DEV PURI
The Rotarian Behind the Badge
Dev proved to be a wonderful story teller and his story was truly engaging.
He was born in June 1980 in Chennai, India.
His Dad Raj – a Hindu- met Audrey – Catholic – at work.
‘Work’ was a bicycle shop that Raj ran at the behest of his family.
They fell in love and were married.
Traditionally, Raj would have had an arranged marriage, but he was able to get consent from his parents to a Hindu marriage ceremony only.
However, when Raj’s father discovered that Raj was also participating in traditional Catholic marriage ceremony, he cut off all communication with Raj and Audrey, dispossessing them of both the cycle shop and their home.
Despite all the efforts Audrey made to reconcile the family, the rift continued until a very short while before Dev’s Grandfather’s passing.
The young family emigrated to Australia in 1984 , choosing Melbourne for their future home because Audrey’s sisters lived in Melbourne.
The family lived in Broadmeadows first, then Moorabbin then E Bentleigh and eventually to Glen Waverly.
His mum worked for Australia Post and his father had worked in a number of jobs from factory and cleaning jobs to banking and eventually Centrelink.
He described some of the challenges faced by his parents in their early years.
His father, ' a disciplinarian'- encouraged his children to integrate into the community, and when he saw Dev losing focus at the age of 17, provided him with a reality check, by taking him to India and showing him what his life might otherwise have been.
The family were raised with a strong work ethic and a commitment to serve those in need.
He spoke with pride of how his mother- ‘a gentle creature’- applied herself to providing support to Friends of Mithra- a charity in India supporting orphaned and disabled children from the slums of Madras.
Dev Met his wife Alanna at work, and they were married in 2011. They have 2 children- Zac born in 2013 Dev and Abby born in 2014.
He outlined his educational and work history: (screen capture below)
and his interests – also a screen capture
He concluded by outlining his reasons for joining Rotary:
- Organisation that is active in community, inclusive and non-political but not steeped in ceremony.
- He looks forward to participating in some hands-on service, now that we are coming out of lockdown.
- Meet new people from all walks of life
- Give back to the community
- Rotary has the runs on the board with proven track record of delivering results
