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. would indicate that the infection was This welcome development has been spreading in the community. Chronic attended by two phenomena that can diseases could also be tracked in the no longer be ignored. One, thanks to same way. the advent of ever-new technological While working on chronic care and innovations, patients have started management of diabetics in Washing- searching for details about their ill- ton, said Dr. Rohini, it was observed Thanks to people searching for illnesses on the internet, one man has decided nesses on the Internet and telling doc- that older people did not have rela- to call himself ‘Dr. Google’. Dr. Rohini Chowgule at the last meeting tors about their “findings”. tives to take them to hospital; the au- Two, while some members of the to 3%. However, these figures repre- tries were also spending huge sums of thorities then opened a cell where medical fraternity appear to have taken sented the amount spent by govern- money to move towards electronic online data could be transferred from umbrage to this fad (one of them jok- ments. Large numbers of people in health records. their homes to the centre. Nurses were ingly said he was changing his name to India paid for health care from their What made them go for this change? posted 24x7 and kept a watch on pa- Dr. Google), there are others who be- pockets and these figures were not in- They realised that health care IT (HIT) tients’ data. lieve that it’s better to flow with the cluded in the GDP spend. provided the umbrella framework to When a patient conducted a glucose tide rather than resist the sweep of “And because it is the government describe the comprehensive manage- test, the reading went through a phone technology. that spends this amount, that’s why it ment of health information across com- to the cell. If the nurse felt that the Dr. Rohini Chowgule, the renowned is (becoming increasingly) bothered puterised systems and its secure ex- blood glucose was down, she immedi- chest physician who is recognised both about health care technology.” change between the stake-holders such ately called and asked what was going as a champion golfer and an asthma The trend was set off by American as the consumers, the providers, in- on. If the person said he felt a bit dizzy, specialist, belongs to the second cat- President George Bush in 2004 when surers and government and quality she told him to stop taking insulin. egory. She has worked hard on bring- he noted the money being spent on entities. This was one way of managing ing the benefits of information tech- health care and felt that something had Further, HIT could yield several chronic patients so they that didn’t nology (IT) to bear on modern medi- to be done about it. He drew up a ten- benefits: (a) improve the quality or have to first go for a blood sugar test, cine through innovative software sys- year plan to develop and implement effectiveness of health care; (b) in- then go to a doctor, wait for him, meet tems for health data management and an electronic medical system across crease health care productivity and him, chat with him, show him the re- remote consultation. the US to improve the efficiency and efficiency; (c) prevent medical errors; port and return home. That was a three- Speaking on “Information and com- study of health care. (d) reduce health care costs; and (e) hour process best avoided, thus re- munication technology in health care Research conducted by Rand Health improve administrative efficiency by ducing costs all round. delivery” at the last meeting, she Care showed that if the USA pulled decreasing the paperwork. At present, most big hospitals in the pointed out that everybody talked up its socks, it would save $81 billion, When a person went to hospital, US were giving tablets to their junior about health care, nobody about health reduce adverse health care events there was needless repetition of that doctors that were loaded with guide- care delivery, a subject that she would (which were often created by doctors person’s medical data. This was done lines for treatment, side-effects of drugs, concentrate on in the course of her talk. and hospitals) and also improve the first at the registration counter, then information about drug interactions, re- Tarjani Vakil introduced her as a quality of care. upon arrival in the ward and also when actions and so on. When one went to “Goan, full of life and one who loves Finally, in 2009, President Barrack he was taken to the operation theatre. the main page, one found full informa- fish, music and dancing”; she had been Obama brought a law. He offered a Each one of the nurses/clerks at these tion, including, for example, which medi- and would be a role model “for India’s carrot to the health care industry, tell- places required the patient to repeat cine to avoid if a patient was going for children who are getting lost in a ing it that if it gave up paper and shifted the same information over and over an abortion. This was another way to globalising world”. to electronic medical records, it would again. prevent doctors’ errors. Dr. Rohini started by pointing out net a windfall of $19 billion. This was a colossal waste of every- Another benefit was that when they that although it was the people who He set aside $2 billion for healthcare body’s time. (And time being money, were in the company of other, senior were driving doctors to use new tech- providers to implement HIT (health it was no surprise that Rand Health doctors, they could turn on their tab- nology, its benefits were enjoyed only care IT) and a whopping $17 billion in Care had shown that if the USA pulled lets and discuss the modalities of treat- by those in urban areas while people incentives from Medicare and Medic- up its socks, it would save $81 billion, ment for their patients. living in rural areas were being ignored. aid funding if they adopted HIT by reduce adverse health care events and Dr. Rohini revealed that one of the But IT was a powerful tool to take 2015. Obama also offered incentives also improve the quality of care.) major hospitals in Bombay was on the good health care to rural populations. to healthcare providers implementing If a system of electronic data stor- verge of starting a similar programme. Most countries used 9% of their electronic records (again through Medi- age and dissemination was put in When that happened, it would ensure GDP on health care. The USA, France care and Medicaid funding). place, doctors and medical person- the quality of care provided even by and Germany spent 10 to 17%. India Dr. Rohini said that apart from the nel attending to the patients would junior doctors. spent 4% and other Asian countries 2 US, the UK and other European coun- not have to make or receive phone (Continued on Page 4) June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 2 Wear this Rotary lapel pin every day and wear it with pride. President Nowroze Vazifdar formally inducts two new members, Manish Kejriwal (left) and Anup Agarwalla. While Anup has been loaned the Classification ‘Mining: Coal’, Manish will represent ‘Finance: Investment’

Two new members are formally inducted Office-Bearers' wo new members, Anup Agarwalla Pradesh. BLA Industries was a mem- As the world’s economy almost meetings and Manish Kejriwal, were for- ber of the World Economic Forum. collapsed and in times when it was he following are the attendance Tmally inducted at the meeting of June Anup was very active in business virtually impossible to think about statistics from July 1, 2012, to 18, the penultimate meeting of the and his companies conducted many raising money for investment in India, T Rotary year. CSR programmes, including three he and his colleagues raised over $500 June 20, 2013: While Anup has been loaned the medical clinics, medical camps in rural million for just that purpose. Number of meetings held 48 Classification “Mining: Coal”, Manish areas and supporting NGOs. Truly a family person, Manish and President Nowroze Vazifdar 46 will represent “Finance: Investment”. He was married to Namrata, also a Sunaina had two sons and always Nirav Shah 34 Manish Reshamwala, who was graduate of H.R. College, and the shared their children’s accomplish- IPP Paul George 31 called upon to introduce Anup couple had two daughters Urmi and ments with friends. Shailesh added that Shailesh Haribhakti* 3 Agarwalla, said that Anup graduated Shreya. He was a tennis enthusiast. Manish was a second-generation Sitaram Shah 46 from H.R. College and had done his Vice-President Shailesh Haribhakti Rotarian. Hiren Kara 38 Bachelor’s of Science and Business introduced the second new member, Following the introductions, Presi- Ishraq Contractor 5 Administration from Washington Uni- Manish Kejriwal. dent Nowroze Vazifdar conducted the * From January, 2013 versity, St. Louis. He said that Manish had started star- formal induction ceremony of the two With over 20 years’ experience in tling the world when he was at school new memebrs. the coal and commodity business in and topped the ICSE. After that, he But first he pointed out that both Devi Thadani passes India, he had experience in develop- had a brilliant career, obtaining an the new members had already become ing, financing, construction and man- MBA from Harvard Business School. Paul Harris Fellows. away at 99 agement of projects in coal-mining, He returned to India, married He affixed Rotary pins to the lapels otaryann Devi Thadani passed coke manufacture and power. Sunaina, the daughter of the Honorary of the two new members and asked Raway last week at the age of 99. On returning to India, he trained member, Mr. Rahul Bajaj, and joined them to “wear the Rotary pin always President Nowroze Vazifdar said at under PP Sandip Agarwalla in his com- Temasek Holdings. and wear it with pride”. the last meeting that a letter of condo- panies, BLA Industries and BLA Manish had a fantastic run with in- He also presented them with a copy lence was being sent to Haso Thadani Power. While BLA Industries was one vestments in India. He had the full trust each of the Club Roster, Four-Way and the bereaved family. of the first private coal-mining com- of the government of Singapore which Test placards and other Rotary litera- Correction panies in India, BLA Power was the was extremely demanding as an inves- ture. THERE are two errors in the biodata first independent power plant gener- tor. But Manish surpassed its expec- Welcome to the Rotary Club of of Ashok Gokal published on Page 4 ating thermal power in Madhya tations. Bombay, Anup and Manish. in The Gateway dated June 18. First, the name of his firm is “J.V. Gokal & Sons” and not J.V. Gopal & Sons as published. Second, the name of his el- der son is Chetan, wrongly published as Cheta. Members are requested to make the corrections in their respec- tive copies of the Club Roster. At the last meeting (Held on June 18, 2013) ATTENDANCE Members 89 Visiting Rotarians 5 Rotaryanns 3 Total 97 Svc. box collection Rs. 1,700 June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 3 ‘As in banking, there will be no loss of confidentiality if medical records are saved in electronic form’ Continued from Page 2) But it required hardware, software, the sible to build big hospitals in villages there was no point in taking up the What were the concerns about, and presence of two doctors on the same because the population was dispersed. American system and applying it objections to, adopting IT? The big- level and in the same time zone. More- Besides, there were no facilities such here. gest fear was about loss of confidenti- over, when a video-conference was as cheap public transport for people Dr. Rohini pointed out that the Ag- ality. But if the widespread use of IT over, there were no records. to go to even the nearest hospital if it riculture Minister, Mr. Sharad Pawar, in banking had not raised concerns on Under the circumstances, those us- was, say, five km. away. had set up two mobile vans that regu- that issue, then ensuring the same level ing the web said that it was the best Optimum utilisation of rural hospi- larly went to every mandi in of security for health records would way out because it didn’t require in- tals was made more difficult by the Maharashtra State. Each van had soft- not be very difficult. frastructure. But that was not tele- fact that few doctors were prepared ware that captured patients’ records A few other fears were attached to medicine. to go there because (a) there was no and a staff member who did blood tests that about loss of confidentiality. First, Increasingly, people were adopting incentive (b) there were few patients and X-rays. The information was people did not want it to be known on the store-and-forward technology. and (c) poor infrastructure. In such stored and the service offered for a mere record that they had a condition such Here, the patient didn’t have to go circumstances, it was futile to expect Rs. 50. as HIV, diabetes, blood pressure or anywhere; his relatives gathered all the doctors to work wonders there. But Of course, Mr. Pawar was doing all mental problems because that could information and digitised it, whether with IT, those doctors could be better this mainly to get votes at the time of affect their chances of promotion at X-rays or angiograms. These digitised equipped with proper guidance. This elections, but this was another way work. files were then sent to experts, whether would ensure “capacity-building” of of improving health care in villages and Second, they feared that if informa- in Japan or America; that person would doctors. for what was called the “capacity- tion about these conditions became see it and also show it to other experts The time had come for the Indian building” of doctors. known, then they would be embar- and then collate the information and government to make electronic medi- In conclusion, she urged members rassed or shunned by their friends, rela- form an opinion. cal records compulsory at all govern- to opt for those doctors and hospitals tives and associates. This information The advantage of this system was ment and private hospitals, at patho- that stored records in an electronic for- could also be a major drawback in cus- that it was cheaper, it didn’t require logical laboratories and so on. This mat or those who would store and tody battles with estranged spouses. much infrastructure and was quite would improve the outcome and re- upload the data on a website for easy Third, insurance companies would quick. duce the cost. access by the patients concerned. immediately raise their premia because In India, most people rushed to Even in a small country like Tai- Answering questions posed by of the risk of these conditions. doctors when they had a problem, wan, when it was decided to give health Mudit Jain and PP Arun Sanghi, Dr. “But all these things can be taken nobody bothered about preventive insurance to all, electronic records were Rohini said that she was using indig- care of,” said Dr. Rohini. medicine. Information technology prepared for each and every citizen. enous software to store records in She said hospitals were worried could give a boost to preventive After that, a person could go to any an electronic format. about the initial cost of HIT being high; medicine, too. If a man had a fam- doctor in Taiwan and he would imme- Besides, she also had tie-ups with but if they looked at the overall and ily history of diabetes and if he kept diately get the person’s data and pro- experts from all over the world who all-round savings, then the cost was track of his blood sugar levels, be- ceed with treatment without duplica- were sent data for diagnosis or pre- not so high. cause he was collating his data, he tion of X-rays, tests and other investi- scription. In this way, the best and Worries were also expressed about could note when his blood sugar gations. The country was thus saving latest medical research was made connectivity, hardware and so on. It was going up and hence he could a lot of money. available to Indian patients. was felt that there would be a need to take steps to prevent the onset of New private hospitals in India had So far as costs were concerned, set up computers here, there and ev- diabetes. Thus, the cost to people doctors who were often not up to the the charge for data entry and stor- erywhere. But this was no longer a would go down if they detected dis- mark. IT could be used to train them age for one year was about Rs. 1,200 major problem because of improved eases earlier. and to improve their abilities. and Rs. 10,000 for a lifetime. There connectivity and cheaper hardware. What about rural health care facili- Of course, everything would have was no limit on data size and stor- “But the real crux is this – who will ties? Dr. Rohini said it was not pos- to be customised for India because age, Dr. Rohini added. pay for the HIT? This is bothering hospitals, doctors and everybody else. But let us see who benefits from it. The patients benefit, the insurance people benefit, the hospitals benefit. So what is the hitch?” Turning to electronic health records, Dr. Rohini pointed out that the same HIT could be used for tele- medicine. Already, Time magazine had given a name to tele-medicine, viz., “heal-wire”. And more and more people were using IT for de- livering clinical care. But there were two types of tele-medicine, real time or video-conferencing, and the store-and-forward kind. Real time was a difficult proposi- tion. Many people in India were opt- Well done, Rohini. President Nowroze compliments Dr. Rohini Chowgule at the end of her talk. At right, she is in ing for video-conferencing because conversation with new member Anup Agarwalla, who was formally inducted along with Manish Kejriwal at the they felt that it was the way forward. beginning of the meeting June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 4 Welcome, Ambassador. Ramesh Narayan, the brain behind the pioneering ‘Bhavishya-Yaan’ project, greets the chief guest, Mr. Julio Ribeiro. District Governor Dr. Bal Inamdar, President Nowroze Vazifdar and Hon. Secretary Sitaram Shah join Mr. Ribeiro and others after the release of the monograph on ‘Spirituality and Leadership Practices for the Common Man’ MONOGRAPH ON SPIRITUALITY AND LEADERSHIP n a project devised and conceived versity Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Rajan by the Rotary Club of Bombay with Welukar, and the Vice-Chancellor of theI assistance of District 3140, a mono- SNDT Women’s University, Prof. graph on “Spirituality and Leadership Vasudha Kamat. Practices for the Common Man” was The articles in the book describe released by former Ambassador, former some of the practices of national and Punjab Governor and Bombay’s ex- international leaders. A few of them Commissioner of Police, Mr. Julio have shared their spiritual and leader- Ribeiro, at a programme at the Nehru ship experiences for the sake of this Centre on June 14. publication. Among those present on the occa- The monograph stresses the fact sion were District Governor Dr. Bal that spirituality and leadership are two Inamdar, PDG Ghulam Vahanvaty, sides of the same coin and that they President Nowroze Vazifdar, Hon. are strongly bonded by the edge pro- Secretary Sitaram Shah, Ramesh vided by one’s evolving personality. Narayan and others. It also points out that there is a con- The four organisations involved in tinuous scaling up of an individual, the preparation of the monograph were from spiritual wealth to intellectual R.I. District 3140, the Chinmaya Mis- wealth, and from intellectual wealth sion, Kaivalyadham (Lonavala) and the to physical wealth (and not vice versa). Rotary Club of Bombay. Each article brings out a separate The monograph contains 54 contri- aspect of spirituality and leadership Hon. Secretary Sitaram Shah, who was a key figure in the compilation of the butions (one of these by President and the reader will find many tips to monograph on 'Spirituality and Leadership Practices for the Common Nowroze) and messages from the develop his multidimensional person- Man', makes the welcome speech and explains some of the salient features of Governor of Maharashtra, Mr. K. ality to live in this vast world, where the publication Shankaranarayanan, the Bombay Uni- growth and splendour is limitless.

‘Spirituality and leadership are two sides of the same coin.’ President Nowroze Vazifdar, Club First Lady Niloufer (left) and Hon. Secretary Sitaram Shah chat with a guest at the book release held at the Nehru Centre on June 14. Among those who can be identified in the photograph at right are Mr. Julio Ribeiro, PDG Ghulam Vahanvaty and Ramesh Narayan June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 5 uman beings can only bear so ment and hard work of our members much of an adrenaline rush. As a in general.” Hbody sprints ahead in a race and the The Club was blessed to have a rich mind forces it to do even better than it legacy and an enviable reputation, not is normally capable of, the heart beats merely at the District but also at the in giant thuds and the lungs cry out for International level. “The work that our After more and more oxygen. Finally, when Past Presidents together with their the tape at the finishing line is breasted, team and our members in general have it takes a long time for all functions to done over the years has brought lau- return to normal. It’s not possible to rels to our Club in the form of fame, sprinting just switch off the adrenaline rush and recognition and respect. Clearly, the sit down and savour an ice-cream. reason that the Rotary Club of Bombay Those who have seen athletes cover is held in high esteem in the Rotary a distance of 100 metres in under 10 world is not because of the net worth seconds, will recall that even the slow- of its members, enviable as that may to est man does not stop at the finishing be, or the wealth of resources and in- line – he goes on and on, sometimes fluence at its command, but because for another 100 metres, albeit at a re- each member is committed to work duced pace. At that stage, the body is for the Club and the Rotary move- breast “catching its breath”. ment.” And that is exactly what the Ro- Urging members to carry that legacy tary Club of Bombay did in 2012-13. of service further and to build upon Sensing the overworked (not over- the solid foundation that had been wrought) condition of members when given them, Nowroze stressed that the his predecessor Paul George handed Rotary had made him a better human over the baton to him, President being and that working with the Of- Nowroze Vazifdar decided to let mem- fice-Bearers, Directors and Commit- bers relax a little bit before getting down tee Chairpersons over the years had tape, to business and harnessing the unbe- shown him that one could do good lievable energy of the members to con- work and still have fun. tinue their service activities. Nowroze conducted the first meet- The year’s agenda was planned in ing with aplomb and without recourse the such a way that while both new and to slides, projectors, videos, DJs, RJs old service projects were pursued with or MCs (he did not even carry a writ- the same diligence as before, there was ten speech or notes on little slips of an added incentive for members – they paper); he spoke extempore and he relaxed at Fellowship events, enjoyed spoke straight from the heart. He might Club themselves as some outstanding ora- have made a few mildly critical obser- tors addressed the Club meetings and, vations, but he more than made up for above all, marvelled at a novel feature it by being self-deprecatory. thought up by Nowroze. He said the Club could be legiti- catches For the first time, the Club held not mately proud of the magnificent work one stray meeting but three meetings that its doctors had been doing year in the evening hours, away from the after year in Talwada. But what about iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, with no the rest of the members, including him- its speaker but with lots of dance, music, self? For how long would they con- victuals, snacks/dinner, camaraderie tinue to bask in the glory of a project and fun and fellowship thrown in. that was more than thirty years old? These official evenings were hosted Yes, there was Bhavishya-Yaan, an- by eager hosts who invited all mem- other worthwhile project with tremen- breath, bers and their spouse to the program- dous potential and one being emulated me. by many Clubs in the District. But Kudos to Nowroze for thinking up even that was five years old. this brilliant idea and also to Ravi “Perhaps it is time to have a land- embarks Sheth, PP Nandan Damani and Pra- mark project of the Rotary Club of deep Mafatlal for opening their homes, Bombay; something that socks the their hearts and their purses for these public in the eye and which says that exciting evenings. this is the Rotary Club of Bombay.” But to begin at the beginning (of the He made a plea in The Gateway in on year), Nowroze stated in a note pub- October urging members to give their lished in the first issue of The Gate- suggestions to enable the Club to make way that the Club owed a debt of grati- a positive difference so far as the treat- tude to the Past Presidents who had ment of women by a callous society a not only worked tirelessly to achieve was concerned. While agreeing that goals and to set new standards in ser- ending it was a formidable task that vice, but also carried themselves with would take many years to accomplish, dignity and determination to uphold he suggested that it was time to take the values that the Club epitomised. up an activist role, given the resources marathon “To do so over more than eight de- at the Club’s command. He had con- cades speaks volumes not only for the stituted a pilot committee and re- dedication of these illustrious Past quested Ramesh Narayan and Nandan Presidents but also for the commit- Maluste to do the initial spadework June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 6 for an ambitious project for women’s A few weeks later the Club was over- Clearly, the Club members had not One flamboyant member helped in- empowerment. whelmed to learn from District 3140 earned such acclaim and encomiums duct another one when PP Harry Singh Speaking at the meeting of Novem- that IPP Paul George’s team had swept by sitting back; they were out on the Arora introduced Mahesh Khub- ber 27, Nandan said discussions had the District Awards, picking up not tracks, running at optimum speed, chandani, loaned the Classification been held on a multi-generation project one or two but ten Trophies and sprinting away, beating Usain Bolt at “Stock and Commodity Broker”. for women’s empowerment that could Shields for the outstanding perfor- his game. As a youngster, Mahesh was a change the world for the better. But it mance during the year gone by. Paul And now a report on the actual member of the Interact Club of Cathe- would have to be one that would be had worked with a dedicated team and work done by and under the various dral School. His father was a Rotarian. embraced by each member, by their under the guidance of IPDG Vijay Jalan Committees of the Club during the year A corporate member of the National successors and by other Rotary Clubs who took inspiration from Immediate gone by, 2012-13. Stock Exchange, he shared his time across India and the world. Past R.I. President Kalyan Banerjee. CLUB SERVICE between Bombay and London. He was Likely to be dubbed the “Female Interestingly, the Awards were not – NEW MEMBERS married to Natasha, a psychiatrist. Empowerment and Protection Pro- for routine activities but for Balanced Director Another duo to be inducted was that ject” or the “Female Project”, it would Programme, the Best Bulletin, Best Nirav Shah of Rajesh Shah and Farhat Jamal. address the subject of crimes against Community Service, Most Unusual Membership Rajesh was loaned the Classification women – women, especially in India, Rotary Activity, Best Rotaract Activ- PP Sandip Agarwalla “Marketing and Indenting of Miner- were disadvantaged from conception ity, Outstanding RVC Activity, Best he Club had 330 members on July als” and Farhat “Hospitality”. to post-funerary rights. Every Rotarian Performance in World Understanding 1, 2012, and ended the year with Even as a non-Rotarian, Rajesh had would see this as a crime against hu- and Peace, Best Projects with Part- T334 on June 30, 2013. Seven members been associated with the Bhavishya- manity, as a crime against biology and ners in Service, Promotion of Ethics resigned, were terminated or passed Yaan project for more than four years as a crime that Rotarians had to fight. and The 4-Way Test in business and away in the course of the year. And and now looked after the project at The Rotary Club of Bombay was professions and so on. The Certifi- eleven new members were inducted. the G.K. Municipal School. working on a plan to tackle this issue cates of Appreciation were for being To turn to the newcomers, it was a As for Farhat Jamal, he had been a and every member could contribute the “Soul of Rotary” and for signifi- delight to watch two women mem- member of the Club in the past, too. his/her intellect, time and money to it. cant Public Relations activity. bers being formally inducted at one He had been with the Taj Group of Returning to more mundane mat- Above all there was the “A1 Tro- meeting. While actor Tara Deshpande Hotels for more than 30 years and at ters, at the 83rd Annual General Meet- phy” – the Bombay West Rotary Ser- was loaned the Classification “Art: present was Area Manager (Regional ing held on December 11, 2012, vice Wheel for “Outstanding Work in Writer/Actor”, Poornima Advani filled Head) of Shangri-La Hotels in India. Shailesh Haribhakti was elected to all 4 Avenues of Service”. Over and the slot for “Law Practice: Corporate”. He was a member of the Rotary Club serve as President in 2014-2015 and above this, Paul also received the “Su- Tara is the daughter of Leela and the of Bombay between 2005 and 2007. Indu Shahani to succeed him as Presi- per Achiever Club Award” on behalf late Ajit; the feisty Poornima is a former Earlier, he was a member of the Rot- dent in the Rotary year 2015-2016. of the Rotary Club of Bombay. Chairperson of the National Commis- ary Club of Madras (1995 to 1998) sion for Women. and Bombay Hills South (1990 to Soon after, the ranks of Honorary 1995). Rotarians swelled with the induction The next new member to be admit- of the well-known industrialist, Mr. ted during the year, Anar Ashok Shah, Rahul Bajaj. He was formally inducted was loaned the Classification “Con- at the meeting that coincided with the sultant: Health and Fitness”. She was District Governor’s Official Visit to in charge of the wellness centre at the the Club. Piramal Clinic at Lower Parel. President Nowroze Vazifdar invited The penultimate meeting saw two the District Governor, Dr. Balkrishna new members being inducted. Inamdar, to formally induct Mr. Bajaj Anup Agarwalla was loaned the and welcome him into the Rotary fra- Classification “Mining: Coal”. Manish ternity. Kejriwal, the son-in-law of Mr. Rahul Two newcomers, Ashok Gokal and Bajaj, filled the Classification “Finance: Manoj Murarka, were formally in- Investment”. ducted at the meeting of February 26. Among those who passed away in Ashok was loaned the Classification the course of the year were three ven- “Trade Merchant” and Manoj “Fi- erable members, Dr. Fardoon Soona- Honouring his predecessor. President Nowroze Vazifdar presents a silver nance” Securities”. walla, Prabhakar Deshpande and salver to IPP Paul George at the first meeting for his excellent performance Vice-President Shailesh Haribhakti Kekoo Gandhy. sent a brief note to The Gateway in Former member Viren Shah and the which he expressed the hope that nonagenarian District patriarch PDG Ashok, “along with his charming fam- Manibhai Doshi also breathed their ily, will bring sunshine to our Club”. last. President-Elect Nirav Shah said that Dr. Fardoon was 85 and had been a Manoj ran Batlivala and Karani, a 140- member for close to 30 years. His sons, year-old financial services company. Dr. Darious and Dr. Phiroze were Another new member, Peter Born, members of the Club. was loaned the Classification “Fi- Prabhakar was a member for longer, nance: International Banking”. Intro- for 43 years to be precise. His son, the ducing him to members, IPP Paul late Ajit, was President in 1992/93 but George said that Peter’s engagement passed away in 1995. Prabhakar was with Rotary began in 1984 when he a consistent donor to the Club’s pro- became a Rotaractor in Bavaria where jects and made regular corpus dona- he was studying. In 1992, he joined tions to the Ajit Deshpande Medical the Commerzbank, the second-largest Centre established in his son’s memory bank in Germany with headquarters in Talwada. in Frankfurt. He was instrumental in Interestingly, two from his family Welcome to the Club. President Nowroze presents Rotary literature to new establishing the Rotary Club of Frank- are members at present, Ajit’s spouse Honorary member, Mr. Rahul Bajaj, who was inducted by the Governor furt-Staedel as a Charter member. Leela and daughter Tara. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 7 Prabhakar’s contemporary, Kekoo Soon after, the Club received in- Gandhy, was 92 years old and had formation that the Queen of England also been a member for 43 years. He had granted an Honorary MBE had been decorated with the Padma (Member of the British Empire) to Shri in 2008. Camellia Panjabi for her services to The illustrious Viren Shah (86), the hospitality industry. former Member of Parliament, former The Investiture Ceremony was Governor of West Bengal and former held on Friday, February 22, at the member of the Club, passed away on British High Commissioner’s resi- March 9. Admitted on June 25, 1952, dence in New Delhi. he remained a member till 2000. On As for the magnanimity of indi- his last appearance on August 30, vidual members, the sky was appar- 2011, he was awarded the first ently the limit. While three members Pravinchandra Gandhi Award for Ex- invited the entire membership (with cellence in Public Life. A contempo- spouse in tow) to evening Fellow- rary of “PV”, Mr. Shah was, like him, ship meetings, several others pulled modest to a fault. out their cheque books and wrote out PDG Manibhai Doshi, who was a big sums for Club and Foundation Starting the innings with a six. Mr. Kishore Biyani, the man behind the regular visitor to the Club even at the activities. Future Group, was the first speaker of the year age of 93, was a member of Bombay With the seventh successive tran- East but closely attached to the Club. che, PP Arvind Jolly’s contribution He invariably attended the Tuesday to The Rotary Foundation Endow- meetings and took active part in the ment Fund reached $175,000. He had question-answer sessions and discus- been giving $25,000 every year for sions. the last seven years. Classifications For his part, Pradeep Mafatlal PP Dr. Adi Dastur made it eight-in-a-row by once again n updated list of open and filled making a generous donation of Rs. 10 Classifications was prepared in lakhs for the service projects of the AugustA and circulated to members of Club. the Membership and Membership Perhaps motivated by Pradeep, Development Committees to enable Aliakbar Merchant followed in his them to look for the most appropri- footsteps. He quietly approached the ate candidates to fill the vacant Clas- President at the Christmas Fellow- sifications. ship luncheon and asked which par- Information ticular areas of service had a pressing PP Dr. Kekoo Kavarana need for funds. When Nowroze men- he Committee worked in conjunc- tioned health and education, Ali The Investiture Ceremony. Camellia Panjabi receives the Honorary MBE tion with the Membership Com- thanked him and went home. (Member of the British Empire) granted by the Queen of England Tmittee and shared information about Four days later, he sent two che- Rotary with all new and proposed ques, one for Rs. 5,00,000 from the her spouse Gautam, a member of the and had been notified as a deemed members. Jairazbhoy Peerbhoy Khoja Sanato- Rotary Club of Bombay Central, university by the Government of In- It informed prospective members rium and another cheque for Rs. went on a holiday to the Baltic coun- dia.) about their duties and responsibili- 5,00,000 from the Noor Baug Chari- tries. In the course of their holiday, Tarjani followed in the footsteps ties, placing special emphasis on the table Estate. the urge to attend a Rotary meeting of such illustrious citizens of India as importance of attendance require- Thanking Arvind, Pradeep and Ali took them to the Vilniaus Senamiescio Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Sampoor- ments. for their magnanimity, Nowroze re- Rotary Klubas, Vilnius (the Rotary nanand, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Dr. (Ms) Working in coordination with the quested members not to “earmark” Club of Vilnius Old Town, in short), Mahadevi Verma, Mrs. Hansa Mehta, Membership Committee, it worked their donations for a particular pur- in Lithuania. Mrs. Lakshmi N. Menon, Mr. S. behind the scenes and helped iron out pose or project. He assured all of them Preeti stated in a note to Bulletin Nijalingappa, Prof. Aloo J. Dastur and the wrinkles as most prospective new that the Club would deploy the funds Chairman PP Arun Sanghi that de- the Hon. Rotarian Mr. Keshub members felt a bit nervous at their where these were needed the most. spite not knowing the language, she Mahindra. entry into the world of Rotary. President-Elect Nirav Shah started was extremely impressed with the CLUB SERVICE Membership Development & the year with a big-bang donation of manner in which the meeting was con- – PROGRAMMES/MEETINGS District Conference Rs. 2 lakhs. While Rs. 1 lakh was to ducted. There were approximately 20 Director Shailesh Haribhakti be used for various Community Ser- Rotarians and two Rotaractors at the Framroze Mehta everal members attended the R.I. vice projects, the other Rs. 1 lakh went meeting. The Rotaractors were organ- Attendance District Conference at which the to The Rotary Foundation. ising a rubber duck race (yes, a rubber Arvind Agarwal ClubS picked up ten Trophies and A few days later, he made another duck race!) as a fund-raising event. he Committee computerised the Shields for its outstanding perfor- donation, one that helped him become So she went out of her way to pur- Tattendance system to do away mance under IPP Paul George during a “Paul Harris Society Member”. He chase a rubber duck (serial number with manual signatures on attendance the year gone by. made a commitment to give $1,000 281) as a token contribution to the registers. All members were issued an Members’ achievements every year to The Rotary Founda- drive. RIFD identity card to swipe and mark during the year tion. The information that a very rare their attendance. resident Nowroze Vazifdar an- With this, Nirav became the sec- honour had been conferred on Tarjani The machines were connected to nounced amidst much applause ond member of the Rotary Club of Vakil delighted the members. She had the database in the Rotary office thatP the President of India had con- Bombay (and the 63rd in Rotary Dis- joined an illustrious list of eminent where the data was downloaded with- ferred the Padma awards to two mem- trict 3140) to make such a commit- Indians to serve as Adhishthata of out time being wasted on a manual bers on Republic Day, 2013. The ment. the world-renowned Banasthali updating of the database. This had Honorary member, Mr. Adi Godrej, That Rotary is never far from the Vidyapith located just outside Jaipur. saved time and money (because time was awarded the Padma Bhushan minds of Rotarians became evident (According to its Vice-Chancellor, translates to cost) of the Rotary Of- and Sudha Motwane the Padma Shri. once again when Preeti Mehta and Banasthali was a registered society fice staff. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 8 “On a more selfish note,” said possible to trigger all-round prosper- Just when the whole world was “Many rehabilitation projects Arvind, “it has saved the time of my ity by encouraging “consumption”. celebrating the discovery of the elu- have been implemented but the staff who used to go to the Rotary Introduced as the pioneer of the mod- sive Higgs boson, also described as number of slums is increasing at Office every week to update their da- ern retail business in India and men- “the God particle”, along came a re- an even faster pace... We have tabase. Now the data comes from the tor to many entrepreneurs, he spoke search scientist from the TIFR who reached a stage where probably 55 Rotary Office in the form of a soft on “Retail and beyond” and was heard had worked at the one and only CERN to 60% of the city is now in un- copy which is udpated into our sys- in rapt attention by a full house in the laboratory to say that he was willing organised housing, a more pleas- tem. The make-up data is still manu- Ball Room. to accept a wager on whether the ant term for slums,” she said. ally updated but efforts are on to From the three-letter word “Buy” Higgs had actually been found. Ms Somaya added that the time had eliminate even this in the coming to the four-letter “Land” – “Get land, Not merely that, the Professor said come for politicians and bureaucrats year.” forget it and then sell it for windfall at the end of his talk that he did not to understand that urban design and At a Club meeting at which he in- returns at a huge profit!” believe science would ever be able to planning were highly technical areas troduced the new system, Arvind said Mr. Anuj Puri, Chairman and understand the origin of the universe. and they had to have the courage and that the ID cards issued to members Country Head of Jones Lang LaSalle With that, Prof. Spenta Wadia com- ability to appoint professionals; their had the unique Rotary Identification (JLL), said that Mark Twain was on pleted a stimulating oration on “The job then would be only to get things number that was exclusive to every the spot when he said “Invest in land, Higgs” in the course of which he executed. But the problem was that member – not only at the Club level because we are not making any more traced man’s understanding of the everybody seemed to know every- but also at the R.I level. This number of it”. To prove his point, he claimed universe and the efforts made to plug thing about everything and hence no would be useful even when members that the medium-to-long-term return the loopholes in knowledge. decisions were taken by anybody. went abroad, especially in Clubs that from office premises was $1.2 for From the fundamentals of matter In an unintended irony, the very had already computerised their atten- every $1 invested and from residen- and the universe, members came down next week saw one of the biggest real dance and other records. tial property a mere $1.1. with a thud when the very next estate barons of India, Mr. Niranjan Arvind gave full credit to President But those who bought land, left it speaker, Ms Brinda Somaya, archi- Hiranandani, asserting that “Whe- Nowroze who initiated this innova- as it was and did nothing about it, tect and heritage conservationist, told ther it’s housing, re-housing, infra- tion and without whose active guid- made a lot of money when they sold them in no uncertain terms that their structure or new concepts, money ance and support the entire exercise it. A survey by JLL showed that land city would never be free of slums. will follow innovative ideas wherever would have been futile. yielded a whopping $5.2 on every $1 “Let’s be realistic. We’re not going we can create them, whether in gov- Mr. Eruch Irani and his team at the invested. The message was clear – get to be able to get rid of slums. The ernment or in the private sector, whe- Rotary office patiently vetted the land, forget it, then sell it for a huge only thing we (the privileged people) ther you're putting up a hospital, system and were now using it suc- profit! can do is think about how to improve building or industry. Money is avail- cessfully. He added with a straight face that them and learn how to live cheek by able... good people are not. Leader- In another initiative, members those who worked hard for years cre- jowl with them. ship is lacking”. would be given the option of going on ating assets, whether office, commer- the net and entering make-up atten- cial or residential properties, only lost dance details, thus avoiding the need money. But not those who bought to send to the Rotary office the make- land. up cards received during their visits Out-of-the-box thinking could to other Clubs. The Committee was help end corruption in the country collaborating with Mr. Viraf Hansotia but the process had to involve all of Spenta Multimedia and would sections of society, politicians, bu- implement this system from the new reaucrats, civil society and ordinary Rotary year. citizens. Just as records were meant As per his wont, Arvind once again to be broken, good ideas were meant followed the policy, “without cost to to be copied. And ideas were aplenty, the Rotary Club of Bombay”. whether indigenous or from distant Well done, Arvind! lands. Programmes However, according to Mr. S. Sha- PP Haresh Jagtiani nkar Menon, a retired IAS officer aresh and Harish (Anil) made a and former Additional Chief Secre- perfect team as they set out to tary to the Government of Maha- offerH members some delectable fare rashtra, the one essential ingredient Germany and France are the original bad boys of the European Union. at the Tuesday meetings. They al- in any effort to end corruption had to Thus spake the well-known economist, Dr. Ajit Ranade ways had a standby speaker and kept be an inner desire to end it once and the President in the loop about their for all. choice of speakers. They also invited “Germany and France are the origi- and welcomed suggestions from nal bad boys of the European Union,” members for speakers. according to one of India’s leading The duo could not have found a economists, Dr. Ajit Ranade, Chief better opening batsman than the toast Economist with the Aditya Birla of the retail world, Mr. Kishore Group of Industries. Speaking on Biyani, Founder and CEO of the “Europe – crisis or not?” he said there Future Group. He presented his read- was indeed a crisis in Europe but nei- ing of economics (and a very success- ther would it lead to a break-up of the ful one at that) when he urged people Euro Zone nor would it sink the Euro to “Buy, buy, buy! That’ll help the currency. country grow... Consumption at the However, the crisis would not end retail level will make us one of the overnight. It would be a long-drawn, most powerful economies in the painful process with brinkmanship world”. on a daily basis. German Chancellor A first-generation entrepreneur Angela Merkel would act tough and who called himself a humble shop- the French and the Italians were not He came, he saw and he shone. Prof. Spenta Wadia visited the Club twice. keeper, he proclaimed that it was going to keep quiet either. First to speak on 'The Higgs' and then to receive the Sohrab Godrej Award June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 9 He recalled that the BJP-Shiv Sena cities by enhancing ecological and eco- Anil Harish, who introduced him, global war on women”. They said that government had built the Bombay- nomic sustainability. put it more succinctly when he said one of the shocking statistics that had Pune Expressway and 35 flyovers over A young MP, Mr. Piyush Goyal, that the individual ingredients in a salad been unearthed through the work of the two highways leading to Bombay Treasurer of the main opposition “co-exist and add flavour to each other Laadli, founded by Bobby Sista, was even though it had no money. But it Bharatiya Janata Party, raised several so that the combination is better than that Malabar Hill had one of the high- created the Maharashtra State Road- pertinent issues. Did disruption of just the individual parts”. est rates of female infanticide or foeti- ways Development Corporation (MS- Parliamentary proceedings serve any What a paradox! In a country where cide in the country. RDC), appointed an able IAS officer, purpose? Did political parties receive water, sanitation, poor health, illiteracy The speakers were Ms Mahabanoo Mr. R.C. Sinha, as MD and CEO and donations that were accounted for? and many chronic ills plagued a major- Kotwal and her son Mr. Kaizaad asked it to implement projects worth Was the BJP stretching things by call- ity of citizens, the market for luxury Kotwal, both celebrated theatre and Rs. 3,000 crores. But the bankers in- ing for a nation-wide closure (bandh)? goods was flourishing and growing at film personalities renowned for bring- sisted that the government would have What was the inside story behind 25% per annum. This was stated by ing “The Vagina Monologues” to the to put in some equity. Coalgate, the newest scandal to hit Mr. Vinod Gupta, Founder and CEO stage in India, and Dr. Armida How much did the government India? Did India really need FDI (for- of “Luxurionworld.com”. Fernandez, Professor of Neonatol- put in? A mere Rs. 5 crores! With eign direct investment)? He also quoted the Coco Chanel slo- ogy at the Sion Hospital and Medical that paltry equity, 15 years ago the He made a valiant effort to address gan, “Luxury is a necessity that be- College who founded the “Sneha” shel- MSRDC built the Bombay-Pune many such questions both in the course gins when necessity ends”. History ter in Dharavi. They were introduced Expressway and 35 flyovers over the of his talk as well as the brief ques- showed that the consumption of luxury by Mudit Jain. two Highways in Bombay. tion-answer session that followed. items actually commenced in India “The soul is supreme – it designs One baron was followed by another. He also had to contend with a googly thanks to the royal patronage of rajas, the human body and even chooses the The leading industrialist, Mr. Rahul bowled by the irrepressible Burjor maharajas, nizams, moguls and rajputs. parents,” this was a claim made by a Bajaj, who spoke after receiving the Poonawala who wondered whether it They patronised manufacturers such past life regression therapist, Mr. Club’s Pravinchandra V. Gandhi Award would be better if the BJP remained in as Cartier and Louis Vuitton in Lon- Soketu Parikh. for Excellence in Public Life, said he the opposition permanently so that it don, Paris and Milan. Even today, Mr. Parikh started by pointing out got very angry when he saw things could keep on exposing the wrong- many Indian families’ heirlooms bore that when one talked about life, one going wrong in the country and when doings of the Congress party. He took the “Made in England” or “Made in meant three things, the body, the mind the poor and those with fixed incomes it in his stride. France” tags. and the soul. Life was incomplete – those very people (the aam aadmi Another young man, Mr. Ashwin Several shocking facts about the without even one of these. But the or common man) to whom the gov- Sanghi, claimed that as an author he establishment’s attitude towards most significant aspect of life was the ernment had assured succour – were held the world record of 47 rejection women came to the fore when three mind. hit hard by inflation. slips for his first book, The Rozabal persons campaigning for an end to vio- When a soul took birth, it registered “I believe the time has come for Line. In contrast, J.K. Rowling of lence against women spoke on “The its entire memory in the mind; but many businessmen to engage more actively Harry Potter fame received 12 rejec- and more purposefully in public life (I tion slips, Richard Bach who wrote use the term public life, not politics), the classic Jonathan Livingston to ensure both economic and social Seagull 18, Stephen King 30 and Mar- development of our country.” He garet “Gone With The Wind” Mitchell added that “if, despite all our public 38. follies”, the country continued to make The rejections made him adopt the progress, it was because “most of our pseudonym Shawn Haigins and go for business and society still walk at a dif- self-publication; but once he was able ferent rhythm than our governments”. to discard the anonymity of his nom A pleasant departure from slums, de plume and regained his identity, he builders and barons was Ms Roshan got back his rather laconic, self-depre- Curmally, a soft-spoken teacher with cating wit; as proof of which he de- 65 years’ experience, who received the scribed himself as “a pot-bellied Rotary Club of Bombay Somchand Marwari businessman”. Parikh Award for Best Teacher. Now a best-selling author whose She was scathing in her observation three works of fiction had clocked com- that there were very few hands-on bined sales of nearly half a million, Mr. mothers. “Why are your maids com- Sanghi is also the son of Rotarians PP A son who works with the World Bank. Mr. Arish Dastur is flanked by his ing to collect your children” she de- Mahendra and Manju Sanghi. father, PP Dr. Adi (left) and President-Elect Nirav Shah after his talk manded. The Consul-General of Singapore, Urbanisation was back in currency Mr. Lin Chung Ying, gave an inter- when a Bombay boy, Mr. Arish esting talk on “Multiculturalism: The Dastur, son of PP Dr. Adi and Dr. Singapore experience”, in the course Nayna, working as Co-Team Leader of which he showed that not only did with the World Bank, emphasised that he know his country’s demographic “runaway urbanisation is an opportu- profile like the back of his hand, he nity to avoid past mistakes”. was also able to throw light on such The World Bank was supporting mundane things as why the Chinese the emerging “reorientation in devel- preferred red clothes over black or opment thinking” and attempting to white; why Muslims prayed four times guide developing countries to adopt a day; how Singapore handled Eco2 practices for the benefit of citi- proselytisers; were all Indians Tamils zens, he said. But what was Eco2? It and so on. was an acronym for “ecological cities In other words, he ended up serving as economic cities” (with “Eco” oc- a delectable, many layered “salad” that curring twice, the choice of acronym offered Singaporean multiculturalism came quite easily). as a delightful dish with each ingredi- Its objective was to bring greater ent distinct and retaining its individu- Another son who spoke. Mr. Ashwin Sanghi, whose proud parents are human and social well-being in these ality. PP Mahendra and Manju Sanghi, also addressed the Club June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 10 new memories were thrust upon the of Medicine at Harvard Medical School mind in the mother’s womb itself which at Brigham and the Women’s Hospital made it difficult for one to remember there, while speaking on an unusual one’s past. topic, “Be kind, unwind: Yoga for Each human being was “nature’s health, the scientific perspective” greatest miracle”, said the inspirational A wizened senior citizen, his white speaker, Mr. Azim Jamal, while beard flying in the air, he launched a speaking on “Business balance and low-key pitch about the influence of beyond”. He had written six books and Yoga, but by the time he completed was promoting his seventh, Business his talk he had picked momentum and balance and beyond, which captured claimed it was time the world his “Corporate Sufi” philosophy. recognised the benefits of the 5,000- He hailed from Tanzania in East year-old Indian system of spiritual Africa, his grandfather having migrated intervention and introduced it in pri- from India. At present he lived in Can- mary schools everywhere. ada with his Byculla-born wife and This would not only save upcom- family. ing generations from such modern-day Mr. Jamal offered food for thought ills as obesity, stress, anxiety and de- The UPA-II government has failed, declares Ms Aruna Roy after receiving when he said that even a penniless blind pression, it would also pave the way the Club award. She is also a recipient of the Magsaysay Award woman of 90 could give something to for a better world in which such others, whether a smile, a prayer, good lifestyle diseases would not extract a wishes or forgiveness. A man with two heavy price in terms of man-days lost, handicapped children said that the joy medical costs, hospital stay and so on. they brought him every single day was A hard-hitting presentation was priceless. Napoleon, on the other hand, made by the Magsaysay Award re- had power, prestige and a beautiful cipient, Ms Aruna Roy, about six wife, but before he died he said that he months before she resigned as a mem- had not known six happy days in his ber of the National Advisory Council entire life. (NAC). She confessed that the cur- Going back to governance, Mr. Ravi rent NAC had no mandate and had Narain, Managing Director and CEO not achieved anything as yet. of the National Stock Exchange of In- The first one was set up to monitor dia Ltd. and recipient of the Rotary the implementation of the National Club of Bombay Ramkrishna Bajaj Common Minimum programme of the Award for Good Governance, said that UPA-I government. But the remit of good governance alone would help NAC-II, if any, was to see that the corporate India garner capital. promise of passing several important He admitted that governance was Bills, a commitment made in the The hep daughter of the hippie generation. Ms Pooja Bedi, daughter of something the country had been strug- President’s address to the first session Kabir and Protima, recalled her parents with pride gling with over a long period of time. of the two Houses of the current Par- Corporate India and the securities liament, was fulfilled. tion, was studying in the USA, hop- head when he said that he wanted to market (to which he belonged) were But “we have not been able to push ing to fulfil her dream of a career on act in films at the age of 18. no different. But if corporate India re- (the Bills) through; the government has Wall Street; she wanted to be one of Having received the Rotary Club of ally wanted to meet its ever-growing developed skills to stall all that goes to the movers and shakers of the world. Bombay Shyam Munshi Lifetime requirement for capital for activities it from the NAC. We have met with But she had to rush back home be- Achievement Award for Performing such as building projects and busi- bureaucratic resistance.” cause her mother suddenly wanted to Arts, he recalled that he had grown up nesses, then governance was of the Returning to the crisis in Europe, leave, to fulfil her dream of creating in a normal family that had lived in utmost importance. two distinguished Germans asserted “Nrityagram” (a dance village). Peshawar for about 15 generations. That truth was stranger than fiction that it would be overcome. When she returned to Bombay, there But just before partition the family was proved yet again when a recipient They recalled that the international was no one at the airport or at home. of Punjabi Pathans, a minority in that of a Rotary Award revealed how a de- media had expended a lot of energy When she protested that it wasn’t fair part of the world, moved to Bombay. tailed report on her talk at the Club in asking Eurozone countries to be alert to be abandoned when she was just His father was a businessman and 2011 that was carried in The Gateway and telling them that if the Euro did 18, her mother said, “So what? I was wanted his son to continue the family had led to many unknown people not stabilise, then it would be better if 16 when I ran away with your father business. mailing cheques to her. countries such as Greece, Portugal, to live with him. We were given two The youth received the best educa- Ms Safeena Husain, founder and Italy and Spain left it. However, the toasts and two eggs by the landlady. tion, went to the best schools, com- Executive Director of Educate Girls, limit was reached when a legendary You at least have a roof over your head. pleted his Senior Cambridge and joined an NGO, who spoke after receiving investor, Mr. George Soros of the Just believe in the universe and, and... Sydenham College to study Comm- the Rotary Club of Bombay Anita USA, suggested that perhaps it would goodbye”. erce (he would have become a char- Parikh Award for Empowerment of be better if Germany itself left the The young girl was left with a dog, tered accountant.) But he was 18 years Women, said people believed that she European Union. a cook, (housing) society bills which old when he was offered a film by the was doing excellent work – after all, “This (I say this in my personal had to be paid regularly and about Rs. legendary Sunil Dutt. “This is how the Rotary Club of Bombay had capacity) is sheer rubbish,” exclaimed 20,000 in hand. Today, Ms Bedi is an destiny takes you through life,” he said. hosted her, hadn’t it? Mr. Heiko Quast, the German Con- actress, author, columnist and activist Mr. Tarun Tahiliani, considered Not in their wildest dreams had sul (Financial Sector) in Bombay. with a desire to change lives. to be the pioneer of the fashion revo- members of the Club imagined that Joining him was Mr. Tomas No- A lot of things happen at the age of lution in India, said that it was the end such a true story would be described theis, the Bundesbank Representative 18. From being abandoned to being of socialism that had heralded the ad- to them by one who had experienced in Bombay. The two debunked all the threatened with a gun. The veteran vent of the fashion industry in India. it at first hand. doomsday scenarios with regard to actor, Mr. Vinod Khanna, a former Till the early 1980s, Indians had to Little-known truths about the ben- Europe and the Euro. BJP MP and a Minister in the Atal make do with ordinary clothes, but eficial role of Yoga were shared by Dr. The effervescent Ms Pooja Bedi, Behari Vajpayee government, revealed once the fetters of socialism were lifted, Sat Bir Khalsa, Assistant Professor an offspring of the “Hippie” genera- that his father had held a gun to his fashion blossomed as never before. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 11 Today, at least one survey had re- “This is a very special day for me. ported that the fashion industry was My younger brother is presiding over the third most popular career choice the gathering at this illustrious Club. among the youth. And my parents are here to see both Real estate raised its beautiful/ugly of us on the same stage. It’s a very (?) head once again with Mr. Satish special moment for me because we Magar, CMD of the Magarpatta were born and brought up in a Rotary Township Development and Con- spirit. My father used to be a Rotarian.” struction Co. Ltd. He revealed that the This was how Dr. Swati Piramal 9,000 apartments in Magarpatta City began her presentation on “Innova- (on the outskirts of Pune) yielded zero tion”, speaking before an almost full garbage; that every house had a solar house after an affectionate introduc- water-heating system; and that the tion by PP Dr. Adi Dastur. CMD also acted as the “civic chief”. Dr. Swati, the spouse of Mr. Ajay Manojj Patodia, who introduced Piramal, an Honorary member of the him, said that Mr. Magar was the brain Club, sister of Nirav Shah and a former behind the project that involved the member herself, gave a very interest- families of 123 farmers (who were the ing talk in the context of the rejection Dr. Swati Piramal addresses the issue of 'Innovation' following a Supreme landowners) and had got together as by the Supreme Court of India of a Court ruling in a patent case shareholders in a company that was patent appeal by a pharmaceutical giving them rich benefits. multinational. Wharton Business School had pre- Were mobile phones leading to deaf- pared a case study on Magarpatta for ness? No, that had not yet been proved, inclusive capitalism. A similar exercise said Dr. Shaila Vora, audiologist and had been undertaken for the 9th World speech and language therapist. She Congress of Metropolises in Sydney, claimed that the development and Australia. Former President A.P.J. availability of excellent hearing aids Abdul Kalam had lauded the project. were sounding the death-knell for Prof. Spenta Wadia, the “Higgs” schools for the deaf. man, was back, this time to receive the Gone were the days when children Sohrab Godrej Award for Science and born with hearing problems had to go Technology. In the course of a brief to special schools. Most of those talk, he requested the private sector to schools were closing down because the support research in basic science. technology employed in the new gen- Mr. Adi Godrej, an Honorary mem- eration hearing aids was so sophisti- ber of the Club and nephew of the late cated that children picked up sounds Sohrab Godrej, and Mr. Nadir Godrej, like normal children. If they were fit- his brother, presented a silver salver ted within the first one to two years of More than cancer, it's the fear of cancer that kills. Dr. Rajendra Badwe, and the citation to Dr. Spenta Wadia, life, they were able to go to regular Director of the Tata Memorial Centre, speaks at the Club Professor at the Tata Institute of Fun- schools and to speak normally. damental Research, Bombay, and Di- An example of thinking out of the said India’s top cancer specialist, Dr. list of patients with such conditions. rector of the International Centre for box was provided by the artiste and Rajendra Badwe, Director of the Tata But in the last 20 years there had been Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore. satirist, Mr. Aabid Surti. Speaking Memorial Centre. Decorated with the a rising trend and now India had started Invited to introduce the award-win- after receiving the Club’s Taru Lalvani Padma Shri in January, he was speak- mirroring what was seen in the US, ner, Mr. Nadir Godrej surprised mem- Award for Environment Protection, he ing on “Prevention of cancer”. He was the UK, New Zealand, Australia and bers by doing it in a poetic manner said his story was not one of going introduced by Zinia Lawyer. other countries 20 to 25 years ago. before reading out the citation. from rags to riches, but from rags to Dr. Badwe insisted that cancer was Younger children were going down Urging the authorities in Bombay happiness. not as deadly as it was made out to be. with problems, people without pre- to forget FSI and go for UDI (Urban He grew up on the pavement. The In fact, diabetes, hypertension and high vious history were suddenly being laid Design Index) was an urban design ex- family lived in a chawl, a single room blood pressure were some of the great- low with disease –all because of im- pert from the US, Mr. Mahender for a family of 15. There was no place est threats to life, yet most people mune imbalance, immune dis-regula- Vasandani, Director of M Square, to sleep and no water and there was a were terrified by cancer even though tion and loss of equilibrium. While who practised urban design in Chicago daily fight for every bucket. He car- nobody could say with any degree of some blamed it on diet, others men- and had been coming to India for some ried that memory with him. As he grew certainty that it would lead to death. tioned the “westernisation” of life- years to look at the reconstruction, up, whenever he visited people, he If people were careful about just styles and diet; still others blamed it redevelopment and reformation of vari- noted that at least one tap in their three things – infection, obesity and on stress. Global studies had shown ous cities, especially Bombay. He had home, in the kitchen, bathroom or toi- the use of tobacco – they would double that these were indeed connected. been in touch with several leaders in let, was leaking. their chances of surviving cancer in a Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the an effort to improve the living condi- A newspaper report told him that few years (which was not the case Director-General of the Chhatrapati tions here. the waste on account of one tap drip- with diabetes, hypertension and high Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya If the UDI system was adopted, he ping was colossal. So he decided to do blood pressure which took a big toll in (earlier known as the Prince of Wales said, the focus on FSI would be dif- something. He hired a plumber and the distant future). Museum of Western India), made a fused. It would still be a part of the started visiting people’s homes in dis- Dr. Sitesh Roy, who was voted one scholarly presentation and stated that matrix to get plans approved, but there tant Mira Road and offering to repair of the best doctors in the USA for four a museum could easily be turned into would be a simultaneous emphasis on their leaking taps for free. But he had years and who featured in the guide to a cultural centre. the UDI. And that, to some extent, no money. When he received an award America’s top physicians every year But he added that the city’s mu- would help the people to give some- and a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh, the money from 2005 to 2010, asserted that most seum was now like an NGO; it needed thing back to the community. He was financed his crusade for a few years. diseases began in the gut because 90% money to maintain its Grade I heritage speaking on “Improving Mumbai And then some more money came in. of the human immune system lived in building and to preserve over 60,000 through Urban Design” and was in- And so his movement continued. the gut. priceless artefacts. troduced by Moy Biswas, his class- Be afraid, very afraid, of diabetes, An expert in allergies and asthma, Interestingly, the 91-year-old mu- mate at IIT, Kharagpur. hypertension and high blood pressure, he said India used to be very low in the seum was set up under the Prince of June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 12 Wales Act of 1909 as an autonomous Thakore had introduced him by stat- that a person could access it anywhere bers bought their own victuals, was body to be run by an independent board ing that he was going to be “lovably, and at any time. held at the CCI, the third at the popu- of trustees. The State gave it an annual irreverently, intellectually interesting”. Fellowship lar watering hole, the “Tote” at grant of the then princely sum of Rs. Although he indulged in a great deal PP Ashish Vaid Mahalaxmi, and the fourth once again 1.36 lakhs. However, nobody both- of leg-pulling, in the course of the ques- he motto of the Fellowship Com- at the Willingdon Club on June 18. ered about inflation and the grant re- tion-answer session that followed he mittee this year was, “Party hard August saw ten Rotary families on mained static at that level till it was came across in a different avatar, as a andT donate generously”. a memorable trip to the Taj Holiday completely withdrawn in 1998. serious person with unexpected Ashish and his team believed that Village in Goa. Such was the bonding “Loot and plunder is the order of gravitas. Fellowship and Fund-Raising were the throughout the trip that “they visited the day, but where is your outrage?” When the applause at the end of two pillars of the Club. It was through every one of the hot spots of Goa... demanded Ms Sucheta Dalal, the Dolly’s introduction died down, his Fellowship initiatives that members PP Arjun Bulchandani and Ashok Jatia original scam-buster, columnist and first words were: “What a long round of the Club bonded and became one hit jackpots. They promised to do- financial journalist who broke the story of applause! Thank you so much. big, happy family. Hence, it was in- nate all the winnings to the Rotary of the Harshad Mehta, C.R. Bhansali Don’t stop (continue), take your time! cumbent on each and every Rotarian Club Bombay Charities Trust No. 3!” and other huge scams two decades ago. But first I would like to welcome ar- to participate actively in the various exclaimed Ashish. She urged members to speak out guably India’s greatest fiction writer Fellowship events. The Diwali Fellowship was held at against the situation in the country since Shobha De, Dolly Thakore! I This year, the Sports Committee Breach Candy Club on November 27. when probity had lost all meaning and don’t know what she was talking was subsumed with the Fellowship It was hosted by President Nowroze where a scam a day was par for the about. They were all lies!” Committee. Moy Biswas, the man in along with Madhusudan Daga, Manoj course. The financial regulators were Addressing the burning topic of the charge of sports, had planned golf, Israni, Ashok Jatia, Jayesh Jhaveri, either sleeping at their job or winking day, viz., spot-fixing, match-fixing, cricket and tennis events. Manojj Patodia, Subhash Sagar, Alok at wrong-doings under their noses; fly- bookies, players and the role of the Ashish said his Committee would Saxena, Aditya Somani and Ashish by-night operators were duping gull- law, PP Haresh Jagtiani insisted that organise one Fellowship event every Vaid. ible people of hundreds of crores of betting was not a crime in India. But month. In fact, the year had started December saw the Christmas lun- rupees; ponzi schemes had acquired a he wanted to know why the BCCI with a Fellowship under a new initia- cheon at the Taj Mahal Hotel. This kind of halo and their promoters were was allowed to behave like a law unto tive called “Treat Yourself”. It was held event was sponsored by President playing with the life savings of lakhs itself. at the Willingdon Sports Club and was Nowroze, Ashish, Sheila Bulchandani, of people. It was time someone challenged and a huge success. Forty members (in- IPP Paul George, Suresh Goklaney, In the midst of all this, the media overturned one wrong judgment of the cluding spouses and families) got to- Joseph Koshy, PP Gul Kripalani, appeared to be complicit because it Supreme Court (in the case filed by gether in July and “virtually took over George Mathew, Aliakbar Merchant, allowed its hallowed space to be filled Zee TV against BCCI for rescinding the entire place”. The second in this Sunny Pariyaram, Bernd Schneider with dubious claims and did not bother its contract), because that would lead series of Fellowships, in which mem- and Nirav Shah. about checking the antecedents of those to revolutionary changes in the func- whom it promoted, so long as the tioning of the all-powerful BCCI. money kept flowing in. While passing judgment in that case, It took a Bombayite, a former Po- the apex court had held that the BCCI litical Director in the Executive Office was a private body; it was not a “state” of the Secretary-General of the United or an authority as contemplated under Nations, to explain the intricate, highly the Constitution; therefore, its actions nuanced workings of the world body. did not come under judicial scrutiny. Mr. Kishore Mandhyan, who Haresh was unsparing in his criti- worked over the last five years in the cism of that judgment. “I think that above post, revealed all in the course judgment is wrong... The BCCI is a of an interesting talk on “The view power centre. It controls the lives of from the 38th floor of the United Na- cricketers. There is a lot of public in- tions: A day in the life of the UN Sec- terest involved in the game of cricket,” retary-General”. he added. PP Haresh Jagtiani revealed while At the next meeting, Anil Harish introducing him that he had rubbed delivered a master class on the crucial shoulders with several Heads of State, but neglected subject of “Wills” (as in including Barrack Obama, George W. bequests). It was as if he was dictating Who says betting is a crime? It's not. But the bigger issue is that the BCCI is Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and a chapter in a forthcoming book. He allowed to behave like a law unto itself. PP Haresh Jagtiani speaks many others. presented all aspects, including short- He had lectured at Harvard Univer- comings and pitfalls, and spoke with sity and at Boston College and had such erudition that members were left received several accolades, including marvelling at his grasp of the subject. Lifetime Achievement Awards from Departing from the norm, the re- the Tufts Global Institution and the port on his talk was presented in the University of Bombay. form of a chapter in a legal textbook, In the course of his talk, he offered a complete with crossheadings (but snapshot of what occurred on the 38th without annotations). He ended his floor of the UN (where the offices of talk by stating, “Making a will doesn’t the Secretary-General were located), mean you’re over the hill”. the context within which it occurred, The speaker at the last meeting, held the content of the occurrences and on June 18, was Dr. Rohini Chow- some of the key challenges faced by gule who spoke on “Information and the office. communication technology in health- One of the most irreverent people care delivery”. in the mass media, Mr. Cyrus Broa- This was an IT-based system that cha, showed in the course of a talk she had pioneered and helped develop. that there was a serious side to him. It was a unique software to store medi- Cricket aficionados all. From left in this picture are Jaidev Merchant, This was in spite of the fact that Dolly cal data electronically on the web so Deepak Kapadia and Arjun Jolly June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 13 Yet another traditional “Fellow- Finally, it was the turn of Pradeep but awaiting the outcome of the tour- Bulletin, Website & Public Relations ship” was the colourful Holi event Mafatlal. Going all out to make it an nament at the Cabbage Patch were PPs PP Arun Sanghi organised by Naresh Kumar Jain at evening to remember, he and Divya Dr. Adi Dastur, Kalpana Munshi, Dr. he Club’s official newsletter, The his bungalow in Khar. A large number opened the doors to their palatial bun- Rumi Jehangir, Ashish Vaid and Nandan Gateway, continued to be pub- of members and their spouse attended galow on March 5 and offered an un- Damani. Accompanying them were lishedT with clockwork precision ev- the colourful programme and enjoyed believable treat to their guests. IPP Paul George, President Nowroze ery week; and the website had far more the dance, music and snacks (especially The guests were greeted person- and Nirav Shah. hits than in the year gone by. “Dilli-chaat”) spread out by the host ally by the hosts and by President Finally, cricket. And here the news Sergeant-at-Arms family. Nowroze as they entered and their was quite shattering – a team com- Roda Billimoria In a programme decided upon sud- comfort was ensured in every pos- prising young students of the he Committee did good work all denly, the Fellowship Committee en- sible way. Music played discreetly Bhavishya-Yaan defeated the Rotary Tthrough the year, attempting to couraged members to visit the famous in one corner, while guests mingled President’s XI by 6 wickets and with maintain discipline and decorum at the Bombay Museum to witness a spe- on the spacious lawns, treating 3 overs to spare! weekly meetings. cially-arranged showing of “Mummy themselves to drinks and an end- The match was played at the P.J. But this was a particularly interest- – an exhibition explaining the myster- less supply and variety of cocktail Hindu Gymkhana situated along the ing year as the role of the Committee ies of the Egyptian mummy”. The snacks. When the innumerable iconic Marine Drive and was a tre- was altered. The President had sug- mummies and other artefacts were on food counters were thrown open, mendous success, with several non- gested a few changes. First, he wanted loan from the British Museum. the members were amazed at the players and non-cricketers waking up the Sergeant-at-Arms to welcome the Three evening meetings variety of dishes on offer. There was early on a relaxed Sunday morning to guest speaker and then escort him/her shish had no hesitation whatso- something for every palate, howso- reach the venue. at the end of the meeting. Secondly, he ever in experimenting with the ever finicky or fastidious. They enjoyed the game, watching said it was time for the Committee to novelA concept of evening meetings sug- President Nowroze stated in a sign- enthusiastic cricketers turn out in stop minding the collection box, thus gested by the President at the first ed article in The Gateway that the whites to play the gentleman’s game freeing the members from their cash- meeting. Nowroze had said then that “proof of the pudding lies in the fact after President Nowroze had been in- ier-like tasks. he appreciated the fact that with more that many members have been heard troduced to both teams. Initially, there was some resistance, members having their workplaces saying that they solidly support the It was the combined effort of the but gradually members adapted well away from the vicinity of the Taj, it idea. Some even have gone to the ex- tireless Moy, working in tandem to the new system. As a result, the was difficult for them to attend weekly tent of saying that all meetings should with PP Ashish and Manish Committee members had the oppor- meetings in South Bombay on Tues- be held in the evening!” Reshamwala, under the overall tunity to interact with speakers, with day afternoons. SPORTS guidance of President Nowroze, fellow members and also to sit back For the convenience of such mem- dozen tennis aficionados wel- which ensured a good turnout and and hear the speaker, of course, after bers, and to strengthen the bonds of comed the day as it dawned over a successful event. ensuring silence in the hall. Fellowship, he proposed that weekly Athe Willingdon Sports Club on a hazy meeting be held in the evening on at Sunday in December to take part in least three Tuesdays . Accordingly, the the Tennis Fellowship arranged by the first meeting was held of December 4 indefatigable Moy Biswas, the de facto on the terrace of Ocean House in Worli chief of most sporting activities of the and hosted by Ravi Sheth. Club. Nowroze had stressed two points President Nowroze, who was the in relation to the evening meetings. The non-playing and non-interfering cap- first was that they would count as regu- tain of the tennis team, cheered on the lar meetings and members would get players; as did Rotaryann Pervin their attendance marked; and the sec- Jehangir who applauded PP Rumi’s ond that, once the formal business of ground strokes. the meeting had been concluded, At the end of the strenuous series Rotarians and spouses would mingle of sets, Nowroze presented every over a “fun” evening to get to know player with a commemorative “Cham- each other better. pion’s Cup” designed by Moy. And These purposes were well served then, in true Rotary spirit, the Tennis at the very first meeting when the Fellowship ended with a hearty break- attendance exceeded the 150-mark. fast enjoyed by all. Just how do they do it? Hosts Pradeep and Divya Mafatlal marvel at the It was an evening of merriment and In another activity organised by moves of Malti Jain and PP Harry Singh Arora hosts Amita and Ravi Sheth pulled Moy, Rohini Chowgule bagged the golf out all stops, with music, drinks and trophy a second time, but it was Fel- a sumptuous dinner. Everyone lowship that triumphed in the end. agreed that the “evening meeting” The annual golf tournament for the was a good idea and should be re- trophy instituted by the Biswas fam- peated frequently. ily in 2008 was held at the Willingdon The second in the series of evening Sports Club. Six years on, the ever- meetings was held on January 29, 2013, growing popularity and appeal of the on the verdant lawns of “The Club” tournament led to a roster of no less attached to the sprawling Planet than 32 competitors. Godrej in Central Bombay. And like Exciting and electrifying as the tour- the first one, this one, too, was a re- nament was, the Fellowship that fol- sounding success. lowed was equally engaging and ex- There was a tremendous turnout of hilarating, what with the presence of members along with their spouse and several stalwarts and family members. all of them were full of praise for the What was unique about the Fellow- excellent implementation of the idea ship was the presence of many past and the delicious snacks, victuals and and future leaders. excellent music organised by PP Past Presidents Arvind Jolly and Go and play the game in the true spirit. When President Nowroze said this Nandan and Shreelekha Damani. Ajay Kanoria were out on the greens, to the young boys, he had no idea they would go on and beat the Rotarians! June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 14 COMMUNITY SERVICE been described as the “Kohinoor” – MEDICAL I project of the Club. Not without rea- Director son, because it had already tended to Dr. Percy Chibber hundreds of thousands of poor, indi- Chairman Emeritus, Talwada gent patients trekking from long dis- PP Dr. Rahim Muljiani tances. Those people were sure their arly on the morning of Sunday, eyes would be safe in the care of the February 24, a fleet of cars headed noble doctors from Bombay who had Etowards Talwada, the tribal hamlet that foregone a weekly holiday to traverse had been virtually adopted by the the long distance to their village. Rotary Club of Bombay. This was the What the doctors offered was the place where the renowned Hasanali kind of sophisticated ophthalmic care Tobaccowala Eye Centre (HTEC), the that was only available (at very high Ajit Deshpande Medical Centre prices) in Bombay. (ADMC) and the Anusuya Devi Repair, replacement and replenish- Taparia Junior College stood. ment were a continuous process at the The convoy ferried Tara Deshpande HTEC, with ageing equipment being and Daniel; Chitra and Ashokkumar; replaced as and when the need arose; This is the O.T., the theatre of action. PP Dr. Rahim Muljiani describes the Dolly Thakore; Arin and Percy Mas- the finances were found and made facilities to members of the Club who visisted the HTEC at Talwada ter; Pallavi Jha; Pervin Jehangir; Arti available; the latter was seldom a ma- and Dhananjaya Mehta; Natwarlal jor concern, thanks to the generosity Brahmbhatt; Freyaz Shroff; Phiroza and magnanimity of members. and Dr. Aashish Contractor (with their (An unusual feature of the HTEC daughter Shanaya); Tarang and Sorabh had been the readiness with which even Jain; Jayanti and Sandeep Dasgupta; non-Rotarians who had never heard of Vatsala and Ashok Jatia; S.K. Mitra; Talwada promptly handed over con- Pranay Vakil; Mahakhurshid Byram- tributions to those from whom they jee; Dr. Vandana Bulchandani; Dr. Mala received information about the excel- Jagtiani; Dr. Sohrab Javeri; Dr. Rajeev lent work being done there.) Narvekar; and Moy Biswas. The HTEC was truly a labour of Fellowship Chairman Ashish Vaid, love of Dr. Rahim and the apple of his President Nowroze and Peter Born eye. (Please see Table for statistics of were also in the convoy that was the work done during the year.) joined en-route by the Club’s Execu- ADMC, Talwada tive Secretary, Mr. Eruch Irani, and his Dr. Sorab Javeri spouse. ater in the year, a small group of Waiting for this enthusiastic band LRotarians once again visited the of early-risers were Dr. Rahim and Ajit Deshpande Medical Centre With the indefatigable Dr. Yadav who mans the ADMC. With him (centre) Chairman Dr. Rumi Jehangir who, af- (ADMC) at Talwada to review its are President-Elect Nirav Shah and Chairman Dr. Sorab Javeri ter a quick breakfast, took the visitors operations. It was led by President around the facilities at the centre. Soon, Nowroze and included Nirav Shah, his treatment of cancer-affected persons, group of affected children. The sight the group moved to the Taparia Junior spouse Devina, ADMC Chairman Dr. especially children. However, there of girls brought no morbid, perverse College and took a quick round of this Sorab Javeri and a duo from the Oral were a few gut-wrenching aspects to delight to them but a glimmer of hope simple but aesthetically-pleasing Health Committee, viz., Dr. Rajeev their plight that not many people were that perhaps the tide was beginning to single-storey structure. The Principal Narvekar and Dr. Mala Jagtiani. aware of. turn. and other staff of the college were at Apart from going around the centre One was the fact that when a child The second gut-wrenching aspect hand to shower encomiums on their and interacting with some of the pa- was diagnosed with cancer, the chances was that the parents of cancer-affected students, proudly stating that the pass tients who had come in for diagnosis of the parents taking him for the best patients spent almost their entire life percentage was in the upper 90s. and treatment, the team from the Ro- possible treatment at the best possible savings in order to offer the best treat- Then it was time to move to the tary Club of Bombay also met the hospital were very high. But God for- ment and to pay for the costly medi- ADMC where President Nowroze was young members of the Rotaract Club bid, if it was a girl child who was af- cines. But did anybody know what subjected to the time-honoured tradi- of Government Dental College who flicted, then the chances of her receiv- happened when the patient passed tion of being forced into the dentist’s visited the ADMC twice a month to ing adequate medical care dropped pre- away despite the best medical care? chair (despite his vociferous pleas that offer free services to the poor and cipitously. Often, the bereaved relatives were left he had undergone this torture several needy. When members of the Cancer Aid holding the body. Rendered almost times on earlier visits to Talwada), The resident doctor at the ADMC, Committee observed the pitiable con- penniless, they could not meet even while “Dangerous Doctor” Ashish Dr. Yadav, showed the team around dition of the girl child diagnosed with the funeral expenses. Vaid laid into his open mouth with and explained the centre’s working. cancer being virtually denied treatment On learning of this during a visit in vicious-looking instruments. The team also visited the Hasanali by her own parents, they felt a great 2011, Shernaz Vakil had spontane- Dr. Yadav, in charge of the ADMC Tobaccowala Eye Centre where it met deal of revulsion. ously offered a donation of Rs. 50,000 (his counterpart at the HTEC being the resident surgeon, Dr. Anil Desh- On a previous visit to the Tata to what the Tata Memorial authorities Dr. Deshpande) took everyone pande. (Please see Table for statistics Memorial Hospital when they offered called a “Bereavement” fund. around, showing them the various fa- of the work done during the year.) financial assistance to the parents of In the course of this year’s visit, the cilities. Rotarians and Rotaryanns COMMUNITY SERVICE cancer-affected children, they had group of Rotarians was surprised to quickly made friends with the many – MEDICAL II pleaded with the authorities to allow learn that that contribution had been children who had come there to have Director the girl patients to survive (a plea best much appreciated. But the social various ailments attended to by Dr. Dr. Vandana Bulchandani made to their parents). worker, Ms Shalini, added there was Yadav and his team. Cancer Aid Perhaps the gods above heard the always a need for more money. HTEC, Talwada Zinia Lawyer prayer. As if in answer to that, when As if on cue, two members, Khur- PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir cores of concerned, kind-hearted they visited the Tata Memorial Hos- shed Poonawala and Hoshang Nazir, n its 35th year, the Hasanali Sdonors readily put their hands into pital on September 13, they noted that immediately donated Rs. 25,000 each ITobaccowala Eye Centre has often their pockets to offer funds for the there was more than one girl in the to the “Bereavement” fund. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 15 The team of Rotarians visiting the day and it was normal to have a high tients seen by him. The pathologist Several members, led by President Tata Memorial Hospital was led by reading at one point and a normal one was chosen after ascertaining his pro- Nowroze and Niloufer Vazifdar, were President Nowroze and consisted of at another. However, his advice to those fessional competence. present They also went round the Director Vandana Bulchandani, Chair- with high readings was to get their BP An analysis of the data collected at wards, meeting individual patients. As person Zinia Lawyer, Ritu Desai, checked at least on another two occa- the heart check-up camp revealed that usual, the Club offered a token contri- Hoshang Nazir and Khurshed sions and to remember that it could be 22% of the population had hyperten- bution to the Lions to help defray part Poonawala. controlled. sion and not just “borderline BP”. of the project cost. The Club also of- According to a report filed by Zinia, Making a new beginning in heart Further, 24% of them had high blood fered callipers to some needy patients. the team members were deeply care, Aashish organised an ambitious sugar levels (above 140 mg/dl in the Among those who attended were touched when they interacted with the camp for the residents of Siva Sastri non-fasting state). Chairman Shyyamniwas, Ratan Tan- brave children and their stoic parents. Nagar in Cuffe Parade. He told them Concerned by these findings, Aash- kha, Hon. Secretary Sitaram and PP Before leaving, they requested the hos- that heart disease was the leading cause ish said he would train members of the Kalpana Munshi. Shyyamniwas had pital authorities to inform them when- of death among both men and women. community, including the children of been associated with this project for ever girl children required assistance. However, such deaths were prevent- some of the patients, to serve as health several years and attended the polio Heart Care & Health able if the causative factors were iden- resources so that the work initiated surgery programme every year. He also Dr. Aashish Contractor tified and treated at an early stage. by him would continue for many years helped raise funds for the project. his Committee catered to people Two hundred men and women turn- and would not depend only on his vis- Differently abled children, particu- from both ends of society – the ed up for the camp and were screened its. larly the deaf, would be taught to lip- Telite at the Taj Mahal Hotel and the for various cardiac risk factors (except Following the successful conduct of read and speak, and not use “sign” lan- residents of slums in Cuffe Parade. lipid profile), including an electrocar- the camp and the subsequent follow- guage, by the CSED (Central Society Free blood pressure readings were diogram (ECG) where needed. up, he Aashish said that there was a for the Education of the Deaf) with offered to members at three Rotary All this was done in a systematic, large healthcare gap in the community which the Club had earlier signed a meetings. Rekha Tanna and Freyaz disciplined manner in a matter of just that needed to be filled. memorandum of understanding. Shroff volunteered to assist Chairman four hours. The camp was conducted “I believe that Rotary in general (and A landmark facility for early testing Dr. Aashish in measuring BP with the with the help of volunteers of the Asian the Rotary Club of Bombay, in par- of newborn babies, christened the Ro- help of automatic machines. Heart Institute, members of the Rota- ticular) are uniquely placed to help bri- tary-BERA (Brainstem-Evoked Re- According to Dr. Aashish, the re- ract Club of Hinduja College and col- dge this gap. It’s probably time for the sponse Audiometry) project, was now sponse to this drive had exceeded his lege students from the local commu- next big Rotary healthcare initiative, a part of the Central School for the expectations. However, most members nity. Those who were examined were especially with polio on its way out. Deaf at Agripda. were sceptical about the accuracy of counselled on the findings and given “I know this may sound too ambi- Under the MOU, the Club contrib- the digital machines. To reassure them, tips on how to reduce their cardiac tious, but if we can consistently do uted Rs. 16.20 lakhs for the import he told them that several studies had risk. good work in the slum area of Cuffe and installation of sophisticated shown that “clinical grade digital ma- The camp on December 16 was at- Parade, we can win the trust of the equipment and Rs. 10,000 per month chines are as accurate as manual ones tended by several members of the Club community and look to implement towards the running expenses of the and that they are much more efficient led by President Nowroze. Among other healthcare-related projects (in- centre. President Nowroze led a team in group settings”. them was Ramesh Narayan who cluding sanitation), which could serve from the Club to attend the inaugural The blood pressure of some of the helped coordinate the programme with as a template for other urban slum function on March 4. members was quite high. But the tests the local residents. pockets,” Dr. Aashish added. According to Mr. J.R. Behlihomji, could serve as wake-up calls and re- A few days later, Aashish went back PolioPlus & Differently Abled Hon. Treasurer, the CSED was re- minders to go for regular check-ups to Siva Sastri Nagar to see those who Shyyamniwas Somani cently recognised and awarded a tro- because blood pressure was known to needed a follow-up. He attended to 22 he regular collaboration between phy for being the best charitable be a silent killer and had no specific men and women who required follow- Rotarians and Lions continued organisation by the Jamnalal Bajaj symptoms. up medicines and a few blood tests. thisT year, too, with the annual event Council for Fair Business Practices. At the second drive to check mem- He also got in touch with Dr. on October 2, when several operations Some of the students trained by bers’ blood pressure at the Taj, Dr. Shahbazkar, the owner of a pathology and corrective surgeries were per- CSED had gone on to become civil Aashish pointed out that blood pres- laboratory in the area, to arrange a 30% formed on polio patients at St. engineers and computer and software sure readings fluctuated throughout the discount on blood tests for the pa- Elizabeth’s Hospital. specialists, while others had made a

Activities conducted at the HTEC, Talwada (2012-2013) Activity July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June Total

Ophthalmic OPD 1221 1257 1323 1289 1409 1506 1486 1443 1395 1179 1216 14724

Spectacles given 103 119 112 102 122 134 127 112 108 97 103 1239

Operations 59 64 71 79 82 86 81 88 86 79 56 831

Patients for treatment 11 10 9 11 8 11 9 13 11 12 9 114

Intra-ocular lens 52 51 59 57 68 62 59 64 62 64 44 642

Yag laser 11 13 11 9 22 19 16 14 15 16 14 160

K/plorta - - - - 1 - 2 1 - - - 4

Green laser 2 1 1 - - - - 1 - - - 5 June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 16 mark in the world of sports. The school Nowroze stated that the education the positive response of the commu- They were joined by several members had 60 students on its rolls and pro- sector played a crucial role in commu- nity. He added that in case anyone re- of the Rotaract Club of College H.R. vided its services totally free. CSED nity development. Children could learn quired further treatment, he or she College who went on to present a was the first school in India to be and develop skills only on the solid could be treated free of cost at the musical programme to entertain the equipped with an early intervention foundation of a good education. Rotary Club of Bombay’s sophisti- senior citizens. unit and to use a multi-disciplinary Following the formal meeting, the cated HTEC eye centre at Talwada. Naresh offered shawls to all the resi- approach. It also offered the services Salvation Army undertook a notebook A total of 136 people had their eyes dents of the Dharamshalla. He was of an audiologist, a psychiatrist and a distribution programme for the under- checked at the camp. Two cataract joined by Nowroze and Sunny who special educator under one roof. privileged children of Agripada and the cases were detected and referred to the draped shawls around the shoulders COMMUNITY SERVICE neighbouring community. nearest municipal hospital at Maz- of the delighted recipients. – NON-MEDICAL The day’s engagements ended with gaon. President Nowroze, Hon. Sec- The H.R. Rotaractors rendered Director a visit to the Salvation Army campus retary Sitaram and PP Dr. Rumi some old songs that reminded residents Sunny Pariyaram housing senior citizens. Accompany- Jehangir were felicitated. Also present of their youth. They played a game of RCC ing them was an engineer who would were Joseph Koshy and Ratan Tankha. “musical housie” with them but soon resident Nowroze, Paul George, prepare a report on how the centre Three students from the Maharash- it was time to clear the floor and for Nirav Shah and (then) Vice-Presi- could be repaired and improved. tra Institute of Labour Welfare and those keen to do so to take the floor Pdent Ramesh Narayan attended a pre- Soon after that meeting, a munifi- placed at MbPT, helped the RCC and dance to their hearts’ content. And liminary partnership meeting with of- cent donation was offered by PP members in organising the participants how they danced! All 50 residents had fice-bearers of the Salvation Army, Mahendra Sanghi to help repair and and also helped make arrangements for a great time. Western India, at the latter’s social cen- renovate the Salvation Army home for lunch and other refreshments. Two centenarian residents, one said tre at Agripada. the aged at Agripada. In the course of Dr. Tejaswini Varale and Dr. Monal to be 100 and the other 104, also par- The meeting was also attended by that visit, the Rotarians had noted with Sainani led the team of doctors who ticipated in the programme and en- PP Kalpana Munshi, Sitaram Shah, regret that it was not in good condi- carried out the eye tests and consulta- joyed the music and games. Shyyamniwas Somani and Naresh tion. The Club then decided to help tions. They were assisted by Mr. Some weeks later, Nowroze, Sita- Kumar Jain. Representing the Salva- repair and renovate it. Ashok Patel, Mr. Mukesh Kapadia ram, Sunny, Naresh and PP Kalpana tion Army were Col. T. Vijaykumar; On learning about this, PP Mahen- and Mr. Deepak Ashar. Mr. Jitubhai, Munshi visited the All Saints Home Lt. Col. B. Randive, the secretary for dra offered to bear the full cost of the the optician, took charge of providing at Mazgaon, said to be one of the old- programme administration; Chief Sec- proposed renovation. Accordingly, he spectacles to the needy. est homes for aged senior citizens in retary Lt. Colonel K.C. David; and made a generous contribution of Rs. Also present at the camp was Dr. the city. They were joined by Rota- Major Sanjay Vanjare. 5.63 lakhs for the purpose. Shabana Shaikh, general practitioner, ractors of H.R. and Jai Hind who After a brief introductory speech The renovated home was opened at who came for consultation on other helped make arrangements for the event by Lt. Col. B. Randive, Col. T. Vijay- a simple function by President health problems of the port workers. and to ensure its successful conduct. kumar said that any partnership be- Nowroze. Also present on the occa- Old Age Homes/Senior Citizens Before long, the ageing walls of the tween the Salvation Army and Ro- sion were Paul George, Nirav Shah, Naresh Kumar Jain All Saints Home began reverberating tary would go a long way in the de- PP Ashish Vaid, Sitaram Shah, Direc- he young at heart Naresh Kumar with the sound of music and laughter velopment of the community. The tor Sunny Pariyaram, Madhusudan Jain was quite busy all through as the seniors shed their worries and under-served would definitely ben- Daga and Ratan Tankha. Tthe year, organising programmes for inhibitions for a few hours. efit if these two international A few weeks later, the RCC Com- the residents of homes for the aged The H.R. Rotaractors welcomed the organisations joined hands to under- mittee organised a free eye check-up with the active assistance of the Club, team of Rotarians and greeted the staff take projects. camp at the Mumbai Port Trust Dock his Committee members, several and residents of the home. A quick for- Lt. Colonel K.C. David also wel- and General Employees’ Union, Rotaractors and many Interactors. mal function had Nowroze greeting the comed the proposed partnership and Kamgar Sadan, Mazgaon. The President led a team of Rotar- residents and wishing them good health complimented members of the Rotary PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir, an eminent ians, including Sitaram Shah, Sunny, and happiness. He was followed by Club of Bombay for their zeal in en- ophthalmic surgeon, spoke of the im- Naresh and Rotaryann Phiroza Con- PP Kalpana who shared her experi- suring the development of the poor portance of regular eye check-ups, es- tractor to celebrate Parsi New Year with ences and also rendered a few lines of and underprivileged sections of soci- pecially for those working in the ship- residents of the F.S. Parukh Dhar- a song. Sitaram gave a brief speech and ety. breaking industry. He was thrilled with amshalla at Old Khareghat Colony. wished the residents good health.

Activities conducted at the ADMC, Talwada (2012-2013)

Activity July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June Total

Dental clinic 72 83 112 102 - 101 82 82 85 93 67 879

Pathological tests 94 83 67 78 79 100 88 88 109 84 58 928

Paediatric clinic ------24 17 41

Dispensary, OPD 2809 3002 3038 2019 1194 1513 1396 1446 1514 1322 1363 20616

TB Patients treated 31 34 32 35 3 25 27 24 27 31 24 323

Skin Clinic ------

June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 17 Formalities over, Sunny joined concern that the management show- Naresh, Nowroze, Sitaram and Kal- ered on them was the same. By taking pana in distributing shawls and poly up a rather simple job, that of repaint- bags containing toiletries and items of ing the beds used by the aged, the Ro- daily use such as hair oil and soap. tary Club of Bombay might not have And then it was time for music, song made a drastic change in the living con- and dance. ditions; but it certainly did point to Rotaract President Aditya Shah of the fact that every thoughtful act of Jai Hind College proposed a vote of kindness made a big difference. thanks to the Rotarians and the resi- Environment dents of All Saints Home. Jagdish Malkani A similar programme was arranged agdish and his Committee gave full at the Our Lady of Piety old age home assistance to the Bombay Natural where the Rotarians interacted with JHistory Society (BNHS) as it organ- the residents and the staff and made a ised a poster competition in connec- concerted effort to spread cheer and tion with the World Wetlands Day at goodwill its Conservation Education Centre in The residents were presented with distant Goregaon. Ms Prema Jayakumar, the daughter of a rickshaw driver, stood first at the toiletries and other items of daily use The event, held on February 2, was all-India CA exams and received the Uma Jain award by President Nowroze and Naresh. a resounding success. The setting was Shawls were draped around the shoul- the verdant 10,000-square-foot BHNS the prestigious Rotary and Public young minds” over several generations ders of the senior citizens, thanks to Centre inside Film City on a 33-acre Awards of the Club. at the West Wind School. Naresh. forest plot. What was even more grati- Pravinchandra Gandhi Award for West Wind School was a co-opera- The next stop was the Pallonji fying was the turnout of children. No Excellence in Public Life tive, non-profit institution that accom- Shapoorji Home where Naresh and less than 60 reached the rather remote He had been honoured innumerable modated 70 children from the ages of his Committee organised a special environs of the Film City. They rep- times and with several titles. But when 3 to 5. But such was the stamp it left Christmas party. Members of the resented a total of 15 schools from all he received this award, Mr. Rahul on its students that it was often re- Rotaract Club of H.R. College and the over the city. Bajaj, the leading industrialist, said he ferred to as the “nursery to the mov- Interact Clubs of St. Anne’s Girls High The children worked thoughtfully felt both humbled and honoured be- ers and shakers of Bombay city”. School and the Convent of Jesus and on their respective works from 9 in cause he was being recognised by and Ramkrishna Bajaj Award for Mary took active part in making the the morning to 1.30 in the afternoon. in the city in which he had grown up. Good Governance programme a rollicking success. While Dr. Rajeev Narvekar was There were two other reasons he When he received the award, Mr. President Nowroze, Ratan Tankha, present at the venue all morning, felt proud. First, the award was named Ravi Narain, the MD and CEO of Freyaz Shroff and Naresh also par- Jagdish was present for the rest of the after Pravinchandra Gandhi, doyen of NSE, said it belonged to the institu- ticipated in the revelry which lasted event which ended around 5 pm. both the banking and the newspaper tion he represented and not to him as from 4 to 6 pm. When he was called Ms Chitra Vaidya, a well-known industries; and second, because the an individual. Chairman Ram Gandhi upon to address the gathering of about landscape painter, and Ms Jyotsna first recipient of the award was the read out the Citation that was pre- 50 senior citizens, Nowroze wished Pathare, former Principal of the L.S. venerable Mr. Viren Shah who had been sented to him along with a commemo- them happiness and good health in the Raheja School of Art at Bandra, were like a member of his family. rative salver. New Year. Similar sentiments were the two expert judges. Mr. Bajaj was introduced by Chair- Shailesh Haribhakti, who introduced expressed by Naresh who also blessed The participating children, who man Ram Gandhi (who had instituted him to the members, said that Mr. the residents. were provided snacks in the morning, the award in memory of his father, PP Narain was an institution builder. He Mrs. Cymbeline Pereira, the Club’s were served meals in the afternoon (the late Pravinchandra Gandhi) as one of was part of the team that had founded Interact Coordinator, spoke briefly and snacks and meals were sponsored by the few who were an inspiration not the NSE, an institution of which India urged the children to be bold and brave the Rotary Club of Bombay). only for the younger generation but was truly proud and which was now and to take part in such programmes. While the judges were assessing and also to his fellow industrialists. Such ranked among the top five exchanges Then the enthusiastic young judging the posters that the children was his fame and renown that almost of the world. He was also a member of Rotaractors and Interactors took over, had turned in, the latter were taken on everyone pointed to the manner in the core team that did the initial work making the seniors play games, sing a unique jungle trek by the BNHS staff. which he conducted his business as for setting up India’s market regulator, songs and listen to Christmas carols. The prize-giving ceremony was the ideal to be followed by all. the Securities and Exchange Board of Here, too, Naresh distributed shawls conducted in the CEC auditorium Somchand Parikh Award for India (SEBI). and “Santa caps”. The Christmas when each participant received a cer- Best Teacher Apart from NSE and SEBI, he had party, coordinated by Preeti James, tificate from BNHS. The winners re- A wizened old lady, frail yet com- also helped build other institutions the social worker of the Club, ended ceived their prizes amidst loud ap- bative, was the cynosure of all eyes such as the National Securities Deposi- with the distribution of snacks, soft plause. as she received the Award for Best tory Ltd. (NSDL), a depository of high drinks and gifts. The judges were full of praise for Teacher. But Ms Roshan Curmally, repute, the India Index Services and The Club revisited the Parukh the high quality of the posters sub- Principal (Emeritus) of the extraor- Products Ltd. (IISL) and NSE Infotech Dharamshalla a few months later, this mitted by the children; the manage- dinary preparatory school called Services Ltd. time for a different reason. During the ment then decided to display about 30 West Wind, was even more delighted. Anita Parikh Award for first visit it had been observed that the of the posters at Sewri when the BNHS For, among those felicitating her were Empowerment of Women furniture was in a state of disrepair. held its annual “Flamingo Festival” some of her oldest students and at Ms Safeena Husain, founder and Nowroze, Naresh and his team had which attracted hundreds of visitors. least one of the youngest ones. Executive Director of Educate Girls, taken on the responsibility of giving a VOCATIONAL SERVICE She was surrounded by students and an NGO, was delighted to receive the face-lift to the beds by applying a fresh Director well-wishers at the end of meeting. award, adding that there were two spe- coat of paint. Shernaz Vakil Among them was PP Nalin Parikh who cific things that she had to mention. When the task was completed and Rotary & Public Awards had instituted the award in memory of “I am very pleased to let you know Nowroze led the Club’s team to the Ram Gandhi his father but whose family’s associa- that being invited here is like a credibil- home, the residents effusively thanked eeping up the good work that it tion with West Wind only started with ity stamp; I have received invitations him for the gesture. did last year, the Committee did his daughter and grandchildren. to speak at other Rotary Clubs... be- The Dharamshalla had about 100 wonderfullyK well this year, too, seek- Vocational Service Director Shernaz cause, they said, ‘you have already beds for use by the residents. Their ing out and zeroing in on the most ap- Vakil, who introduced Ms Curmally, been to the main Bombay Club’. And number kept changing, but the care and propriate persons on whom to confer said that she had “taught and inspired then, people have sent us cheques in June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 18 the mail. It has been simply incred- In the aftermath of the Gujarat end of the meeting at which he received with no place to study. But they work ible! We didn’t have to do anything, earthquake in 2001, Mr. Khanna had the award which carried a cash com- hard and study even in such condi- just the fact that I was here 18 months set up and run a relief camp at ponent of Rs. 40,000. tions.” ago... People called us at the office and Gandhidham, living all alone for three On the spontaneous initiative of There were seven centres, the aver- said they had put a cheque in the mail.” months. His camp was hailed for pro- what was popularly known as the age number of students at each, 400. And the second point? She had re- viding outstanding relief to the quake- “Bawa table”, immediately supported Boys and girls from different classes ceived a lovely watch at her last visit hit, making available everything from by a cross-section of members, another sat together to study in the same class- and had worn it every single day – a toothbrush to an ambulance. sum of Rs. 50,000 was collected on room. Night Study Centres were in “but I didn’t wear it today in case you Uma Jain Award for Young the spot and given to Mr. Surti. operation at Agripada, Saibaba Nagar, wanted to slip me another one!” she Woman Achiever Vocational Training & the Yusuf Meherali School, Kamathi- smiled. Ms Prema Jayakumar, aged 24, re- Night Study Centres pura and Sewri (at the last two, the Rotary Club of Bombay Public ceived the award, instituted by Naresh Bimal Mehta children had to sit on the floor). Service Award Kumar Jain in memory of his spouse hey were probably the oldest – As for Vocational Training Centres, Ms Aruna Roy, co-founder of the and consisting of a Citation and a cash and biggest – projects being un- Bimal said this was another flagship Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghathan award of Rs. 40,000, at the same meet- dertakenT by the Rotary Club of project in association with the YMCA. along with Mr. Nikhil Dey and Mr. ing as that at which Mr. Khanna was Bombay, but they were also the most The first one was established in 1991 Shankar Singh, was conferred the felicitated with a Lifetime Award. low-profile of all. This was the only when Arvind Jolly was President. award this year. The young woman had stood first way to sum up the activities of the At these centres children received Nandan Maluste, who introduced in the all-India Chartered Accountancy Committee for Vocational Training and training in fashion designing, embroi- them, noted that the trio was in the examination in the very first attempt Night Study Centres. dery, basic and advanced tailoring, typ- forefront of the movement that culmi- and topped the all-India merit list. As part of the new practice intro- ing, computer operations, applying nated in the adoption of the Right to Ms Jayakumar’s achievement was duced by President Nowroze to re- mehendi, providing a beautician’s ser- Information Act passed in 2005. The an amazing story of success in chal- quest Directors and Chairpersons to vices, jewellery-making and so on. RTI Act was one of the most impor- lenging circumstances. Her father drove make presentations on the activities “The idea is to teach these young tant public events to have occurred in an autorickshaw to earn a livelihood being conducted by them, Bimal Mehta boys and girls a vocation so that they the country in the last decade or more, but her parents had never allowed spoke at a regular Club meeting at can go out and get a job in these trades he said. money to come in the way of their which he described the working of the (professions). They are given a certifi- Ms Roy was virtually unknown in children’s education. She had only one Committee. cate by the government of Maharashtra Bombay in 2005. But now she was desire now – to see that her parents He highlighted salient aspects of the at the end of the course.” one of the best-known Indians. She lived a life of comfort (the proud par- projects being implemented jointly Most of the courses were con- had been awarded the Magsaysay ents were present at the meeting). with the Bombay YMCA through an ducted at the Nagpada centre. Last Award and featured regularly on the Sohrab Godrej Award for association that was 60 years old. year, a total of 1,905 students at- “lists” of the most influential people Science and Technology However, “in terms of beneficiaries, tended and benefited from this par- in the word. The soft-spoken Prof. Spenta it’s probably one of our largest, but ticular centre. Mr. Nikhil Dey, on the other hand, Wadia, the “Higgs” man who had ad- most low-profile, projects”. The second Centre at Andheri was was a lawyer who had drafted the RTI dressed the Club on the subject in Vocational Training Centres func- started by YMCA in 1996. But the Act and other Bills which were still August 2012, was conferred the award tioned at Andheri and Nagpada; and a Club entered into a partnership in 2006 awaiting clearance by Parliament. Mr. by Mr. Adi Godrej, an Honorary mem- boys’ orphanage and a Night Study during the tenure of Harry Singh Arora. Shankar Singh was a theatre person ber of the Club and nephew of the late Centre were being conducted from the The DSP Meryl Lynch Group sup- who specialised in people’s theatre and Sohrab Godrej, and Mr. Nadir Godrej, same premises at Andheri. ported the centre, thanks to large do- street plays. He had done this quite his brother. The first Night Study Centre was nations by his (Bimal’s) friend, Mr. effectively while pushing for the pas- Prof. Spenta Rustom Wadia (to give set up in 1964 when the late Sohrab Amit Chandra; his contribution was sage of the RTI Act. his full name) was Professor at the Godrej was the Club’s President. Next matched by the Club. Ms Roy said she was receiving the Tata Institute of Fundamental Re- year (2014), the project would com- Four government and five diploma award on behalf of the Mazdoor Kisan search, Bombay, and Director of the plete 50 years of non-stop operation. courses were offered to the 207 stu- Shakti Sanghathan. International Centre for Theoretical “Our children ask for air conditioned dents at Andheri – in wiring, fashion Shyam Munshi Lifetime Sciences, Bangalore. rooms at home, with desks and so on, designing, beauty treatment, mehendi Achievement Award Invited to introduce the award-win- so that they can study. Little do they and computer operations. Besides, an for Performing Arts ner, Mr. Nadir Godrej surprised mem- know that most of the city’s popula- entrepreneurship programme taught Veteran actor Vinod Khanna was bers by doing it in a poetic manner tion lives in homes that are probably them how to set up and run their own presented the award at a glittering cer- before reading the citation. half the size (of their rooms) with at business; they were also given educa- emony that also saw another award Taru Lalvani Award for least 15 people crammed in them and tional guidance and attended seminars. being presented to a shy, unassuming Environment Protection girl from a diametrically opposite strata Artiste, satirist, painter, illustrator. of society (more about that later). Mr. Aabid Surti was all this and more. Mr. Khanna, who confessed that his But the reason why he received the father had held a gun to his head when award was the fact that he was a cru- he had expressed a desire to become a sader. He had been waging a lonely film actor at the age of 18, had acted in war to save every drop of water by over 125 films and was the only film going to people’s houses and helping star who had forsaken fame and for- fix their leaking taps. tune at the height of his success to He had been doing this for over seven follow his guru (Bhagwan Rajneesh) years in the sprawling suburb of Mira to live in his ashram in the USA for Road where he knocked on residents’ many years. doors every Sunday morning. He was He was far more versatile in real life, accompanied by a plumber who car- said Ram Gandhi. A student of Indian ried a bag of O-rings (gaskets or wash- classical music, he had represented his ers) and repaired the leaks. No won- college in almost every sport; he was der an award for environmental pro- an active supporter of the World Wild- tection went to a satirist-cartoonist. life Fund and Beauty Without Cru- A sum of Rs. 50,000 was raised and The 'Bawa table'. As Mr. Aabid Surti received the Award for Environmental elty and a founder member of CRY. presented to Mr. Aabid Surti at the Protection, they quickly collected Rs. 50,000 and handed it over to him June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 19 The Boys’ Orphanage, also at the games was unloaded and distributed guest Rajendra Saboo who gave an in- If any corporate offered to give one- Andheri campus of the YMCA, was by the ever-smiling Bimal Mehta. spirational and motivating speech on third of the total cost of a project, his started in 1964 and the Club began its One of the suggestions in the formal the programmes and projects of The Committee would raise the remaining association with it in 2006. speeches by Rotarians and YMCA Rotary Foundation. two-thirds. “We provide a home to 65 boys and office-bearers was that Rotarians visit The Seminar was hosted by the The first project was being planned look after all their requirements, such the Boys’ Home regularly to interact Rotary Club of Bombay and co-hosted in a village called Palasgaon near as boarding, four meals a day, tuitions, with the children. They could also by the Rotary Clubs of Bombay Cen- Chandrapur in district Amravati. It had sports, clothing and schooling. Some sponsor a meal (costing a little less tral, Mumbai Queen’s Necklace and a population of 3,000 and the project of us (members) went there in Octo- than Rs. 4,000 per meal); celebrate their Bombay Seaface. The host Clubs were would cost about Rs. 3 crores. A toilet ber last year when we distributed toys children’s birthdays with the boys of represented by President-Elect Nirav block would be provided in each and and games to the children.” the Home; donate used clothes and Shah, President Apurva Shah, Presi- every household in the village and pro- The children were thrilled to receive toys; or sponsor Holi, Diwali, Christ- dent Radhika Mehta and Gool Ghad- vision made for safe drinking water the gifts and many of them had al- mas and other festive celebrations. iali, respectively. round the year. ready started playing chess, table ten- One significant suggestion was that It was ably conducted by Convener As Sandip completed his presenta- nis and other games. They had also Rotarians could mentor some of the IPP Paul George. District Chairman tion, Nirav presented him with a started using the trampoline that was children of the Boys’ Home. for Foundation Support PP Sandip cheque for Rs. 55,000, the equivalent presented to them. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE Agarwalla had meticulously planned of $1,000, for Rotary’s polio eradica- An “Olympic Gold Quest Prog- Director and executed the programme which tion campaign. ramme” had also been launched at the Ashok Minawala was attended by a large number of past R.I. President-Elect Ron Burton and Andheri centre where there were many Rotary Foundation & Matching and serving District Officers, PDGs, his spouse Jetta attended The Rotary talented children interested in sports. Grants Rotarians and Rotaryanns from R.I. Foundation Seminar organised by Dis- Some of them had been identified for PP Arvind Jolly District 3140. trict 3140 in Thane. It was attended boxing and were being trained to enter istrict Governor Dr. Bal Inamdar At a regular Club meeting, PP Sandip by 525 Rotarians and 200 of them the State and National-level competi- presented Paul Harris Fellow pins Agarwalla revealed that when he committed to become Paul Harris Fel- tions – and perhaps go on to the 2024 Dand certificates to several members in agreed to serve as Avenue Chairman of lows. They were recognised by Ron Olympics Games. They had the apti- the course of his Official Visit to the The Rotary Foundation Support Burton. tude and the interest but required struc- Club. Committee, he was not aware of even Among those present on the occa- tured training. Among them were Ashok Chinai, 10% of the activities undertaken by sion were R.I. Director Yash Pal Das, President Nowroze appealed to Devendra Bharma, Dr. Ramnath The Foundation. District Governor Dr. Bal Inamdar, R.I. members to visit the Night Study Cen- Nayak, Homi Katgara, Sam Katgara, What he learned subsequently was Director-Elect P.T. Prabhakar, PRID tres and the Vocational Training Cen- Pallavi Jha, Purnima Sheth, Samir eye-opening. And if a seasoned Rotar- Ashok Mahajan, the Mayor of Thane tres to encourage the children taking Mogul, Rotaryann Sheila Paul, Suhail ian like him knew so little about The and several members of the District the courses. Nathani, Tara Deshpande, Vandan Foundation, he felt obliged to share College of Governors. A few weeks before he made his Shah and Vineet Bhatnagar. his experiences and some of the knowl- R.I. Programmes & Slumber Kit presentation, Bimal arranged a visit to Shailesh Haribhakti was honoured edge he had acquired with his fellow PP Rajnikant Reshamwala the YMCA Boys’ Home at Andheri. with a Benefactor Certificate and pin. members. This was imperative also hen Slumber Kits were distrib- The team from the Rotary Club of Special Paul Harris Pins with five sap- because most Rotarians had contrib- uted by President Nowroze and Bombay, led by President Nowroze, phires were announced for PP Vithal uted to The Foundation but did not Hon.W Secretary Sitaram to needy chil- was joined by Mr. Amit Chandra, the Palekar, PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir and know too much about its activities. dren at the Geeta Nagar slums at CEO of Bain Capital, who was ac- Pradeep Mafatlal. A Paul Harris Pin He made an audio-visual presenta- Colaba on July 28, the smiles were companied by his mother, on a special with eight sapphires was presented to tion about The Foundation that was worth going miles to see. For a change, invitation to unveil two plaques. PP Nandan Damani. prepared with the help of Ramesh the kits carried the Four-Way Test in One of these stated that the Boys’ Four members who had contributed Narayan and Ali Merchant. Sandip also Hindi. They consisted mainly of a tiffin Home was now jointly sponsored by US $25,000 or more were also appealed to all Rotarians to support box, a compass box, water bottle, the Rotary Club of Bombay in recognised. They were Meera Alreja, the two causes that the District-level “satranji” or coarse sheet, a towel, a memory of Mr. Amit Chandra’s fa- Nirav Shah, Trilochan Singh Sahney Foundation Committees were promot- bed sheet, four notebooks, a school ther, the late Ranbir Chandra. The sec- and Rajas Doshi. Manoj Israni re- ing, viz., polio; and safe drinking wa- bag, raincoat and school uniform ond carried a similar message in rela- ceived a Certificate and a Crystal. ter and sanitation. Projects under the This year, the Slumber Kits were tion to the Vocational Training Centre In December, 2012, the Club hosted second cause were being launched in financed and distributed by R.I. Dis- being conducted there. the Rotary Foundation Seminar of villages in Maharashtra, but the plan trict 3140 with a substantial contribu- Mr. Chandra, in his personal capac- District 3140 along with three other was to make them replicable all over tion from the Rotary Club of Bombay. ity, had committed a sum of Rs. 51 Clubs. It was held at “The Roof Top” India. Of course, the concept came originally lakhs spread over three years to assist of the Trident Hotel and turned out to in the functioning of both the Boys’ be a grand affair. For the first time, the Home as well as the Vocational Train- Seminar was converted into an exclu- ing Centre at Andheri. This amount sive, sit-down dinner event, with “The would be matched (to the extent of Roof Top” providing the ideal ambi- 50% each) by the Rotary Club of ence and offering a panoramic view of Bombay and the YMCA authorities. the city’s skyline along the shimmer- The Centre offered courses in over ing waterfront. half a dozen trades and professions to Among those who made presenta- 800 children from the neighbouring tions on the occasion were Vice-Presi- areas. Some of them travelled long dis- dent Shailesh Haribhakti; PP Rajendra tances to attend the classes. Chhapwale who spoke on “What it A breath-taking display of gymnas- feels to be an Arch C. Klump Society tics was also put up by the children of Member”; District Governor Dr. Bal- the Boys’ Home. It was followed by a krishna Inamdar; and the guest of cultural programme. After displaying honour, Past R.I. Director and serving their abilities, the children received Rotary Foundation Trustee Ashok something unexpected – just rewards Mahajan. for their endeavours. They whooped The icing on the cake was the pres- President Nowroze, Hon. Secretary Sitaram and Chairman Manish at the with joy as a pile of toys and (board) ence of Past R.I. President and chief Geeta Nagar slum in Colaba, distributing Slumber Kits June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 20 from Canada where one family had Bhavishya-Yaan project had helped taken on the task of distributing kits. them. The parent stated that now she, The total number given by that family too, wanted to learn English because had run into millions. her son insisted that he would only Office-Bearers of both the Geeta speak that language. As members Nagar Rahivasi Sangh (residents’ as- would be aware, the academic partner sociation) and the local women’s as- in the programme was the NGO Vidya. sociation helped identify 50 needy Several teachers of the Colaba Mu- boys and girls from the school-going nicipal School were also felicitated children of the area and also helped along with the volunteers who had make arrangements for the programme. worked hard all through the year to Manish Reshamwala stood in for achieve 100% success at the SSC exam. his father, PP Rajnikant Reshamwala, Speaking at a weekly meeting of the recognised as the “champion” in the Club, Chairman Manish said the Com- field of Slumber Kits, having overseen mittee had received approval for four the distribution of hundreds of thou- new Bhavishya-Yaan projects at dif- sands of kits all over the District over ferent municipal schools and that two the last two decades. of these would start in the next year. With the 'Bigg Boss'. Colaba 'Bhavishya-Yaan' children went to Lonavala NEW GENERATIONS The cost to set up a centre was Rs. with Freyaz Shroff (left) to meet matinee idol Salman Khan – EDUCATION 10 lakhs and the running cost was Rs. Director 9 lakhs per year. Rotarians could be allowed to get down to the task of as India came alive with the sound and Madhusudan Daga involved in these centres in their indi- sketching, drawing or painting. fury of firecrackers and was lit up with Bhavishya-Yaan vidual capacities; while some could They were asked to recollect the sparkling lights and radiant sparklers Manish Reshamwala teach, others could volunteer health happiest moments of their lives and on Diwali, the boys and girls of r. V. Ranganathan, former Mu- check-up camps or even administra- then make an attempt to transfer those Bhavishya-Yaan lit up their lives with nicipal Commissioner and ex- tive services. moments on paper. What emerged at deep knowledge of different cultures ChiefM Secretary of the Maharashtra He recalled that the project took the end of the exercise was a set of and styles of celebration. government, said on record that he was wing under the stewardship of Ramesh beautiful paintings, some of them in From festivals of light to harvest very happy with the manner in which Narayan in 2009 and had grown to the shape of greetings cards for Diwali celebrations, from divine births to the Bhavishya-Yaan project had shaped three schools in a short period of three and the festive season. grand street carnivals, the students up and lauded the Rotary Club of years. Many of these pretty works were learned about different festivals across Bombay for the commendable initia- It was a skills-enhancement pro- on display at the meeting of the Ro- the globe. Each school having been as- tive which had been replicated in seven gram-me and the aim was to teach com- tary Club of Bombay at the Taj Mahal signed a country, that particular coun- municipal schools. puter skills, spoken English, life-skills Hotel on November 6. Members were try was researched for its festivals and He was speaking at a simple but and so on free of cost to underprivi- surprised by the artistic excellence their significance. The students also well-attended programme on July 9 leged children in municipal schools to evident in some of the paintings and got a peek into that country’s history, when underprivileged students of the ensure that they did not drop out and wondered how such young minds geography, prominent personalities, Bhavishya-Yaan project being con- that they completed their education. could come up with such profound food, culture and traditions. ducted at the Colaba Municipal School Students were chosen on the basis works. There were eager buyers for The highlight of the camp was that were felicitated for their performance of interviews, monitored and mentored some of the greeting cards on display. each school was trained by Nrityanjali at the SSC examinations. through five years, with the emphasis At the end of the meeting, President in an authentic folk dance of that coun- The guest of honour was actress during the last year on passing the Nowroze complimented the young try. The colourful costumes for the Kajal Agarwal who played the female board exams and pursuing higher edu- artists and presented mementoes to dance performance on the final day lead in the film Singham. She was cation. them. They were escorted by Aparna. were created by the students them- greeted with a roar when she made her Seventeen students had been spon- The Art and Creative thinking work- selves under the guidance of Nrityanjali appearance. Like a concerned elder sored by Club members for their higher shop was designed to introduce the teachers. member of the family, she told the stu- education after they passed their SSC children of municipal schools partici- The “Diwali Dhamaka” camp ended dents that “education is the most im- examinations. pating in the Bhavishya-Yaan project in a dance extravaganza at which all portant thing”. Every person, boy or “We have noted that the students to various professions related to cre- the schools gave an outstanding per- girl, had a right to follow their heart know very little apart from their ativity and the fine arts, including the- formance at the N.M. Joshi Marg and their passion, but they would homes and schools. They are not atre, journalism, creative writing, prod- School auditorium, complete with cos- achieve very little if they did not build aware of their surroundings, the places uct designing, architecture and adver- tumes, makeup et al. They also exhib- their dreams on the foundation of a of interest in the city and so on. To tising. ited the arts and crafts of those coun- good education, she added. deal with this, we have decided to have The programme for the workshop tries. The audience, which included Mr. Ranganathan and Ms Agarwal picnics and outings with them. They was designed by Priyasri Patodia un- President Nowroze, was left spell- took turns along with Nowroze and have had ‘high tea’ at the office of the der the guidance of the doyen of the bound and fascinated by the efforts others in distributing awards to the top Sheriff of Bombay, have seen the art world, Mr. Akbar Padamsee. and enthusiasm of the city’s youth. scorers. Interestingly, all 44 students shooting of television reality shows Later that month, the students of A visit to Nehru Planetarium and of the Colaba Bhavishya-Yaan project and watched a live cricket match at the six municipal schools where the experiencing the festival of Guru had passed the SSC exam, thus giving Brabourne Stadium,” Manish added. Bhavishya-Yaan project was being Nanak Jayanti with a typical langar a perfect score of 100%. Fourteen had Rotaryann Aparna Venkat, coordi- implemented displayed their talent and were among the other activities that scored more than 75% marks and five nator of the Bhavishya-Yaan project abilities when they participated in a took place. Vidya, the NGO associ- over 80%. One of the students scored at the N.M. Joshi Marg Municipal twelve-day-long “Diwali Dhamaka” ated with Bhavishya-Yaan from the 82% in English; truly an achievement School, organised a two-day workshop camp. It culminated in a cracker of a beginning, was involved in the for the programme. which involved sessions in lateral programme on December 1 at which organisation of the camp. Ms Anjan Malkani, the sponsor thinking, creative (essay) writing and students of each of the six schools were Here is the complete list of the par- of the Colaba Bhavishya-Yaan pro- the fine arts of drawing, sketching, called upon to represent a country of ticipating schools and the countries ject, was also present on the occa- painting and so on. their choice and to present various fac- chosen by them: sion to greet the children and pre- The eager participants were stu- ets of its culture, traditions, cuisine, Banganga: Sri Lanka; Byculla: sented dictionaries to them. dents of Std. VII and VIII. Interest- dance forms and so on. Japan; Colaba: Greece; N.M. Joshi Two of the students and the parent ingly, they were first imparted lessons In other words, the Bhavishya-Yaan Marg: Africa; Vile Parle: Spain; and of one spoke briefly about how the in creative writing before they were students “travelled” far and wide. And, Worli: Brazil. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 21 In December, Ms Pushpa, the Vidya ism which organised every aspect of Coordinator at the Colaba Bhavishya- the visit. Yaan School, and Freyaz Shroff, the The children were accompanied by Rotary Club of Bombay’s Coordina- Freyaz; Ms Tasneem, the English tor for the same school, took a group teacher from the NGO Vidya; Ms of seven boys from Std. IX to visit the Yogeeta, a representative of Bollywood “Manoranjan Mela” at Charni Road, Tourism; and Ms Pooja from the Col- the annual event sponsored by the ors’ Marketing team. Rotaract Club of H.R. College. According to Freyaz, the children This annual programme was ar- were treated like celebrities all the way. ranged for the benefit of mentally and Once they boarded the bus, they were physically challenged children from the offered breakfast, snacks, juices and lower income families. The children popular music for non-stop entertain- had a rollicking time once they reached ment. They played “Antakshari” and the venue where several games, rides, other games which helped reduce the amusements and snacks and other fa- distance between Bombay and Lona- cilities were available. vala to what seemed a few minutes. Normally, about 700 to 800 people One of the games they played for 'Bhavishya-Yaan' children from the G.K. Marg Municipal School had a turned up for the “Manoranjan Mela”, the first time was called “I Spy with great time at the Bombay Museum. Rajesh Shah escorted them with almost all children accompanied my Little Eye” with the focus on keen either by their parents, teachers or observation, thinking, spelling and presentations in class in an effort “to The Committee for PolioPlus and school staff. The boys accompanying other skills. The children had great fun marry enjoyment with education”. for the Differently Abled headed by Freyaz and Ms Pushpa were assigned playing this game. If the children from Colaba were Shyyamniwas Somani had then con- volunteer duties at some of the booths At the studio in Lonavala they were busy at Lonavala, those from the G.K. tributed Rs. 50,000; thanks to this, at the venue. asked to occupy the first rows so that Marg Municipal School had an equally the Club would be able to provide a The lesson they took away from they could get a really close look at the delightful time when they visited grant to all the 95 blind applicants. this assignment was that it didn’t mat- manner in which the shooting took Bombay’s favourite tourist spot, the The budget for loans, on the other ter whether one was well off or not, it place. Salman Khan, the show’s host, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu hand, was Rs. 11 lakhs for which the was always possible to grab the op- was expected to arrive very shortly. Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), earlier called Club had tied up with the Union Bank portunity to give back something to But imagine the children’s surprise the Prince of Wales Museum of West- of India to devise a scheme under which society and to others. when they saw Kareena Kapoor walk ern India. the Club could sanction a maximum Hesitant at first, the boys seemed into the studio. As one of the organisers The children were delighted to note loan amount of Rs. 50,000 per candi- to prefer to enjoy the games, rides and put it, it was indeed the children’s that the museum provided an “audio date. amusements on offer. But soon they lucky day that Kareena was shooting tour” in six languages to its visitors. A The loan would be for a period of got into their respective roles at the for the same serial at Lonavala. She headphone symbol at the foot of some two years at a concessional rate of in- booths assigned to them and started waved to the children and said hello images indicated that the artefact was terest of 4% per year. However, if the interacting with less privileged and before going backstage to prepare for part of the “audio tour”. loan was guaranteed by a Rotarian, then challenged children. the shooting. Finally, thanks to the good offices the interest rate would come down to When it was time for them to leave, Once the day’s schedule was of PP Gul Kripalani and Prafulla a paltry 2% per year. they were reluctant to go, requesting through, the children were taken on a Mogre, a Belgian gentleman who manu- “We have already circulated this that they be allowed to spend some guided tour of the production depart- factured food products offered several scheme to a few Vocational Training more time at the booths so that they ments. They saw hundreds of cam- jars of chocolate spread to the Rotary centres and an appeal has appeared in could interact with the children enjoy- eras set up all over the Bigg Boss pre- Club of Bombay. The Gateway. You are requested to ing the “Manoranjan Mela”. mises to keep an eye on every action President Nowroze felt that these forward the applications that may Freyaz acquitted herself admirably and movement of the participants. were best distributed in the municipal come your way,” Manojj added. well, shepherding the boys of the They saw how the voice-overs were schools where about 500 children were The Committee had decided to of- Bhavishya-Yaan and opening their eyes captured and how two hours’ shoot- enrolled under the Club’s Bhavishya- fer financial assistance to needy stu- to some of the realities of life. ing was edited into a one-hour episode Yaan programme; and so the jars were dents based solely on their merit. It But Freyaz was not done yet. Soon fit for broadcasting. given to over 200 children. Among had set out a few simple requirements after this programme, she escorted 18 After being treated to lunch, the chil- those present at the distribution were for the grant of scholarships. students of Std. VIII and IX from the dren got an opportunity to sit in the Nowroze, Manish, Prafulla and First, the Merit-cum-Means Schol- Colaba Municipal School to enjoy a high chair normally occupied by the Rajesh Shah, the Club Coordinator at arships would be available to junior rare privilege – to get themselves pho- Bigg Boss and to have themselves the G.K. Marg Municipal School. college and graduate degree students tographed with Salman Khan, one of photographed. The all-too-brief photo Scholarships & Loans only. Second, these would be granted the leading stars of Bollywood. Not session with Salman Khan would prob- Manojj Kumar Patodia to needy students based entirely on only that, they also had the opportu- ably remain etched in their minds for aking a brief presentation at a merit. Third, the minimum percentage nity to see another leading star, Kareena the rest of their lives. Club meeting, Manojj explained required for eligibility at the SSC ex- Kapoor, who waved and said hello to As the day came to an end and it theM working of his Committee. He said amination would be 75. Fourth, the them. was time to leave for Bombay, the rep- the Committee was formed after merg- family income of the student could not No, it was not that these stars trav- resentatives of Colors and Bollywood ing the Committees for Merit-cum- exceed Rs. 2 lakh per annum. elled to Colaba to interact with the Tourism presented every child with Means Scholarships and Rotary Su- It was clarified that the scholarship children. It was the other way round. an individually framed photograph of raksha Loans. would be given only for college tuition Thanks to the good offices of Ramesh them seated on the Bigg Boss chair. The new Committee was working fees and/or examination fees and books Narayan, the children were taken on The ride back home was equally to disburse grants totalling Rs. 5 lakhs and not for extra coaching classes or a guided trip to the sets of a popular memorable, what with music blaring and loans up to Rs. 11 lakhs this year. other purposes. All applicants would television reality show called Bigg and the more enterprising taking to the As far as the grants were concerned, have to declare any scholarships that Boss which had been erected at (bus) floor to display their dance move- the Club had received 296 applications they had received from any other Lonavala. ments. Once home, they could not hide which had been evaluated and grants source. Ramesh received unstinted support their excitement at having enjoyed a totalling Rs. 5.5 lakhs would be dis- It would be mandatory for the stu- from Mr. Raj Nayak, the CEO of Col- unique experience. bursed to 210 underprivileged and de- dents to submit duly certified true cop- ors television channel which hosted In the days since the trip, they wrote serving children. Of the 210 chosen, ies of certificates, testimonials and sal- the show, and from Bollywood Tour- essays about their experience and made 95 were blind students. ary proof of their family members. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 22 Apart from the above, the Commit- To cut a long story short, Shanmu- School was scheduled to hold its in- Organised by the Rotaract Club of tee also tied up with Union Bank of gam received a scholarship in just a stallation meeting in the school pre- H.R. College on October 6 and 7, the India for “Rotary loans” to be disbursed few days and went on to obtain his mises on July 20. Three days later, on trophy was bagged by a jubilant Inter- by the Bank to needy students wish- engineering degree and land a well-pay- July 23, not one but half a dozen In- act Club of Gopi Birla Memorial ing to undertake a Vocational Training ing job with an MNC. One of the first teract Clubs were slated to see their School. The runners-up were Course to enhance their career pros- things he did after he started earning new teams being installed. Christchurch School and the Dhirubhai pects. Among the courses would be was to repay the loan that Rotary had Stealing a march, the Rotaract Club Ambani International School. those for operating computers or given him to complete his studies. of Jai Hind College organised a We Are The World has now be- learning trades such as electricians, Today, he was a very happy man, programme styled “The Revival” at come a fiercely-contested annual con- plumbers, machine lathe operators and but not happier than Joseph Koshy which the installation ceremony for test with an international theme and so on. and other members of the Rotary Club six different Interact Clubs was held at students from schools all over the city Application forms were made avail- of Bombay. one go at Bharda New High School. showcase their talent in the perform- able at the Rotary office and members Management Studies Not only was the new Interact team ing arts, the fine arts, literature and wanting to help needy and deserving Poonam Kumar of that school installed, but those from other events. They are allowed to students were requested to contact he Narsee Monjee Institute of five other schools were also given their choose a country in advance and make Ashok Jatia. TManagement Studies, represented respective charges. These were: presentations after a thorough study The Rotary Club of Bombay by Suprav Sarang, Prakash Nishtala Alexandra Girls’ High School, Young of that particular country. The theme changed his life and Gurupdesh Singh, made an out- Ladies’ High School, H.P. Thackersey for this year was the Olympic Games. r. Shanmugam completed his en- standing presentation on “India’s Skill School, St. Mary’s School and St. The Rotaract Club of H.R. College gineering from one of the lead- Development Challenge: Devising a Anne’s School, Dabul. has been hosting the event for twelve Ming colleges of Bombay and was em- PPP Model” to win the fifth annual The idea behind “The Revival” was years as a “legacy” event. Although ployed by a leading MNC, which he Rotary Club of Bombay and Mega to get schools together to create a sense the office-bearers change every year, called “one of the finest organisations Ace Consultancy Rolling Trophy of bonding between them, to motivate the template has been so well-etched in the world”, and earned a salary of Competition for Management Stud- them to be active throughout the year that successive Presidents and Chair- over Rs. 13 lakhs per annum. ies. A cash award of Rs. 25,000, a cer- and to take up as many joint projects persons have to only concentrate on And all this was thanks to the Ro- tificate and the rolling trophy were as possible emphasising Community fine-tuning things in keeping with the tary Club of Bombay and its Scholar- awarded at the competition held in the Service. changing times. ships and Loans programme. Walchand Hirachand Hall of the In- President Nowroze, accompanied (It would be interesting to see a stu- A decade back, when he passed his dian Merchants’ Chamber. by Sitaram, Interact Chair Meera Alreja dent from one of the participating H.S.C. exam with 95.33% marks in The programme was designed, org- and Rotaract Chair Ravi Fotedar at- schools one day becoming an office- physics, chemistry and maths (the anised and managed by Mega Ace tended the programme. Also present bearer of the Rotaract Club of H.R. basic requirement for getting into a Consultancy under Chairperson Poo- was a team from District 3140 con- College and organising the event!) premier engineering college), he ob- nam Kumar. The members of the jury sisting of the Chairpersons for Inter- A total of 3,000 students took part tained admission in more than one en- were PP Pradeep Saxena, Roda Billi- act and Alumni Relations, viz., Tvisha in this year’s extravaganza; but the gineering college. But, he had no money moria, Tarjani Vakil and Poonam her- Luthria, Aditya Garg, Kinjal Sanchania Rotaractors insisted that the total to pay the fees. self. and Farida Officewala. number of “footfalls” exceeded 4,000. That was when the Rotary Club of While the Sydenham Institute of Earlier, on July 15 the Rotaractors The event reached over 39,000 people Bombay’s Scholarships and Loans Management Studies won the second had arranged a training session through Facebook in just one week. programme came to his rescue. Some- prize, the third went to the Institute “Udaan” to inspire and motivate stu- The investiture ceremony of the body put him in touch with Joseph for Technology and Management. dents to become successful leaders. Interact Club of Gopi Birla Memorial Koshy who was a member of the The annual programme, called “Next Here is a round-up of some of the School was attended by several mem- Committee at that time. Seeing the keen Generation Business Leaders: Annual activities of the Interact Clubs spon- bers of the Rotary Club of Bombay. enthusiasm of the youngster, Joseph Rolling Trophy Competition”, was sored by the Rotary Club of Bombay. The Interactors started by encourag- inquired about his background. The launched by Mega Ace Consultancy Gopi Birla Memorial School ing the use of carpools, particularly on story that emerged left him totally as- along with the Rotary Club of Bombay wo days. Two venues. Twenty the school’s open day when parents tounded. in 2008. It had received overwhelming four events. Three thousand stu- and children drove up and caused huge The young man hailed from a fam- response from various B-Schools in Tdents from twenty three schools. And traffic jams. This was an environmen- ily in which no one had ever received the Bombay and Pune regions. the prize? A much-coveted trophy – tally-friendly initiative of the Club. formal education. He never got any The competition aimed at provid- the We Are The World trophy The Rotaract Club of H.R. College academic or career advice from any of ing exposure and enhancing the skills awarded at the conclusion of the 12th arranged a symposium for Interactors his family members. His father had of management students, providing annual inter-school international cul- at which they described their aims and passed away when he was just five. them with practical and theoretical tural extravaganza. explained their functioning. The responsibility of supporting the knowledge and experience of business family fell on his mother’s shoulders. thinking and processes. It intended to The family had a small shop which it instil confidence among students to rented out to ensure a regular income. face modern-day corporate realities and But the rent was paltry. So both his to imbibe decision-making processes. mother and his grandmother took to A formal awards presentation cer- making idlis and selling them from out- emony took place at one of the regular side their home. meetings of the Club, when President The young Shanmugam managed to Nowroze and Poonam presented the get a part-time job which helped him trophies. pay for his high school education. NEW GENERATIONS Then he passed his H.S.C. with 95.33% – YOUTH marks. Director A Rotary service camp near Shivaji Arjun Jolly Nagar in the Chembur-Mankhurd area, Interact where he lived, put him in touch with Meera Alreja Joseph Koshy. The young man un- he beginning of the new Rotary burdened himself. Joseph immediately year saw the Interactors immedi- got into the act and motivated the atelyT getting down to business. The They never shirk their responsibilities. The Interactors of Gopi Birla School youngster to apply for a Rotary loan. Interact Club of Gopi Birla Memorial line up outside their school, spreading the message of Road Safety June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 23 Later in the year, the Interactors of the mentally challenged. An umbrella participation by a large number of One of the first activities was the Gopi Birla Memorial School were ea- painting competition was organised for Interactors and other students of the inauguration of a Science Club for Std. ger participants in the “Road Safety” the mentally challenged students of school. VII. It was given the responsibility of campaign organised by Chairman Savera. Young Ladies High School preparing one or more projects that Deepak Kapadia with the active sup- The Moderator, Mrs. Balaji, and oon after the installation ceremony would explain some of the wonders of port of the city’s traffic police. The Interact President Roshan Unvala organised at Bharda High School, nature, such as (a) how was the water Interactors stood on the road outside earned laurels for their projects for the Sthe Interactors, led by President cycle formed? (b) why was sea water their school holding aloft placards urg- less privileged. Ayesha Fakkiahmeda and guided by salty? (c) how much water did a hu- ing safe driving. Holy Name High School Moderator Ms Tazin Thakur, took man body require? (d) the “god” par- Recognising the fact that negligible lthough Bombay had some green active part in various Community Ser- ticle, and (e) the big bang theory. use of helmets and seatbelts was one cover, it was a fact that the num- vice activities. This was followed by the inaugura- of the biggest causes of the high rate of Aber of plant species was fast declining. First, they planted saplings in the tion of an Eco-Club for students of fatalities in road accidents in India At a seminar on biodiversity organised school compound and then took part Std. VIII. Principal Arina was present (which had, unfortunately, overtaken by the Interact Club of Holy Name in one of the campaigns of the Rotaract and administered an oath to the mem- China in this respect), the Interactors High School, Fr. Savio drew attention Club of Jai Hind College. bers to keep the environment clean. urged those on two-wheelers to use to this fact and shared information In September, they lent a helping Beautifully designed badges were pre- helmets and those in cars to fasten about wall gardens, terrace gardens and hand to the Rotaract Club of Jai Hind sented to all the members. seatbelts. the conversion of dumping grounds College and its month-long initiative, Ms Selzana and Ms Vanita were The students, along with their Mod- into green, verdant spreads. “Silent Saturday”. They joined the named the teachers to oversee the Eco- erator, were extremely polite as they The enthusiastic students formed Rotaractors to form a human chain at Club. Muskaan Maru was elected urged their fellow citizens to follow groups to take care of various green Marine Drive to spread awareness President and Aeiron and Kassandra the “Road Safety” rules. spaces in and around the school, thus about global warming. And then in the Treasurers. Scholar High School making a commitment to preserve cleanliness drive at Marine Drive. Next on the list of activities was the irst off, the Interactors arranged a greenery starting with their immediate In November, the Interactors did popular newspaper drive conducted Fnewspaper drive. The old papers environment. “shram daan” by taking up the task of at the beginning of every year. Old collected were used for making paper St. Anne’s Girls High School, cleaning the school premises, includ- newspapers, magazines, used plastic bags and other utility items. Next, there Dabul ing the classrooms, the corridors and bottles and other articles were collected was a drive to collect used plastic he Interactors organised a greet- the library. by all the students and sold to the lo- bottles that went into making pen hold- ing card competition before Teach- And in February they went to Gore- cal scrap and newspaper merchants. ers and flower pots so that some green- Ters’ Day. They chose the best and gaon for the World Wetland Day poster The money collected was kept aside ery was on display. presented them to the teachers. competition organised by the Bombay and used to celebrate “Helpers’ Day”. The children also participated in an On World Elders’ Day, they invited Natural History Society in collabora- Naqia Mahimwala presented the exhibition to highlight environmental the grandparents of two students from tion with the Environment Commit- school’s annual report at the “Annual concerns, the harmful effects of smok- each class from Standards V to X and tee of the Rotary Club of Bombay. Day” conducted under the guidance of ing and wastage of resources. In an felicitated them, presenting them with Convent of Jesus and Mary Principal Arina for the students of interesting departure, some charts and flowers and gifts and arranging an en- his Interact Club geared itself up Standards Sixth to Tenth. The chief posters focused on the spreading cor- tertainment programme. In turn, the long before the beginning of the guests were Mr. and Mrs. Menezes ruption all around. grandparents shared some of their ex- RotaryT year to execute a series of whose daughter used to be the Head On Independence Day, the Inter- periences. The enjoyable evening ended projects. No wonder the very first re- Girl of the school. actors went to the King George V in- with snacks. port from the Club (sent in the second Sister Arina and Mrs. Menezes pre- firmary where they spent quality A total of 25 grandparents turned half of August), described nearly half a sented awards to the students who had time with the aged and forgotten resi- up for the event and were felicitated dozen activities. scored the highest marks, those with dents, entertaining them with songs by Principal S.R. Romana and others. Functioning under the expert guid- distinction, the highest marks in value and dances. They also spent some time Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English ance of Principal Sister Arina Ghosal, education, good conduct and so on. with the children at a home for blind High School the Club had the untiring Ms Samiksha A former President of the Interact children. he Interact Club of this school, lo- Mundhe as its Moderator and Ms Club scored 90% in the SSC exam. Sneh Kothari reported that the mem- cated at Chhatrapati Shivaji Ter- Cymbeline Pereira overseeing it as Co- Another Interactor, Trusha Doshi, had bers of the Interact Club of Scholar minus,T organised a debate competition ordinator. a high 98.36% in the same exam. High School took part in “Vogue”, a for all school students. Two of the While Naqia Mahimwala served as In another initiative, the students of popular programme of the Rotaract subjects on which the students had to President for 2012-13, Ayushi Chotai Std. X utilised their “Social service” Club of H.R. College. They also par- speak were “Passing students up to was the Secretary, Yashvi Bothra Trea- period to teach children of Standards ticipated in the “Word War” of the the Eighth Standard” and “Empower- surer and Drashti Zaveri Director. First to Fourth who were weak in their Rotaract Club of Jai Hind College. ing goodness”. For the final round, the Cathedral and John Connon topic was even weightier, viz., “Aca- he Interactors went out of the way demic performance is the best perfor- to raise money for various chari- mance for success in life”. tiesT and individuals through different According to the Interact Club’s activities. They enthusiastically par- Moderator, Ms Tabassum Fatma ticipated in a bake sale, getting home- Rizvi, the idea behind the competition baked delights and selling them to raise was to bring the students’ potential to money, and collecting toys and donat- the fore and to provide them with a ing them to the underprivileged. platform to freely express their point Apart from interacting with students of view. Viewed from this perspec- of the Kamala Mehta School for the tive, the competition was a success as Blind in Dadar, they also presented it brought out the students’ talent and them with a cheque. They raised Rs. 1 abilities. lakh for Sonali Mukherjee, the victim A few weeks later, taking off from of an acid attack. the discussion and debate on “Em- Their project with the mentally chal- powering goodness”, Interact Presi- lenged included a stall by Om Cre- dent Aafaan Qureshi and his team ations that sold products and distrib- organised a seminar, skit and quiz con- 'Empowering goodness,' this was the theme on which the Interact Club of uted literature to raise awareness about test on the subject which also saw Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English High School held a seminar, skit and quiz June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 24 studies. This had proved to be a big children. They commenced their success, apparently because the little programme with a prayer service after children loved it when “older girls” lighting some candles. The show that rather than “strict teachers” took up followed consisted of three skits and their studies! two dance performances. However, students of Std. IX used The show-stopper was a special their “Social service” period to go to skit with Ms Kakar, a police inspec- the “Garden school”. This was the tor, in the main role. The message that place where children whose parents it conveyed was that it was not good could not afford to send them to school to watch too many inane television were taught by Interactors and others. programmes. And even if they did, it The children learned arts, crafts, po- wouldn’t pay to emulate what was ems and spoken English. shown on the “idiot box”. More often Apart from the above, the Inter-ac- than not, it was senseless and puerile. tors organised many other activities, At a time when the police force was such as plays by the different houses. in the dock all over the country, Ms A presentation on the girl child was a Kakar put in an excellent performance special feature. All these activities in the leading role. The Interactors of Fort Convent organised a thoughtful programme at helped raised awareness about social Yet another interesting programme which they invited and felicitated grandparents of school children problems. was a visit to Anza Special School; it Ms Helen, the Headmistress of the brought home the truth behind the dic- Campion School mentaries to learn about social and Primary Section, and the Principal, tum “every child is special”. The in- oncerned with the increasing pol- community issues, cleanliness drives, Sister Arina, were the judges of a de- nocence on every child’s face made the lution at various historical monu- saving electricity and so on. bate on capital punishment. The award Interactors want to reach out to them. Cments in the country, the Interact Club An outdoor trip to Lonavala for the for best speaker went to Zara Press- They spent some memorable moments of Campion School organised a field annual camp afforded the children an wala, while Dana D’Souza was the with them which would remain in their visit to Delhi and Agra. It was to these opportunity to interact with one an- runner-up. hearts forever. two historical cities that large num- other and also to become more socially The Interactors also took part in the Apart from offering the special chil- bers of domestic and international tour- aware of the abilities and achievements “Alexandra Fest” and the “We Are The dren sweets and other goodies, the ists flocked to see some of the world’s of the differently abled. World” competition organised by the Interactors joined them as they at- best architectural wonders. But they They visited the National Institute Rotaract Club of H.R. College. At the tempted to add colour to a plain sketch also left a lot of litter – and worse. for the Blind and were taken on treks latter event, the Club won a few med- of a princess. The joy on their faces as By taking the students on an educa- so that they could attempt to be one als in athletics. they looked at the completed work tional trip to these two cities, the In- with nature. The camp and the treks On October 1, the Interactors ob- was worth going miles to see. teract Club and the school authorities proved to be an enjoyable learning ex- served “Helpers’ Day”; they took the Some of the Interactors confessed sought to create awareness about the perience for the students. school’s non-teaching staff on a day- that this visit had helped them to realise ill-effects of unbridled pollution. Summing up, the two teachers, Ms long picnic and presented them with the importance of values and showed Back home in Bombay, the Fernandes and Ms Menezes, stated gifts and saplings. them the way to becoming good hu- Interactors launched a signature cam- that the year gone by was a fruitful, A week later, they celebrated the man beings. paign against littering and asked their interesting and memorable one for the birthday of Principal Sister Arina with On January 30, some students of fellow students to promise not to mar students and for them, too. a special assembly and a series of hugs Std. VII, most of them aged 12 or 13, their environs. They also set an ex- G.D. Somani Memorial School and kisses. And then they went for a visited the Shepherd’s Home at By- ample by picking up litter from com- embers of the Interact Club of picnic to “Royal Garden” where they culla. This was a home for aged women mon areas during their break. G.D. Somani Memorial School enjoyed the series of swings, rides and who had no one to look after them Another campaign was to spread Morganised or took part in three differ- other equipment set up for amuse- (some were abandoned women). awareness about the harmful effects ent inter-school programmes in the ment. Several smiling faces welcomed the of plastic, especially when it had served first half of the Rotary year. On November 22, the Interactors Interactors as they reached the Home. its purpose. Charts were displayed in First, they hosted an inter-school visited INS Shikra, the Indian naval air They spent about an hour with them, the school premises to describe how programme with an intriguing title. station at Colaba. They were accom- trying to bring wider – and happier – plastic ruined the environment. They called it “Melange Total 5” and panied by two teachers. smiles on their faces with the help of The Interact Club had two Mod- explained that it was an amalgam of INS Shikra was earlier known as INS jokes, songs, dances and music. Be- erators, Ms Rosemary Misquitta and five mega events. Kunjali which was the only Indian fore leaving, the Interactors promised Ms Jennifer Fernandes. Its President It attracted participation by 16 naval air station without a full-fledged to visit them again. The Interactors was Aman Kargaonkar and he was as- schools, was held over two days and runway to operate fixed-wing aircraft. thanked Principal Sister Arina for sug- sisted by Shivam Jaggi. was an unalloyed success. Interest- It was primarily a heliport. gesting this interesting visit. The students of Std. VII joined the ingly, this was the second annual edi- Director Drashti Zaveri reported In the midst of all these activities Interact Club of Campion School in tion of the programme and the stu- that the Interactors were keen to visit the Interactors did not forget their date the academic year 2012-13 and bol- dents took active part in organising it. Talwada to see how the Rotary Club with the residents of the Pallonji stered the movement. The students of Another interesting project was of Bombay had involved itself with Shapoorji Home for the Aged at the Std. VII A were led by their class “Go Green Day”. All students were the community there. B.D. Petit Parsi General Hospital. teacher, Ms C. Menezes; those of Std. asked to bring unique, exotic potted On Children’s Day, November 9, They sang Christmas carols and VII B were guided by their class plants to school and those judged the the Interactors of Fort Convent at- engaged in some vigorous singing and teacher, Ms J. Fernandes. most exotic were given prizes. A large tended school in colourful clothes and dancing to old and popular songs. All The teachers reported that every number of children took part in this were soon sporting brilliantly coloured of these were washed down, in a man- week was a fun-filled one, with sev- programme designed to increase aware- wristbands. Once in class, their teach- ner of speaking, with sweets, snacks eral projects organised to develop an ness about the need to conserve the ers gave them coupons (for games, and soft drinks. interest in Interact activities among the environment and to grow more trees. snacks and soft drinks). In the normal Interact Club Director Drashti children. Finally, there was “Cascade 20”, an course, that would have been the end Zaveri took her mother along for the These ranged from developing a slo- inter-school event organised by Jamna- of the programme. visit. Later, she found it very difficult gan for the class, chart-making, a sig- bai Narsee School; the Interactors of But there was a big surprise ar- to say who was more touched – her nature campaign against the use of plas- G.D. Somani took active part in it. ranged by the Principal, the Headmis- mother or the residents of the home tic, making cards for the traffic police, Interactor Adil Harianawala pro- tress and the teachers in store for the for the aged. a tetrapack campaign, watching docu- vided most of the above information. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 25 St. Mary’s ICSE of H.V.B. Academy, revealed that since aayaab Nagree was president this was her first experience as a mod- and Nabil Hariyanawala Vice- erator, she had absolutely no idea about NPresident of the Interact Club. It had the sheer magnitude of such events. 34 members from Std. IX and 40 from This experience had prepared her for Std. VIII. more in the future. At the same time, At the beginning of the year, it she had also come to realise the im- organised an inter-school event called port of what the Rotary Club of “Immaculata” and the members took Bombay was trying to achieve. active part as volunteers. Bharda New High School The boys of Std. VIII participated hen Chairman Deepak Kapadia in a clean-up drive in the suburbs in organised the “Road Safety addition to the regular clean-up drives Fortnight”W in January, he had hundreds in the school and surrounding areas. of Interactors and Rotaractors taking Continuing the stress on civic issues, part in the drive to spread the message the Interactors made numerous charts of saving lives through safe and careful on environment-related issues and driving and by following the required civic problems confronting society. traffic rules. Bharda New High School was the venue at which the Jai Hind Rotaractors They also prepared charts to create Forty six Interactors of Bharda New organised the installation of seven Interact Clubs at one go awareness about upcoming festivals. High School took part in that portion These were put up on the Interact board of the drive which spanned the area ated their work and thanked the of spitting and the ill-effects of smok- and at other places in the school so from C.S.T. Station to Godrej Bhavan Interactors for travelling all the way ing and consuming paan, gutkha and that they could be seen by the maxi- on Hazarimal Somani Marg. They from Bombay to interact with rural other tobacco products. Another im- mum number of students. stood on the roadside from 12.15 to children. portant programme was a visit to the St. Mary’s ICSE had been associ- 2.30 pm, each holding up a banner and Apart from giving them some voca- institute for the deaf and dumb at ated with the Gyanmata School at all of them forming a huge human chain, tional tips, the Interactors also made Mazgaon. Talasiri village in Upplat for several urging motorists and two-wheeler rid- some teaching aids and presented these Apart from taking part in the RYLA years. Annual exchange visits were a ers to follow the rules and drive safely. to the authorities at the rural school camp organised by the Rotaract Club regular feature of this association. A few days later, members of the and thanked them for allowing them of H.R. College and at which they This year, students of Std. X from Rotaract Club of Hinduja College vis- to interact with the rural students. bagged many prizes, the Interactors Gyanmata School visited St. Mary’s ited the school and conducted an es- The visit did not end with this. The of Bharda New also helped collect in November and were given royal say-writing competition for the stu- Interactors next visited a remote vil- funds for young cancer patients. That treatment. They were taken on a tour dents of Std. VII and Std. VIII. They lage near Silvassa. They conducted a initiative bore fruit when they handed of Bombay city and treated to games also made a PowerPoint presentation survey to learn about the condition of over the amount collected to the Tata and other events organised by the on women’s empowerment. the villagers. They found that the vil- Memorial Centre at the annual “Terry Interactors. About 200 students took part in lage consisted of about 35 houses and Fox Run” organised along Marine When last heard, the Interactors the discussion which gave them an in- lacked modern amenities. It had no Drive. About 150 students took part were eagerly awaiting the new term, sight into the problems of women not sanitation or electricity and most of in the “Run”. starting in January, for a few more vis- only in India but also in other parts of the villagers were engaged in farming Navy Children’s School its and field trips. the world. At the end of the programme, and leading a hand-to-mouth existence. he Interact Club of the Navy H.V.B. Academy the students vowed to protect and Paying special attention to the girl Children’s School, Colaba, had a embers of the Interact Club of uphold the dignity of women. Some child this year, the Interactors distrib- clearT vision for the year 2012-13. It H.V.B. Academy organised an of them made banners on the subject uted new clothes to girls aged between decided the activities on which it would excitingM programme “Aadhar” which and displayed these in the school. four and ten years in this village. They concentrate and worked towards com- involved a get-together of children from Earlier, President Sarosh Usmani, did this to promote a more positive pleting those projects. the school and those from “Our Chil- guided by Moderators Ms Tasneem approach towards the girl child in the It focused on three things, viz., learn- dren”, an NGO initiative. Gilitwala and Ms Judy Vaz, took the village. But first they invited all senior ing about various social evils that It started with a dance performance Interactors on the annual visit to a citizens to bring their little girls to a plagued society, especially the female by H.V.B. students to welcome the school in a rural area. They went to central point where new clothes and population; acquiring skills to help visiting children who were escorted by the primary school conducted by the other items were to be distributed. those in need; and finding solutions to some of their teachers. To make the Zilla Parishad near Silvassa and con- Fifty three sets of new clothes were the various problems faced by the un- guests feel comfortable, a simple in- ducted several activities for the chil- presented to the girls in the village. derprivileged. teractive session was organised in dren. The school had about 200 stu- The smiles on their faces worked as an Starting with the “learning phase”, which each student had to introduce dents from Std. I to Std. VII. elixir for the Interactors from Bombay. the Club arranged the screening of vari- himself/herself. This quickly helped The activities taken up were draw- They also distributed grains, sugar, ous films and documentaries, followed break the ice (this activity was appro- ing and collage-making competitions, rice, lentils, lunch boxes and water by discussions on the subjects tackled priately named “Icebreaker”). one-minute games and sports. The bottles; and presented clothes to the by them. The political, sociological and Once the visiting students had been winners were given prizes. The senior residents of the village. A talk in psychological impact of the problems served with some nutritious snacks, Interactors also distributed notebooks Marathi on the importance of the girl was also discussed. another activity awaited them. This made from recycled paper, stationery child was also delivered by the Topics like female infanticide/foeti- was a “collage-making” session items such as pencils, erasers, sharp- Interactors. cide, domestic violence, gender bias/ planned in such a way that it could eners, colours pencils and crayons. Back in Bombay, an essay-writing discrimination, child labour, dowry not be completed without teamwork. Glazed paper, lunch boxes, water competition was organised to mark and illiteracy, along with problems re- Each student from the visiting school bottles, pencil cases and so on were “Education Day”, celebrated in honour lated to mental and physical disabili- was paired with a moderator. And then, also offered to the students, as were of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. ties, were also discussed with the help amidst laughter, cheers and giggles, biscuits, wafers and chocolates. With 59 members and two Mod- of experts in those fields. some brilliant collage work was com- As they participated enthusiasti- erators, the Interact Club of Bharda In the “acquiring skills phase”, the pleted. Finally, the students from “Our cally in all the competitions arranged New High School planned and ex- students were given sign language tu- Children” were taken for a campus tour for them, the rural students displayed ecuted its activities in a systematic torials. They were also given the task by the Moderators of the Interact Club. their own hidden skills which sur- manner. of looking for NGOs working in this Ms Tahira Salim, a comparatively prised some of the Interactors. The The projects that it carried out in- specific area. That helped them in gain- new Moderator of the Interact Club teachers at the village school appreci- cluded a rigorous drive against the habit ing some basic counselling techniques June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 26 that could come in handy while deal- about the root causes of the social evils The response of the participating chil- Amogh Ranadive and Karunesh ing with such problems at a future date. bedevilling women and children. They dren was very rewarding. Talwar from Vir Das’s Weirdass Com- The students performed a street prepared banners, posters and slogans The Rotaractors invited the pany (and themselves leading stand- play on “Little things that matter in on the issue. Children’s Aid Society to exhibit the up comedians) acted as judges at the life” on the occasion of World Mental They also enacted a street play cov- talent of the children of the juvenile event. They had to endure one and a Health Week. A “flash mob” was also ering issues such as gender discrimina- remand home in Dongri. The exhibi- half hours of non-stop laughter trig- organised during the school assembly. tion, female infanticide and sexual tion afforded an opportunity to juve- gered by the participants. The idea behind the street play was to abuse. This was a special event staged niles to showcase their talent in a con- While short-listing eight boys and remind people of the small but highly for the benefit of parents. structive manner. girls for the final round was not an effective solutions that had been em- While the Principal of the Navy Next, they teamed up with the Gift easy task, even more daunting was the ployed since time immemorial to re- Children’s School was Ms Girija Singh, Your Organ Foundation to spread job of choosing one winner from among lieve stress. the Interact Moderators were Jasman awareness about the critical need for them. At the end of all the madness, it As for the “finding solutions phase”, Preet and Ashraf Dawoodani. All of organ donation. The campaign was was Khadija Tambawala who won the the students were prompted to think them had done a very good job indeed. scheduled to be held simultaneously “Comedy Madness” award and was about ways in which they could con- Rotaract in three cities, Bombay, Pune and Ban- named the winner of ROFL 2012-13. tribute. Ravindra Fotedar galore; the GDC Rotaractors took part The Rotaract Club of Jai Hind Col- They decided to contribute in kind t the beginning of the year, Ravi in the drive organised at the Gateway lege had been very quick off the blocks. to Ashadaan, a shelter for those who requested all Committee Chair- of India. It started the year with a flourish and had been abandoned by their families Apersons to direct their requests for Other activities carried out during had completed nearly half a dozen due to disabilities, women who had Rotaractors as volunteers to him and the year were a treasure hunt across projects in July itself. Here are brief run away from domestic violence and not to the Rotaract Clubs directly. This South Bombay; dental camps at sev- sketches of some of its activities. senior citizens from the lower socio- applied to all those who required the eral locations and under various insti- “What’s your problem?” The first economic strata. They also planned services of Rotaractors as volunteers tutions such as the Nargis Dutt Me- phase of this project started on July an awareness campaign on these and at Club projects. morial Dental Camp; IAS Officers’ 4 when members spread out to vari- other social issues in the school. The Rotaractors continued to be Wives’ Association; the Muslim Am- ous parts of the city to interview citi- Among the other activities under- ever eager to help, but it would be more bulance Society, Govandi; Colaba zens and record their complaints re- taken were the following: appropriate for all such requests to be Municipal School; and Machchimar garding shortage of water, lack of Students with physical and mental routed through the Rotaract Commit- Nagar, Colaba. More than 500 people cleanliness, erratic power supply and disabilities from Sankalp School, a tee, he added. benefited from these dental camps. so on. special school run by the Naval com- Government Dental College They also organised a CPR (cardio- Armed with video cameras, they munity, were trained to perform an rom Colaba to Byculla, Govandi pulmonary resuscitation) programme went in small teams to record the integrated act by the senior students and Talwada, the GDC Rotaract- for students, interns and post-gradu- people’s grievances and then passed of the NCS at the Annual Day Cel- Fors went places this year –drilling away ates; a blood donation drive; a trip to these on to the authorities concerned. ebrations. at their usual projects all through. Essel World; and launched the second This was done with the help of media On World Cancer Day the Intera- For those unaware of the fact, they volume of the Rotaract bulletin, tie-ups that the Rotaractors had de- ctors visited the cancer ward at Ashwini regularly visit the Ajit Deshpande Odontspeak. veloped in the previous year through Hospital. They presented all the pa- Medical Centre at Talwada in Jawhar Jai Hind College some of their projects. tients with red roses as a symbol of taluka of Thane district to offer free olling on the floor laughing! This (One of these had involved the me- solidarity and wished them a speedy service to the less privileged residents Rwas the crazy name for a crazy dia, the RTO, traffic constables and recovery. They participated in the of Talwada and the nearby villages. A project. Believe it or not, on July 18, others; the Rotaractors stood at van- beach cleaning drive taken up after the group of four Rotaractors, along with the entire College was rolling on the tage points near Crawford Market to Ganpati festivities. a senior dentist, visits the venue and floor, laughing! help shoppers find taxis that would Before an audience of parents in- renders effective dental care to the The madness was initiated by 48 ply short distances. It was a hugely vited for the event, the Interactors people. students who took part in a competi- successful project.) organised a silent act on social issues Dr. Ajay Gupta and Dr. Srinivas tion in which the winner would be that “What’s your problem?” the and the virtues of love, compassion, Kamath, both senior dentists, have person who made the most people Rotaractors asked residents of Grant hope and faith that needed to be nur- been associated with the programme laugh their lives out. And the prize at Road, Charni Road, Marine Lines, tured by every citizen to bring about for a very long time. The visits to the end of the laugh-riot was a one- Churchgate, Colaba and Cuffe Parade change in society. Talwada normally take place on the year internship with Vir Das, one of in the course of their drive. As part of their Community Ser- second and third Sunday every month. the country’s leading stand-up come- Cotton bags, please Promotion of vice activities, the Interactors installed Under the project called “Shiksha – dians, and the opportunity of acting cotton bags in place of plastic and poly a rainwater harvesting system, thus empowering the future”, the Rota- in a film with him. bags was taken up in a big way. saving water and contributing to pro- ractors were also helping in the uni- tection of the environment. versal spread of elementary education Finally, having visited the popular among underprivileged children. The Kala Ghoda Arts festival, the Inter- weekly project was held on every Sat- actors were ready with their plan to urday at the Aryan High School and go to Ashadaan and to contribute their the Rotaractors took active part in it. mite for the benefit of its residents. They also participated in the Sanjee- Thanks to contributions from the vani eye camp at the Aryan High 33 members (from Std. VI to X), the School which was part of the Zonal Interactors offered items of everyday “Shiksha” intervention. use to help maintain cleanliness and to Turning their attention to another ensure good health and hygiene there. institution, the “League of Mercy” Among the items distributed were an orphanage for girls at Byculla that antiseptic liquid, washing powder, looked after 31 girls, the Rotaractors phenyl, pain-relieving ointment and organised a two-stage donation drive sanitary napkins. All of these were for them. bought in bulk at discounted rates. As part of the same Zonal “Shiksha” A few days later, the Interactors intervention, the Rotaractors also took organised an awareness campaign part in “Zypen”, an endeavour to in- So what's your problem? The Rotaractors of Jai Hind College went out to called “Jagruti” to spread awareness culcate team-building among children. meet people and make a list of their complaints about civic problems June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 27 According to the Rotaractors, the him to stop smoking without saying a a workshop on sunrise industries for and gave a performance that focused project had been going on for the last word? the youth at which basic knowledge on the plight of the modern Indian three years. They bought a large num- The “Satyagraha” was one of the about several different vocations was woman. ber of cotton bags and had them popular annual projects of the Club provided to members and other stu- The main event banner for painted attractively to catch the and part of the month-long initiative, dents. CHEEKH 2013 was unveiled by the people’s attention. “Silent Saturdays”. Organised on ev- Eight out-of-the-box workshops Presidential Advisory Council and was The Rotaractors planned to take the ery Saturday in month September, it were conducted with some of the lead- followed by a hand-imprinting session cotton bags to other Clubs. Now, it involved a quiet march up and down ing trainers invited to share their that enabled onlookers and others to was planned to sell these bags in areas the city’s streets, holding aloft plac- knowledge and experience. The fol- support the movement. This was an like Colaba Causeway, Fashion Street, ards and urging citizens to adopt the lowing eight areas of interest were cov- interactive session and the handprints Crawford Market and so on. The mon- messages imprinted on them. ered as part of the programme (with indirectly formed the logo of the project ies collected would be spent on buy- The response that the opening cer- the names of those conducting them itself. ing more bags and taking the move- emony received was simply amazing. given in parenthesis): On March 6, a CHEEKH hoarding ment even further. The Rotaractors went aboard an open- Aero-modelling (the MBS Group went up at a site opposite the Mafatlal Tune it This was a contest to select top bus and stood all the way as it from Delhi); Ethical Hacking (the MBS Bath at Chowpatty. And on March 8 a radio jockey from among the stu- slowly traversed the distance from Group from Delhi); Robotics (Techno the event was launched with a perfor- dents of Jai Hind College. It was initi- Colaba to Worli and back. They held Gravity Solutions); Web Designing mance at the domestic airport at 10 ated in collaboration with the radio up placards and charts exhorting (Techno Gravity Solutions); Zumba am. It was covered by 12 news chan- station RED FM and eventually people to follow traffic rules, to con- (Waves Gym); Sound Mixing (Jai nels and was followed by another flash worked as an “RJ Hunt”, the winner serve water, stop smoking, empower Krishnan); Communications (Sir Craig mob performance at the High Street getting an opportunity to audition at women and to be wary of the phe- Travaso); and Marketing and Brand- Phoenix shopping complex at 4 pm. the radio station. nomenon called global warming. ing (Saksham Mendiratta). The spectators loved the performance All Saints Home At the request of They descended on Marine Drive The screams of women In the sec- so much that they requested an en- the Senior Citizens Committee of the at 5pm and commenced their street ond half of the year, the Rotaractors core. The Rotaractors happily obliged. Rotary Club of Bombay, the play. Soon, a huge crowd of hundreds set in motion a three-month-long (Another performance by the flash Rotaractors of Jai Hind College and had collected and intently heard the project to coincide with “International mob team took place at Phoenix Mar- H.R. College joined President Now- message that the Rotaractors were try- Women’s Day” (March 8). In this ini- ket City at 6 and 7 pm on March 9.) roze, Chairman Naresh and others to ing to convey. tiative, called CHEEKH, the Rota- The day was to culminate with an help spread the sound of music and ‘RCJC MUN’ of 2012 Back in the ractors said that reports about thou- ambitious flash mob performance at laughter in the All Saints Home at college premises, the Rotaractors sands of women being trafficked ille- the International Airport at 9 pm. All Mazgaon in Central Bombay. organised a Model United Nations gally into the Indian sub-continent had permits and permissions had been This was said to be one of the old- (MUN) which attracted participation turned their attention towards the deaf- obtained in advance, but a last-minute est residences for senior citizens, but by about 175 delegates from all over ening pleas or screams of such women intervention by the police authorities when the boys and girls went there, India. This was an academic simula- and to do something so that they were forced the Rotaractors to call it off. its walls reverberated with the sound tion of the United Nations heard by the powers-that-be. The documentary on trafficking in of music and laughter as the residents Organisations at an institution level. “International Women’s Day,” they women, which had earlier been shown shed their worries and inhibitions for a The “RCJC MUN” of 2012 was an felt, was no longer a day to celebrate at a regular meeting of the Rotary Club few hours. The Rotarians and ambitious affair, graced by the pres- the existence of a gender. Rather, it was of Bombay, was screened all day long Rotaractors had brought some cheer ence of some of the best MUNers in a day to take up their cause and to on the LCD TVs at Oberoi Mall and into their lives. the country. help protect and benefit them. in the lobby and on promotional Fifty residents of the All Saints Spread over three days, it was asso- Almost the entire world having been screens of Fame Adlabs, too. Home took part in the event which ciated with and listed on the UN shaken out of its slumber by the Delhi On March 10, PVR Cinemas was conducted by the team of ten website as one of the top annual events gang rape case of December, 2012, it screened the documentary on traffick- Rotaractors. At the end, they offered in the calendar year 2012-13. The top- was felt that it was the appropriate ing in women on its screens all over snacks to everybody, including those ics taken up were diverse, with a lot of time to launch the project. the city, especially during the inter- who were bed-ridden and could not scope for debate. The chairpersons of It started on February 6 with the missions. The management of PVR join in the merriment. the committees were well-qualified, screening of a documentary on the Cinemas did an encore with another President Aditya Shah of the with each of them having a minimum hard-hitting reality of trafficking in screening on March 14. Rotaract Club of Jai Hind College pro- experience of ten MUNs. women at a regular meeting of the Ro- Rotaractor Charmi Mehta, Vice- posed the vote of thanks. The Secretary-General, Mr. Sanchit tary Club of Bombay. And them, a President and Organising Chair for the ‘Satyagraha’ on the streets The Jai Gulabani, was a qualified MUNer of flash mob suddenly collected at the CHEEKH project, said the members Hind Rotaractors also implemented an great repute. Having been associated Oberoi Mall in Goregaon on March 2 of the Rotaract Club of Jai Hind Col- unusual programme on the streets of with several MUNs in Delhi, Bombay. Adopting the Gandhian way Chandigarh and other parts of the coun- of “Satyagraha” even in this day and try, he was recognised as one of the age, they did not indulge in slogan- best in India. Organising Chairpersons shouting, arguments, debates or dis- Rotaractors Tarang Gupta and Jalaj cussions. Rather, they printed their Malhotra were a perfect combination messages on placards and quietly held of experience and enthusiasm. them aloft so that they were clearly The build-up to the three-day was seen by the “target” audience. what helped make it a path-breaking They believed that standing at a ciga- success as compared to the events rette vendor’s stall and holding aloft a witnessed before. placard urging people to stop smok- Rotaractor Karishma Vaswani ing would be more effective than tell- claimed that Jai Hind was the only ing them that smoking could cause can- Rotaract Club to come up with such cer. Normally, most smokers had heard an interesting concept and to possess (and ignored) such messages several the ability to host a project on such a times. large scale. But how often had a middle-aged Sunrise industries When the Jai man smoking his fifteenth cigarette of Hind Rotaractors organised A total of 175 delegates took part in the Model United Nations (MUN) the day seen a young college girl urging “Aashayein 2012”, it turned out to be organised by the Rotaractors of Jai Hind College June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 28 lege believed it had made a small con- course, the Rotaractors stepped in. tribution to the cause of building an Also on the bus were five Exchange empowered society and an India which Students from France. treated women as equal to men. The trip was flagged off by Princi- H.R. College pal Indu Shahani who hopped along n the very first day of the Rotary to enjoy the ride (and the view) for year, July 1, 2012, the Rotaract some time and held an interactive ses- ClubO of H.R. College achieved yet an- sion with the children. other unique distinction – it won, for A project hits a century The project the seventh time in a row, the Rotaract “Chirag”, which was launched four District 3140 award for the Best years ago by some students (including Rotaract Club in the District. Rotaractors) of H.R. College to take Outgoing President Junaid Khan and electricity to many dark villages lo- his team emerged victorious at the cated at a mere two or three-hour drive Rotaract District 3140 Annual Assem- from Bombay, was set to go very, very bly and AARA Night (Academy for far – all the way to Washington, DC, Awarding Rotaract Achievements) at USA. Lala Lajpatrai College, thus winning Undertaken by the H.R. unit of SIFE H.R. Rotaractors blindfolded themselves and walked around Shivaji Park in the most coveted award for their Club (Students in Free Enterprise), the order to promote the message of eye donation once again. project had been showcased at an SIFE Whoops of joy, screams of delight competition at the national level and for the intellectually impaired, the world blind”, the Rotaractors stepped and high-decibel yells accompanied the had bagged the top honour. This meant deaf-mute and other underprivileged forward to state that “An eye for an announcement as confetti dropped that the project would represent India students. eye makes the whole world shine”. down on the stage and the Best Club at the world SIFE competition to be The visually impaired children of They performed street plays to Trophy was once again bagged by the held in Washington, DC. the Victoria Memorial School were spread the message at the Gateway of Rotaract Club of H.R. College. At a regular meeting of the Club, treated to an “Utsav” (festival) when India, Dadar railway station and Shivaji So what did the H.R. Rotaractors President Prateek Mathai of the SIFE those with sight joined them in play- Park. At the last venue, when a peace do after that? They got down to work of H.R. College explained with the help ing “dandia”. One Rotaractor stood rally with 80 to 100 Rotaractors was and completed at least two major of a few slides that they had already behind each child in a ring and, to the organised, many of them blindfolded projects long before the month came taken electricity to 99 villages and were beats of pulsating music, helped the themselves and walked around Shivaji to an end. poised to take light into the lives of child to play “dandia” with other chil- Park to promote the donation of eyes. The first of these was a collabora- their brethren in a 100th village bor- dren in an inner ring. Pledge cards were distributed to the tive venture along with the Students’ dering the city of Bombay. Then came “Indradhanush”, the an- people at all three places to urge Council of H.R. College and involved As the members applauded the per- nual inter-school art festival for the people to donate their eyes after death a blood donation drive to help formance of the SIFE of H.R. College, intellectually impaired, the deaf-mute and to bring colour into sightless eyes. thalassaemia patients. It was organised Nowroze requested Indu Shahani to and other underprivileged students. Over 650 pledge cards were handed in the concourse of Churchgate, one of join him; the two then felicitated the This was the 15th year of the festival out and about 300 returned by people the busiest suburban stations, in affili- driving force behind the project, Mr. and 2,500 special students partici- who pledged to donate their eyes. ation with the Rotary Club of Nariman Jyotirmoy Chatterji. He also called out pated in it. They were required to bring For rural youth Ever eager to do Point. and honoured his colleagues, Prateek out their creative skills and to give something different, the Rotaractors Student volunteers devised inge- Mathai, Rahul Sanghi, Vivek Kotak, shape to their imagination as best as organised an entrepreneur develop- nious ways to attract morning com- Vandini Bhandari, Bhavi Doshi, Ketki they could. ment programme in distant Pachal vil- muters to spare five minutes to do- Prabhat and Santhosh Kumar. While for the intellectually impaired lage in the Rajapur taluka of Ratnagiri nate a few precious millilitres of blood Out of the blue, one of the students the task was to colour a printed image, district in Maharashtra State. that would save the life of an innocent of H.R. College stepped forward to the visually impaired were asked to Volunteers from South Bombay and and unfortunate victim of offer a memento to his Principal, Indu make abstract paintings on topics of Singapore descended on the village to thalassaemia. Posters, banners, public Shahani, who was celebrating her birth- their choice. The deaf-mutes took part teach English and subjects like mar- announcements and the like were em- day during the week (July 17). in a card-making competition and the keting, economics, accounts and nego- ployed to get more people to donate Home for the aged As already re- underprivileged went in for tooth- tiation skills to a group of 100 high blood. ported, the Rotaractors of H.R. Col- brush-painting. school and secondary students. No less than 220 bottles of blood lege helped the Senior Citizens Com- The art festival was a contest be- This was no fly-by-night operation. were collected in one single day, a fig- mittee and Naresh Kumar Jain in tween different schools. Prizes were The volunteers stayed in the village ure far beyond expectations. A “Do- organising a gala Parsi New Year cel- given to the winners and participation for ten days and offered five groups of nor card”, a certificate and an umbrella ebration for the residents of the F.S. certificates to the rest. The children young students seed capital of Rs. were presented to the donors. The Parukh Dharamshalla at Old Khareghat were fascinated with the opportunity 30,000 to launch their own business. State Blood Transfusion Council was Colony, Hughes Road. to do something different and to put They called the project “Gazaab highly impressed by the students’ As part of the afternoon’s their imagination on paper. Maharashtra 2012” and worked in as- dedication, enthusiasm and achieve- programme, the Rotaractors rendered According to Taskforce Directors sociation with a group of young vol- ment and heartily praised H.R. Col- some old songs that reminded the resi- Rushab Shah and Trividha Mehra, the unteers from the Singapore Manage- lege for inculcating such noble values dents of their youth. They also ar- children turned in an amazing collec- ment University. in them. ranged a medley of games, music and tion of paintings and other forms of Rushab Shah and Trividha Mehra, In another project on July 20, the dance in which some of the senior citi- creativity – a veritable rainbow Taskforce Directors for 2012-13, H.R. Rotaractors arranged a road trip zens danced to their hearts’ content. (Indradhanush”) of colours. pointed out that although India boasted atop an open-air double-decker bus for All for the handicapped Not one but The Rotaractors, in association with some of the biggest businessmen and children from the India Association. three projects for the handicapped the Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twin- industrialists, their number was small This annual project offered under- were organised in quick succession. kling Little Eyes, organised a campaign and it was necessary to have more privileged children the opportunity to The first was a campaign to request to promote the cause of eye donation people involved in business. take another look at their city and to the public to pledge to donate their on the occasion of the International Told repeatedly that “the real India know something about its heritage and eyes after their demise; the second was Fortnight for Awareness of Eye Do- lives in the villages”, the Rotaractors history. A journey atop an open-air a musical event to enable the blind to nations. decided to take up the project to de- bus was a dream that was unlikely to enjoy the popular “dandia” event; and Tweaking the popular dictum that velop the spirit of entrepreneurship come true for most of them; unless, of the third an inter-school art festival “An eye for an eye makes the whole to the rural areas of Ratnagiri. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 29 The village of Pachal was selected, a The Club also collaborated with the Involving a lot of physical activity, The two Rotaractors who comp- collaboration with the Singapore Man- Rotaract Club of the Caduceus, the the tasks also taught basic personal ered the programme, Pritesh Jaisingh agement University firmed up and, winner of this year’s International management and division of work to and Rinku Gajaria, took turns to high- after making the required arrange- Outstanding Project Award, to raise get optimum results. light the projects and activities under- ments, the team took off for Pachal funds for the treatment of eye disor- Day Two was devoted to grooming taken during the term of outgoing Presi- where it stayed from December 9 to ders. (The Rotaract Club of the Cadu- of the mind. A special session was con- dent Ishita Vora. They also gave the 18. ceus was sponsored by the Rotary ducted by Ms Nidhi, psychologist and commentary to a slideshow that fo- Students from Standards X and XI Club of Bombay Central.) counsellor, of the BMM Department cused on new President Kushal Bhuva. were selected for the project. While ‘Prerna’ or encouragement One of of H.R. College. With an additional Avenue of Ser- the former were given English lessons, the most outstanding Rotaract The programme ended with a vale- vice being added to its activities, the those from Std. XI were divided into projects in the city was the annual ath- dictory function at which talented Rotaract Club of Bombay now had a three sections and taught marketing, letic meet for intellectually impaired Interactors were acknowledged for total of 14 Directors, announced economics, finance, accounts, presen- students called “Prerna”, now in its their contributions. Awards such as Kushal as he introduced his team to tation and negotiation skills, business 17th year. The brainchild of the enter- “Best Interactor Male/Female”, “Best the gathering. ideas and so on. prising Rotaract Club of H.R. College, Team”, “Highest Contingent” and so Road Safety Next, groups of six students each it was held at Priyadarshini Park in on were presented. Deepak Kapadia were formed and each one given the South Bombay. The coming together of members of undreds of Interactors and task of developing business plans suit- In a mission statement, Taskforce the Interact Clubs of Sir J.J. Girls’ Rotaractors took part in the able to the area in which they lived. Directors Rushab Shah and Trividha School, Bharda New High School, H“Road Safety Fortnight” organised by The visiting students also played the Mehra said that “Perseverance is not Anjuman-I-Islam English High School Chairman Deepak from January 2. role of mentors as they tossed up vari- a long race. It is many short races one and the Anjuman-e-Islam Urdu High It started with 150 Interactors from ous business ideas. after another”. And so they attempted School was in itself a novel experience. Gopi Birla Memorial School at Wal- The students were asked to submit to make life worthwhile – even if for a Over 100 keen Interactors participated, keshwar Road coming out on the busy proposals in a definite format, cover- single day – for intellectually impaired with some of them standing out in ev- street outside their school to spread ing topics such as Market Trends and students to display their abilities and erything that they did. The purpose the message of “Road Safety”. They Opportunities, Market Analysis, De- talent on an athletic track. for which the project had been were accompanied by their Principal, mand Analysis, Competitor Analysis Treating them as “part of our fam- organised was fulfilled. Mrs. Shetty, Coordinator Ms Khyati and SWOT Analysis. ily”, the Rotaractors noted that al- According to the event coordina- Dwarkadas and other teachers. All 20 groups managed to submit though they were well cared for, they tors, the words of the philosopher The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, their project proposals within the dead- did need the occasional stimulus pro- Andre Gide guided them as they started the Deputy Chief Minister, the Home line. Following rigorous discussions, vided by an outdoor environment. working on the project. The great Minister and the Police Commissioner checking of feasibility and correlation Luxury buses for students from vari- thinker had said: “Man cannot discover in charge of Traffic lauded the display of facts, five proposals were awarded ous special schools, even those located new oceans unless he has the courage of placards carrying the message to seed capital of Rs. 30,000 each to start in distant suburbs, were arranged by to lose sight of the shore.” “Cross Only at Zebra Crossings”. their own business. the organisers. Water, health and hygiene Rotaract A little later, about 60 Rotaractors The capital-winning proposals Although it was the spirit of par- President Shashank Jogani told a Ro- from H.R. College stood in a line from were in the following fields of work: ticipation that was encouraged, there tary meeting that his Club was launch- the signal at Wilson College right up to (1) Sugarcane plantation; (2) banana was keen competition in the events; ing “Boond”, a project to provide clean Chowpatty from 8.30 to 9.30 am dis- plantation; (3) mango, spinach and these included various obstacle races water for drinking and domestic pur- playing placards urging motorists to cashew nut nursery; (4) incense sticks; along with 50-metre, 100-metre and poses to drought-affected villages in “Never Drink and Drive”. and (5) a flower decoration agency. 200-metre sprints. The winners re- Maharashtra. Around the same time, 50 The Rotaractors said that all the ceived attractive trophies and medals. His Club had tied up with the Wa- Rotaractors from Jai Hind College groups were instructed to open their All the participants were presented tershed Organisation Trust for a joint stood carrying placards on Nariman bank accounts. When it was time to with a gift in appreciation of the spirit project under which wells and water Point, reminding everyone that “Speed spend monies for their projects to start of participation. bodies all over the State would be built Thrills But it Kills”. off, the required amount would be trans- “Prerna” had been sponsored over and repaired. It would also help in the Not to be left behind were the ferred to their accounts. Constant fol- the years by a humble philanthropist construction of toilets and the provi- Rotaractors of Hinduja College. About low-up would be done to ensure effi- who wished to remain anonymous. sion of other health and hygiene facili- 60 of them positioned themselves near cient execution. To promote leadership In an attempt ties. Saifee Hospital on the busy Queens The “Gazaab Maharashtra 2012” to impart leadership skills to young A modest donation of Rs. 3,500 Road, carrying placards that said, “No initiative was taken up in collabora- Interactors who would grow up to would enable the project to ensure Helmet No Driving”. tion with the Singapore Management become Rotaractors (and then water and basic health and hygiene fa- Passersby, members of the public University and was another step to- Rotarians), the Rotaractors organised cilities to one individual for a lifetime. and motorists noted the Road Safety wards making a difference in society. the fourth edition of “Fusion 4.0” He appealed to members to make gen- messages carried by the young As this was the first year of the which they described as “An Adven- erous donations to this worthy cause. Interactors and Rotaractors; some of project, the Rotaract Club of H.R. ture RYLA” (Rotary Youth Leader- Rotaract Club of Bombay them even slowed down to read the College would monitor it closely and ship Awards). ushal Bhuva was installed as messages. perhaps make it bigger and better in It started off in the sylvan surround- President of the Rotaract Club Following the outdoor part of the the years to come. ings of the Borivli National Park and Kof Bombay, the only community- project, a special mini-pledge card was The best again The Rotaract Club then moved to the college premises. based Rotaract Club sponsored by the released by Mr. Brijesh Singh, Addi- of H.R. College, which had emerged as Styled “Fusion 4.0”, it was a two-day, Rotary Club of Bombay, at a simple tional Joint Commissioner of Police the best in the world in the last Rotary fun-filled interactive event for Interact function in the Conference Hall of H.R. (Traffic). It listed what were called the year, was once again nominated to re- Clubs sponsored by the Rotary Club College on June 10, 2012. “Ten Commandments” to ensure Road ceive an international award. At the of Bombay. Posters and charts were put up at Safety. World Rotaract Week, the Club was Day One was crammed with out- the venue to familiarise guests and visi- These cards were also launched by selected from the South Asia Region door adventure activities and manage- tors with the activities of the Club. the District Governor, Dr. Bal Inamdar, for its project called “I for an Eye”. ment tasks designed to be performed Nowroze Vazifdar (he was President- in the course of his Official Visit to the The Rotaractors had held numer- by teams of nine or ten. This was to Elect at that time) attended the meet- Club on January 8 and distributed to ous school and community events to teach Interactors the importance of co- ing in the company of Ravindra Fotedar members at the meeting; the DG said spread awareness about eye donation operating with others to complete a (now Rotaract Chairman), Visiting he would distribute the cards to all and to encourage people to sign eye- task that was not possible to com- Rotarian Naseem Kachwalla and oth- delegates at the District Conference. donation pledge cards. plete on one’s own. ers. Well done, Deepak. June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 30 ‘Group of 1929 Peace march on 26/11, the day of infamy Clubs’ meets ver 4,500 people took part in the peace programme that was held at the President Nowroze Vazifdar and was Opeace programme held to mark Gateway of India. ably represented by PP Gul Kripalani, in Madras 26/11, the day of infamy. While one group gathered at the its man for all seasons. embers are aware that Rotary It was an unfortunate anniversary, Trident and marched under the leader- PP Gul, who also represented the is 108 years old and the Rotary one that marked four years since the ship of Ms Kia Scherr, who had lost Global Peace Initiative, gave an inspir- ClubM of Bombay, Chartered in 1929, dastardly attack on the city of her husband and her daughter in the ing address in the course of which he is 84 years old. But few know that Bombay by ten infiltrators from Paki- massacre, another one, led by Sheriff “renamed” the Gateway of India as there are not one or two but another stan who caused untold mayhem in a and Principal Indu Shahani, started the “Gateway of Peace”. 180 Rotary Clubs that were Chartered peace-loving country. from Churchgate station; the third, from Delivering an impassioned speech, in the same year, 1929! All those Clubs, But like all things sad and unpleas- V.T. station, was led by Dr. Uday Dr. Shashi Tharoor said it was a “sav- spread all over the world, are now 84 ant, this anniversary, too, had to be Salunkhe, Group Director of age irony” that the horror in Bombay years old. observed, if only to remind citizens Welingkar’s Institute of Management. on November 26, 2008, began with One of them, the Rotary Club of that eternal vigilance was the price of All three sets of marchers converged terrorists docking not too far from the Madras (District 3230), took the lead liberty and to spread the message of at the special enclosure created at the Gateway of India. to organise a unique Fellowship of peace. Gateway of India where they were He also paid tribute to Bombay’s Rotary Clubs Chartered in 1929 and On Sunday, November 25, the eve welcomed by various religious heads, indomitable spirit by stating that it styled it the “Group of 1929 Clubs”. of the darkest day (November 26), government officials, Consuls- Gen- “combined all the four elements of its It suggested that this group should meet three groups of youngsters congregated eral, Ambassadors, Bollywood actors precursors”; by attacking it, the ter- annually, with one Club taking up the at three of the main sites where the such as Vivek Oberoi and Raageshwari rorists had attempted to hit India’s responsibility of hosting the event worst mayhem was unleashed – V.T. and other dignitaries. economy, its tourism, its internation- every year. station, the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the country’s alism and its openness. “That was A week-long celebration was held Trident Hotel. Minister of State for Human Resources what they tried to destroy. They in Madras at the end of February, As proof of the fact that the wounds Development, was one of the princi- failed.” 2013, and attracted participation by inflicted by the marauders had not be- pal speakers at the programme. Several children from the National the Rotary Clubs of Bombay, Canon come a thing of the past, there were The Rotary Club of Bombay and Association of the Blind, accompanied City and Seremban. (Members of the roughly 4,500 youth and others who other Clubs from District 3140 were by the popular singer and actress Rotary Club of Colombo could not took part in the marches and in the in the forefront; the Club was led by Raageshwari, rendered some soulful make it.) music that moved and touched the Host Club President Rajendra Saba- Four MOUs signed by the Club hearts of all those present. nayagam and his team, including Hon. When the Shillong Choir was called Secretary Sathiaram Ram, left no stone upon to perform, its exuberant energy, he Rotary Club of Bombay signed The fourth MOU was signed with unturned to ensure that the programme glorious interpretation of familiar four MOUs (Memoranda of Un- the N.K. Dhabhar Cancer Foundation, was an unforgettable one and that ev- songs and spectacular tonal variations derstanding)T with organisations work- an NGO which provided financial and erything went without a hitch. ing for the betterment of the less-privi- medical assistance to cancer patients showed why they continued to be the Hon. Secretary Sitaram Shah, Dr. leged sections of society. for treatment and also spread aware- No. 1 choir in India. Rohini Chowgule, Vinod Juneja and First, it signed an MOU with the ness about prevention and early de- Finally, an oath of peace was taken Ashok Chinai, accompanied by his Central Society for the Education of tection of cancer. The Club would do- and doves were released into the air spouse Nayna, represented the Ro- the Deaf (CSED). The finance offered nate Rs. 3 lakhs per annum for an ini- by Ms Scherr and PP Gul to signify tary Club of Bombay. to the CSED would be utilised for the tial period of three years to enable it to the message of peace. There were no heavy-duty speeches import of sophisticated testing equip- carry out its activities. The programme was sponsored by and the itinerary was filled with Fel- ment to set up an ambitious BERA For its part, the Foundation would the Taj Welfare Group, the Aditya lowship events, visits to project sites, (Brainstem-Evoked Response Audi- conduct an awareness camp once a year Birla Group, the Oberoi Group of the famed beaches of Madras and a lot ometry) project. for the members of the Rotary Club of Hotels and the Global Peace Initiative. of banquets, breakfasts and dinners. The second one was signed with the Bombay. Besides, the Club would be In his vote of thanks, Gul Kripalani Management of health Salvation Army which would utilise entitled to refer five patients for ex- acknowledged the presence of Presi- the funds it would receive for the reno- amination and treatment and for which dent Nowroze and thanked the Ro- with Yoga vation and restoration of the old age the Foundation would bear the cost tary Club of Bombay for its support s part of the Rotary Service Week home that it had been conducting for (not exceeding Rs. 1,50,000 a year). in the planning of the event. organised at the District level in several years. Athe Phoenix Mills compound from A third MOU was with the Child Accounts for year ended March 31, 2013 January 25 to 27, a free, multi-pur- Reach Society, the 25-year-old organ- pose medical camp was arranged by isation that ran a school for learning- resident Nowroze Vazifdar an- He stated that both entities were in the Rotary Club of Bombay along with disabled children and slow-learners. nounced at the meeting of June “a very, very healthy financial situa- experts from the Kaivalyadham One of its objectives was to see that P11 that normally the accounts for the tion... our current corpus exceeds Rs. Ashram at Lonavala. the children joined the mainstream Rotary year (from July to June) were 7 crores and it keeps on increasing”. The focus was on Yoga as a means along with normal children. presented at the Annual General Meet- The Club had run a surplus year of healing. (Yogic) doctors guided visi- Instead of agreeing to an appeal by ing in December. But this year, the after year. On account of some rules, a tors to the camp on various preven- the Society to sponsor a series of Sil- Club had decided to make a departure certain amount was transferred (as part tive and curative aspects of Yogic ver Jubilee seminars (at a budgeted from the practice. of tax saving/planning) to the corpus. therapy. outlay of Rs. 2 lakhs), the Club made The accounts for the financial year There was hardly any year when there Yoga enthusiast and Hon. Secretary it an offer it could not refuse. ending March 31, 2013, had been pre- had been a deficit. Sitaram Shah coordinated the Club’s It offered not only to be the sole pared and hence it was decided to “We are in a very healthy financial participation with the management of sponsor of the seminars (at a cost to present excerpts from the same in or- situation and we are never short of the Kaivalyadham Ashram. Visitors to the Club of Rs. 1 lakh), but also to der to give members a fair idea of the money should there be a good project.” the camp were able to leaf through a associate with the Society by part- state of affairs. Nowroze chipped in to say that a large number of books on treatment of funding its activities through a one- Trustee PP Arun Sanghi shared sig- surplus in one year did not necessarily various diseases through Yoga. time donation of Rs. 1 lakh and pro- nificant figures through a presentation, mean that there would be a surplus in Among the visitors to the camp viding Rs. 10,000 every month, ini- first of the Club’s Charity Trust and the next.So also with a deficit in any were President Nowroze, IPP Paul tially for three years. then of the Rotary Club of Bombay. given year. George and Rotaryann Radhika Mehta June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 31 Published on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Regd. No. MH/MR/South-109/2012-14; R.N.I. No. 14015/60 Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai 400 001, on Wednesday, June 26, 2013

ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAY Happy Birthday FOUNDED 19 MARCH, 1929 Charter No. 3128, Dated 08 May, 1929 ROTARY CLUB BOMBAY 97-B, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021, INDIA CHARITIES TRUST No. 3 Tel.: +91-22-2202 4089 Fax.: +91-22-2202 4509 Collection (01.07.2012 to 19.06.2013) [email protected] OFFICE-BEARERS 2012/13 Collections PRESIDENT NOWROZE VAZIFDAR Karl Divecha Bernd Schneider Immediate Committee General Capit./Corp. Total June 26 June 26 Past President Paul George President-Elect Nirav Shah Community Service Vice-President Shailesh Haribhakti - Medical Honorary Secretary Sitaram Shah Hasanali Tobaccowala Joint Hon. Secretary Hiren Kara Eye Centre 818,905 78,401 897,306 Hon. Treasurer Ishraq Contractor Ajit Deshpande Med. Cen. 425,001 425,001 CLUB SERVICE: New Members Cancer Aid 90,001 841,000 931,001 Director in charge Nirav Shah Membership PP Sandip Agarwalla Medical (General) 500,000 500,000 Classifications PP Dr. Adi Dastur Ashok Chinai PP Arjun Bulchandani June 28 June 30 Information PP Dr. Kekoo Kavarana Community Service Membership - Non-Medical Development & Senior Citizens District Conference Shailesh Haribhakti (Old Age Homes) 573,200 573,200 CLUB SERVICE: Programmes/Meetings Director in charge Framroze Mehta Community Service Attendance Arvind Agarwal Programme PP Haresh Jagtiani - Education Fellowship PP Ashish Vaid Education (General) 500,000 500,000 Bulletin, Website Bhavishya-Yaan Dinshaw Pandole Jairaj Purandare & Public Relations PP Arun Sanghi (Incl. Scholarships) 1,671,163 30,000 1,701,163 June 30 June 30 Sergeant-at-Arms Roda Billimoria Merit-cum-Means COMMUNITY SERVICE: Medical – I (Incl. Hasho/JaiHira) 10,000 20,000 30,000 Director in charge Dr. Percy Chibber Education (Maki Chairman Emeritus, Taraporevala) 50,000 50,000 Talwada PP Dr. Rahim Muljiani Management Education 50,000 50,000 HTEC, Talwada PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir ADMC, Talwada Dr. Sorab Javeri Oral Health Dr. Rajeev Narvekar New Generation COMMUNITY SERVICE: Medical – II - Youth Director in charge Dr. Vandana Bulchandani Interact 5,000 5,000 Dr. Mukesh Batra Naresh Kumar Jain Control of TB Dr. Rohini Chowgule July 1 July 1 Cancer Aid Zinia Lawyer District Thrust Projects Heart Care and Health Dr. Aashish Contractor Slumber Kits(pass through) 3,918,015 3,918,015 PolioPlus & Spouses Differently Abled Shyyamniwas Somani International Service COMMUNITY SERVICE: Non-Medical Rotary Foundation Shirin Katgara Director in charge Sunny Pariyaram June 25 Old Age Homes/ (Pass through) 7,659,400 7,659,400 Senior Citizens Naresh Kumar Jain Manek Guzder Rural Development Dilnavaz Variava Others June 26 Environment Jagdish Malkani Yoga Science Brinda Somaya VOCATIONAL SERVICE (Baldeodas B.Shah trust) 150,000 150,000 June 28 Director in charge Shernaz Vakil Gen.donation/Gen.corpus 1,725,001 32,501 1,757,502 Sudha Mahindra Rotary & Public Awards Ram Gandhi Sports Committee 40,000 40,000 Vocational Training & June 29 Sneha Project 100,000 100,000 Night Study Centres Bimal Mehta Oberoi Melting Pot Indu Brahmbhatt INTERNATIONAL SERVICE June 30 Director in charge Ashok Minawala (Pass through) 3,808,193 3,808,193 Rotary Foundation & Global Peace Matching Grants PP Arvind Jolly (Pass through) 520,000 520,000 Editorial Consultant: Anmol Purohit, R.I. Programmes & Terry Fox Run Sajjan Sons, 203/204 Triveni, Mith Slumber Kit PP Rajnikant Reshamwala (Pass through) 722,500 722,500 Chowki, Marve Road, Malad (West), NEW GENERATIONS: Education Female Project Mumbai 400 064. Cell: 09322227026; Director in charge Madhusudan Daga (Pass through) 176,000 176,000 Landline: 022-28880712 Bhavishya Yaan Manish Reshamwala Birthday 1,245,651 1,245,651 E-Mail: [email protected] Scholarships & Loans Manojj Kumar Patodia Service Box 172,340 172,340 Management Studies Poonam Kumar NEW GENERATIONS: Youth Regd. No. MH/MR/South-109/ TOTAL 24,730,370 1,201,902 25,932,272 Director in charge Arjun Jolly 2012-14, R.N.I. No. 14015/60 Interact Meera Alreja Posted on Wednesday, June Rotaract Ravindra Fotedar Road Safety Deepak Kapadia 26, 2013; Published on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Printed, Published by Rtn. PP Arjun Bulchandani on behalf of Rotary Club of Bombay and printed at Nikeda Art Printers Pvt. Ltd., Unit No.H & I,Kanjur Industrial Estate, Quarry Road, Off L.B.S. Marg, Bhandup (West), Mumbai 400 078 and Published at 97/B, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. Editor Arjun Bulchandani June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 32