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Vol. 54 Issue No. 52 Mumbai June 25 to July 1, 2013 Pages 32 Price Rs. 3/- We’ve shown once again that ours is a Club with a heart My dear Fellow Rotarians, ties”, an “Old inspection of ac- our members, we have had a good year, must begin by saying that it has Men’s Home” counts and pre- financially. For The Rotary Founda- been a privilege to lead this great which was in a de- mises, seat(s) on tion we have collected even more than Club,I a Club we all love and of which plorable condition. the committee and in the record-breaking previous year we are, with every justification, proud. So we decided to so on. when an Indian (Kalyan Banerjee) was Equally, for me, it has been a plea- repair it and have A one-time dona- President of Rotary International. Even sure working with all my fellow fully renovated the tion of Rs. 1 lakh for our projects, the collections have Rotarians on the many good works that place, completely was made to “The been satisfactory. our Club does. re-doing the dormi- Anchorage”, which What pleases me most is that, with- This is a Club with a long and glori- tory, the kitchen, is an organisation out me approaching any member at ous history. It can be a daunting task to the toilets and the that seeks to give a any time for any contribution, money assume the responsibility for maintain- recreation room, sense of self-worth has poured in. This reinforces not only ing its paramount status but all my installing new fans to mentally chal- my faith in the generosity of our mem- fellow Rotarians, with their guidance, and a television set. lenged post-teens. bers, but also my belief that money their support and their encouragement, The 20 aged resi- It serves about 30 should never be our primary focus. have made it a pleasant duty. dents now live in a students at its two Ours is a Club with a heart. There has been a small net increase greater degree of units in Mahalaxmi We have, of course, tremendous re- in the membership strength during the comfort. This cost us about Rs 6 lakhs. and Colaba. sources, influence and expertise and year and it is a matter of some satisfac- We also refurbished the beds at an- Several other initiatives also took must continue to channel these, through tion that, despite the large base, we other old-age home on Hughes Road shape this year and I will mention but compassion and caring, to serve the have achieved this increase while main- looking after 100 men and women. This a few of them. underprivileged and the under-served. taining our stringent criteria and high is a well-run facility which barely needs The first was the “Attendance This has been a memorable year for standards. anything. But we established our foot- Swipe card” (which, I am told, other me. Among the memories that will re- I hope that the members who have print there with a minimal expenditure Clubs are attempting to copy). This main are the kindness of friends and joined this year – and those who will of about Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 70,000. has made registering of attendance the great support and encouragement do so in future years – will enjoy Ro- Then there is the Central Society for much easier for all of us and has also that I have received from all of you. tary and will be true Rotarians. the Education of the Deaf which has simplified the recording (and monitor- Nowroze Vazifdar As far as the service aspects of our three main activities: (i) a primary spe- ing) of attendance. The card also serves President, 2012-13 Club are concerned, as with every year, cial school for deaf children; (ii) an early- as an ID card and can be flashed to gain there are on-going projects as well as detection centre for deafness; and (iii) a admission to any Rotary Club any- new projects. cochlear-implant rehabilitation centre. where in the world. Going forward, we First meeting of There is, as always, much to com- We fully funded the import and instal- propose to upload more data on this new Rotary year on mend about the ongoing projects of our lation of sophisticated testing equip- card. Club, but for the purposes of this Bul- ment in the “Brainstem-Evoked Re- The second initiative was the con- Saturday, July 6 letin, I will focus only on what has sponse Audiometry” (BERA) testing cept of an “evening meeting”. I have istrict Governor Lata Subraidu been done this year. clinic at a cost of about Rs. 17 lakhs. explained my reasons for this initiative will be the chief guest at the first This year, I felt that we should fo- We associated with the Dhabhar several times and I am pleased that it meetingD of the Rotary Club of cus on reaching out to the underprivi- Cancer Foundation which provides fi- seems to have been well-received and Bombay for the year 2013-14. leged and the under-served, or those nancial as well as medical assistance to meets the objectives for which I had The meeting will be chaired by organisations which do great work but cancer patients and spreads awareness thought of introducing this concept. Nirav Shah who will take over as are not even on the radar of funding about prevention and early detection This year, there has been a good President of the Club from Nowroze agencies or other service organisations. of cancer. The Club has undertaken to amount of communication and infor- Vazifdar at the stroke of midnight on In this, I have had the unstinted sup- give it a sum of Rs. 3 lakhs per year mation being disseminated, not only June 30, 2013. port of the Office-Bearers and the Board initially for a period of three years. with me talking to you (mainly through and I am truly grateful to all of them. The Club will be entitled to refer the forum of our bulletin, The Gate- Members are requested to note We began the year with a visit to the five patients every year for the treat- way) but also because the Chairper- that the first meeting will be held premises of the Salvation Army at ment of whom the Foundation will bear sons of various Committees agreed to from 11 am onwards in the Crys- Agripada. It has, among other “facili- a cost of up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs per year. my request to make brief presentations tal Room of the Taj Mahal Hotel Similarly, we associated with the at some of our weekly meetings on the on Saturday, July 6, 2013. Today’s meeting CHILDReach society, which works work being done by their Committees The Fellowship will commence at June 25, 2013 with slow learners and attempts to in- and their plans for the future. 11 and will use story-telling, art, mu- he final meeting of Rotary year tegrate them into the mainstream of This has been done to make mem- sic and interactive sculpture to cel- 2012-13. It will be held in the education. It takes care of more than bers more aware and to encourage par- ebrate the onset of the new Rotary CrystalT Room of the Taj Mahal Ho- 45 children. ticipation of larger numbers in a wider year. tel, with Fellowship beginning at 7 We made a one-time donation of Rs. range of activities. I truly believe that The formal meeting will be called pm. President Nowroze Vazifdar to 1 lakh and also were the sole sponsors the more you involve yourself, the more to order at 12 noon and conclude at present his report for 2012-13 and of their Silver Jubilee seminar, “Are you will enjoy Rotary. 1.15 pm. It will be followed by lunch to present the Club Awards. We Ready?” We did not set any financial targets – and then the party will continue. Members are invited to attend the In all of the above initiatives, in or- for the year because I do not believe in No charges will be levied on mem- meeting in large numbers along with der to retain an interest therein as well competing nor do I set great store by bers and spouses and the guest charges their spouse. No charges will be lev- as our rights, we have provided for cer- comparisons. However, and totally have been kept at a nominal Rs. 1,500 ied on members and spouses. tain clauses such as regular reporting, because of the legendary generosity of per head. The use of IT will bring the latest medical knowledge to India, says Dr. Rohini Chowgule asers, robotics, nuclear isotopes, calls or rush to visit their wards – LCT-scans, X-rays, magnetic reso- all that they would have to do would nance imaging (MRIs), these are some be to check the status of patients of the technological tools that doctors on their respective tablets (not have utilised to fight disease and to medical pills) or i-Pads. improve the health of the people. To- Once put in place, this system day, India has turned into a centre for would also help track diseases in the the best medical care – at a fraction of community. For example, if some pa- the price paid by patients in advanced tients in Patna were down with a par- countries – and people from all over ticular infection and if a similar trend the world have been coming here to was noticed in Pune or Bombay, it avail of the excellent medical facilities.

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