Dear fellow Lexingtonians and friends, 

My name is Ali Rizvi and I am delighted to be here at the Get Inspired-Get Involved seminar organized by the Indian American Forum for Political Education in association with the Indian Americans of Lexington. 

I am grateful to both these organizations for organizing this seminar so some of us who are involved in the town or state can share our thoughts and experiences and hopefully energize some more to join in this. 

First a little background about myself:

Once again, my name is Ali Rizvi and I moved to Lexington from Cambridge in 2005 with my wife Deeba and two little daughters, Alia and Asrah who are now 15 and 13 respectively. We have enjoyed this wonderful town and its facilities and have seen both of our children benefit from the tremendous school system and make great friends. I am from Lucknow and my wife Deeba is also from Lucknow, though she grew up in Aligarh. Deeba works at Mass Eye and Ear and I am involved in two small companies, one in biotech and the other in fine chemicals. 

A question is why did I become a town meeting member. 

I volunteer in several non-profits, specifically in India Association of Greater Boston, our Alumni Association, both school and university and a Lexington based, Vision-aid which works to help the vision-impaired lead lives with independence and with dignity. Once fine morning, in a casual conversation, Narain Bhatia sahab asked me, “Ali, you volunteer in so many non-profits and that is great. Have you ever considered getting involved in the town of Lexington”. Of course, Is aid “no”. and that is how it all started. Over the next several months, Bhatia Sahab coaxed me and educated me on the ways that I could get involved with the town. In these meetings that were held at the Carey library, it was him, Saatvik, Shubhra Chandra and myself. Once this evolved, we met with the IAL leadership on a few occasions and shared our thoughts. They were delighted to lead this further. The question now is why DID I decide to be involved and the many of our other learned members would have already answered most, but here are some additional thoughts, 

With around 34,000 residents and a 20% Asian population, we Indians account for nearly 25% of the Asian-population in Lexington. The Lexington public system is one of the best in the state and ranked nationally.  This is a place that we now call home and this is where our future is committed. The reason the town is so good is because several hundred Lexingtonians involve themselves in its governance. There are, I read somewhere around 530 people who volunteer in some capacity – year after year. 

Indian Americans are a very resourceful group. We have amongst us very qualified individuals. Most of us have some degree of expertise in the areas that we are involved in. We are passionate about things. Of course we have experts in the usual traditional fields, like engineering, medicine, management, etc, but we also have expertise in say, public policy, art, etc. And I thought that this will be a great way to give back to the community from which I have benefited so much. We have to keep the system alive and kicking and with the huge change in demographic patterns, the needs of our town are changing and we have to be at the forefront to share our ideas and thoughts and be heard. And so I got involved. 

Is there something for Me. Yes. There is. With over maybe a hundred committees, every person counts and each and every one of us can find something that interests us. From the School transportation committee, to the township facilities committee, the appropriations committee, bio-safety committee, the  various boards, the various commissions, like Disability, Carey Lecture committee, Communications, Preservation, Farming, Economic development, energy, Historical, Housing, Human services, aging, Bicycle, Lexington center committee, Council of arts, Human rights, Lexington Scholarship and education, recreation, retirement, School, sidewalk, tax, tourism, Youth commission, etc… THERE IS TRULY SOMETHING THAT WILL ENGAGE YOU. 

Some of these are just appointments, while others are selections or are elected positions. If you wish to serve in a committee, reach out to them. Each committee needs dedicated volunteers. 

In getting involved in our towns, we will make a difference, not only are we fulfilling our civic responsibility, but we have a great chance to give back to the community and in the process, learn and meet some awesome people. We will strengthen our community. We will save resources…We will make the town of Lexington an even better place for ourselves and our families, and friends. 

There is a degree of involvement needed. For example as a town meeting member, we met for several weeks, twice every week from 7 to 10 pm to discuss the various proposals and vote on them. It did take away some time from our usual chores that we run for our families, but I could do it.   

I want to tell you, it is very satisfying. Period. Please join me in thanking both IAFPE and IAL and the leaders before us in our community who got involved and showed us the path to be engaged. Please put your hands together for them. And thank you.