showing some interest about freemasonry. It contains broad information about Freemasonry. Address of our Website, email and postal address with phone numbers of the Grand Secretary are mentioned therein.
Major or important masonic events are reported in the local news papers and on TV as well.
Various
charitable projects are undertaken by almost all Lodges, which draws attention of the local population and then on further interest being shown by any member of the public he is made aware of the broad outliners.
The result of all these steps has been that slowly and gradually there is positive awareness about Freemasonry and in its principles resulting in number of people sending email requests asking more about it and expressing interest to join freemasonry. The concerned person is directed to contact a Mason in that Town and thereafter usual procedure is adopted to take him in, in case he is found to be worthy and fit.
This is how in a gradual manner we are trying to convey the message of Freemasonry to the society.
Q.:- During my last visit to India I visited the Masonic Public School, a school fully funded by the charitable endeavours of the Masonic Fraternity in India. I know there are several other projects that Freemasons fund and I wonder if you would outline some of them briefly.
Ans.:-
Tsunami hit the Coastal Region of Southern India on 26th December 2004. In response to an appeal made by the Grand Lodge of India to provide relief to Tsunami victims, generous donations were received not only from the brethren and Lodges within the country, but also from Lodges and Grand Lodges abroad, for providing relief to the victims of Tsunami disaster.
It was left to the Grand Lodge of India to apply the funds so received, on suitable projects to provide relief to the Tsunami victims. Pallam Village in Kanyakumari District was one of the worst affected areas of Tsunami. With the efforts of brethren of Lodge Travancore No.329 and other well wishers and brethren in the vicinity of Pallam Village of Kanyakumari District and donation of land by the Parish Priest of Pallam, it was possible for the Grand Lodge of India to identify a project for construction of a Community Centre for the benefit and use of the villagers of Pallam at an estimated cost of Rs.45 lakhs.
The Foundation Stone for the Community Centre was laid on 1st May, 2007. It was possible to complete this project within a record time of less than one year. The Community Centre was inaugurated on 14th April, 2008, and a Divine Service was also conducted to mark the occasion.
The assistance to be provided to the Tsunami Victims of the Pallam Village did not end with the providing of the Community Centre. Some of the villagers were found to be without permanent living quarters, as their huts in which they were living had been washed away by Tsunami and they were not in a position to construct for want of sufficient funds. Their plea for providing them permanent living quarters was considered by The Grand Lodge of India therefore a new project was launched for construction of 59 houses for the villagers in two phases, by contributing 50% of the cost, On completion of 59 houses and handing over to the villagers in suitable phases the settlement has appropriately been named as ‘MASONIC NAGAR’ in A Commemorative function organised on 9th August 2009. I personally visited thrice the village, to lay the foundation stone in a masonic function, on inauguration of the Community Hall and on 9th August, 2009. The salient feature of this entire project, of which the freemasons of India are proud of, is that the Roman Catholics have been closely associated with the same. Land was provided for by the Parish Priest of Pallam, Acting Bishop was present at the time of inauguration and the Bishop himself was present when the Community Hall was inaugurated and handed over to the Village Community.
Q. Funding all of these honourable projects is done through numerous facilities, one of which is a wonderful plan called the Grand Masters Rupee Club, can you tell me a little more about that?
Ans.:-
It is not the Grand Masters Rupee Club which funds the projects. Grand Masters Rupee Club is a separate scheme. This scheme called The Grand Master’s Rupee Club was established by Grand Lodge of India in 1999.
The premise on which the scheme was based is as follows:-
If M.W. the Grand Master were to knock at the door of a brother and ask for contribution to charity, the brother would certainly give to the Grand Master at least One Rupee as his contribution. If M.W. the Grand Master would knock at the door of the same brother the next day he would surely not hesitate to give another Rupee for a charitable cause. Therefore, if M.W. the Grand Master would call on every brother in the country on each of the 365 days of a year, M.W. the Grand Master was sure to collect Rs.365.00 from each brother towards the cause of
CHARITY.
It was therefore proposed that a scheme of Grand Master’s Rupee Club be started to which every brother in the country may, if he is so charitable disposed of, contribute in one lump, during one calendar year, an amount of Rs.365.00 @ Rs.1 per day. The Grand Master’s Rupee Club also provides that a brother may become a Life Member of the Club by making one time lump sum payment of Rs.4000/-. The funds so collected in the Grand Master’s Rupee Club is intended to provide immediate relief to deserving causes at the discretion of M.W. the Grand Master up to a maximum of Rs.1 lakh per occasion.
The Scheme has now been in operation for about 10 years. The Grand Master’s Rupee Club is now an independent TRUST with Income Tax benefit under Section 80-G of Income Tax Act.
Funding of the other projects is by separate voluntary contributions by the members of various Lodges. The Brethren makes separate contributions to he projects undertaken by the Regions, as and when the said projects are announced. In addition to this each individual Lodge or group of Lodges also undertake various charitable Projects for which funding is by the Brethren of that particular Lodge or group of Lodges. Wives of Brethren have also formed associations at various places. They either help the Brethren in implementing the projects or executing projects at their own level. Some of the details are available with me, which are sent to you as a
separate document.
Q.:- If people from outside India were interested in helping out with some charitable donations, how would they go about contacting the Grand Lodge?
Ans.-
Protocol demands that outside Grand Lodges have to be contacted through the Grand Secretary alone. As such the Grand Lodges or its subordinate Lodges can contact the
Grand Secretary.
Q.: Recently I have seen a buzz of Internet activity from Brethren in India, from Masonic Vibes, to you yourself partaking in the sharing of Masonic information on Facebook. I know from your biography that you had helped to spear-head the technological and computerization of the Judiciary, are you doing the same now to Freemasonry?
Ans.:-
We must make fullest use of the Modern Technology. I also wish that each and member of the Grand Lodge could be computer savvy. It is very easy to interact and it enables the brethren to get information on any subject or aspect of freemasonry.
The internet has made the entire world as a small village within your reach. I have attended 8th and 9th World Conferences at Paris and Washington D.C respectively. I am already at LIBREVILLE - GABON- to attend the
11th World Conference at Libreville-Gabon from 3rd November to 7th November, 2009. During the last three years these world conferences and other visits abroad has brought me so many good friends with whom I am now in touch only by use of this technology.
The Grand Lodge will shortly undertake to update entire data about the brethren and have the date of the Regional Grand Lodges integrated so that communication is faster and details are available on tips. I went to Mauritius to install the Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Mauritius. I visited number of other Grand Lodges and have made good friends abroad. I want to remain in touch with them only to share experience and continue fraternal relations. After all we are taught to unite in the Grand Design of being happy and communicating happiness.
MWBrother Justice Devinder Gupta, I sincerely thank you for the interview and your time!
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