Perth Rotary celebrated Diwali at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth on November 6, 2026. The keynote came from Prof. Amit Chakma, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia (UWA), who told the room a Rotary club had once changed the course of his life.
The luncheon, held as Rotary marks 100 years of service in Western Australia from 1927 to 2027, was led by Past President Manu Gupta. He opened by settling a question guests had been asking all week, explaining that Diwali is celebrated over about 20 days, with the main day falling on Sunday. Friday, he added, was the day for buying gold, telling guests there was a long queue at the Perth Mint.
On a more serious note, Gupta said the festival’s message of kindness and compassion connects with Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self,” and he told guests that “Rotary is home for me, and Rotarians are my family.”
Chakma, speaking on “Building Bridges, Lighting Futures: Growing WA-India Relationship through Shared Education,” said it was fitting to celebrate the Festival of Lights in Perth, “another city of light.”
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He then took the room back to 1982. That year he arrived at the University of British Columbia, and a welcome letter from the international house director invited him to drop by. When he did, he was handed a form, filled it in “as an obedient student,” and found he had been selected for the Penticton program. In that program, Rotarians from South Vancouver and Penticton hosted 25 international students from 25 countries for a weekend with local families. The host families “made me part of their family,” Chakma said.
The secret to his selection, he told the younger guests, was simple. “I showed up. That was the only luck,” he said, adding that he still follows the rule: “Whenever I am asked to show up, I show up.”
Chakma also shared how education shaped his family. He grew up among the hill peoples of Bangladesh, and a hydroelectric dam built in 1962 took his family’s land. His parents, who had completed grade 12 and grade 10, knew that “the only way out of it is education.” That experience made him a champion of accessible public education, he said, adding that “talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.”
He said UWA’s ties with India go back to 1921, when UWA became the first Australian university to admit Indian students. The university’s new Mumbai campus opened on September 18, and Chennai is next. There was a surprise along the way: sports science turned out to be one of the most requested programs in India. Chakma said UWA plans to take it there next.
Chakma said the idea for UWA’s India campuses took shape in 2022, when he joined a Western Australian trade mission to India led by then Deputy Premier Roger Cook.
Chakma also noted the club’s own link to his university. According to Chakma, UWA’s medical school was the result of efforts by Rotarians.
Thanking Chakma, Perth Rotary President Jill Dawson said Perth may be “the most isolated city in the most isolated state in the world, but that doesn’t mean that we have to remain disconnected.” Earlier, Dawson introduced representatives connected with the club’s centenary project and one of the two outgoing Rotary exchange students the club will send in 2027.
The program also included the induction of Dr. Rajiv Shinde, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Co-Head of Medical Oncology at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, as the club’s newest member.
Delivering the Diwali message, Harsha Gupta linked the festival to education, saying “a diya can light up a room, but knowledge can light up an entire lifetime,” and urged guests: “Let us not celebrate the light around us. Let us become the light for someone else.”
