Feb 2012 - The Golden Orange

FEBRUARY 2012 T A RY

IN

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RN A TIO N

Reach Within to Embrace Humanity

HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP WALKATHON SENIOR CITIZEN TAKE ROTARY HOME

A PICTORIAL WALKATHON THROUGH HEMALKASA

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This man loves his daughter

So Sweet!!!

Parheez ready to take off!

For peace at the home front….

Walkathon is not yet over & promotion of Udaan is on

The ladies after a lot of hard work

Chirag gymming at home

KV reads the fine print

Clarity exists behind the haze

Enroute

The Chairman and the Lord face off!!!

Prakashbahu and Mandatai at the Langar

G O O D HEALT H BEGINS WIT H DINSH AW’S

ICE CRE A M M ILK B UTTER M ILK L A SSI BI O D A H I M IS HTI D A H I K A D H I D A H I P A N EER B UTTER G H EE

Tauby's Take....

My Dear Rotarians, The opportunity every month to write a message to club members and their families is a wonderful tradition.This gives me the opportunity to communicate with every one of you directly, for I sincerely believe that.... The Future of Rotary is in your hands. In Rotary everything we are and everything we aspire to become lies in your hands, in your spirit. If our club is congenial, our meetings well run, if we as members speak in one voice, if our service is carefully planned and competently carried out, if our members are qualified, honest and respected , sincere and true, then our club will thrive. The love of our club must bind us together and this love must be more powerful than anything that could dent our club for petty electoral gains or positions.

The Walkathon now in its 8 year in succession is gaining more momentum and has found a place in the city calendar. This year with more than 3500 registrations, its popularity is proved. January was Rotary Awareness month. The Walkathon is our clubs biggest public relations exercise and a novel addition to this year's Walkathon was a photo gallery showcasing our clubs projects at the venue. It was an opportunity to enhance our public image and spread awareness.

Our annual pilgrimage to Hemalkasa was meticulously planned and superbly executed. It is truly a project which is close to each Rotarian who participates. The statistics in numbers of patients and surgeries performed are mind boggling, but the satisfaction and fulfilment of serving is immeasurable. A big thank you to all the Doctors, medical teams, volunteers and members who put in a lot of hard work which goes into making such a big exercise so seamless and well conducted.

Two recent instances exemplifying the power of the Rotary movement touched me and I wish to share it here. The Hemalkasa team of a few Rotarians was shopping for fruits at the Cotton Market. The unknown vendor generally enquired the purpose for such large purchases and was told that the fruits were for taking along to Hemelkasa and of the work done by Rotary there. This unknown fruit vendor refused to take payment. He said he knew of the Rotary Club of Nagpur and the selfless service it rendered. He too wished to contribute in a small way .

The second instance underlines the spirit of our club. The Walkathon team was required to pack 3000 snack boxes an evening before the event. The exercise was tougher than presumed. Just a few calls saw an army of Rotarians, spouses, children, drivers and personal staff of members take up the packing job. What looked difficult and near impossible was accomplished in a few hours. What seemed a chore became a happy and enjoyable get together. This reinforces my belief in the power of our clubs strength... our members.

Make dreams real, look within to serve humanity and my mantra would be “ You may be just one person in the world, but you may be the world to someone.”

Yours in Rotary, Rtn Tauby Bhagwagar

Straight from the heart....

Aspirations………..

Visiting Hemalkasa year after year is an eye opener. Every year! Every time! The forests are dense and beautiful. The landscape is seemingly no different from any other.

Everything is the same, except life itself!!

All of us are busy pursuing our aspirations. These aspirations may differ from person to person in their dimensions, but the fundamentals remain the same. Excelling in our profession, furthering our business, making our lives and that of our children financially secure, planning the best education for the children or grand children, etc. And then there are some urgent issues as well – a bigger house, a fancier car, a new wardrobe, the next vacation, the latest mobile…..the list is endless.

In Hemalkasa, you are suddenly transported to another world. The aspirations of those out there are so much more complicated compared to ours, thanks to its singularity. Which is, making sure that they manage to have themselves operated and therefore lead a lesser painful life or in some cases live to see another day. Clothes are just meant to keep the cold away. The finest vehicle for them is the sight of the bus carrying doctors and Rotarians make its entry into the Prakalp. Their getting on their feet to signal the entry of the bus is the finest standing ovation one can receive in a lifetime.

In all this dense fog is a piercing ray of sunlight. So many Rotarians, keeping their aspirations on wait and volunteering to serve in the simplest of conditions. The brighter ray is the doctors who dedicate themselves completely …….all for the worthiest cause. The doctors are worthy of bigger praise because in their absence, their hospitals, clinics and OPD's come to a complete standstill. Something very few of us realize.

A big round of applause to the non medical team and a standing ovation to the medicos!!!!

Aspirations take you forward………….

Shabbir Shakir shabbir.shakir66@yahoo.in

Keep in touch......

We invite expert comments, suggestions, criticism and commendations. This will help us know the pulse of readers and improve the publication. Please write in to shabbir.shakir66@yahoo.in

COVER up....

Barefoot, he uses footwear for a more serious purpose These citizens are truly special!!!!

The turnout at the Walkathon……

3500 plus Father walks….. daughter beats the drum

CREDITS Director Khushnoor Chugh

Processing Eskay’s Scanner

Chairperson Nimish Sutaria

Designing Gurushree Graphics

Advisor Madhavi Naidu

Printing Shabbir Shakir

Editor Shabbir Shakir

Paper Courtesy BILT

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MAIL BASTION - Letters To The Editor

ETTER BEST L FOR E IZ PR ISSUE EVERY

Editor Golden Orange Our Club 'came alive' at the Closed Meeting of 12 January when the Board sought ratification for mandate to vote for a candidate for the ofice of DGN at the district conference! To many of us it was a choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Normally Closed Meetings are like meetings of Ripon's Club in Bombay where old Bawajis have their dhansak and have discussions on inconsequential events.

But at our above mentioned meeting, several members gave animated opinions streching the meeting to beyond our Club's always puctual ending time. That's why our Club 'came alive!'

Bobby Srinivas Breaking News!!!! John Germ just announced that Rotary International has met and exceeded the $200 million polio challenge AND a representative of the Gates Foundation just announced an additional grant of $50 million to Rotary to help in completing our work in eradicating Polio! This is REALLY GREAT NEWS!!!!

Future Rotary International Conventions: 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand - May 6-9 2013 - Lisbon, Portugal - June 23-26 2014 - Sydney, Australia - June 1-4 2015 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - June 5-8 2016 - Seoul, South Korea - May 29 to June 1 2017 - Atlanta, USA - June 10-14 2018 - Toronto, Canada 2019 - Durban, South Africa - May 7-10

BEST R LETTE

Dear Rtn Taubyji, It was indeed a great pleasure to receive your colourful Club bulletin “THE GOLDEN ORANGE ” of January 2012 thro' courier for which I am indeed grateful to you I found your above bulletin very interesting and informative with your inspirational message, excellent editorial, report of Club Assembly, excellent editorial, Hemalkasa Notes, Projects visits by DG, Blood Donation Camps, Tamia Aarogya Mahotsava, Medical Camp, Project Roshini, glimpses of Past President Felicitation, report & glimpse of Charter Celebration, profile of Treasurer Mahendra Kamath, article The Swish Swiss ! by Amita Behal, Rotary Run by Vijay Naidu, Nagpur Know by Dilnavaz Bhagwagar, Hemalkasa Surgical Camp by Anita Chitaley, Address on 'Psychology of Money' by Mr. Ranjit Dani, Freedomain' by Aunt Sangeetha, Bobby's Bubbles, Rotary Rattle by Rtn Manju Shahani, Just laugh, humour, Quiz & club activities etc… with beautiful photographs excellently compiled and edited by your editor Rtn Shabbir Shakir for which my compliments to him for an excellent job !

Congratulating once again for your excellent bulletin & looking forward to receiving similar issues (including missing No.1 & 6) per return & with my best wishes for your successful rewarding year (11-12) to fulfill RI Theme “REACH WITHIN TO EMBRACE HUMANITY” & with warm personal regards to you & Mr.Naushadji & Rotary greetings to all your members from myself and Indumati, we rmain, Your Friends, (JAGMOHAN KATAKIA) Rtn Shabbir Shakir, Editor Congratulations for your excellent bulletin !

ELOCUTION COMPETITION ON ROTARY'S ROLE IN POLIO ERADICATION A District level elocution competition was held on Jan 4th at hotel Darshan Towers on the topic 'Rotary's role in polio eradication.' The chosen topic not only makes our young generation aware of the disease; but also lets them know the various ways Rotary has put in their efforts to eradicate polio.

More than 50 students from different schools participated in this competition including schools from Amravati and Akola. The participants of the District Competition were selected from intra school competitions held by Interact clubs at various schools all over the district.

The winner was Ms Anushree Soni from Centre Point School, Katol Road, Nagpur. This school is associated with our club. All winners of District competition will participate at regional level after which the four winners will participate at the national competition. The National Competition will be held in New Delhi where eminent people will judge the elocution skills of the finalists.

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-Madhu Mrig

BUSINESS MEETING

District Trophies - Manish Bhati for TT and Manish Bhati-Jatin Sampat for Badminton

President Tauby called the Meeting to order, welcomed members and extended birthday and anniversary greetings. Hon. Secretary

Dinesh read out minutes of the last Business Meeting followed by the Secretary's and Treasurer's announcements.

LADIES COMMITTEE

BEAUTY TIPS Anything, related to Beauty, is always attractive to a Woman. Call it Vanity if you feel.

I personally feel, its an awareness to want to know more about what is good for the body, externally as well as internally. Beauty is not only skin deep. To be truly beautiful, one has to be healthy as well.

Manish Bhati was recognized for having won the singles Table Tennis tournament at the District level. Jatin Sampat and Manish Bhati won the Badminton doubles at the same tournament. The Best Chairperson Award was given to Behram Patel, Anita Chitaley & Monica Bhagwagar for Fellowship and Madan Pande for Attendance Committee.

On the issue of elections for DG for the year 2014-15, there could not be a consensus and therefore the decision postponed to a later date.

The Meeting was adjourned after the National Anthem -GO Team

Ayurveda has a treasure chest of herbs and plants (many of them easily available) to keep us both healthy and beautiful. To reveal these treasures, we had Dr. Bharti Gidwani at the Ladies Meet on Jan.12th. Tulsi, Manjishtha, Jeshtamadh, Ashoka, Neem ...all so common, yet so valuable. Dr. Bharti, elaborately

Relax. Renew and Rejuvenate yourself......is her Mantra.

-Manju Shahani

CLIMB YOUR OWN EVEREST‌..THROUGH CREATIVE LEADERSHIP & PASSION

REGULAR MEETINGS

Capt. M. S. Kohli India's Padma Bhushan & Arjuna Award Winner & most honoured mountaineer & legendary Himalayan leader visited our club on Thursday Jan 19, 2012 & spoke zealously about his various adventures in the Himalayan ranges to conquer the highest peaks‌ Nanda Kot & Annapurna III in the early sixties & leading Teams of Mountaineers from India & US on several Everest Expeditions. The accolades received by him from Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi & his addressing both the Houses of Indian Parliament. His career in the Indian Navy, Indo-Tibetian Border Force, Director-Air India spanning over 42 years & President of Indian Mountaineering Foundation & setting up of the Himalayan Trekking Foundation pioneering Mountaineering in India, White Water Rafting, Aero Sports, Tourist Charters to Goa, Tourism in Lakshadweep & Andaman Islands while Authoring more than 28 Books. He mentioned his visits to various Rotary Clubs in India, Australia & Singapore & praised the Community Welfare Projects being undertaken by our Club.

explained their importance in our life.

With an interesting quiz as part of her talk, she made the evening enjoyable as well as informative.

His Mantras to Achieve the peaks in one's life / read the Hemalkasa Project Report, Hon. career were extremely well said & kept simple Secretary Rtn. Dinesh Naidu made the for all to understand a) Physical Strength by Secretary & Treasurer's announcements, Rtn. regular exercises particularly in the mornings Dipesh Ajmera read Rotary Information, Other b) Mental strength to endure c) Power of the Announcements were made by Shailaja Faith by surrendering oneself TIGERSto prayers, BEYONDPingle BOUNDARIES.....

- Project Nutrition, Parag Paranjape irrespective of which faith. He delved into Blood Donation, Anita Jain - Senior Citizen details by using an elemenary formula. X = Project, Vikram Naidu-next weeks Intelligence, Y = Deligence & Z = Force of Character ie X + Y + Z = Achieving the Heights Programme, Alok Goenka proposed the formal vote of thanks. in any Profession.

-Vikram W. Naidu Dr. Shaunak Mokadam and Mohan Anand

PDG Bobby and Prema being wished on their wedding Anniversary

Capt M S Kohli

5 ELE CTRIC AL A C C ESS O RIES VIDE O D O O R PH O N ES, REM O TE SWITC H ES LI G HTI N G S O LUTI O N S RA H UL - m o b # 9 8 9 0 2 5 7 5 6 5

REGULAR MEETINGS CALM AFTER THE STORM An interesting meeting was held on 26th January, our Republic Day. Surprisingly well attended considering it was a holiday and the Wedding season was at its peak. After the customary announcements and greetings President Tauby informed the House that following the events of the last Business Meeting, the Board met and re-affirmed its earlier decision on the DG election, which was unanimously ratified by the house. Members congratulated and complimented the Board for its astute leadership and courage to stand by its decision.

Neeta Singh thereafter put together a panel discussion and moderated on a subject always topical and close to every Nagpurian's heart. The Food and eating out scenario of the city. The panelists were Mehernosh Rana, Rajeev Behal, Sarang Kale, Naushad Bhagwagar and Poonam Dhanwate. Saoji food, Nagpu'rs very own culinary offering was keenly debated. Sarang spoke of its acceptability and popularity. Rajeev & Poonam hoped that traditional Saoji restaurants paid more attention to hygiene and ambience so that families could also frequent such joints. Sarang lamented that he

TIGERS BEYOND BOUNDARIES.....

PANEL DISCUSSION

Panelists Poonam Dhanwatey, Naushad, Sarang, Rajiv and Mehernosh. Moderator Neeta

tried offering innovative and exotic dishes on his menu, but the response was so poor it had to be pulled off. When asked about variety and the lack of fine dining restaurants in the city all panelists agreed that Nagpur was yet to make a mark on this point. Naushad with his experience in the food business opined that maybe the city is yet to mature as a market in this area and to sustain a truly international menu would take more time. Rajeev felt the city restaurants were not consistent, often confused on the ambiance and so could not sustain on the long run. When asked if traditional Indian foods and snacks like the samosas, dodas, pakodas would loose favour over fast food like pizzas, burgers etc Mehernosh felt that this was not possible as

INTERACT INSTALLATION

the taste and satisfaction of steaming hot and freshly prepared Indian food was hard to beat.

In fact he said our traditional food should be better marketed across the world. Poonam also felt local food should be tried as it was authentic and surprisingly tasty. The general consensus was that while Nagpur had its favourite and established restaurants, cafés, sweets, ice-creams which were very good, more choices in eating out was required.

Hygiene, consistency in food quality and servings, variety, ambience, value and a familiar friendly staff was what people look out for while eating out. Nita made sure the discussion was well channeled and was enjoyable.

-Team GO

AT SHREYAS CONVENT

Another addition to the Interact Club - A new Interact team was installed at Shreyas Convent on the 4th of January. After the floral welcome and lighting of the traditional lamp, the school prayer was recited. President Tauby Bhagwagar installed the new and enthusiastic team comprising of President Ms Hempushpa Dwivedi and Secretary Ms Priyanka Sharma.

The acceptance speech of the new Interact President was full of new ideas. In her motivational speech, Tauby congratulated the first interact team of the school and told them the importance of community service. A formal vote of thanks was proposed by Interact Secretary Priyanka Sharma.

Those present included President Tauby Bhagwagar, Director Sonia Khurana, Advisor Renu Thapar, Jumana Shakir and Shalini Naidu.

-Madhu Mrig

NUTRITION PROJECT The Nutrition & Childcare Committee organised a project on Dental Health for students of class I to IV studying in Usha Devi Bhatt primary school on 25th January, 2012.

Our fellow Rotarian Dr. Anil Chaudhari

TALK ON DENTAL CARE explained the mechanics of Dental care, importance and method of brushing teeth in an eloquent and interesting manner. Children numbering about 100 got benefitted from the talk and slide show. All the students were

given a Tooth Paste. President Tauby, Shahrukh Cassad, Pinky Batra, Manish Bhatti and Chairpersons Ritika Singhvi, Anagha Jaiswal and Romesh Batra were present.

-Romesh Batra

6 Dr Anil Chaudhary showers wisdom on dental care………….

…………..the children soak in

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GANDHE COMMERCE CLASSES 18 JAN

BLOOD DONATION CAMPS Our club partnered with Gandhe Commerce Classes for the first time and a blood donation camp was organised for the students. Mr Gandhe, the person behind the classes, teachers Mr Deshpande and Mr Aniket Deodhar motivated students for this cause. Administrator Mr Anil Deshmukh made excellent arrangements at the venue. In all total 59 units were collected.

Dr Ravi Wankhede and Chairperson Parag Paranjpe were present during the camp.

-Parag Paranjpe

26TH JANUARY AT GATHERING OF POWAR SAMAJ AT ANUSAYA SABHAGRUH, JAITALA Blood Donation camp took place on 26th January at gathering of Powar Samaj at Anusaya Sabhagruh, Jaitala. A total of 25 people donated blood. People ST

ISMR 21 JAN A blood donation camp was organised by our own Rotarians Nitin Deveshwar at his organization Institute of Industrial Security Management and Research (ISMR) situated at Butibori. The camp began at 9 AM and total 27 units of blood were collected.

Director Dr Sheela Mundhada was present during the camp.

-Parag Paranjpe

of PowarSamaj gather from all over Vidarbha to celebrate Republic day. Mr Prafulla Tembrey, the main anchor person for the event congratulated the donors for helping to save lives of people. Rtn Dr. Sheela Mundhada was present during the occassion.

-Dr. Sheela Mundhada

VIDARBHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 23RD JAN Vidarbha institute of Technology at Umred Rd. had its blood donation on the first day of three day long annual function which started on 23rd of January at 11am. Vice chancellor of Nagpur University Dr. Sapkal a very learned person congratulated the college chairman, directors, staff and students for participating in the social welfare activities. Mr. Jitesh Maheshwari, Chairman, Ms Pooja Maheshwari, Secretary, Mr. Tapadia, Dr. Nagarju., Dr. Pande were all present during the occasion. President Tauby Bhagwagar, Dr. Ravi Wankhede, Chairperson Shalini Gupta and Director Dr Sheela Mundhada appreciated the participants for their noble work. 50 units were collected during the camp -Parag Paranjpe

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HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP

MEDICAL REPORT

prevent any mishaps.

The radiological team headed by Dr. Aarti Anand and ably assisted

by Dr. Manish Pithwa, Dr. Sachin Kumbhar and Dr. Ajit Karambelkar screened nearly 25 patients for Ultrasound and performed IVP too; specimen collection for Histopathology was done by Dr. Anne Wilkinson and Dr. Ruchi Bansal. Nearly 30 blood units were transfused Chairpersons: Dr Jerestin Watchmaker, Dr Shaunak Mokadam, Dr Dipak Deshmukh The 350 km long journey to our annual pilgrimage at Bhamragarh started after pooja and flag off by Mr. Shenoy of Mahindra & Mahindra ltd. from our President Tauby's residence on 5th January 2012. A team of nearly 55 Rotarian and non Rotarian doctors and dentists from S.V.M.M along with Residents & 10 Rotaractors from IGGMC were part of the medical team. They were ably assisted by 10 trained nursing staff from Care Hospital, Getwell Hospital, Suretech Hospital & Anjani Eye Hospital.

On reaching our destination Dr. Surajit Hazra got busy scheduling the surgeries for the next day, Dr. Aarti Anand screened patients that needed radiological investigations and the Anaesthetists' set up their apparatus in the O.T for the next day.

Our mini brigade of 13 surgeons, including urosurgeon, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon, 11 anaesthesiologists, 5 gynaecologists, 6 Ophthalmologists, 10 Dental Surgeons, 4 radiologists and 4 pathologists started on their respective duties and were kept busy on their toes till late evening of 7th January. Each one contributing to their best ability, till they were exhausted but satisfied‌‌..yet unhappy to turn down few enlisted patients. The Anaesthetist team headed by Dr. Bhau Rajurkar adminstered Epidural Anaesthesia which hastened the turn over and he was omnipresent in the O.T to

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at the camp and the services provided by Jeevan Jyoti Blood bank Technician is appreciated. Dr. Sheela Mundhada played a vital role in instructing IGGMC Rotaractors about post operative care and took the responsibility of overseeing this crucial aspect.,. .all the post operative patients have been discharged in healthy condition. The registration table was attended by Dr. Anne Wilkinson, Dr. Aarti Anand, Vijay Naidu,

Reema Sial and Dr. Jerestin Watchmaker.

List of Surgical procedures done: 1) Hernioplasty 38 2) Congenital hernia corrections 15 3) Appendicectomy 7 4) Thyroid goiter / lobectomy 8 5) Kidney/ureteric/vesicular/ gall bladder stone removals 8 6) Total Abdominal Hysterectomies 16 7) Plastic Burn contracture repairs 6 8) Orthopedic cases: a.TA lengthening and release 1 b.Ganglion excision 1

Pictures on page no.12,13

9) Mastectomy 5 10)Minor surgeries including cyst removal, Fibroadenomas, vasovasotomy, epigastric, and mesentric hernia corrections 11 11) Ophthalmology cases a.Cataract with IOL implantation 120 b.Pterygium Excisions 2 12)Dental Procedures 57 57 dental procedures as enlisted below were performed by the dental team headed by Dr. Anil Chaudhary. Cleaning (14); Root canal opening (8); Temporary filling (2); Extractions (11); Minor surgeries which include disimpaction (3) and biopsies (2) and special cases of AV malformation correction (1) and

16 cases of CA were screened.

Purchasing, collection and packing of medical stock was done by Dr. Jerestin Watchmaker and Dr. Shaunak Mokadam at Anjani Eye Hospital.

A generous donation of Disposable gowns, masks , was received from M/S PSI Amravati through efforts of Rtn Atul Shah.

The camp was supported by a major grant from ESOPS, Mahindra & Mahindra; and other philanthropists, and of course the members of Rotary Club of Nagpur.

-Dr. Inderjeet Mulik

Pictures on page no.12,13

NON-MEDICAL REPORT

COMMUNITY LIVING & COMMUNITY SERVICE – THE HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP-2012.

The much awaited flagship service project of our club, Hemalkasa Surgical Camp was held from 5 th to 8 th of January, 2012. As is customary, we all assembled at President Tauby's house on 5 th at 7.30 am and after a sumptuous South Indian breakfast, the traditional puja of buses was performed at the hands of Mr. Shenoy, Vice-President of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. ,the chief sponsors of our project , after which the two buses carrying nearly 85 people were flagged off amidst much cheering.

The enthusiasm with which this annual pilgrimage is undertaken was evident ,and though the unseasonable high temperatures, made the journey long, hot and tiring, everyone seemed to be in high gig and there was free flow of masti ,maja and music and it was made very enjoyable by the Rotractors in the bus with the 'antakshri'. Enroute, we had brief stops at Sudhir Bhiwapurkar's farm at Bhiwapur for hot 'aloo poha n chai', then for lunch at Shabbir Vali's farm house at Gadchiroli and after a brief halt at Allapali for tea, we reached Hemalkasa at 6 pm.

The medical and non-medical teams immediately got busy with their arrangements for the next two days. At the strike of the gong at 8 everyone was in the Prakalp dining hall to enjoy the lovely satvik Maharashtrian dinner.

On the 6 th morning, in giant vessels tasty langar of rice with mixed vegetable curry was prepared to feed around 350 patients and their wards. Distribution was commenced at the hands of Shri Prakash & Mandatai Amte.

Rt'ann. Sadhana Paliwal and her dedicated team conducted the vocational training activities like drawing & Rangoli competition, mala making etc., at the Ashram shala, involving children from std. I to std. XII. Training in General Repairs & Maintenance of Sewing Machines was give to a group of five ladies of the prakalp and some machines were also repaired & overhauled.

Rt'ann. Renu Thapar, Rt'ann. Nilufer Rana and Rotarian Sonia Khurana meanwhile had

HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP

set up the OT side room of refreshments for the doctors, where they were dishing out mouth watering sandwiches and other goodies to feed these stars of our show.

After a long days work was over , there was a brief fellowship at the PWD guest house and bonfire at night after dinner. The so called “Khojagiri get-together” where along with hot glasses of masala dudh, singing talent of our club was on display. Rtns. Dr. Rafat Khan & Vijay Naidu stole the show with their rendition of Mohd. Rafi songs , Rt'ann. Sunanda Sule sang a soulful Marathi number and our irrepressible President Tauby was the life and soul of the evening.

The weather continued to play spoilt sport with the temperature refusing to go below 28 deg,. but the spirit and dedication of each one of the 35 Non-medicos, also refusing to go under, the next day again started with langar for the patients & their wards .

A mini-Sports event was organised with 26 events and prizes were awarded to 3 students for each event.The prize distribution was held at the hands of Mrs and Mr Shinoy of Mahindra and Mahindra, Mandatai and Aniket Amte.

School uniforms and food packets were also distributed for the entire 660 students of the Prakalp school at their hands. The Project Roshni committee donated 50 solar lights to villagers having no electricity. The function concluded with Mr Shenoy's heart-warming and emotional speech to the students of the Ashram Shala.

On the last night, fellowship and dinner was held at the DFO guest house where everyone was seen to relax and unwind after two days of hectic activity with a sense of contentment at having participated in this worthwhile project and truly lived upto the Rotary theme of reaching within to embrace humanity.

On 8th morning after breakfast and animal show by Dr Prakash Amte , Validictory function was held where Dr Prakash Amte and Dr Anagha Amte were honoured with shawl and Shrifal by President Tauby. The return journey was uneventful and with a short break at Gadchiroli for lunch before we reached Nagpur at 6 pm.

FOUNTAIN SIZZLERS

A lot of effort has been put into organising a camp of this magnitude. I appreciate and acknowledge with thanks the whole hearted participation & generous contribution of all those who so willingly came forward & helped on the Non-Medical side.

There are a great number of Rotarians and Anns whom I am thankful to, for their whole hearted support without which it would not have been possible to complete this project successfully.

I may particularly mention here that all the 37 Non-medicos who attended the camp participated in some activity or the other. And it was this team work which helped in carrying out so many activities effortlessly.

For Donation & Sponsors, I particularly thank: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Rs:7.00 lacs.

Cash Donation Rs:25,000/= -Shabbir Vali.

750 kgs. Rice -Mr. Amir Vali.

Cash Donation Rs.10800/= -Ashish Mehadia.

Cash Donation Rs.6,500/= - Mr. Vivek Daga.

Soft drinks – Sumit Haldar.

Beer – Alok Goenka.

For Breakfast at Bhiwapur-PP Sudhir Bhiwapurkar.

Genset on loan - PP Akhtar Parvez.

Ice-cream, milk & LCV for transportation -PP Aspi Bapuna.

Fruits -Unknown fruitwala.

Butter - Sunil Thapar.

Bread loafs -Pres. Tauby Bhagwagar.

Shawls -Ashish Mehadia.

I thank Pres. Tauby for constantly being after me, confirming and re-confirming each item, each arrangement & coordination for the project.

My sincere thanks to my co-chairperson Kapil Sutaria, who always stood by me from planning to execution.

Finally I thanks my critics, my better half Arti and Shabbir Shakir without whom it would not have been possible for me to sail through this project so effortlessly.

- Mohan Anand

METLOK PVT. LTD. 9

WALKATHON

“WALK FOR HEART”

"The objective is to create awareness on heart diseases, risk factors and its prevention.

Around the globe, heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death and cardiovascular Diseases are the largest killers” - Dr Jaspal Arneja The theme for this year's walkathon was 'Walk for Heart', with participants, especially the

Pictures on centre spread

young Cadets of NCC took part in the event. The early Sunday air blew with chilling effect but that did not deter Nagpurians from participating, with more than 3500 participants of all ages from 6 to 80 participated in large numbers in the event which promoted good health and healthy society.

Vice President of Mahindra and Mahindra, Mr.

The Walk…………

young, encouraged to make walking a daily routine to prevent heart diseases.

The WALKATHON was held on Sunday the 22 n d January 2012. To attract more participation, a bigger and longer publicity campaign was planned. The project was publicised through hoardings in the city and through informative posters in corporate companies. A bigger and longer publicity campaign meant bigger commitments from the sponsor. Arneja Heart Institute agreed to join the project as lead sponsor.

Hoardings were placed at various locations in Nagpur from the first week of November. This ensured a visibility of the project for more then 75 days. Informative posters on benefits of WALK were made and distributed at various locations in MIDC / Software technology parks / banks/ WCL /NEERI/ESIC/Railways. More than 50 Rotractors helped in promoting the event in colleges and through road shows.

Registration booths were made and placed in eleven walking areas. The project was also promoted through advertisements in newspapers, Radio mirchi 98.3 FM was made official Radio partner.

This year's edition of walkathon for the first time saw participation from corporate companies. Employees of Smart Data Card, Persistent systems, Infocepts, NEERI, Bajaj alliance, Devki investments, Hotel Radisson BLU took part in the event. For the first time

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K.G Shenoy, Dr Jaspal Arneja, Ashish Deshmukh and President Tauby Bhagwagar flagged off the 9 Km walk, 6 Km walk, Special citizen walk and 3Km respectively.

Refreshments were distributed to all participants. Prizes were given to winners and runners in all categories.

Like every year the special attraction for the walkathon was the 500 meters walk by physically challenged children. There were 150 kids from Jivodaya Special School, Matru Sewa Sangh, Deaf and Dumb School, Anganwadi, Koradi road and May Flower school participating with exuberance. "These special citizens enjoyed every moment of the 500m walk.

The runaway success of the walkathon was in great measure due to the effort and attention to detail put in by the core team who worked on

the project for over a period of one month.

It would be terribly amiss of me not to express my thanks and appreciation to all those who planned and worked for last fifteen days to make this event the success that it was. These were President Tauby Bhagwagar, Director Shabbar Shakir, Secretary Dinesh Naidu, Past President Shabbir Shakir, Rotaract Committee Chairperson Jatin Sampat and one person who was the back bone of this project. Someone who was right there with me from conceptualization to final execution of the project, who would do all the work but let me take all the credit, Parag Paranjape.

One of most critical task of project is carefully bringing specially able children to the venue and taking them back and this was wonderfully managed by the team of Vivek Gupta, Tushar singhvi and Sapna Vastani. Media involvement by Vinita Chaturvedi. Venue prepration by Behram Patel and Reema Sial, marshals and judging procedures by Sunil Bhatia and Smita Bhargava. Snack distribution by Nimish Sutaria and water logistics by Kevinder Talwar. Announcements at joggers park and Race area by Rajiv Behal, PP Shiraz Gimi & PP Dr Sanjiv Chugh respectively. Add to this the many members and their spouses and children who worked as volunteers in packing the refreshment boxes and marshals on the last day and the numbers are too many to acknowledge individually.

The project was supported wholeheartedly by Pepsi , ITC , Cadbury , Vicco laboratories, Hello Nimbu Paani, Hero Motor Corporation, Gold Gym and our media partner TIMES OF INDIA. A special word of thanks to the lead sponsors Arneja Heart Institute and to Devki investments who backed an unknown and untried event without batting an eyelid.

-Manish Bhati

The Venue…………

AT ST. URSULA

Sandeep Dhodapkar……..

150 children of St.Ursula Girls' High School had more to cheer about on Monday, 23rd January, 2012 besides celebrating the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It was the day when they met their sponsors from Rotary Club of Nagpur. The sponsors had a one on one interaction with the child they had sponsored and one could see the keenness with which both the sponsor and the

……..Rajiv Behal……….

student exchanged information both about the child's studies as well as other general details.

It was also encouraging to see the sponsors going beyond enquiring about the child's academic welfare and also offering to assist in additional areas such as extra coaching, medical assistance etc.

At the outset, the Rotarians were accorded a formal welcome by the teachers and students.

SCHOLARSHIPS

…….and the others

Rtn Rajiv Behal and Rtn Sandip Dhodapkar addressed the children and emphasized on the need to perform well in studies in order that they too become benefactors some day.

The meeting was attended by President Tauby, Secretary Dinesh Naidu, Treasurer Mahendra Kamath, Principal of St.Ursula Rtn. Rachna Singh along with a host of Rotarians and Anns.

-Sandip Dhodapkar

It is for their education

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HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP

Report on pg 8 & 9

Ready to leave – The baggage, breakfast at Tauby's and M & M briefing

Pres Tauby does the Aarti

Flag off by Mr Shenoy, VP M&M

Some relaxing moments at Gadchiroli

Vegetables being cut for the Prakalp

O.T. Snacks

This child will soon be fine

The queue is long

The wait tiring

Langar food in the making

Surgeries in progress

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Sadhana Paliwal's Art classes

HEMALKASA SURGICAL CAMP

Report on pg 8 & 9

The langar is ready and ready to be served

Solar lamps being distributed

Shawls for the Cataract patients

The artworks are ready

At the sports venue

The games

Hemalkasa beckons

The O.T.Kitchen

Distribution of school uniforms and prizes

The Dental Surgeries

The DFO dinner

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Walkathon Band, Baaja, Baraati

The Preparations….. Hoardings and the packaging

PP Shiraz booms at the start line

Others wait

The participants are restless

The flag off

PP Dr Sanjiv joins in

In anticipation

The Marshalls are prepared

The start line……..

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The Special Citizens Walk

….the multitude…

......the social messages

DJs regaling the crowd

Rotaractors worked hard

Yeh dosti hum nahin……..

Let's Walk!!!!

The prize distribution…and the winners

The team that made 3500 walk!!!!

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Walkathon Band, Baaja, Baraati

The Preparations….. Hoardings and the packaging

PP Shiraz booms at the start line

Others wait

The participants are restless

The flag off

PP Dr Sanjiv joins in

In anticipation

The Marshalls are prepared

The start line……..

14

The Special Citizens Walk

….the multitude…

......the social messages

DJs regaling the crowd

Rotaractors worked hard

Yeh dosti hum nahin……..

Let's Walk!!!!

The prize distribution…and the winners

The team that made 3500 walk!!!!

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TAKE ROTARY HOME The Charter Nite is always a much awaited event by the members of our Club. And Why Not? Year after year, our talented members churn out a beautiful yet different and an almost perfect show. The planning sessions and the practice sessions are great fun.

But the actual event is not viewed by any of the participants. This year Pres. Tauby decided that we watch the CD together. (We used to do this earlier but somehow, it got discontinued).

HOME OF GAGAN AND REEMA SIAL

Reema and Gagan Sial magnanimously offered their home as the venue. 38 couples, plus a few singles were a part of the evening. Wonderful Weather, Lovely Ambiance, Food a plenty made a perfect setting to one of the best shows that our Club had witnessed(In the words of a critic).

The participants relived the moments. Faux Pas were pointed out, digs made at each one.

An evening full of fun and camaraderie!!

For the camera

In rapt attention

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Behram spoils the beautiful picture Another 'Take Rotary Home' with a difference!!

-Manju Shahani

ROCKING AT 60+ Some of our senior members, decline invites to the Take rotary Homes as they have a problem, driving at night etc. This made Anula and me decide to have a luncheon meet for such members.

Rt. Ann Anita Jain, offered her home as the venue. Rtn. Pramod Jain insisted on hosting the lunch, which was not done for a Take Rotary Home. (We always have a Pound) Anita is a member of the senior citizen committee and has done a lot for the seniors from the lower strata.

She wanted a get together for the parents of our members. One thing led to the other and finally on Sunday the 22nd Jan. we had a TRH convert SENIOR CITIZEN MEET at the beautiful home of the Jains. Live orchestra, inspired a lot of singing as well as dancing.

Rtn. Zamin Amin did a jig, with a glass on his head. With 70 plus members, spouses and parents, the afternoon turned out to be a memorable event. So much so that Rtn. Neeru Kapai, proposed we have such meets quarterly and she was unanimously seconded.

SENIOR CITIZENS There were some --who had the nerve to call it a Geriatric Meet, but we Buddhas had fun and so did the few Jawaans, who were accompanying their parents.(including Pres.

Tauby ) Excellent Marwari Cuisine was much appreciated and everyone present had a gala time.

-Manju Shahani Mrs Anita Jain

Those who were not there missed a lot

Let's make a song and dance of it all

17

GET ON BOARD

know your Board members

I have been writing this column for almost five years now, and have come across people from various strata of society – different religions, beliefs, economic backgrounds, professions the list goes on. But my overall conclusion today is, that what is expected does not happen and what happens is most unexpected. For e.g. If you are interviewing someone who hails from generations of wealth and enterprise, you expect that he or she is striving to reach such greater heightsbecause the base is already laid, they have everything going for them. But that sadly, is often not the case. It is more often that the ordinary strive to carve an extraordinary niche for them in life.

One such case is Shabbar Shakir who is on the board of directors as sergeant-at-arms for the year 2011-12. Born to late Saghira and Munawwar Husain Shakir Aurangabadi, Shabbar is the youngest of seven siblings – 1 elder brother, Hasnain and 5 elder sisters. He did his SSC from SFS in 1982 and joined Dhanwate National College, but decided to drop out before appearing for the XIIth boards.

One could say that being the youngest of 7 siblings he was a little spoilt – he does admit to having a ball in his school days. But somewhere at the back of his mind, probably was the fact that he had to get into the family business – printing which was started by his father. As he was already working, he must have decided that why do double '? ?? ?', he already knew the business like the back of his palm. The paradox is that all his five sisters are double post graduates.

Behind every great man, they say is a great woman. Well sometimes it could be a good friend. In 1991, Shabbar decided to part ways with his brother and succour came in the form of Shabbir Shakir his friend of 12 years.

Shabbar & Shabbir joined hands to setup Fine Marketing India pvt. Ltd, and they are into printing, from visiting cards to booklets, photography – they are the sole distributors for

18

- SHABBAR SHAKIR (Sergeant-At-Arms) Canon in Vidarbha region and have an outlet in Empress Mall, packaging – they manufacture corrugated boxes, computer stationery, off set printing with an in-house art department.

They are not only friends, but business partners for the past 20 years and their bonding and understanding is truly commendable. They have started their work from scratch and have come a long way in life, both financially and Shabbar and Fatema with daughter Tasneem socially. of how much good work the club is doing – Shabbar's day starts as soon as the phone Hemalkasa, community service, slum rings, and he is in the office by 10:30 – 11ish. development and what have you. I said clubs Lunch is at office. Office gets over anytime in metros take on huge projects while we are between 6pm to 2am, but seriously he works doing every small thing, a finger in every pie. very hard and yet he has a most amicable Pat came in the retort that those clubs are into disposition and breaks out in a grin at the it only for PR, and what we are doing is really slighted provocation. For a self-made man, he reaching out to the needy and doing things, is humility personified. He is always passing going to places where these clubs would on his success to other people, does not take never get their hands and feet dirty! Three credit for anything - he actually seems to cheers Shabbar, you really love Rotary – I'm believe it! touched.

Shabbar's biggest idea of relaxation is, as one Given a chance to change anything in his life – can well imagine, not doing anything. Or answer is nothing. He is where he wanted to playing with his 4 year old daughter, Tasneem be, he has made very good and lasting who is in nursery at Mother's Pet friendships in Rotary and not everyone has a Kindergarten. A late child after 12 years of good fortune to be in a business they are marriage he naturally dotes on her. passionate about. He enjoys his work, he is Wife Fatima is a graduate BSc with a major in content in his marital life and moves in good electronics. I asked her how she agreed to society and has wonderful friends. marry Shabbar and she said that, “well he So you see friends – life is beautiful, it is only does not have the temper I told he has – not a trace of it”. His sisters knew her mother and your attitude towards it that is good or bad. between them they arranged this match. Shabbar Shakir who is going to be Secretary Fatima is passionate about designing clothes next year, is a shining example of this fact. and is running a business of stitching – to P.S. – this article cannot be complete without order only, no sales and exhibitions for her and mentioning two names – Akhtar Maimoon & Atul Shah who have persuaded, cajoled, she is doing pretty well for herself. threatened, bullied Shabbar to climb the A trip to Hemalkasa in 2002 got him hooked on ladder of success. to Rotary and he promptly became a member in 2003(again the Shabbir factor). I tried to Shabbar & Fatima, I wish you all the instigate him a bit against Rotary; I got what I happiness in life.

-Jyoti Goenka wanted – all his passion pawed out in a tirade

ROTARY CLUB OF NAGPUR EAST Founded in 1955, sponsored by our club, RC of Nagpur East is the second senior most club of the city rendering commendable humanitarian service specially in the eastern parts of Nagpur. The proceedings are run in chaste Hindi and the club culture supports Gandhian motto of 'No non veg-no alcohol'.

Their activities over the years include service projects at Anath Vidyarthi Griha, Lakadganj, Kalyan Mook Badheer Vidyalaya, Panchvati Vriddhashram, Chinteshwar school, 1 Rotaract, 1 Interact, Matching Grants etc.

RCNE meets every Tuesday at Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Central Avenue in a plush self owned auditorium equipped with audio visual aids and other comforts.

While club's several initiatives deserve kudos, the one that stands out is the 'Dyslexia ProjectTare Zameen Par'. Conceptualised in 2005 after the path breaking Amir Khan movie, the project took off in 2006.

Dyslexia is a neurological disorder manifested by difficulty in learning despite conventional teaching and adequate intelligence. It is estimated that 5% of school going children are affected by Dyslexia and more than 15% by other learning difficulties. Affected children are usually neglected and dumped as idiots because the schools often lack services of psychologists and compassionate staff. Such children by and large are required to change schools, which leads to demoralization of the child and parents. The fact often neglected is that a dyslexic child can also be intelligent.

Nagpur East decided to go full throttle to combat this unusual ailment, and over the

years organised several seminars and public meets with support from Dr Chetana Keny from Bengaluru and other neurosurgeons.

The club's Team Dyslexia soon realized that rather than sundry efforts here and there, it would be ideal to set up a center wherein activities such as - Workshops for school teachers; Forums for parents of dyslexics; advanced workshops for psychologists and special educators etc could be taken up.

Formation of Dyslexia study circle, providing dyslexia screening facility at schools, mass awareness program are other areas that need to be addressed on a regular basis.

It was at this point that Sheikh Asgharali Hasanali Maimoon Charitable Trust offered full fledged support and built and set up Late Mrs Khadija Iqbal Maimoon memorial Library and Resource Center for the project in their prime properties at Nelson square and Gandhibaug. Late Khadija Maimoon was involved in the project since 2006. A compassionate leader and social thinker, Khadija was President of Inner Wheel Club of Nagpur East and was a great support to her spouse Iqbal Husain Maimoon specially in his term as President RC of Nagpur East.

The library is equipped with latest information and books on dyslexia from all over the world.

The resource center is managed by experts Rtn Dr. Nisreen Maimoon and Dr Mrs Sofia Azad, wherein psychologists and special educators , in consultation with respective class teachers plan and implement Individual education Program for each child continuing study in the main stream school. The center

OTHER'S MATTER Other Clubs in the Dist

has sprawling lawns, play area , slides and swings to help improve coordination in dyslexic children. This long term project aims at benefiting children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, by directly treating the affected children and imparting training to teachers and parents.

RCNE's Resource Center was inaugurated on 23rd October by 3030 Dist. Governor Gopal Shiralkar who lauded the efforts . Dr Mrs G. Shashikala, Consulting Developmental Neurologist of national repute was the key note speaker. President Shreekumar Mundhada chaired the proceedings while PP Dr Madhu Sarda explained the project in details. The function was attended by Rotary's Who's Who in Nagpur. Our club was well represented by PDGs V. Sriniwas & Vishwas Sahasrabhojanee, and PPs Shabbir Shakir, Akhtar Parvez Maimoon, Anjum Husain, Shabbar Shakir and others.

A well knit club , RC of Nagpur East has several Rotary stalwarts as Past Presidents.

Charter member PP Gopaldas Bagri is the second senior most Rotarian in 3030. PPs Anil Dani, Nandkishore Sarda, Dr Narendra Mohta, Vinay Mohunta, Arun Malani, Rajesh Shah, Mahesh Shah, RC Jain and of course Iqbal Husain Maimoon have made a mark in Rotary at District level, some of whom deserve higher echelons in Rotary hierarchy. Come on Nagpur East..... You deserve it!!

-PDG Vishwas Sahasrabhojanee

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ROTARY RUN clubs worldwide meet US$200 million fundraising challenge for polio eradicationDespite a stagnant global economy, Rotary clubs around the world have succeeded in raising more than US$200 million in new funding for polio eradication.

The fundraising milestone, announced today at Rotary's annual International Assembly in San Diego, was reached in response to a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All funds have been earmarked to support polio immunization activities in countries where this vaccine-preventable disease continues to paralyze children.

“We'll celebrate this milestone, but it doesn't mean that we'll stop raising money or spreading the word about polio eradication,” Rotary Foundation Trustee John F. Germ told the annual conference of Rotary leaders.

“We can't stop until our entire world is certified as polio free.”

“In recognition of Rotary's great work, and to inspire Rotarians in the future, the [Gates] foundation is committing an additional $50 million to extend our partnership,” said Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation. “Rotary started the global fight against polio, and continues to set the tone for private fundraising, grassroots engagement and maintaining polio at the top of the agenda

with key policy makers.”

Since 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99 percent, from about 350,000 infections annually to fewer than 650 cases reported so far for 2011. The wild poliovirus now remains endemic – meaning its transmission has never been stopped – in only four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. However, India on January 13 marked a full calendar year

without a case, paving the way for its removal from the endemic list.

But other countries also remain at risk for polio cases imported from the endemic countries. In Africa in 2011, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had significant outbreaks. Also in 2011, a small cluster of polio cases in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was attributable to a virus from Pakistan.

Rotary members not only reached into their own pockets to support the Gates challenge,but engaged their communities in a variety of creative fundraising projects, such as a fashion show in California that raised $52,000; benefit film screenings in New Zealand and Australia that netted $54,000; and a pledge-supported hike through Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, that brought in $38,000. Many events were planned around October 24, widely observed as World Polio Day. To date, Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than $1 billion toward the eradication of polio, a cause Rotary took on in 1985. In 1988, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined Rotary as spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. More recently, the Gates Foundation has become a major supporter. In 2007, the Gates Foundation gave Rotary a $100 million challenge grant for polio eradication, increasing it to $355 million in 2009. Rotary agreed to raise $200 million in matching funds by June 30, 2012.

Reaching children with the oral polio vaccine in the disease's remaining strongholds is labor and resource -intensive due to a host of challenges, including poor infrastructure, geographical isolation, armed conflict and cultural misunderstanding about the eradication campaign. (article courtesy Rotary website) -PP Viju Naidu

NEWS YOU CAN USE Saboodana is made by a root like sweet potato. This root is made into a pulp and put into pits. Pits are in open grounds and the pulp is allowed to rot for several months. There are huge electric bulbs throughout the night because of which millions of insects fall in the pits.

While the pulp is rotting, water is added everyday due to which 2” long white color eels are automatically born .This rotting pulp is crushed with the eels.

This action is repeated many times during 5-6

20

months.

This paste is then passed through a round mesh and made into small balls and then polished. This is saboodana. Probably many will not eat it now!

THE world's first tickle spa, which opened in Spain in June 2011, works on the belief that getting tickled can be therapeutic. Instead of massages and facials, the spa provides its visitors with a custom-made tickle session using a light touch or a feather.

Fed up of the frequent fights among cockerels on their farms, dairy farm owners in China

have come up with a novel idea. The cockerels are made to wear plastic sunglasses that partially obscure their vision. As they can't see each other clearly, the birds remain quiet!

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.(Hardly seems worth it!!)

Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you! The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.

- Anmol Badjatia

The sandstorm was so severe that his footprint was erased before he could lift his other foot. The sun had disappeared, and the place was engulfed in a maze of eternal dust.

The only thing that gave him a little peace in his heart was the halter of his camel, which he held on to tightly, as if it was his lifeline.

Despite the sound of the wind howling like a pack of wolves, the breathing of his camel gave him some comfort.

He thought of making his camel sit down so he could take cover behind her body, as the Bedouins do during storms, but he remembered what his father had once told him: storms are the desert's message to people crossing that they must carry on. The only thing that worried him was losing his camel – not only because he wouldn't be able to cross the desert without her, but also because she was the only creature that never got bored of listening to him all night long. He closed his eyes, opened his heart and walked on, listening to the sound of the wind as it grew louder and louder, as if someone wanted to tell him something. He struggled to open his eyes but couldn't, so he decided to stop and shelter behind his camel just for a short while in order to clear the sand that filled his eyes.

He managed to clear the sand away, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw a faraway light that penetrated the dust. He gazed at it for a while, trying to memorize its location, and then he closed his eyes and headed towards it, pulling his camel. As he got closer to the source of the light, he felt warmth quietly passing through his body, and eventually he found a small oasis circled by a few shy palm trees. The moment he entered the oasis, the sound of the wind stopped. It was as if the universe had suddenly stopped breathing. He saw an old man with his eyes closed, resting his head against one of the palm trees. He approached the old man and noticed he was smiling, as if hehad been expecting him. The old man slowly opened his eyes and said: “Welcome, son! You've finally arrived. ”The boy looked around fearing it was an ambush set up for him. The old man smiled and said: “Don't worry! There's no one here.

Sit for a while.” The boy sat, his eyes riveted on the old man, who said: “I know you want to cross the desert. We're all trying to do so.

THE DESERT STORY

Some of us do it without even realizing it.

The desert is the destiny of any Arabian, my son. It bears us inside her more than we bear her inside us. Yet, some of us forget she exists. They think she's the cause of their misery.” “Isn't she? I mean, why is the desert so cruel to us?” “The desert is not cruel. It's we who don't understand her. The desert is a sacred place, like temples, churches and mosques, all of which have their own rules and yet don't belong to a certain group of people.

Those of us who don't abide by the rules feel the cruelty.” “What are these rules?” “Alright!

To understand the desert, you have to be silent and listen more. The desert doesn't speak to the talkative. Also, you have to keep your eyes open all the time. Don't be afraid of storms.

The desert might fill up your eyes with sand, but she will fill your mind with wisdom. Finally, you have to know that the desert will listen to you only if you speak to her at night, because she's busy during the day.” “Doing what?”

“Guiding the crossing caravans. Don't think, son, that caravans manage to get through thanks to the guides travelling with them; they get through because the desert allows them to cross. The guide is simply a person who knows how to speak to the desert and who understands her signs. That's why he remembers the routes well. A caravan's guide listens all the time in order to learn the right directions. All voices can be heard except the voice of truth; it is seen.” “And how can I cross the desert?” The old man stood up and so did the boy. He looked afar, out at the storm surrounding the oasis, and then he pointed at the dustiest area and said: “The desert respects knights and allows them to cross, but she doesn't respect the selfish who seek heroism for themselves.” “I don't understand.” “The best of knighthood is when a knight helps whoever is walking beside him.

When knights fight as a group in battle, they never lose, even if all of them are killed, because then they become legends. Legends are important for people to get inspired.To die with a friend is better than to win alone. Enter into that hurricane, and you'll understand what I mean.” The boy's sweaty fingers were playing with the camel halter. He took a deep breath as he looked in the direction the old man was pointing. After a moment of silence that was only interrupted by the sound of his

camel, he decided to enter into the twister and to keep his eyes open, as the old man had advised him. He walked for an hour until his face was completely covered in sand.

He looked like a mummy that had just walked out of a tomb. In the midst of that hurricane, he remembered the words of his father: “Storms are the desert's message.” Camels understand the language of the desert, the boy thought. But what is the language of the desert? Then he remembered what the old man had said: “The best of knighthood is when a knight helps whoever is walking beside him.”

When he looked at his camel, he saw that her eyes and nose were full of sand and that she was almost falling down with fatigue. “How have I forgotten to wipe out the sand off her face?” the boy said to himself. He removed his turban from the top of his head and started cleaning her face with it until she was able to breathe comfortably. When the camel's eyes were cleared and she could see again, she realized the right direction. She took off with the boy at her side to protect him from the sand. The more they walked, the more the storm battered their bodies with sand, until eventually they had to stop and let the sand build up against them, as if they were one great mountain.. After the storm had died away, the boy opened his eyes slowly.

The sand fell down on his cheeks like a waterfall. He looked around and saw the old man approaching him with a smile. The old man said: To cross the desert, you have to face your fears before they face you. In order to overcome your fears, you need a friend whocares about you more than you care about yourself. When fear is shared by two, it becomes less frightening. My congratulations to both of you! You have crossed the desert.”

“How so? We're still in the middle of the desert!” “Exactly! You're in her heart, in the warmest place a human being could ever be.

Head north and you'll reach the town in half a day.”“Before you go, tell me how I can cross the desert again.” “The old man smiled.

Waving goodbye, he said: “You'll cross the desert when you find a friend whom you can share the same dream with”. contributed by Deepa Kale

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FREEDOM(AIN) For the children

According to the Georgian calendar, February is the second month of the year and also the shortest with 28 days until Julius Caesar gave it 29 and 30 days every four years. According to tradition, Augustus, the Roman Emperor took one day off from February and added it to August – the month named after him. Hence wwe now have February with 28 days and 29 in the leap year.

This time, in India, is also a time of anxiety for parents and students connected with Board exams. The word board exam itself brings fear to the mind…. But why??? We all know, there are no shortcuts or secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failures. I am sure, all the Freedomanians preparing for their ICSE, HSC, HSSC are already deep into preparation for the exams and under the able guidance of their Gurus (teachers/ parents) all set to crack the exams.

Already you must've been stuffed with all the do's and don'ts for the exams……and having been your friend for the past months…..I do not want to feel left out…….so here it is from me: 1.Believe in yourself…….because you have the ability of taking the exam, you have reached this stage. Therefore prepare, and do not worry excessively.

2. Don't try to be perfect. It's great to succeed and reach for the stars. Keep things in balance.

3. Take steps to overcome problems…ask when problems arise.

4. Don't keep things/emotions bottled-up.

Confiding in a friend/parent/teacher will help you relieve stress.

5. After the exam do not spend endless time comparing the paper and criticizing

PROGENETICS Genesis of Projects

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2004 - 2005 was the centennial year of our Club. At the helm was Sanjiv Chugh as President and Behram Patel as Secretary. With a doctor as our President, what would be more appropriate than to start a new project which directs one towards a healthier lifestyle.

Marathons in major cities in India were becoming popular, so to give a different edge, the duo came up with the idea for a walkathon.

It was a new idea, and so a lot of logistics needed to be planned, but with support from our Rotarians, and sponsors, it took off to a

yourself for where you went wrong.

Often our own assessment of ourself is very harsh. Congratulate yourself for the things that you did right, learn from the bits where you could have done better and MOVE ON. LAUGH A LITTLE Why we sometimes write “ETC” in exams?

It means E – end of T-thinking C- capacity To be a Good Professional = start to study late for the exams. ? ?

It teaches how to manage time and tackle emergencies.

THINK DIFFERENTLY Cricket is getting exciting with the introduction of T20.

Same should be the case for examinations 1. Exam timings should be reduced to 1 hour.

2. Power play - no invigilator in exam hall for first 15 mins.

3. Cheer leaders – allowed to dance after every right answer written. (reduces stress) 4. Strategic Time Out – time for students to discuss answers.

5. Super Over – chance for students to form their own questions.

A Thermometer is the only thing that gets a DEGREE without having a brain.

On behalf of the entire Freedomanian clan, here's wishing all those students taking the Board exams ALL THE BEST and remember the golden rule in life…..

I CAN I MUST I WILL -Sangeeta Chhabra

PERSONS IN THE PHOTO From the Left : 1) Professor George K. Stylios from Scottish University, U. K. 2) Mr. Andreas Weber C. Text, FTI, from Switzerland, World President, The Textile Institute International, U.K. 3) The Lord Haskel of House of Lords and past President of The Textile I n s t i t u t e , U . K . 4 ) M r. P. Chandarana

CITY TECHNOCRAT AND OUR ROTARIAN ATTENDS PARLIAMENTARY LUNCH IN HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, U.K. Rtn. Pratap Chandarana, C.Text, ATI (U.K.), Executive Director of Mangrul Mills Ltd., Nagpur attended the Parliamentary Lunch on 04th November,2011 in the House of Lords of British Parliament, London at the invitation of The Lord Haskel of House of Lords, British Parliament, London and past President of The Textile Institute International, U.K.

WALKATHON great start.

A 3, 6, 9 and for the more ambitious a mega 12 km route was chalked. A category for the handicapped and senior citizens was also included. It was anticipated that 200 to 300 people would participate, but close to 1300 and more took part. All the major newspapers covered it, taking the Club to limelight.

Initially our sponsors were PEPSI, but for the past 3 to 4 years, Dr.Jaspal Arneja has stepped in to sponsor this project. It was first called "Walk for Life", which has now been renamed as "Walk for Heart".

Tauby Bhagwagar, Khushnoor Chugh and

many Rotarians have been instrumental in making this project a runaway success not just for that year, but the years that have followed.

-Anita Chitaley

INNOCENE TO IRONY It was with great anticipation that I began reading this book of short stories by Deepa Kale. One, because she's a good friend of mine and two, because I have been privy to a few of her writings over the years that she would -from time to time , send me to read.

Her natural empathy for the trials ,tribulations and triumphs faced by females of all ages is reflected in each of the 17 stories that traverse the journey from 'Innocence to Irony', which is also the title of this collection.

'Innocence' is the story of little 13 year old Shruti who is about to be tied in matrimony- as is the custom in her community. Her best friend is already betrothed and chafes against the sudden transition from frocks to petticoats and chunni. The highlight of their lives is attending the annual mela that comes to town where they can see films on the bioscope over and over again to their hearts content. The thought that marriage will deprive them of this primary joy makes their little hearts sink.....until something Shruti overhears about her groom-to-be makes her rush home to try on her new wedding sari!!

'Contentment', deals with a well to

do, high class family and the keen desire of the lady of the house for fame and to perform on stage.The process of play acting as a multitasking middleclass housewife leads to a somewhat shocking self realisation that dawns through playing a different role.

Deepa Kale's writing has a touch of Roald Dahl, in that there is always a twist in the tale, though not the 'sting in the tale, that Dahl was

“ THE EMPTY CHAIRS” The other day we had a wonderful speaker address the Club on how to “Climb your own Everest”. Capt. Kolhi (IN) was the Leader of the 1st successful Indian expedition to Everest & his talk was really inspirational, unfortunately there were hardly 30 Rotarians / R'Anns in the Hall to listen to him & about 50-60 empty chairs staring him

in the face.

The speaker has addressed over 200 Rotary Clubs all over the country and was himself a Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Delhi. He was proposed for Presidentship of his Club, but declined as, by his own confession, he was unable to cope with the attendance rules !.

He had a word of praise for our club w h e n h e mentioned that from the 200 odd clubs he attended & addressed he found that the work being done by our Club was of a very high standard and he was also impressed by the number of projects being taken up during the week. My heart swelled up with pride when he mentioned this, but it soon got deflated when he later commented on the

ALL BOOKED

book review

famous for. Kale's stories ,in a few short pages have the amazing capacity to create vibrant images of people and their everyday lives, easy to relate to and often easy to indentify with, which inevitably end with a truism that neatly escapes being classified as 'the moral of the story' despite being just that!

From' Freedom',to 'Prediction', to 'The Queen' and 'Unrepentantly yours', the stories have a certain calmness in the face of adversity which is both familiar and soothing on some level. It is the clear,discerning eye of the author that puts life into the female char acters of each tale, making them so very real and interesting despite leading seemingly mundane lives.

Women of all ages will be able to find some small part of themselves entwined in the stories within. The language is effortless and gently throws up the many nuances that are woven into female lives.

Despite the surfeit of new authors since the past so many years, Innocence to Irony makes a welcome addition to our bookshleves. -Vindhya Sanjana

SHIRAZSPEAK constant flow of Members leaving the hall to supposedly answer their mobiles. Some members did come back, but a good many just disappeared with their mobiles stuck to their ear like an appendage, never to be seen again !

What can be so urgent or important that you can't shut your Mobiles for the duration of the Meeting or atleast when the honoured Speaker is addressing the Club at your invitation ? In anycase, all you have to do is see the “missed calls” list at the end of the meeting and call back your friends / relatives / office / clients / patients etc. who were so anxious to contact you !

As Chairman of the Protocol Committee I found his suggestions of “fining” the member for answering his phone when he returned to the meeting, fraught with danger, as then he would just not return to the Meeting and would flee the scene of his crime leaving more empty chairs in the hall !

-PP Shiraz Gimi

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X-FACTOR The native Americans did not believe in building temples or cathedrals to imprison their concept of their older brother' the sun'. HE was manifested everywhere and He permeated faith in all. Faith does not need evidence. It is just there. Or not there for that matter. Faith is actually the belief in goodness, goodness coming your way more than somebody else's because you revere to some

FAITH 'being'. Faith presupposes an outside reality.

However, Faith, as most religions and learned people point out is to be deposed in one self. It is this focus and the knowledge that backs up our work and convictions that should point us towards trust in our circumstances. Yet , through the best of preparations, we are not in control of all factors in our lives. It is here that Faith steps in. Uncertainty , the delightful element in ever body's life, nurtures Faith. It is

BOBBY'S BUBBLES Rotary was formed in the month of February of 1905. It is appropriate, therefore, we recount this month, some of the early events of Rotary in our region.

Some months ago, Justice V.S.Sirpurkar, former Chief Justice of Madras High Court and presently Judge of the Supreme Court and a former member of our club addressed a regular meeting of our club. Mrs. Kumkum Sirpurkar, a leading lawyer in her own rights and president of the High Court Bar Association was also a member of our club.

Justice Sirpurkar humorously remarked that in the early years of the Nagpur club formation, it was easier to become a high court judge than a member of the Nagpur Rotary Club! Such was the club's strict adherence to attendance and classification rules.

Chief Justice Hidayatullah and Chief Justice B.P.Sinha were then members of the club and strictly adhered to these rules. They were regular in attendance. Justice Sinha used to arrive on time at 6 p.m. and in the half hour of fellowship used to mingle freely with other members of the club and chat with them. Rtn. Sinha later became Chief Justice of India.

The good old days! Fifty seven years ago the Rotary Club of Bombay met for lunch at the Greens Hotel (where now stands the Taj Intercontinental). The lunch charges Rs.4, for a sit down five-course meal! The late Rtn.

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better to have some Faith in your life. Be it on your talisman, an idol, a prayer …. Or what so ever. Faith creeps in when your happiness depends on anothers. You then pray for the other's wellbeing. In fact praying for your own peace of mind. Self preservation moves you towards Faith. It is the only truth.

- Deepa Kale

REMINISCENCES OF ROTARY -- 57 YEARS AGO!

J.R.D.Tata used to be there at lunch and so were many illustrious citizens of Bombay. On account of his busy schedule of office duties, JRD sent his resignation to his club. Members went in a delegation to him and requested him to withdraw his resignation! JRD asked them if there was a special attendance rule for JRD! There was one club in Bombay. The next nearest club was in Nasik beyond which were Akola , Amraoti and then Nagpur .

We paid US$ 1 per half year as per capita due to Rotary International. The exchange rate was Rs. 3.75 to a Dollar, which later became Rs. 7.50. Thus RI dues were Rs. 15 per member for half-year. Over the years the per capita dues have been rising. In 1969 it became US$ 8 and in 1975 it rose to US$ 12.

In the Council on Legislation at Chicago in 1980 the RI Board asked for an increase of US$ 3. The Council generously voted US$ 5 making the per capita due to US$ 17 from January 1981. In 1984 it was raised to US$ 20 and jumped to US$ 29 from January 1990.

From July 1995 the per capita became US$ 35 and equivalent of nearly Rs. 1,700. With the action of 2004 Council on Legislation the per capita dues stand enhanced by US$ 12 to become US$ 42.

The old Rotary district 315 was large geographically. The district stretched from Bombay to Visakhapatnam and from Saugor to Nellore – about half of India . This continued

right till the election of Bobby as DG at Poona in 1970. There were problems galore for the District Governor in travel during his official visits in this might Rotary district! Imagine the very urban Governors of Bombay going to Tuni and Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh or Saugor and Damoh in Madhya Pradesh with having to stay in bleak dak bungalows. They had their interesting anecdotes to narrate!

The District was divided into 314 and 315 in July 1971 when the Andhra clubs with Nagpur became 315. (Earlier some Clubs in north Karnataka like Belgaum and Hubli had became part of 317). In 1984 there was reorganization and Nagpur came back to be with Bombay in 314, but Poona and adjoining areas became 313. With prolific growth of Clubs division of the District became inevitable and 314 was restricted till Nasik .

Nasik and beyond till Nagpur became 303 from July 1990. From July 1992 zero was added to district numbers so that Districts are now 3140 and 3030. Bombay has again become 'distant' Rotarily to Nagpur and other Clubs in 3030.

The old district 315 – where the slogan was 'Rotary shall thrive in three one five' – to which we belonged has now become 3020, 3030, 3132, 3130, 3140, 3150 and 3170.

-Bobby Srinivas

for@technicallychallenged.com

ROTARY RATTLE

Learn Something New

TIPS TO USE THE INTERNET ON THE MOVE Cloud computing, smartphones and netbooks mean more of us than ever before are free from a desk-bound PC. To make the most of your mobile experience, check out these essential tips for computing on the move‌ CALL WITH SKYPE : Save money on expensive hotel phone bills by making your calls over Skype. Many Wi-Fi-capable phones support Skype too.

FIND WI-FI HOTSPOTS : Check out where you're travelling in advance to see if there are any free Wi-Fi hotspots about. To find them, simply log onto http://v4.jiwire.com/search-hotspotlocations.htm and enter a postcode or location. It will provide a list of nearby hotspots and connection details.

INSTALL DROPBOX : Whether you're home or abroad, it helps to be able to get access, at any time, to the most recent version of whatever documents you're actively working on. Dropbox provides online storage and synchronisation with as many computers as you install it on. The first 2GB of storage is free, which is enough for most people's active documents. When you make changes and save them to your Dropbox folder on your computer, these are uploaded to Dropbox and then replicated on your other machines as soon as you log on.

USE PORTABLE APPS: If you're on the move and your laptop dies, then you need a way to access your data and most common programs. Install Portable Apps on a USB flash drive alongside your most useful files and you can enjoy your own virtual desktop on any public PC, without worrying about leaving browsing traces, so long as you use Portable Firefox.

You can even use your favourite Firefox plug-ins and carry them around with you. The full installation of Portable Apps includes the OpenOffice.org software suite.

SECURE YOUR PASSWORDS : Keepass is an open-source password management program that stores your passwords in an encrypted file.

Install the program on your laptop and then save the password database file in your Dropbox folder. Do the same on any other computers that are running Dropbox and you can access your most up-to-date passwords from any of your PCs. Ensure that Dropbox is secured with a strong password. If your laptop breaks, you'll still be able to get to your password database using the Portable Apps version of Keepass and web access to Dropbox.

USE THE CLOUD : Dropbox is a good example of a cloud-based service that can be invaluable when you're on the move, but it's worth considering using other services to increase your storage. You can use a combination of photo services, such as Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket, along with Google Docs, Zoho and gOffice for documents.

USE MOBILE DROPBOX : Get quick access to your Dropbox files on your phone. There's an Android app available in the marketplace, and one for iPhone and iPad in the App Store. A Blackberry app is on its way. Learn more at www.dropbox.com/ anywhere or get simple mobile web access at http://m.dropbox.com.

SET UP OFFLINE MAIL : Even in the world of mobile broadband and ubiquitous Wi-Fi, there are still places where you won't be able to get a signal and you'll have to work offline. Plan for this by ensuring that you have an offline mail client such as Thunderbird installed, even if you use a web-based email service.

Download your messages before hitting the road so you can refer to them and write responses while you're offline. For Gmail, you can install Google Gears or get a simple backup of your messages by getting Google Desktop to index them. An offline client is still the best option, though.

CHARGE IN THE CAR : A car charger for your laptop ensures that you can top up its juice by plugging it into the cigarette lighter while you're driving.

WATCH THE SKIES : Got time to look up and see the stars? If you have an Android phone, then you can get an annotated map of the sky wherever you are, thanks to GPS and Google Sky Map. It adjusts according to where your phone is pointing, so you can find out about any part of the sky.

-Sohrab Kanga

Hello Friends, If you are tired of all the dressing and dancing for the weddings that are taking place, you have a long way to go....

After more than week long affairs at the Kale and the Chugh + Vali weddings, we have the Sangtani and the Sanjana weddings to look forward to.

Kartik, son of Deepali and Kumar Kale tied the knot with Dr. Yamini from Pune.

Niharika, daughter of Khushnoor and Dr. Sanjiv Chugh and Juzer, nephew of Amina and Shabbir Vali have culminated their romance in marriage.

Gaurav, son of Rajni and Dr. Hargun Sangtani, is getting married to Astha from Delhi.

Farha, daughter of Vindhya and Jimmy Sanjana has chosen Sunny Mahajan from Jullandhar as her future husband.

Shailaja and Chandrashekhar Pingle, celebrated the wedding of their son.

The list goes on.

With the year of the Dragon just round the corner, luck has already started flowing in, in all the above homes.

To Jayshree and Pratap Chandrana, it has visited in the form of an A Star Maruti CAR. WOW ! Yes friends, they won it in a lucky draw at Karan Kothari Jewelers.

Don't we all want jewellery, specially when it comes with a Car? We wish Padma Mahant a speedy recovery. She recently had a Cataract Surgery.

More Rattling next month.

Ciao -Manju Shahani

DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL PACKAGES 09890387018

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LET'S PLAY GAMES

IT'S A DATE...

BIRTHDAYS 15 Feb. to 14 March Sanjay Mansukhani 15 Vaibhav Jaipuria 16 Dr. Archana Choudhary17 Sanjay Agrawal 17 Manpreet Alag 19 Ayun Malak 21 Dr.Harish Rathi 23 Ashish Mehadia 24 Deepali Kale 24 Radhika Marwah 25 Bharat Parikh 26 Arun Bhargava 27 Naushad Bhagwagar 28 Anupam Rai 28 Pankaj Chokhani 28 Dr. Sushrut Babhulkar 29 M ARC H Anuj Badjate 1 Shefali Shah 1 Parveen Seth 2 Sonal Singhvi 3

Rozina Rana

3

Ravindra Sarnaik Bharat Parekh Manju Shahani Dr. Indu Arneja Dr. Ashok Lawange Sarita Agrawal Smita Sheth Dr. Anita Sood Bharat Goenka

4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6

Nikunj Doshi Habeeb Khan Vilas Kale Moiz Bande Ali Sonia Khurana Dr. Vivek Harkare Asha Gupta Rajbir Kaur Singh Swati Atal

7 7 8 10 11 12 12 13 14

Dr. Jerestin Watchmaker 4

Dr. Shivangi Jahagirdar 6

ANNIVERSARY 15 Feb. to 14 March

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Deepak & Neena Chowdhary Ajay & Savita Sancheti Rakhi & Vishal Bhatia Sanjay & Vaishali Jaiswal Jatin & Hetal Sampat Mohan & Ranjana Rao Atul & Neeta Gupta Omprakash & Samiksha Bagadia Sarang & Anushka Kale Rajiv & Ankita Mittal Vaibhav & Varsha Jaiswal Nimish & Sharmila Sutaria Timmy & Charanjeet Bawa Mamta & Manish Jaiswal Neeru & Kamal Kapai Kusum & Shashank Pandey Hasmukh & Archana Panchmatia Rajeev & Sangeeta Chhabra Rajan & Jaya Mulani Dr. Rajesh & Ritika Singhvi Tushar & Sonal Singhvi M ARC H Sarvesh & Ritu Agrawal Vaibhav & Shripriya Jaipuria Mohinderpal & Manpreet Alag Sapna & Sacheen Vastani Navneet & Neerja Shukul Hemant & Harsha Doshi

15 15 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 21 24 25 26 26 27 27 27 5 5 10 10 11 14

It's time to get interactive. The contests below are open to members, spouses and children. Each has exciting prizes which shall be announced during the following business meeting.

More than one correct entry shall be decided by a draw of lots.

Send in your answers to me@madhavinaidu.com

Answers for the colour quiz...

1. In the Peanuts cartoon and comics, what color is Woodstock? A. Yellow 2. What is the main color of the UN flag? A. Blue 3. An Oscar is what color? A. Gold 4. What color is the M in McDonald's? A. Yellow 5. What is the main color on the Chinese flag? A. Red 6. What part of the eye gives it color? A. Iris 7. Who was the talk show hostess that played a role in the movie The Color Purple?

A. Oprah Winfrey 8. What color is an octopus's blood? A. Blue/ green.

9. Emu eggs are what color? A. Green 10. The Nazi SS troops wore what color shirts? A. Black We received only one correct entry, which is from Sohrab Kanga.

QUIZ This GO we have a 'simple quiz' for you... if you don't answer them... We will have to think that you found the quiz tough.

1. Tommy's mother has 3 children. The first child is April. The second child is May. What is the third child's name?

2. Which is heavier: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?

3. How much dirt is there in a hole 3 ft deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

4. A phonebook, 80% are listed, 20% are businesses, 20% begin with 2.

Take a random 1000 numbers, how many would you expect to be unlisted.

5. Is it possible to stand somewhere that every direction is South?

6. How many bricks do you need to make a building entirely from bricks?

7. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

8. You only have a match when you enter a dark and cold room. You come across an oil lamp, an oil heater, and a candle. Which do you light first?

9. How many months have 28 days?

10. A man dressed all in black is walking down a country lane. Suddenly a large black car without any lights on comes round the corner and screeches to a halt. How did the driver know there was a man in the road?

GUESS WHO Please sms your answers to me on 9823080820

Answers : Vindhya Sanjana and Shabbir Shakir. Correct entries received from....

Vikram Naidu, Nikunj Doshi, Rajiv Behal, Nilufer Rana and Sonia Khurana.

- MADHAVI NAIDU

The Question for last month was for Anns and Annas who later become Rotarians: X-PRESS The question this month is for Anns and Annas who are and have been, as active, and in some cases more active than their member spouses and have great potential as members, but have not become independent members in their own right: What holds you back from being a member and taking on more decision making responsibility by becoming members of the Board and in time office-bearers and Presidents of this Club, particularly in view of the fact that all those spouses who have become members are very happy and positive about the move they have made?

Mamta Kanga: There's an old saying...Behind every successful man is a woman.... I believe the same goes for Rotary... where behind every successful project are the Anns!! By working for projects dear to our heart we lend our support to Rotary without being tied down with the responsibility of portfolios. We are able to balance our family, career and social commitments better.

Being a full time Rotarian requires a sincere dedication of time and effort. I believe most spouses barring a few who have become members have grown up children. Maybe at a later date when my family doesn't require so much of my time, I will become a full fledged Rotarian!! We can't all be stars...but we can all twinkle....do our little bit in Rotary even if it's from the backstage!!

Naushad Bhagwagar: First, it's Rotary Lord ... and NOT Anna. It sounds quite impressive and we all like it that way. For me personally, I thoroughly enjoy being a part of the Rotary family without having the responsibility or putting in the high commitment levels expected of members. Rotary is one forum which gives the individual the opportunity to blossom and find one's self. I would encourage all Lords to remain Lords and let their wife's be the sole Rotarians. Your spouse certainly will grow more. Support and back her up fully but let it be HER Club and there she should be the boss.

Anita Chitaley: There is nothing 'per se' holding me back from becoming a member. Does it really matter in what capacity one serves the Club, either as an Ann or as a Board member? I have been happy with my position as an Ann, because it has given me the freedom of choosing what I wanted to do.

Over the years I have managed to carry out fairly big responsibilities, and have enjoyed them. For me, let there be involvement without the pressure of being a Board member. Maybe a few years down the line, I might be a member and a Director too!

Neeta Gupta: Why be an office bearer and face the flak when I can be an Ann and claim the accolades!

No‌...on a serious note what drew me to Rotary was to contribute to community service after my retirement from Ladies Circle .

There is no debate that as part of an organization, greater responsibilities need to be shouldered but there is a time for that too.

For me it's not about being a member or an office bearer that provides me with satisfaction. I am as comfortable being an Ann and contributing my bit. Being an Ann gives me equal opportunity to build relationships with fellow members as much as it would if I was a member.

Having said that, I don't rule out the possibility of becoming a member when I am ready to take on greater responsibilities.

Madhavi Naidu: I have been a Rotary Ann for 19 years now. My Rotary awareness and experience makes me feel as if I am 'almost' a Rotarian. In our Club, Rotary Anns have proven to be as active as Rotarians and I feel that I am contributing to the cause in every way without having the tag of a Rotarian.

Other than not being on the board or in the decision making process I do not feel there is much of a difference. I might sound contradictory here, but I do feel sometimes that there is a 'bias' on being 'just a Rotary Ann'. Happy as of now being one though... But who knows, I might change my mind in the coming years...

Jumana Shakir: Actually I am quite happy and content to be an Ann. It gives me the freedom to make my choice as to where and when I have to work or get involved in the Club activities and do not feel guilty when I have to refuse. As a Rotarian, your responsibilities are greater and as a member of the Board it becomes even more. Your commitment has to be unqualified.

Maybe once my children have grown up and do not need me in the crucial stages of their life, I might think of becoming a Rotarian.

There are many other spouses who would make excellent members, and we hope that more of them would make the choice to do so.

-PP Dr. Sanjiv Chugh

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SNAP SHOTS

BEST CHAIRPERSONS AWARD FOR DECEMBER

Behram Patel and Anita Chitaley for Fellowship, Madan Pande for Attendance

HEMALKASA MOMENTS

After a hard days work, some pose, Dr Shaunak gorges and Kapil dozes off

Art work‌.

Naushad's passion for kids!!!

At the mercy and feet of God

Walka t hon Fellowship on wheels, felloewship the cornerstone of Rotary

The Judges are pointing fingers

The core team beam with the Pres

PAPER COURTESY : BILT

Drs Jaspal and Indu Arneja