by Mark Neuman

We touched base this week with friend of The B-Town blog, Burien’s first mayor, Dr. Arun Jhaveri, and he’s as busy as ever.

He’s planning a trip to Copenhagen this month, interviewing for a position on the Metropolitan King County Council this week, and just recently accepted a position as Executive Advisor with One Million Lights, a Palo Alto-based group determined to bring light to the world.

Literally.

“Two billion people in this world of a little over six billion, one third of the world’s population, do not have electricity,” Dr. Jhaveri said.

One Million Lights, a year-old non-profit group, “provides rechargeable solar handheld lights to poor children and adults in developing countries,” he told us. “They can use these in lieu of kerosene lamps, particularly at night so children can study in their huts.

“These solar batteries last forever. And the children don’t have to be exposed to the (kerosene) fumes or the fire hazard while they do their homework.”

The organization has delivered 30,000 lights worldwide with a goal of one million.

Anna Sidana, One Million Lights’ founder and CEO, is “thrilled to have someone of Arun’s caliber on our board of advisors. He brings depth of knowledge and contacts that are invaluable to us.”

Dr. Jhaveri recently announced his interest in filling the seat left vacant when King County Councilmember Dow Constantine took over as County Executive.

“I meet Thursday afternoon (December 3) with the advisory committee for an interview,” he said. The committee will recommend “three or four candidates” to the eight sitting members of the council, who hope to make a final selection by December 14.

“I am interested only in an interim one-year term,” Dr. Jhaveri said. “I am not interested in campaign financing or running for election (beyond 2010). I want to focus my attention on helping the council on the priorities such as the budget and county services.”

Dr. Jhaveri is planning on attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 7 through 18.

“If things move forward with respect to the vacancy on the council, I might have to cancel or postpone my trip to Copenhagen.”

Dr. Jhaveri was recently in Washington D.C. signing copies of his new book, “Carbon Reduction: Policies, Strategies and Technologies” (Fairmont Press, Georgia) which he co-authored with long time colleague and fellow engineer, Dr. Stephen Roosa.

“The book is something I believe in. There is a lot of interest in it.” Dr. Jhaveri’s book can be ordered through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble’s website.

For more information on One Million Lights and how to offer help, here is their website: www.onemillionlights.org

And here’s a video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• From Bombay To Burien: Meet Dr. Arun Jhaveri
• Dr. Arun Jhaveri: From Bombay To Burien To…Obama?

Picture a small boy in India, in the early 1940s, his family’s home being personally visited by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru themselves.

Imagine that same boy, just a few years later, on August 15, 1947, being held lovingly by his family atop the hood of a car as they and millions of others celebrate India’s independence from British rule.

Visualize a young graduate student in Amherst, Massachusetts, being utterly moved by the words and visions of a young U.S. President, “full of energy, strong in his views and personality,” delivering a 1962 commencement speech, a mere 15 rows away.

See a trim and vibrant gentleman recently sipping decaffeinated coffee in Olde Burien, who keeps in shape by swimming several laps every day, and tending to his garden at the same house he and his wife have lived in for almost forty years.

Conjure all of that, and you will see Dr. Arun Jhaveri, the first mayor of Burien.

“Our whole family crammed into our little car, including all the kids,” he said with a smile during an interview last week with the B-Town Blog, referring to that August 1947, day. “They put me on top because I was the youngest and I remember going around the city the whole evening, fireworks going. People were just jubilant.”

When asked if politics was part of his upbringing, Dr. Jhaveri’s answer is more than a mere Yes.

“My uncle was a very active member of the Congress Party, before the independence, against the British Crown,” Dr. Jhaveri said. The Congress Party was the political party of Mahatma Gandhi and future Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“My uncle looked very much like Nehru in his personality. He wore the white cap and the long white coat and everything. My grandfather, my father and my uncle had just gone to a political rally in Bombay. And after the rally they were coming back in a horse-drawn carriage. A fanatic saw my uncle and mistook him for Nehru. The fanatic came from behind and killed my uncle with a dagger.”

The Jhaveri family was soon visited by Gandhi and Nehru, who came to express their condolences.

Young Jhaveri eventually moved to the U.S., earning his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Washington, before moving on to earn his Masters in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

On that “beautiful day” 46 years ago, “President Kennedy was such a charismatic leader, the way he spoke to the students. I was extremely inspired,” Dr. Jhaveri recalled. “It was an excellent opportunity for me to see a real president just a few feet from me speak about educational and political issues.”

Dr. Jhaveri, a physicist and mechanical engineer, earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, and, early on, worked for Boeing on the development of the 727, 737 and 747 aircrafts prior to their FAA certification.

Dr. Jhaveri worked in 1992 to help earn Burien a little independence of its own, so to speak. The voters said Yes that year to Burien becoming a city in its own right, and the new City Council elected him Mayor. He served from 1992 to 1998.

In 1997, Dr. Jhaveri was one of eleven mayors from the United States to participate in the Global Climate Conference in Kyoto, Japan.

Jhaveri is co-authoring a book, titled “Carbon Reduction – Policies, Strategies and Technologies.” It is scheduled for release later this year.

He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Argosy University, teaching two Doctoral courses, one on Educational Leadership and the other on Program Evaluation.

“I am an eternal optimist,” Dr. Jhaveri says. “The key is to educate the young people of today – about the care of the world’s environment.

“The earth’s future is truly in their hands.”

Mark Neuman is a Writer as well as Marketing Dude for The B-Town (Burien) Blog.

He has interviewed two US Presidents, cops, cooks and cartoonists, authors and artists, senators, scholars and senior citizens, and the B-Town Blog is proud to have him on our team.

Mark can be reached at mark@b-townblog.com.