Vol. 57 No. 38 April 19 – April 25, 2016 Summiting Mt. Everest With Dr. Murad Lala limbing a mountain is different from other sports. The only opponents that you face are the demons in your mind. The only goals that you can score are the limits you set for yourself whether it be the top of the summit or anywhere else, in “Cbetween. There are no spectators to cheer you on and many a times it’s a lonely battle of you versus the elements and that is where your mental strength comes in,” explained Dr. Murad Lala, for whom summiting Mt. Everest had been a childhood dream. In a special Club address for RCB, aptly titled, ‘From Scalpel to Summit - My Tryst with Mount Everest’, Dr. Lala regaled everyone present with his story of the summit and by the end of it, had all of us in awe and inspired with his experiences that triggered and motivated this remarkable feat.

Currently sharing his expertise as a Cancer surgeon at ’s PD Hinduja National Hospital & Research Centre for the past fourteen years, Dr. Lala became the first Indian civilian doctor to summit Mount Everest on 19th May, 2013. He strongly believes in getting out of his comfort zone and pushing the envelope because limitations exist only in the human mind.

(Full Report on Pages 4 & 5)

Dr. Murad Lala Entralls All With His Tale of Summiting Mt. Everest

5th Annual Tennis INSIDE THIS ISSUE FORTHCOMING EVENTS Fellowship

The Sports Committee Pages 2 & 3: •• April 19, 2016 will hold its last event of The ECHO of Success Club Address by Environmentalist the year, The 5th Annual Bittu Sahgal Tennis Fellowship, on Page 4 & 5 Sunday, the 24th of April, Summiting Mt. Everest •• April 26, 2016 2016 at the Bombay Gym With Dr. Murad Lala RCB Awards Shri at 7:45am. Having achieved Pravin Chandra Gandhi Award great success in previous Page 6: for Excellence in Public Life Fellowships in Table Tennis, Slumber Kits for 500 Kids! Football, Golf and Cricket, •• April 24, 2016 RCB invites all members Page 7: 5th Annual Tennis Fellowship to come and cheer for Freeze Your Dates for the the Tennis Fellowship. Iceland Fellowship! •• September 30, 2016 9-Day Fellowship to Iceland

April 19 to April 25, 2016 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 1 The Echo of Success

provided daily. The main goal of ECHO is to provide equal opportunity to every child and an experience that they wouldn’t encounter in the normal course of their lives. A faulty education system is one of the primary causes of ’s economic problems. This is a step in the right direction, to correct this fundamental flaw. Lack of knowledge, awareness or support should no longer be an excuse to keep a child away from the right to a bright future.

As part of the programs, the popular ‘Gender Sensitisation’ session was conducted by Rtn. Nandan Maluste and R’anne Arnaz Soonawalla, and organized by R’anne Meher Poonawalla of the Women Judges Rtn. Preeti Mehta, Rtn. Hiren Kara and Bomi Framroze present Empowerment Committee. The ‘Health and Hygiene’ session was Bushra of Byculla with the Miss Echo prize organised by incoming President, Dr. Mukesh Batra and the session was roject Echo was initiated all students, regardless of where they conducted by Dr. Gaikar from Dr. with the aim of bridging the come from. Batra’s clinic. Rtn. Dr. Indu Shahani massive academic lacuna that generously sponsored the premise for exists between the public and The endeavor was to provide every all five days of the ECHO, of which 2 Pprivate education spheres in India. It child a safe and secure atmosphere, days were held at HR College and 3 enables both sides of the spectrum motivation and support and most days at the brand new beautiful ISME to understand each other as well as importantly, friends and values for a (Indian School of Management & introduce them to a whole new world. lifetime. Along with these essentials, Entrepreneurship) campus. The aim of ECHO is to provide equal three healthy meals and snacks were opportunity to all children so that they can initiate the needed change in our society. Under the passionate leadership of Rtn. Freyaz Shroff, Project ECHO, in its second year now, saw an even greater successful run this year, spread over five days, from the 3rd of April to its culmination into the grand finale on the 7th of April, 2016, at the KC College Auditorium, with active participation from a 106 students from Municipal Schools, 40 Rotaractors and 10 Echo alumni.

The event aims at making good the deficiency in Indian public schooling, by providing students exposure via training in areas that would help in their personality development and assist them in their onward journey into college. Echo paves the way to a brighter and more sensitised future for Participants with the Organising Committee

Page 2 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay April 19 to April 25, 2016 ECHO’s vision is to touch as many lives as possible and increase that count yearly. The goal is to eventually transform the Indian Education System as a whole via the Indian youth, so we can collectively transform India into the country we want it to become, the power it is destined to be! To further ECHO’s success, support is needed in the form of inspirational personalities who can motivate students to achieve more and constantly raise the bar.

Bringing together several Committees including Bhavishya Yaan, Night Study Centres, Women Empowerment and Rotaract, ECHO has had a unifying Rtn. Nandan Maluste and R’anne Rtn. Dr. Indu Shahani encourages effect in bringing together more Arnaz Soonawalla speak on the partcipants Gender Sensitisation The ECHO finale was attended by several Rotarians and Rotaryannes including President Rtn. Dr. Sonya Mehta. The judges included Rtn. Preeti Mehta, Rtn. Hiren Kara and our very own Bomi Framroze. Under the leadership of Rtr. Gotham Tikyani, President RCHR, and his ECHO 2016 team lead by Rtr. Keesha Keshkamat, 42 HR College Rotaractors served in various roles including school specific mentors, activities team, logistics committee.

The team of Echo 2016 would like to give a special mention and thanks to President Rtn. Dr. Sonya Mehta and Rotaractor and Mentor Harshi with participants during the Finale task Jt. Secretary Rtn. Framroze Mehta for giving ECHO 2016 the much needed which evaluated the participants’ critical thinking ability impetus!

Rotarians and their spouses! R’anne Rashna Cooper, President of the Inner Wheel Club of Bombay, who has served successfully as the Coordinator of the Worli BY program, has great faith in ECHO. She supported and encouraged the Rotaractors and participants from the inception. The generous donation made by The Inner Wheel Club of Bombay enabled providing breakfast, hot lunch and a snack to all participants for 3 days. Architect Hafeez Contractor and his wife Pearl Contractor, along with the ISME team, sponsored the meals on the remaining 2 days.

What you see in others exists in you. We see love!

April 19 to April 25, 2016 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 3 Summiting Mt. Everest With Dr. Murad Lala (Cont’d from Page 1)

urgical Oncologist, Dr. Murad Lala, has summited more than the mountainous field of medicine in life – he has Ssummited Mt. Everest itself! “I had no formal training in mountaineering prior to this crazy dream of mine. I approached the Himalayan Mountain Federation and told them I wanted to train to summit the peak. They told me I was too old, that I had to be younger than forty years of age to do the basic or advanced mountaineering course with them. I was fifty then! So I started scouting abroad and found this Canadian group called ‘Peak Freaks’ and they said if I wanted to climb with them, I must train with them. So I joined them in Nepal in 2012 and we summited three peaks together in the range of 20,000 feat. And it is while Dr. Murad regales all with a chilling account of conquering the snow- I climbed these peaks that I got to learn covered Everest peak everything about mountaineering. And if you are successful at this, then they invite 2012, in which he summited three 20,000 successfully summit it. It’s unlike climbing you to join them for the main summit. In feet peaks around Mount Everest. any other mountain where you simply order to prepare myself, I would train An extreme-sports enthusiast, he has start at the base and keep moving on up daily for an hour at a high-altitude gym also been the recipient of the Prime till you reach the top. It’s a very different in Juhu. Another part of my exercise was Minister’s Medal at NCC and the Duke of game with Mt. Everest – it’s a waiting that I climb up and down the 16 floors at Edinburgh’s Gold Medal. game. Many days there’s not much you work. I don’t use the lift.” can do except sit in your tent waiting for “So what’s the romance about summiting the blizzards to blow over so you can Towards realizing his childhood dream of Mt. Everest?” asked the extreme- continue your climb, comparatively safely summiting Mount Everest, he completed sports enthusiast, Dr. Murad Lala. “It again,” he explained as he went on to the “Triple Crown Expedition” in October, takes at least two months if you want to explain his awe-inspiring feat.

An alumnus of The Lawrence School, Lovedale, with a belief in getting out of his comfort zone and pushing the envelope, Dr. Lala is an avid fan of extreme sports include flying, skydiving, bungee- jumping, para-sailing, white water rafting and rally racing. He’s also secured a trophy in the Himalayan Car Rally and has been the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Gold Medal, representing India as part of the NCC India Contingent, in Singapore.

He continued, “There’s a very small summit window. Mt. Everest at 29000 feet, comes in the way of the jet streams – which are very strong winds that rage across the earth with speeds of over 200 Pres. Dr. Sonya Mehta presents Dr. Murad with a memento of kms per hour. There are only a few days appreciation in the year that these jet steams move

Page 4 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay April 19 to April 25, 2016 highest spiritual leader of Nepal to take his blessings. Before reaching the base camp, we arrived at Monument Hill and this is where our group leader sat us all down and told us, here on things get serious. All these stone piles that we see represent bodies of all those who died while attempting to summit Mt. Everest, so if you wish to turn back, this would be the time.”

“Everest base camp is just a glacier and it’s only during climbing season that it is inhabitable. It was a unique experience to sleep on a glacier. Our helpers are Rotarians enrapt in the exciting summit story the Sherpas and they guide us through the entire journey. Before you start the climb from base camp, a Tibetan monk, comes and does a special pooja seeking permission from Sagarmata, to step on to her, and only after this pooja are you allowed to start your climb. The first destination from base camp is called Camp One. Once you reach here, you return to base camp. The next destination is Camp Two, ahead of Camp One, where this time, you spend the night at Camp One and next morning, proceed to Camp Two and then return to base camp again. And that is the practice we follow upto Camp Four, until we reach the summit, in order to acclimatize ourselves.”

Taking us with him on his journey via Rotarians have questions for Dr. Lala! captivating visuals and live video footage, it was indeed a thrilling visual adventure upwards and northwards towards China emphasized. “Initially we crossed a lot of for us that afternoon, where Dr. Lala left and that’s when you need to make your forest area and waterfalls, but as we go one and all, awed and inspired with the summit push, reach your summit and get higher, it’s all just bare rock and ice. En strength of his will and his determination back down again, before the jet streams route a visit is made to the abode of the to summit the world’s tallest peak. reappear. It is risky. Accidents and deaths are a reality on the mountains.”

He took us through a very well made live documentary of him summiting Mt. Everest, introducing everyone to various terminologies, sharing exclusive footage of him and his team members climbing the mountain, all the way up to the summit and back. He provided details about how it takes a week just to reach the base camp from Lukla in Nepal, moving from 9000 feet to 17000 feet, on foot, making regular stops on the journey and taking it very slow in order to allow the body to acclimatize to the increasing drop in oxygen levels in the air at that height. “The dictum is that you will not ascend more than 1000 feet in a single day,” he Rtn. Mudit Jatia introduces Dr. Murad to the audience

April 19 to April 25, 2016 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 5 500 Children Receive Slumber Kits

n Tuesday, 12th April at 4:00pm, RCB distributed five hundred Slumber Kits at the YMCA, to help children in need, providing them with a number of essentials required by them on a daily basis, Oto bring in an element of ease in their lives. Under the keen watchfulness of PP Rajnikant Reshamwala and the support of PP Paul George, each of these Slumber Kits will provide children with seventeen items, including blankets, pillows with pillow cases, towels, writing boards, felt pens, pencils, geometry boxes, tiffin boxes, water bottles and a pair of casual clothing. These items will help the children sleep in greater comfort at night, as well as cater to their various needs during the day.

Contents of the Slumber Kit Children receiving the Slumber Kit

Of the five hundred children who benefitted from this year, for nearly twenty years now. Thanks to PP Paul distribution, half were students enrolled under the George for making the necessary premise arrangements Bhavishya Yaan Program and the other half represented at the YMCA, as also for providing a helpful staff who those under the Vocational and Night Study Center assisted in the packing and the distribution of these kits, Programs. The distribution of Slumber Kits is done every to enable the event.

Going Along For a Good Cause with ‘Mere Sang Chal Zara’ CB would like to inform members about ‘Mere Sang Chal Zara’, a musical and entertainment performance by a troop of blind musicians and specially-abled artists, presented by the Udaan Entertainment Group, on Thursday, 21st April, 2016 at 6:45pm, at the Nehru Auditorium (Worli). For booking tickets and other information, call 9870251275 Ror 9930191301

Page 6 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay April 19 to April 25, 2016 Attention to Freeze Your Dates for the Attendance Iceland Fellowship! nder the dynamic exclusions which are being worked Policy leadership of Rtn. Ashok out. Interested Rotarians and Jatia, RCB offers its spouses would need to send in otarians are requested member and their families their cheques for Rs. 25,000/- per to pay heed to the new Uan exciting, once-in-a-lifetime person (non-refundable) to the amendments made to the opportunity journey to Iceland! Rotary Club office before Friday, Attendance Policy, especially The broad details of the itinerary the 22nd of April 2016, as that is the Rfor members who are unable to keep including travel dates, duration and cut-off date to accept deposits, and up with a minimum requirement of their costs of the lodging and boarding the maximum limit of people in the necessary presence. The RCB Board and internal travel within Iceland group is 50. For all details please has approved on how to make-up the have already been circulated. These get in touch with Iceland Fellowship lacking attendance for meetings missed would be subject to minor changes Trip Coordinator, Rtn. Ashok Jatia at by members. Currently, a minimum of and some specified / unspecified [email protected] 25% attendance at your Club PLUS a half yearly average of 50% (including ‘Make Ups’) is the minimum attendance requirement. In addition to be able to ‘make up’ attendance, by attending other club meetings or e-meetings, now our members would also be able to ‘make up’ attendance by participating at each instance for minimum 60 minutes in any of the Club’s ongoing projects and within ten days from so participating, notify the Rotary Office by an email from the member’s email ID registered with the Rotary Office, with copies marked to the concerned Director (of the project) and concerned Chairpersons (of the Committees) of such participation. Also note that a maximum of ONE ‘make up’ meeting per month is permitted and the ‘making up’ has to be within a maximum period of two weeks (either before or after) the relevant Club meeting. Colors of Joy celebrated at The Holi Fellowship, hosted yearly by our gracious hosts, Rtn. Naresh Jain and family Feedback Please!

Your favourite bulletin, The Gateway, invites all Rotarians to be an active part of this weekly bulletin. We plan to start a column dedicated to profiling each one of you, where you could share your experiences as a Rotarian, in your own words! Adding a more personal touch to your exclusive bulletin, we are reaching out to Rotarians from different age groups, professions and preferences, with the aim if sharing aspects to your personality that are lesser known, but deserve to be shared! Let’s give your RCB comrades the opportunity to know you better! Mail us at [email protected].

April 19 to April 25, 2016 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 7 Published on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. Regd. No. MCS/091/2015-17; R.N.I No. 14015/60. WP P License No. MR/TECH/WPP-89/South 2015 ednesday April 20, 2016

ROTARY CLUB OFFICERS Wildlife Conservationist Birthday Greetings OFFICE-BEARERS 2015/16 PRESIDENT Dr. SONYA MEHTA Bittu Sahgal Speaks to RBC Immediate Past President Shailesh Haribhakti President-Elect Dr. Mukesh Batra President Nominee Ramesh Narayan Honorary Secretary Manish Reshamwala ndia’s leading Joint Hon. Secretary Framroze Mehta environmental Hon. Treasurer Meera Alreja DIRECTOR : DR. MUKESH BATRA activist and Rotary Foundation PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir writer, Bittu PP Nowroze Vazifdar ISahgal is the Mukesh Ambani Suresh Agarwal Membership PP Arun Sanghi PP Paul George founding editor 19th April 19th April Sergeant-at-Arms Rekha Tanna of Sanctuary Hoshang Nazir DIRECTOR : SAMIR CHINAI Asia, one of Environment Jagdish Malkani India’s leading Alok Sekhsaria Animal Welfare Priyasari Patodia wildlife and ecology magazine. A member Ramon Kripalaney of the National Board for Wildlife of the Asiatic Society Aditya Somani Rohan Dalal Ministry of Environment and Forests, DIRECTOR : DR. AASHISH CONTRACTOR he is also a leading crusader working Water Resources PP Sandip Agarwalla towards protecting India from the hazards Ravi Fotedar Atit Agarwal Vijay Dhawan Chairman Emeritus, Talwada PP Dr. Rahim Muljiani of climate change. Born on 12 October 20th April 20th April HTEC, Talwada PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir 1947 in Shimla, he graduated from Bishop ADMC, Talwada Dr. Sorab Javeri Cotton High School and grew up in DIRECTOR : DR. NAYNA DASTUR Women’s Empowerment Arin Master before settling down in Mumbai in 1970. Rajeev Narvekar An integral part of Project Tiger from its Scholarships Zinia Lawyer Abhinav Agarwal inception, Bittu Sahgal has been influenced Assimilation Manoj Patodia by Dr. Salim Ali the famous ‘Birdman of Mahesh Khubchandani India’ and Fateh Singh Rathore, Field DIRECTOR : RITU PRAKASH DESAI Director, Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, to Bhavishya - Yaan Rajesh Shah Vinod Juneja Ravikant Ruia Madhusudan Daga propagate Project Tiger in India. In Camera Ashok Kumar 20th April 22nd April Vandana Kanoria Attendance Arvind Agarwal He founded ‘Sanctuary Asia’ in 1981 DIRECTOR : SHIV DEV GOROWARA upon Fateh Singh Rathore’s suggestion Cancer Aid Sameer Tapia Farokh Balsara of starting a wildlife magazine so the Senior Citizens PP Ashish Vaid urban population could learn to appreciate Akshayapatra PP Dr. Zerxis Umrigar wildlife and be lesser destructive. He also PP Harry Singh Arora DIRECTOR : PREETI MEHTA founded Cub Magazine, currently edited Interact Natasha Treasurywala by his daughter, Tara Sahgal. In addition Bipin Vazirani Ashwin Ramesh Dr. Ameet Pispati Rotaract Satyan Irani to authoring numerous books, and writing Sherbanu Baldiwala for English and regional newspapers and 23rd April 25th April Legal Aid Hormazdiyaar Vakil magazines, he has produced over 30 DIRECTOR : JAIDEV MERCHANT conservation-related documentaries. Programme Manish Kejriwal Ravi Sheth Fund - Raising Pradeep Chinai Sports and Yoga Hiranmay Biswas Jamshyd Vazifdar Meeting Stats: Sitaram Shah DIRECTOR : FREYAZ SHROFF Members: 125 Vocational Training Bimal Mehta Guests: 2 Shernaz Vakil Rotaractors: 2 Partha Rakshit Bulletin Pratap Padode 25th April Murad Currawalla Total: 129 Fellowship Jai Advani Khurshed Poonawala Rotaryanne ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAY FOUNDED 19 MARCH, Pervin Jehangir – 20th April WPP License No. MR/TECH/WPP-89/South 2015 1929 Charter No. 3128, Dated 08 May, 1929 97-B, Rita Sagar – 20th April License to post without prepayment. MittalTower, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021, INDIA Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Tel.:+91-22-2202 4089 Fax.: +91-22-2202 4509 Bijal Kara – 22nd April Office, Mumbai 400001. Posted on Wednesday October 28, 2015 [email protected] Preeti Tankha – 23rd April

Editorial Consultant: Anahita Subedar Printed, Published by President Rtn. Dr. Sonya Mehta on behalf of Rotary Club of Bombay and printed at Indigo Press, Plot No. E-Mail: [email protected] 1C/716, Off Dadoji Konddeo Cross Road, Between Sussex and Retiwala Ind. Estate, Byculla (E), Mumbai 400027. Ph: 23705200 / M: +91 9892007893 01/ 02 / 03. [email protected]. Editor Arjun Bulchandani.

Page 8 The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay April 19 to April 25, 2016