April 2012 - The Golden Orange

APRIL 2012 T A RY

IN

AL

RO

TE

RN A TIO N

Reach Within to Embrace Humanity

ENNDD «« E GG

«« « « HEALTH CHECK UP CAMPS FELLOWSHIP CRICKET SENIOR CITIZENS HOLI FELLOWSHIP

« ««« «« IO IO

PO EP OL M E M L A A

HEALTH CAMP

FOR PLUMBER’S ASSOCIATION

A health check up camp was organized for families of plumbers in Wadi area on March 4. Forty nine families were examined. There were 86 male members, 46 female members and 43 children. Essential medicines were also distributed free. Doctors who rendered services included Dr Inderjeet Mulik, Dr Shailendra Mundhada, Dr Samir Jahagirdar, Dr. Hazra, Dr Deepak Deshmukh, Dr Haq, Dr Akshay Daga, Dr Shende.

President Tauby Bhagwaghar and Shabbar Shakir were present at the camp,which was organized in association with Wahid Marketing, Wadi at Asha Hospital, Amrawati Road, Wadi, Nagpur.

-Dr Shailendra Mundhada President poses…. …….While Doctors work

2

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, When we say emptiness, we are not looking at it that way at all. We are talking about you being empty of yourself. That's the tragedy of a lot of people, especially in the more affluent societies.

Emptiness means, somewhere, certain boredom has set in. May be, that's because everything that can be fixed externally has been fixed. There is food, there is housing, there is clothing, and there is everything… everything actually more that you need. But still there is something wrong, and many of us just don't know what. Do you live in a world that gives too much attention to the externals of life… the kind of car you drive, the house you live in, your grades, certificates, your physical appearance, weight, colour? Do you, as a result of fixing the external, create masks….masks you are afraid to take off?. Do you hide behind a nonchalant sophisticated façade that helps you pretend you are better than others?

When we go for many of our service projects, we interact with people who are really impoverished but you will still see joyful faces, because they have hope. Tomorrow is going to be better, that hope is there. We have to learn at some point in our lives that we must fix the inside, and then work on the outside and our world would be just so much more beautiful.

As I traverse through my year with the major events and projects behind me now, I came to realize that one of our problem areas is involving members apart from the few dedicated bunch who take upon themselves to undertake most of our activities. As members there is an expectation you are supposed to fulfill. It's not a task, it's not a duty but it should be a feeling of using your club in reaching out to fulfill the objectives of the institution called “Rotary”. I may have said it before and won't hesitate to say it several times again… please don't wait to be asked, volunteer. Volunteer and involve yourself in whichever way you feel comfortable.

Rotarians in our club don't enjoy asking for money. We are intimidated by the idea of fundraising. For the size and profile of our club we must be generating more and contributing more funds. When you ask people to give and when you give, you dedicate yourself to the cause. We must know that without effective fundraising we cannot accomplish our mission.

How do you say "thank you" for sunshine or health...for clear days or gentle rains...for happiness, joy or love? You say it by sharing what you have. You say it by making the world a better place in which to live.

Yours in Rotary,

Straight from the heart....

Parenting!!!!!!

"Children, these days are difficult to handle".

"This generation is different from ours - you have to handle them carefully".

“We feared and respected our parents but cannot say the same about our children".

"Kids are no longer focused and serious about their education and lives, much different from what we were".

We hear all these and many more comparisons, whenever conversations revolve around children. Rightly so. Generally speaking, children listen to ( obey ) their parents lesser than we did.

Their needs take priority over their deeds. They do not take very kindly to restrictions or conditions imposed on them.

Have we ever put some serious thought as to why this change? While it is a fact that exposure these days is much more and so many distractions and temptations are on offer, but fundamentally it is not this that has brought about the change. The fault line lies with us - as parents.

While our parents chose the difficult path, we decided to take the easier one. They had clarity on methods of upbringing. A 'no' meant 'no'. Our tantrums, 'Bhookh hadtal', anger etc., which I am sure hurt them a lot, were met with firmness. They withstood our momentary hate rather than give in. We were focused because they were.

When we say 'no' to our children and that is met with resistance, we give in. Simply because we find it easier. We do not have the time or energy to explain or patiently withstand their following behaviour. Our socialising, work and many other urgent issues take priority.

Next time we discuss our generation vis a vis the new one in terms of childhood, do give a thought to our generation vis a vis the older one in terms of parenting......

Parenting is a difficult job!!!!!!

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

Tauby Bhagwagar.

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

COVER up....

This child will never need a tricycle..

The Board at the Club Assembly Senior Citizens at Panchavati Vridhasharm

3

MAIL BASTION - Letters To The Editor

ETTER BEST L FOR E IZ PR ISSUE EVERY

BEST Dear Editor Shabbir, R LETTE I usually flip through each issue of GO and toss it out.

While receiving the March issue, I wanted to congratulate you on another fine issue. Of particular importance to me was Tauby's Take.....and your Straight from the heart......on Friendships......

Your views in X-PRESS confirm that you have an uncanny ability to develop insights about our Club's working .

Tauby's Take....on character is such a wonderful guide to improve our new member orientation program.

In 1912 Rotary Founder Paul Harris wrote "The character of the membership of Rotary Clubs must be kept high because from the membership of Rotary Clubs - come your friends and mine.”

Those words are just as pertinent today as they were when written exactly 100 years ago.

-Sati Khanna

4

“TIME FOR ROTARY SPRING” The recently concluded election of District Governor for the Rotary year 2014-15 has once again exposed the dirty underbelly of politics that has infected the District like a deadly virus!!!

The contents of the emails recently exchanged between two past district governors (attached for easy reference) with copies marked to all & sundry in the district re- enforces the already well known fact about the blatant electioneering that goes on.

Our district already has the dubious distinction of having the DGNC disbanded because of the manipulation made by the DGNC in nominating the DGNC candidate. Probably the time has now come for Rotary International to declare Presidents rule and nominate a Governor as our district is incapable of conducting an election without indulging in nasty politics!

All stops were pulled in this no holds barred elections! Every dirty trick & more in the book was employed in full measure to influence various Club Presidents to vote for the respective faction supported candidate. Open canvassing, meeting club presidents, past presidents, past district governors & even using influence of the government machinery were some of the tactics employed! Any and everything was considered Kosher!

Dear Rtn.Taubyji, Just received your club bulletin “The Golden Orange” No.9 of March, which I found to be most interesting and informative with your inspirational message (Tauby's Take) about success of project “Udaan” and celebration of Rotary's 107th Birthday with interesting articles on several topics excellently compiled and edited with following highlights (with photographs in bewitching colours) for which my compliments to your Editor Rtn.Shabbir Shakir for an excellent job!

The excellent layout, printing, beautiful photographs and information contents your club deserves “Rotary News” Award for Best Bulletin (1112) – this year also and I look forward to hear about the Award(which it fully deserves) with great anticipation.

Congratulating once again for your excellent bulletin & with my best wishes for your remaining (11-12) & with warm personal regards to you & Mr.Naushadji & Rotary greetings to all your members from myself and Indumati, we remain, Your Friends, JAGMOHAN KATAKIA Cc to : Rtn Shabbir Shakir, Editor Congratulations for your excellent bulletin !. I am eagerly looking forward to hear from “Rotary News” about your club bulletin winning “Best Club Bulletin Award” this year too for 11-12 which it fully deserves! It was indeed an exhilarating experience for me to go through each and every issue so far. My hats off to you!

That was a well deserved, wholesome, well described vitae of our club director Nisreen by Jyoti Goenka in her column 'Get on Board.'

Like Mughal Emperor conferring on Maharajah Man Singh the title of Sawai Man Singh, I may like to call Nisreen Sawai Nisreen!

-Bobby Dear Editor, I must commend the photographer who captured the look on the cover model's face in your March 2012 issue. If I may say so it is more beautiful than Miss Universe. Also, the project Udaan is more worthwhile than many other projects undertaken by our club in my view. If a smile can bring a tear to one's eye, then this cover is it! We have so much to be grateful for. Really.

-Sohrab Kanga And while all this was going on in the open the so called custodians of our District the Council of Governors "COG" was playing the fiddle like Nero when our District 3030 burned! The inaction of the COG was on expected lines as many of the Past District Governors are the main culprits who are involved in open electioneering! Maybe it is high time this ineffectual toothless body is chastened to behave responsibly or be disbanded for good .

It is a well known fact that there are two clear factions in our district who indulge in dirty politics to ensure their backed candidates are elected as District Governor, GSE team leader or COL member!! For these senior Rotarians the four way test is dead & buried!

Many ordinary Rotarians are disgusted with this unacceptable behaviour & are of the opinion that if required District 3030 should be disbanded & all the clubs in this district can be re assigned to another properly functioning district.

It is high time we had a "Rotary Spring" to cleanse our district of these rotten apples once & for all so that we can continue the business of being ordinary dedicated Rotarians whose prime aim is to serve humanity!”

Rtn Sanjiv Chugh, Rtn. Shabbir Shakir, Rtn. Behram Patel, Rtn. Amitabh Sinha, Rtn. Sanjay Sahu

2ND FEBRUARY President Tauby called the Business Meeting to Order at sharp 6.30 pm on March 1,2012.

After the customary silent prayer, Secy Dinesh Naidu read out the Minutes of the last Business Meeting.

A Business Meeting is always interspersed with lighter moments provided by Greetings and gifts .

Members celebrating their Birthdays and Anniversaries were greeted by the President . Then followed announcements by the Secretary and Treasurer respectively. The President then informed the members about the action arising out of the Board Meeting held on 27th Feb. PDG Vishwas spoke on his Rotary related travels, most importantly about the Polio Summit.

Smita Chaubey and Nilufer Rana made their Project announcements while Parag

Paranjpe informed members about the next Attendance Report. meeting.

The Meeting was adjourned after singing of Best Chairperson Awards were awarded to : the National Anthem.

Jehangir Doongaji (Polio Plus); Rita -Khushnoor S. Chugh Bhargava, Sanjay Sethi, Neena Parikh and Divya Dass (UDAAN) ; Neeta Singh (Food Festival) and Monica BHagwagar (Fellowship).

Vikram Naidu read out Rotary Information and Raj Shah read out News you can Use. The Golden Orange was released by PP Arun Bhargava and prizes announced.

Guess Who - Jumana Shakir ; Best Letter - Atul Shah ; Quiz Nakul Malani ; Lucky Chair Prashant Rajurkar.

Yatin Malji read out the The President and Secretary keep exchanging gifts

PANEL DISCUSSION

Ladies, ladies – always pointing fingers Anything in life which is worthwhile, needs to nurtured, tended and to some extent worth fighting for. Relationships are no different.

Be it with your friends, or spouse, its a balance between submission, love, compromise, affection and more!

On the 1st of March, the ladies committee had a panel discussion on how to revive romance in our lives and how to handle delicate and complicated relationships.

Moderator with a lot of preparation was Geeta Rao, and the panelists were a cross section of all ages and occupations. On the younger side was Sapna Vastani, an architect by profession and Duraiya Akolawala, an educationist by profession. On the more experienced side were Manju Shahani and Dr Darshana.

BUSINESS MEETING

Manju is an active Rotarian, and Darshana is a gynaecologist.

Questions ranged from "show of affection" to "infidelity".

Sapna feels that the men are a pampered lot, and hence to get through to them, their egos certainly need to be pampered. Men she feels tend to equate love with respect. She is the woman of today, career oriented and of the no nonsense type.. She also feels that internal conflicts should be resolved on a transparent platform, rather than hiding your emotions.

Duraiya's emphasis was on communication and mutual understanding. She feels that when one gets to know your spouse better about his/her likes and dislikes, we should ensure that we steer away from situations which might upset the other. This telepathy, according to her can ward off many an argument.

For Manju, marriage is love and affection and this she feels can be achieved through compromise and acceptance of each others faults. What's wrong if we take the extra trouble to make our spouse happy, is her philosophy.

Dr. Darshana, was to a certain extent of the

LADIES COMMITTEE same viewpoint. Being a professional herself she has voluntarily, not let herself rise in the profession, where it might be threatening to her relationship. Not many women nowadays would do that! She feels before venting our negative emotions, one should introspect at our own insecurities. This also can lead to a healthier relationship.

A lot of input from the audience, who seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. How oftern does one get a chance to talk about relationships with our spouses.

Once again Geeta was great as the moderator and panelists spoke about experiences we all could relate to. Thank you Chairpersons for a delightful evening.

-Anita Chitaley

A packed hall

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 “There is no fear of a Fukushima like episode in India, as the nuclear plants here are at least 1000 kms away from the fault line,” said Mr.A.S.Kochar of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., while allaying fears of the audience . He was speaking on 'Nuclear Power – Clean and Green Option' at the regular meeting of Thursday, 15th March.

Explaining the large potential of nuclear power, he said that nuclear power reduces the effect on global climate; reduces the adverse effect on the eco-system; it can meet large scale demand ; it can provide electricity for generations and its safety records are better.

Mr. P.S. Rahatgaonkar gave an audio-visual presentation to drive home the benefits of nuclear power.

Nimish Sutaria introduced the Speakers.

Rotaract Earlier , to commemorate the Rotaract Week (March 12 to 18 ) and to recognize the efforts of the Rotaract Clubs , their President, Secretariy, President E#lect and Teacher-inCharge were felicitated by President Tauby.

They were also handed over their Club Charter Certificates.

Chairperson, Jatin Sampat introduced the Rotaractors of HIslop College , Ramdeobaba

College of Engg. And Management , Tirpude College, Datta Meghe Institute of Management , Tuli College of Management , Sadabai Raisoni Women's College , IGGMC and Aspire Madhavnagri.

Earlier, Shivkumar Rao announced next week's programme.

District Badminton Winners of the Dist. Badminton Tournament – Manish Bhatti , Jatin Sampath , Dinesh Naidu , Sameer Agarwal – were awarded their Trophies by President Tauby.

Sandeep Pathak proposed the vote of thanks.

-Khushnoor S.Chugh

The dais……

…….and the audience

Mr A.S.Kochar

REGULAR MEETINGS Death and Taxes are the only certainty in this world. World over medical and tax practioners are busy trying to minimize the impact of these two. A week earlier the union budget was presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee and week later the financial year closes. With this backdrop, a very informative and interesting talk 'Tips and Tricks for all – Life after Budget 2012' was delivered by renowned chartered accountant of the city CA Rajesh Loya. The meeting began with birthdays and anniversary announcement followed by project announcements.

CA Rajesh Loya who has vast experience in the field of taxation, touched upon critical aspects of union budget which could impact the finances of common man and the Indian economy. Expanding the tax base in the country is one of the primary objectives of any finance minister. To do that, FM has to simplify the tax laws and administrative procedure.

Wider tax base also reduces the average tax burden of existing assesses. Now that tax slabs have been revised, he informed that with proper tax planning, proper distribution of income amongst family members can bring effective tax rate at around 12-15% which is

6

NUCLEAR POWER – CLEAN AND GREEN OPTION

'TIPS AND TRICKS FOR ALL – LIFE AFTER BUDGET 2012' reasonable. He also gave interesting tips on how to distribute income amongst family members to reduce tax liability and that too without attracting undue attention of IT department.

Lot of hue and cry is made about the unaccounted money in India. He spoke that there are two aspects of black money.

One is generation and the other is circulation of it. The budget, according to him may not be successful in the first aspect but some steps have been taken which can curb the circulation of black money to a large extent.

He also mentioned that union budget being inflationary, could derail the monthly budget of average household.

The talk did generate lot of queries from the member's right from need of filing of income tax returns by non residents to deployment of cash. Vote of thanks was proposed by Rtn Parag Paranjpe. The meeting

was adjourned after signing of National Anthem.

- Parag Paranjpe

C A Rajesh Loya

PANEL DISCUSSION-BAND BAJAA BARAAT "I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance, A church filled with family and friends. I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, He said one that would make me his wife."…………Quote of a bride to be!!

Not any more -- such simple weddings have long been forgotten. Today its an opportunity to flaunt riches and exhibit ones wealth.

Starting with the Invitation Card, which showcases the Status, Class, Taste, Style of the family concerned, has seen many changes.

From just a simple, single page invite, today most weddings have 3-5 to even 7 inserts.

Also the invite doesn't go by itself. Generally accompanied by chocolates or gifts, could cost a few thousands, said Anula Goenka, she also spoke about how, even the brides and grooms these days are involved in choosing and designing of the card.

Reema Sial, spoke about the joys and pains of being an event manager. She executes, what you plan. You dream and she makes your dreams come true. The venue, the menu, decor - everything is professionally planned.

Not exactly a cake walk, as she has to cater to all sorts of people. But the mullah is good! Two weddings in two years!

Tough --monetarily as well as otherwise, says Dr. Sanjiv Chugh, who had both his son and daughter married within a short span of time.

Number of functions, menu, who to invite, where -- is all like a balancing act. Specially in a place like Nagpur, you can't leave out many and obviously you can't invite everybody.

Earlier weddings were simpler because people didn't have the money. Today, everyone is prospering --hence the opulence.

30 years from now, probably the simple weddings will be back as the age of the bride and groom and their parents, is constantly increasing. So the enthusiasm and energy will probably be lesser.

Sangita Parekh, who has the wedding of her daughter, just round the corner, is all for destination weddings. According to her, the first and foremost concern during a wedding is --the comfort of the guests. Destination weddings, are like a short vacation. With no business to attend to, no household responsibilities, the guests are totally and fully

involved with the wedding.

The family and friends come close and enjoy every moment of the event. The resorts take care of the comfort and with just a little planning one can have a memorable wedding.

Critical Analysis came from Nimish Sutaria, who feels, week long weddings can get boring and monotonous. What to wear - clothes as well as jewelery, brings anxiety, specially to women.

Over a 100 items on the menu, cause confusion. At the end of the day one remembers good food. Just 4 or 5 items could suffice. Venues, decorated like brides, is a sheer waste and an opulent show of money.

To sum up -- all said and done, we Nagpurians love weddings. Monotonous or not, we would give anything to be there at all the 4, 5 even 6 functions. Band chaahe jiski bhi baje, hum to baarati banke, khaayenge, peeyenge, naachenge, gaayenge.

A panel discussion, moderated by PP Shabbir Shakir was fun and entertainment personified as promised by Pres. Tauby.

-Manju Shahani

Moderator Shabbir.......

........the Panelists.......

........and the full house

GANDHE COMMERCE CLASSES 18TH JAN

CLUB ASSEMBLY

Pres Tauby happy on the mike, others pensive and Atul Shah already thinking about the next year The 3rd Club Assembly was held on March 18th at Hotel LB. President Tauby called the Club Assembly to order and welcomed the Asst. Governor, PDG's, Past Presidents, Board members and Committee Chairpersons.

Secretary Dinesh Naidu read and got confirmed the minutes of the last Club Assembly.

Then, the Directors presented their repots through their Committee Chairpersons.

Treasurer Mahendra Kamath read his report.

While summing up the Club Assembly, PP Shabbir Shakir applauded the Board for leading from the front and turning dreams into reality. The results show that planning , dedication, devotion, discipline and hard work have been put in large measure. He further

recognized the good work put in by the ladies and said they were the 'nerve centre' of all activities.

Echoing similar observations, Asst. Governor, Gulab Mahant said that the Rotary Club of Nagpur is not lacking in any task.

Secretary Dinesh Naidu proposed the vote of thanks.

-Khushnoor S. Chugh

7

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

PARAJPE ANATHALAYA

Vocational Training Worksop held on 11 March. 2012 at Parajpe Anathalaya.

A Workshop on " M a k i n g O f P e r m a n e n t RANGOLI" was arranged at Paranjpe Sadhana Paliwal and her committed gang A n a t h a l a y a a t Paranjpe school in Kharetawn Dharampeth by the Vocational Training Committee.

The workshop was held on 11th march at 4 PM. The inmates were taught how to make permanent "RANGOLI" by Sadhana Paliwal. The inmates were provided material like cutouts, colors, pearls, beads,

Gems etc. to decorate and make these innovative type of permanent Rangolis. They were also provided an insight in placement of these pieces to decorate in different patterns using the same. Each set of Rangoli they make can fetch them somewhere between Rs. 800 to 2000 and the material required would hardly cost them 20 to 30% of the total selling price.

The inmates and their caretakers were highly enthusiastic of the results and had taken a keen interest in learning the art and methodology.

Asha Joshi, Kanak Bhargava and Sharad Paliwal were present and the workshop was well attended.

-Sadhana Paliwal

The Children and their work

SENIOR CITIZENS

PANCHVATI VRIDHA ASHRAM

On Monday 19th March, our Club donated 5 desert coolers to the Panchvati Vridha Ashram. These were sponsored by Heera Mulani and Rajan Mulani. Some sarees were also given to the residents. They served us Pakore and Halwa and some ladies sang Bhajans. President Tauby, Heera Mulani, Rajan Mulani, Shakir Shabbar were present.

Dr Pushpa Bhave helped in organising the programme.

-Vanita Shukul, Anita Jain The Mulani family on the dais

The panchvati residents

PANCHPOLI SLUMS

Listening attentively….

8

...to Dr Chaoji and Nisha Thakur

An Audio Visual Talk Show was organised at Panchpoli slums on 16th March. The presentation titled “Golden Tips for Silver Age” was given by Dr. Chaoji and Nisha Thakur of Chitnavis MMR Trust. It was about old age related health problems – Prevention, Symptoms and First Aid, Do's and don't's in case of Heart Attack, Asthma Attack, Stroke, Fractures, Burns, etc.

President Tauby and Director Sheela Mundhada were also present. This presentation was repeated on 17th March in Ayodhya Nagar Slums. Ladies present listened to the doctors with great interest.

-Vanita Shukul, Anita Jain

DISTRICT SPORTS

BADMINTON TOURNAMENT

It's Jatin Sampat – 130 kgs and can fly

Manish Bhati, Jatin Sampat and Dinesh Naidu receiving the winning trophies

The annual tournament organised by the Rotary Club of Nagpur Orange City was held on the 26th of February 2012, at the YMCA Courts. In the tournament a total of 9 Entries were given by our Club. 7 in Mens Doubles and 2 in Mixed Doubles. Our Club dominated the tournament by bagging all the prizes. In fact we all the semi finalists in the Mens Doubles were from our club. The winners from our Club were as follow MENS DOUBLES – Winner – Rtn Manish Bhati & Rtn Jatin Sampat Runners Up- Rtn Sameer Agrawal and Rtn Dinesh Naidu MIXED DOUBLES – Winner – Rtn Manish Bhati & Partner Runners Up – Rtn Jatin Sampat & Partner

INDORA

The Slum Development Committee organized an eye-check camp at Indora on 4th March'12.

Dr.Rafat Khan and a team of doctors from Dr.Sanjay Jaiswal's Evista Hospital examined

EYE CHECKUP CAMPS

Dr Rafat Khan and his team more than 85 patients from Indora, Pachpaoli and Adivasi nagar, out of which around 30 were identified with cataract. These will be operated upon later this month, free of cost.

Director Shahrukh Cassad and Chairpersons Bhavna Kalra, Neerja Shukul, Ragini Sahu and Smita Chaubey worked hard to make this camp a success.

-Smita Chaubey

CATARACT DETECTION CAMP AT MOHAN NAGAR Our club has been given the grant for performing 85 IOL surgeries by Rotary District 3030. To extend this benefit to the needy, various committees viz. Slum Development Committee, Senior Citizens Committee etc are working in unison with the doctors of our club and conducting cataract detection camp at various places in and around Nagpur.

On Sunday 25th March, a mega eye checkup camp was held at Ganesh Temple, Mohan Nagar in association with 'Parivartan Citizen Forum'. The volunteers of 'Parivartan spread

the message about the camp by distributing leaflets and putting banners in the adjoining slums near Mohan Nagar. More than 150 persons lined up for their eye checkup out of which 25 patients were detected with cataract, these patients were referred to Anjani Eye Hospital for further tests and surgery.

The medical team consisted of Dr. Shweta Mokadam, Dr. Shaunak Mokadam, Shriya Mokadam and staff of Anjani Eye Hospital.

After a hard day's work the team enjoyed the fellowship & lunch at Secretary Dinesh

Naidu's residence at Mohan Nagar.

-Dinesh Naidu

9

FOUNTAIN SIZZLERS

METLOK PVT. LTD.

CRICKET FELLOWSHIP Our Annual Cricket match this year was played on the WCL ground in Seminary Hills….Its a quaint little ground surrounded by greenery. The Notice said 8am, I was wondering if people would be there on time, come, but come late – Not come at all….

8 am sharp – Uncle Bobby & Aunty Prema walk through the gates – The first thought that crosses my mind is “Oh, God the breakfast isn't here”… Frantic phone calls to the caterer & he assures me breakfast will be there in 20 min…was that 20 minutes IST (Indian stretchable Time???) “But guests are already coming” I told him….”so please hurry up” A trickle of smartly dressed players too started coming in – Sandy (Sandeep Pathak – More famous in Rotary for his dancing than for his cricket) Dr. Nikunj Pawar – full kit bag & cricketing whites, The Jhavery family, the Kanga family, The Agrawals, The Sampats, The Jetha's…Ah I told myself – we won't be short of players…we shall have a good cricket match this year.

Our Sargent at Arms Shabbar had been delegated possibly the most important task for the day…”The Biryani”…I saw him pacing up and down on his cell phone – Better go check with him if all is ok on that front…”Shabbar bhai – Biryani ready? – But its only 9am – Don't worry it will be here…I know one thing for sure – anything entrusted to Shabbar bhai & it will be done & done well…so no worries on that front…

“Breakfast is served” was the call…turn around & our Rotarian Jatin greeted me with a

full plate of Poha…this will be the true test of taste… “Good” he said & I breathed a sigh of relief…

Now on with the cricket – Captain of the Presidents XI Akash Agrawal won the toss & chose to bat first. Litesh Thakkar – was the highest scorer with a few good hits to the fence & a massive SIX….Ball lost…ok I have come prepared for that…New ball was brought in & the match continued. Not to be left behind our Captain too had a few good whacks to the fence including a six.(no ball lost this time)…

Bringing the Presidents XI total to 74 in their designated 12 over's.

The Secretaries XI led by Dr. Nikunj Pawar had to get 75 to win. Leading from the front Dr. Nikunj started his innings with a solid hit to the boundary, with good support from Tushar Singhvi. Next in was our very own Secretary Rtn. Dinesh Naidu & Sandeep Pathak, who just refused to get out & had to be called back, so others get a chance to play…Surprise player & a good one at that was our Rotary Peon Dinesh Vaidya…but all efforts proved futile for the Secretaries XI as they were all out & still in need of runs before their over's ran out – So winner for the year Akash Agrawal & his team Presidents XI. The next match I would say – the more interesting match of the day was played between the Rotary Annes & The Past Presidents of our club led by our very own PDG Vishwas. The PPs were put in to bat first, but was sadly no match to the terrific bowling attack & some nifty fielding from our Rotary Anns. Wicket after wicket, PDG Vishwas, PP.

A Colourful Collage in Black & White

10

Chandru, PP. Rajan Bhatia, PP. Sati Khanna…the list goes on…but unfortunately the score didn't…The Anns with the help of Shilpa Agrawal, Divya Bhati, Archana Jhavery, NeenaParikh & Jerry Watchmaker finished their target quite comfortably. One Past President even approached me and said “Arey yaar – the beer should have been served after the match had been completed”…well sorry sir – But the show must go on…& it did!

The Prizes were all sponsored by our President Tauby – The prize winners were The Best Batsman – Litesh Thakkar The Best Bowler – Sameer Agrawal Best Fielder – Yatharth Jhavery Man of the Match – Harjyot Kahai Best Bats Women – Archana Jhavery Best Bowler – Parth Jhavery Best Fielder – Tauby Bhagwagar Women of the Match – Divya Bhati There were two Special Prizes this year – The first for the most sporting Youngster – This one went to young Zenia Rana The second was for the most sporting Senior Player – This went to PP. Rajan Bhatia.

Needless to say there were long queues for the biryani – which was served piping hot…I don't know if it was the chilled beer but there were a lot of smiling faces around…they are happy – Im happy.

“Well done” Said our president & that was enough for me…

Regards -Parheez Gimi

CRICKET FELLOWSHIP

Tauby, Atul, Prema Aunty, Parheez and Bobby Uncle

The Gossipers………

The Watchers….

The Cricketers….

The Enjoyers………

The Eaters……..

The Winners………….

The Posers………….

11

RCC

Providing De-worming medicine and Multivitamin tonic to School Children at RCC Kheri

On the 24 of March 2012, R.C.C Kheri had organized a medical camp for the school children of there Government Primary School, for distribution of de-worming medicine and multivitamin tonic. About 140 children from all classes have been given the above mentioned medicines.

The medical camp was fixed for 9.30 A.M. and was attended by the Members mentioned above. From the R.C.C Committee many members attended the camp prominent

among them being, Mr. Murlidhar Talekar, Mr. Kishore and Mr. S.N. Mankar. The teaching staff of the Government Primary School, who are members of the R.C.C. Committee, also attended the camp.

After assembling at the panchayat office Dr. Sanjiv Chugh and Dr. Iqbal Khan, with the help of the other Rotary members present, took charge of administering the de-worming medicine to the children who were called class wise to take the medicine. The bottles of

multivitamin tonics were handed over to the children with dosage instructions.

After some further discussion with the R.C.C. Committee regarding future projects accompanied with tea and samosas the meeting was concluded at around 11.30 A.M. Members present were PP Ganesh Joshi, Secretary Dinesh Naidu, Chairperson Prateek Salve, Sunita Salve, Dr. Sanjiv Chugh and Dr. Iqbal Khan.

-Prateek Salve

Dinesh, PP Ganesh & Sunita

Meher Kanga & Jhanvi Salve

PP Dr. Sanjiv Chugh

th

HEALTH CHECK UP CAMP

12

AT NAV JEEVAN SANSTHA, GODHNI

A school health check up camp was conducted for the students of Nav Jeevan Sanstha, Godhni, Nagpur on Sunday 25th March 2012.

195 students of classes Nursery to std. X were examined. A general check up and dental check up of all the children was undertaken.

The team of doctors who examined the children included Dr Indrajit Mulik, Dr Archana Jaiswal, Dr Anil Choudhary, Dr Nisha Soni, Dr Mohan Reddy and Dr Dipak Naitam who were ably assisted by IGGMC rotaracters Dr Vineet Meghrajani, Dr Tanuj Sharma and Divya Sahni. Ms Yohanna Schank actively helped in

administering de-worming treatment to all the students. The camp was conducted very well with the co-operation and guidance of Rotarians Dr Raju and Anne Wilkinson, Aneeta Patel and School Principal Miss Victoria Simon alongwith teachers and staff of Nav Jeevan Sanstha. -Dr Anne Wilkinson

Dr. Indrajeet Mulik

Dr. Anil Chaudhary

Dr. Archana Jaiswal

HOME OF ANJALI & VINAY THAKUR

Chandru has Ashok amused

Towels and drapes!!!

TAKE ROTARY HOME They say he makes people look beautiful.

He definitely does that and his favourite model is -- who else, but his wife!

And together they look after their beautiful home.

A 101 year old, home, which has seen a lot of history.

Yes, friends, I am talking of Vinay and Anjali Thakur and their beautiful house in Dhantoli, which was the venue of our last Take Rotary Home.

With 20, old and new and not so new couples, 9th March was a fun evening like most TRHs. Chairperson Anula Goenka had planned some hilarious games. PP Shiraz Gimi, spoke about TRHs 20 years ago.

A lavish spread of starters and main courses sure added a lot of not required calories.

Rtn. Ashok Malani gave a befitting vote of thanks.

Looking forward to many more such evenings.

-Manju Shahani

The Thakurs

Ladies fall in line

Anula has learnt the trick of being photographed

The group having a gala time

13

H O Lfellowship I Mamta with her daughter

Jatin with his daughter

The singing troupe

Short to Tall....

Soaking in the festival of colours

The splendid setup

Jhangu – slurp slurp, burp burp

Padma, Sadhana and Asha

Divya and Ragini

This festival of colour was celebrated with much enthusiasm at the club Holi fellowship which was held on.Saturday 3rd march at the Papyrus factory lawns. The venue was beautifully decorated with bright lights and colourful cut outs. The cool weather was refreshing and the stage was set for a delightful musical evening to be performed by Rajesh Durugkar and his group. Most members dressed to the theme of the evening which was in all white with a splash of colour. A bright tikka and a colourful Holi topi were put on by the enthusiastic kids as a welcome to the guests. As the place filled up and the house of friendship kick-started, spirits warmed and the mood was set. Tangy & chatpata Chat like Pani Puri, Aloo tikki, Papri Chat etc was attacked vigorously by not only the children and ladies but by members too. As the live orchestra and the musical evening started the focus shifted to the other side of the vast lawns. Starting with Bollywood's all time popular Holi numbers and thereafter songs by requests the night came alive. Soon the music and singing got everyone on to their feet with some spontaneous dancing.

The Fellowship Committee had arranged prizes for the best dressed couple, best dressed lady, gent and kid. Chairpersons Anita, Behram, Monica and Director Khushnoor put in a lot of effort in making this evening enjoyable. Many thanks to Wijay & Anita Chitaley for use of their beautiful factory premises, and ofcourse to Reema Sial for all her inputs.

-Naushad Bhagwagar

The dancing damsels…….Rajan shakes a leg

Mehernosh, Sanjay, Rajiv & Kiran

14

Yatin Bhai does a Kanhaiyya…

The Gimi's watch Monica scream into the phone

15

H O Lfellowship I Mamta with her daughter

Jatin with his daughter

The singing troupe

Short to Tall....

Soaking in the festival of colours

The splendid setup

Jhangu – slurp slurp, burp burp

Padma, Sadhana and Asha

Divya and Ragini

This festival of colour was celebrated with much enthusiasm at the club Holi fellowship which was held on.Saturday 3rd march at the Papyrus factory lawns. The venue was beautifully decorated with bright lights and colourful cut outs. The cool weather was refreshing and the stage was set for a delightful musical evening to be performed by Rajesh Durugkar and his group. Most members dressed to the theme of the evening which was in all white with a splash of colour. A bright tikka and a colourful Holi topi were put on by the enthusiastic kids as a welcome to the guests. As the place filled up and the house of friendship kick-started, spirits warmed and the mood was set. Tangy & chatpata Chat like Pani Puri, Aloo tikki, Papri Chat etc was attacked vigorously by not only the children and ladies but by members too. As the live orchestra and the musical evening started the focus shifted to the other side of the vast lawns. Starting with Bollywood's all time popular Holi numbers and thereafter songs by requests the night came alive. Soon the music and singing got everyone on to their feet with some spontaneous dancing.

The Fellowship Committee had arranged prizes for the best dressed couple, best dressed lady, gent and kid. Chairpersons Anita, Behram, Monica and Director Khushnoor put in a lot of effort in making this evening enjoyable. Many thanks to Wijay & Anita Chitaley for use of their beautiful factory premises, and ofcourse to Reema Sial for all her inputs.

-Naushad Bhagwagar

The dancing damsels…….Rajan shakes a leg

Mehernosh, Sanjay, Rajiv & Kiran

14

Yatin Bhai does a Kanhaiyya…

The Gimi's watch Monica scream into the phone

15

TAKE ROTARY HOME

HOME OF USHA KALE

The Take Rotary Home came a calling near the men of course for women were wearing Manju for the great planning. It happened to home, next door at Usha Kale's house. co-ordinated colors to their dresses. This be Neeta Kale's birthday, so there was cake Frankly we just thought it as a duty to be over really broke the ice . And after a lot of giggling and done with. But believe me folks, it was and jokes we felt comfortable. There was a cutting and singing for her health and good life really a very enjoyable evening. story housie organised by Usha. The story .... lead taken by Archana Javery. All in all it Hats off to Anula for the games ... She came being on Lalu the bridegroom, brought about a early to set things in motion and it just took off . lot of laughter. The winner of this game was was a very well So many new faces, all eager to meet each Vinita Chaturvedi . spent evening!!! other. We must thank all of them for their The snacks were plenty and really yummy.

-Deepa Kale comarderie. There was a game where by all The recipes were openly exchanged and food the footwear worn by the members were too was plenty and excellent. Thank you collected and the men had to pick one of the w o m e n ' s footwear and guess the wearer. Same with the women!

It was easier for Kale, Kale and Kale The ladies watch a confident looking PP Sudhir

All stand in line waiting………

16

………..before the attack!!!

A pleasant evening!!!

-Dr. Sheela Mundhada (Director) Dr Sheela Mundhada was born in a small town called Maulasar Gaon in Rajasthan in 1964. I am sure her birth would have been celebrated with more joy if her parents had an inkling of what aname their little girl was going to make for both the families. Due to the breakout of the Indo Pak war, the family shifted to Jorhat in Assam where her grandfather started some small business. Sheela studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya till the 12th and then went to Dibrugarh to do her MBBS in Assam Medical College. Soon after, she got married to Dr Shailendra Mundhada in Nagpur, where she did her MD in medical microbiology at the Government Medical College.

As luck would have it, she was married in a broad minded family, and father-in-law Dr Ghanshyam Mundhadha had started the first blood bank in Nagpur with Matru Sewa Sangh.

He was the founder president of Rotary East, and was aided in his blood bank by Rotarians, Jaycees and Lions, as this is one venture which cannot run without the support of NGOs and social organisations. Mother-in-law Smt Pramila Mundhadha had set up the first health club & beauty parlour (Face & Figure) in Nagpur some 45 years ago.

Sheela went to Hinduja College in Bombay to study microbiology lab systems. At that time Shailendra had gone to USA for higher studies in pathology. She came back to Nagpur to set up her microbiology lab, which was not a popular field in those days, so following the advice of her in laws & Dr Ravi Wankhede she converted it into Jeevan Jyoti blood bank and has never looked back. It was started in 1997 and got accreditation from NABH. While I am writing this, the newspapers are probably printing itas it is one of the few blood banks to get this recognition, probably a first for Nagpur. Dr. Shailendras `Dhruv Pathology&

Molecular Diagonistics'at Ramdaspeth has also got accreditation from NABL, again the only one in Nagpur to do so.

Sheela has been working on this since 2009-it gives them a lot of credibility, thereby attracting business from Medical Tourism, Corporates, Government institutions, etc. It was a difficult road but the end was worth the means. Both of them have complete job satisfaction.

They have 2 sons, Anirudhh (21) studying at IGGMC &Anurag (19) studying at I.I.T. Powai.

They have been married for 23 years now but Sheela sounds more excited about the 15th anniversary of Jeevan Jyoti on 1st April 2012.Her excitement reminds me of an old hindi song from the movie `Saraswati Chandra'-Chhod de sari duniya kisi ke liye, ye munasib nahin aadmi ke liye. Pyar se bhi zaroori kayi kaam hai, pyar sab kuch nahin zindagi ke liye. You may think that what relevance does it have here, but it is the words-love is an important part of life, but not the only part of life. One has other duties to perform in this society we live in which have equal if not greater importance.

Sheela's idea of relaxation is the blood bank, Rotary & making friends, in that order. She has a full day- at the office at9 sharp & back at 5.30, after which she finishes all her housework. Her mother-in llaw is all praise for her (by the way, her MIL is good advertisement for Face &Figure; she looks smashing, both face & figure) & they share more of a mother-daughter relationship, not advertised,

GET ON BOARD

know your Board members but sensed. She relies on Sheela'sjudgement for almost everything & says that she always takes the right decision. Sheela is also not argumentative or a confrontonist, but she wins arguments using Birbal ki buddhi.

Rotary came into her life when her husband was in the US. She met a lot of Rotarians, made friends with them & generally enjoyed being involved in Rotary activities. But she realized that to really belong, she would have to become a member. So she went ahead &did so &today is on the board of directors for public Relations.

When asked if she got a chance to relive her life, what she would like to change, she promptly says, “I wish I could sing & was more outgoing�. Otherwise she is content with her present life. Friends, family & a good atmosphere at home give her a feeling of fulfilment& she feels all this is adding value to her future life; probably she will be even more content.

What a lovely thought, Sheela. One of Gods greatest & rarest gift is to give you a satisfied soul.

-Jyoti Goenka

Drs. Shailendra and Sheela

17

GET ON BOARD

know your Board members

Dashing, charming, fun loving, outgoing & full of joi de vivre',Parheez belies his 41 years - if he knocks off 10 kgs, he would still have the girls running after him. But funny as he is, he says my grand mom was disappointed when I was born! It seems that as she already had 3 sons, she was hoping for a granddaughter. Well, being the son of Shiraz & Bacchii Gimi, I suppose good looks are his legacy, and he is hell bent on continuing it by marrying Jasmine (who hails from Dahanu) and is fabulous looking herself.

Parheez was born in Bombay and then shifted to Nagpur in 1973 as Shiraz's Company EXIDE transferred him to Nagpur. His school days at Bishop CottonSchool and SFS after the 7th standard were fun filled with a lot of friends and cousins. He did his B.Com from Hislop College. He always nurtured a passion for computers and did various courses at NIIT, Megabyte & CCIT. Bacchii hails from the famous Wadia family (jewellers) of Bombay and soon his Mamas called him to work with them. They had started assembling jewellery making machines and were exporting to all the top jewellery houses abroad. He worked there for 4 years but his heart was not in it – it was in the PC, so he left to join a computer firm called Network Computers. The best part was that the owner was actually a guy who hada large number of “aata chakkis” but since Parheez was well paid, he didn't care.

He was in Bombay all of 7 years, and came to Nagpur on a holiday & lost his head –you see, he met Jasmine. She too was in Nagpur on some mission of learning pottery with a friend, and they met at a new year's party. Well, one thing leads to another, and soon they were married in 98. After marriage they stayed in

18

-PARHEEZ GIMI (Director) Bombay for some time as Jasmine was doing her beauticians course & Parheez was working. But they found the commuting too difficult and decided to return to Nagpur, where Parheez took up a job at Atul Shah's APTECH. Subsequently he branched out on his own - started making assembled computers but could not compete as soon as the branded ones flooded the market.

He then found fancy in real estate. Yes, I know you are fed up with his changing interests, but he is not – still at it. He sold big chunks of land in Nagpur to bigger buyers from Bombay, but that business also got saturated.

PARHEEZ WITH JASMINE AND SON YOHAAN Now he aggregates land and sells it. He is kind of a trouble shooter for land deals, for instance if there is especially in awe of the women, who he feels any disputed land & an interested buyer, he work harder than the men. first settles the dispute and then sells it. In the His idea of relaxation is his bike – a bullet 500 process he has got well connected with which he loves to zoom off on and alsoplaying movers & shakers and is at present working on with his son Yohaan, who is now 9 and at something big in Hyderabad & Pune. He is Centre Point school. He enjoys going out on also into coal trading mostly in Indonesia & dinners with friends and as a Parsi of course – Andhra.

He loves Food!

And after all this, he still finds time for Rotary. If given a chance to change his life, well he is Well, it was natural for him – 3 generations of happy enough but it would be great to be born Rotarians. His grandfather was a charter as Cyrus Pallanji. Ha – who would not want to member of the club and fathers a past be in his place? president. He enjoys Rotary, admires projects All in all, the GIMIs are wonderful, beautiful like Udaan, Bhamragarh, but would not like to people, both inside & out. What a loveable be the president. He is happy doing hi social work, gets tremendous satisfaction from it and family.

-Jyoti Goenka is full of praise for fellow Rotarians and

POLIO UPDATE

INDIA NO MORE A POLIO-ENDEMIC COUNTRY February 25, 2012 was a historic day for India and for Rotarians in India. It was also a great day for all Rotarians in the world. On that day, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Mr. Gulam Nabi Azad read out the letter from WHO informing that India has been removed from the list of polioendemic countries. The wild poliovirus had been totally eliminated from the environment.

The disease had paralysed thousands of children every year for several decades.

The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was the chief guest on that occasion, said that real credit should go to the 23 lakh volunteers who repeatedly vaccinated the children year after year even in the most remote areas. He said, "We should also provide nutritious food, safe drinking water, proper sanitation and education in addition to universal access to safe vaccines.

For Past RI President Rajendra K. Saboo this was a day that he had been working for many years. Like him, all the senior leaders of Rotary in India who have been tirelessly working for polio eradication, were able to rejoice at the singular achievement. The INPPC team led by PDG Deepak Kapur were a happy lot. RI President Kalyan Banerjee had spent two New Years Day in the polio affected areas earlier and was overwhelmed by the fact that during his year of service as the President, his motherland has been able to be polio-free for one full year.

TRF Chair Bill Boyd, IPPC Chair Bob Scott and a host of other Rotarians from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria and Afghanistan lauded the spec tacular achievement of India. The Government of India has put in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan across the country. Under this plan, there will be zero tolerance for any new polio case and such a case will be declared as public health

emergency. To prevent importation of the virus, special booths have been established on the Wagah border and the Attari train station in Punjab and in the Munabao railway station in Rajasthan. This will ensure that all children under the age of five coming across the border are given the polio drops.

Emphasising the need for a better publicprivate partnership in the delivery of healthcare system, the Prime Minister said that we should accelerate our efforts to achieve the polio-free status at the end of the next two years.

It is said, "A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer." Children in India were asking us questions why they were exposed to the risk of polio when most of the world was polio-free. They wanted to know when the Rotarians would fulfill their promise to the children of this world. We did not have an answer then. Now, we can assure them that they are in a safe polio-free India. But this

requires two more years of very stringent vigilance in every nook and corner of India.

Rotarians around the world who have supported us so far expect this from us.

Parents don't need government to raise their kids. That's their job. It is the government's job to protect their children from diseases they may not want their kids exposed to. In this scenario, it is the job of Rotarians to ensure that this happens.

-Ashok Mahajan Trustee, The Rotary Foundation Director, Rotary International 2007–2009 Member, International PolioPlus Committee

NEWS YOU CAN USE Women who have just finished ovulating are better at detecting snakes than at other times of their menstrual cycle, according to an unusual study that sheds light on inbuilt reflexes for survival.

A fully-grown man was mugged by a fox, which cornered him and forced him into handing over his dinner.The wily foxfollowed him into an alleyway.There the aggressive animal leapt at him, circling him like prey and trying to snatch his shopping bag.Eventuallyhe resorted to offering the animal his loaf of garlic bread and

the fox scampered off.

Volunteers given the beta-blocker, Propranololused to treat chest pains and lower heart rates, scored lower on a standard psychological test of "implicit" racist attitudes.They appeared to be less racially prejudiced at a subconscious level than another group treated with a "dummy" placebo pill. Scientists believe the discovery can be explained by the fact that racism is fundamentally founded on fear

By even the most conservative estimates airbags have saved thousands of lives since the auto industry began phasing them into widespread use two decades ago.

And now, Volvo is betting it can also save pedestrian lives with the world's first external airbag.The new system is one of the many high-tech safety features being introduced on the Swedish maker's new V40 wagon.

-Anmol Badjatia

19

OTHER'S MATTER Other Clubs in the Dist

20

I visited Rotary Club of Guntur, RID 3150, Andhra Pradesh, from January 27th to 30th, 2012. This club was chartered in 1943 and has 125 members. Our club was part of the then RI District 315 during seventies and eighties along with Guntur, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada and Hyderabad.

In fact, our PDG V.(Bobby) Srinivas was District Governor 315 in 1971-72.

I met senior members in Guntur Club, who fondly remembered Bobby, Late C.N.Chari, V.G.Ketkar, Marawar, Bodhankar brothers from our club and Late Nilubhau Choudhary, KP Sahasrabudhey, Patwardhan from Nagpur South.They also mentioned gala felicitation function in honour of then RI Director and Treasurer Eduljee in District 315 at Hyderabad in 1975-76. During my visit I met four PDGs from Guntur-Umamaheshwar Rao( 73-74), Jawaharlal Maddi(81-82, whose father Sudarshan Maddi was also PDG and Member of Parliament), Dr Ravi Vadlamani(01-02) and his wife Rajyalakshmi Vadlamani in 1011',DGN Chi Hari Krishna and 07-08 DG Dr Vijendra Rao Tamanamu from Kothagudem.

RID 3150 broadly cover 3 regions - Telangana, Hyderabad and part of coastal Andhra. These 3 regions in have struck an understanding to have DGs from each region in rotation , and DG nominations have been unanimous year after year in last decade. No wonder District 3150 enjoys peace and harmony by and large.

RC of Guntur is a vibrant club with dedicated and resourceful members, leaders in their vocations. Meetings are conducted in Telugu and the club enjoys tremendous goodwill among community leaders, bureaucracy , media and people at large. In last 12 years Guntur club has collaborated with 145 Rotary clubs from North and South America, Europe, Australia and other national and international NGOs and rendered phenomenal humanitarian service worth more than Rs 35 crores.

RID 3150 has 94 clubs and 3400 members, including 250 lady members. They are big contributors to TRF. In 2010 -11, 3150 raised a whopping USD 750,000/- and missed the top rank by a whisker to 3140, Mumbai, in Indian sub continent in TRF contributions. The District has a tradition of successfully conducting numerous humanitarian grant projects over the years in area of literacy, health care, welfare,water and sanitation and poverty alleviation. 3150 also rendered phenomenal service through numerous projects to help rehabilitate the Psunami victims in 2004.

I was in Guntur as The Rotary Foundation Cadre Technical Adviser and inspected 3H Grant 1243 as Post project Monitor. TH 1243 ,worth approx Rs 1.4 crores was initiated by

R.C. OF GUNTUR, RID 3150, A.P. THE MATCHING GRANTS COLLOSSUS

Guntur club at the outset of new millennium, and a Minister of AP from the region. Both with PDG Dr Ravi Vadlamani as Primary leaders were overwhelmed by Rotary's contact, and collaboration from a Rotary club initiative and efforts to help poor and needy in in Brazil.The project started in 2003 and was a big way. completed in 2009. Ravi, ( son of PDG Major collaborators and partners in service in Umamaheshwar Rao) is a highly successful this grant and some other TRF MGs are an Chartered Accountant heading a firm with 16 NGO called 'ASSIST'. Initiated in 1985, CAs and branch offices outside Andhra as ASSIST has a huge set up in several villages well. His passion is genuine community near Chilakauripet. They have been rendering service- no wonder- he was conferred yeoman service for the poor and needy in honorary Doctorate in Social Service by various fields. ASSIST has an outlay of more Nagarjuna University, Guntur for his selfless than Rs 10. crores every year and is supported work. His wife PDG Dr Rajyalakshmi is a by NGOs from Europe, USA, Australia, NZ etc. municipal Councillor at Guntur. Over the My batch mate DG in the Centennial year years, Guntur club has accomplished 2004-05 Jasti Ranga Rao is the Chairman of numerous matching grant projects worth ASSIST. Youths from Europe work as Crores of Rupees, and also helped nearby v o l u n t e e r s a n d s t a y a t A S S I S T clubs like Chilakaluripet, Pidugurala and establishments, who also have a trained staff others in Prakasam and Guntur districts. of 100 working for the numerous community TH 1243, is a mammoth Health-Hunger- development projects in the areas of water, Humanity grant project includes sensitization hygiene, literacy, health care etc. of people at large in 80 villages in Guntur and Guntur belt is rich in Cotton, chilies and has Prakasam Districts for health, hygiene, abundant Granite hills. Drinking water is a sanitation and safe drinking water by problem... you have to have 300-400 ft deep construction of 1630 Toilets and 123 bore bore wells. Though near the gigantic river wells. Each toilet is a pucca structure with Krishna basin, the ground is rocky and does cement blocks walls, cement plaster and floor, not allow rain water to percolate. Excess Shahabad stone roof, Galvanized door shutter Fluoride content in water is also a problem. with RCC frame, pottery,septic tank, etc. Coastal Andhra backdrop is picturesque with Each one is numbered and has Rotary wheel coconut trees, hills and numerous ancient and TH 1243 prominently displayed on the Shiva temples standing with glory and door. The 123 bore wells have hand pumps, splendor. Thanks to PDG Ravi Vadlamani, I concrete platforms and granite plaques could have elaborate pooja at Amaravathi mentioning the number, date of inauguration Shiva temple (one of the five sacred and Rotary wheel and 3H details. I inspected Pancharamams)on the banks of river Krishna, 120 toilets and 25 bore wells , some and Kotappakonda Shiv mandir in eastern prearranged visits and some randomly. The ghat hills. villages are spread over a radius of 150 KMs On 29th evening, I addressed RC of Guntur. I and occupied by very poor farm labour. I was presented them copies of 'The Golden welcomed, cheered and greeted warmly by Orange' and our Club flag. The hosts had hundreds of beneficiaries & village Sarpanchs words of great appreciation for our magazine who time and again profusely thanked Rotary and requested me for inclusion in our mailing for the service rendered. Never before in my list! Guntur club is lead by Dr Ramana life was I garlanded so many times by so many Yashaswi, a leading orthopedic surgeon. This people in two days! Children and elders- men year the club raised Rs Ten lakhs for TRF's and women flocked,showered rose and Polio challenge grant by selling 1 lakh marigold petals and touched my feet. I was coupons of Rs 10/- each to Guntur residents, happy, yet embarrassed by this expression in a major public relations initiative. I also met of gratitude! I also met representatives from many more dedicated Rotarians such as PPs media- both print and electronic, in a press Anil Harnathka and Murthy , the backbones of conference and all of them paid glowing the club. Kudos to RC of Guntur and PDG Dr tributes to Rotary and TRF for TH 1243. The Ravi Vadlamani! hosts also set up my meeting with local MLA - PDG Vishwas Sahasrabhojanee

A city called Paris Paris ………………….the magnificent, picturesque, beautiful, romantic, gorgeous city. It's a city which is hard to describe in one word because of its magnificence and beauty! French culture, history, wine and fashion are legendry. The moment anyone mentions Paris, the first image is that of extreme Style and Culture.

I don't know what happens to the Parisians when you address them in English. Actually I do know but I have not been able to understand their extreme rudeness. As if it's our fault that we have not been born French speaking individuals. History bears testimony to the great English – French divide. Yet a lot of alliances have taken place between the two countries. The French hate answering, if addressed in English.

They ignore you. I never believed their rudeness till I experienced it myself.

Though the French have mellowed down over the years but that haughtiness still remains! Their haughtiness is their USP. Their style quotient immediately makes you look frumpy, in comparison.

The beauty of Paris is all around you the moment you land at the airport. The people around you are all stylishly dressed. There is a certain attitude in Parisians which is so distinct, that it's almost tangible! The city is extremely clean, the roads are wide and the tunnels mysterious. Roadside cafes, which are the characteristics of this city, are scattered all around the place. French love wining and dining at leisure. Their cuisine is world famous and their wines have a cult status.

Eiffel Tower is a must destination. Paris is synonymous with this structure of metal, nuts and bolts. When you look it up close, its magnificence fascinates you, not because it's beautiful but because of its conceptualized uniqueness of metal art. The tower has a superb restaurant midway, for which reservations are done several days in

advance. The tower is lit in a particular color lights the entire year. The color changes every New Year and remains like that for the entire year. Actually the best way to get a good look of the Eiffel is from a place called Trocaderro.

Its a few meters away and one can spend hours there, just gazing at it.

The famous Louvre museum houses the most famous works of world renowned artists. The famous Mona Lisa has a place of pride here, in the central atrium. A part of the Louvre, made in the shape of a glass cone, is a wonderful architectural wonder. Your next stop at site seeing should be Notre Dam. Its arches and huge bell, all magical. The Notre Dam stands

very close to the river Seine. A river cruise in the Seine is a great experience, especially at night. It takes you through all the ancient bridges and one can see most of the famous monuments along side lit like jewels.

Rue de Honre, St Germaine, Avenue Montagne, Champs-Elysees are some of the best areas to see. It's advisable to stay somewhere close to these areas. ChampsElysees is basically an imposing Arch at the cross section of six roads. All these roads lead to various famous streets.

The names of above mentioned streets and areas are very deceptive when it comes to

TRAVEL LOG pronouncing them. Don't even try to pronounce as it is spelt! Writing and pronouncing are considered two diverse practices in French. While asking the taxi driver to take you to a particular place, you are often met with a blank stare! Which means that such a place does not exist? But of course, it comes into existence the moment you write down the spelling!

A visit to the Versailles is a must. It's a day trip from Paris and an experience of a lifetime. The grandeur and grounds of the palace is breathtaking. Going on trip of a wine trail is another way of experiencing the countryside and wine making procedure.

Night life rocks in Paris. Be it cafes, bars, night-clubs or shows at the famous Moulin Rouge or The Lidos. The sheer experience of watching the performance at these cult theatres is an experience never to be forgotten. The show, accompanied by flowing champagne, is truly mind-blowing.

Avenue Montagne, houses the most iconic fashion houses. Just a walk down the street is enough to transcend you to a dream world. Shopping there happens in dreams! St. Germaine is a super area to shop, with its quaint and stylish boutiques. It's a tourist's dream world, littered with superb restaurants. Here international brands and cafes, co-exist with high class restaurants and kitsch.

Paris is a one stop destination. I can write umpteenth number of pages and I still will not be able to do justice to it's sheer romance. If not more, at least a week is needed to see Paris properly! It will come handy if you learn greetings and Thank you in French. May be you'll be spared the stare!!

-Amita Behal

21

FREEDOM(AIN) For the children

Hi Freedomanians, Thanks for calling in and letting me know how you fared in the exams. My good wishes and prayers still continue with those who are half way through the exams and those who haven't started yet. It feels great to relate with youngsters more than half my age…….hey, you guys sure do make me feel good and young.

As we know, this time of year is rather a confusing one for those opting for a career.

Choosing the right career is very important.

An individual spends a lot of time working, hence choice of the right career gives personal and professional satisfaction. In case you are not sure what you want to do, keep your eyes and ears open and talk to friends, teachers or a senior whose judgement

you trust – is one way of overcoming your dilemma. Reading about the subject or browsing the internet are very good options.

Exploring your options, knowing what you want to do and then doing it is the mantra for success. This morning a Freedomian shared his anxiety with me – He had opted for a college which was well known but, he was also aware that the college was not well equipped(staff) for the particular subject which he was vying for……..so he was not sure what was important college or subject. If one is sure of his choice of subject then definitely it should be subject over college. Like they say, there are many ways to skin a cat….and once you get into a college, it is up to you to extract the maximum out of it. Any place will give you as much as you want out of it. So do not be lured by the status of the colleges but, by the quality of the subjects they have, to offer you.

BOBBY'S BUBBLES Harley biker is visiting the zoo in Calgary, Alberta, Canada when he sees a little girl leaning into the bars of the lion's cage.

Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside, under the gaze of her screaming parents.

The biker without hesitation runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.

Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

PROGENETICS Genesis of Projects March 8 is celebrated world over as international women's day. This day salutes women for the struggle and ardous journey they have gone through to bring them at par with men. I personally don't think there should be any such day, because it reminds women that at some point they still need to prove their mettle.

We are strong, independent and courageous.

Then why the special day?

Keeping the women's day in mind, some ten years ago, the men of our Club felt that there

22

DID YOU KNOW April starts on the same day of the week as July every year and January in every leap year.

April ends on the same day of the week as December every year.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Here are some new definitions provided by a bunch of 12th Std. students: Father A banker provided by nature Compromise The art of slicing a cake in such a way that everyone thinks he received the largest slice Conference The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Conference room a place where everyone talks and no one listens and later everyone disagrees with what was said.

Classic novel a book which people often praise but seldom read. -Sangeeta Chhabra

MEDIA REPORTING...ENJOY!!

A CBC reporter has watched the whole event.

The reporter addressing the biker says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I've seen a man do in my whole life.’

The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt right.’

The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?’

The biker replies, 'I'm a soldier in the Canadian military and a Conservative.'

The journalist leaves.

The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page: C A N A D I A N S O L D I E R A S S A U LT S AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH. That pretty much sums up the approach to the news liberals these days.

-Bobby Srinivas

LADIES NITE should be a day, when theAanns of the Club should be pampered and acknowledged for the work they do. Kumar Kale, during Chandru Shahani's term came up with the idea of having one fellowship dedicated to the Anns of our Club. Chandru gladly agreed, and with Ajay Sood as the fellowship chairperson that year, the concept of Ladies Nite took shape.

In those days, our budgets were nominal, so the first Ladies Nite was held at Aashirwad Lawns near BVM School. Men sang songs, did skits and generally put up a show, meant

purely for the entertainment of the ladies. The idea was loved by all, and since then, each year, we celebrate Ladies Nite with just as much gusto (if not more) as the Charter nite.

Our President has set the standard to show the dedication and hard work that the women of this club are known for. So it's only right that Ladies Nite is celebrated in our Club. To the men of our Club, we thank you for acknowledging our involvement in this club of ours. Keep up the celebrations!

-Anita Chitaley

ALL BOOKED

"MAFIA QUEENS OF MUMBAI" Of late, for every 1 book of fiction that I read--I compensate by reading about 3 books of nonfiction. Looks like the DNA of my early training as a journalist is taking precedence over the feature writer I turned into years ago.

The book this month is the story of the "Mafia Queens of Mumbai".

Written by Hussain Zaidi a veteran journalist and Jane Borges, these are facts, some documented, some garnered through interviews directly and indirectly, and some corroborated through police records.

There are 13 stories in this book about simple women who inexplicably metamorphosed into leading movers and shakers in a brutal underworld dominated by the likes of Dawood Ibrahim, Karim Lala and Varadharajan Mudaliar.

From the story of the arrested Lallan Bhabhi, who when allowed her one phone call,- right under the cops noses, tells her younger brother on the other end of the line,that since she would not be returning that night,they should shift their kitchen elsewhere. Turns out, she was the queen of adulteration ,and her 'kitchen', was the fresh stock of adulterated petrol that she didnt want to lose!

According to the author, its much easier to be a Dawood Ibrahim than a Jenabai Daruwali. If you sift through the gangs of Chhota Ranjan and Chhota Shakil, you may find clones galore, but none as committed,or focussed as Sapna didi (aka Ashraf), who dared to stand up against Dawood and inflicted huge losses

to him before been being put to a horrible death by his goons.

Then there is the tale of Gangu Kathiawadi.... from a good home,sold off as a young bride by her own husband to a brothel for 500 rupees. Even had she managed to escape, there is no question of her returning home to shame her parents. So she stays on, eventually to become not merely a madam but the Matriarch of Kamathipura in Mumbai.

Because she stood up for her girls --against men,some violent, some defaulters in money,some brutal, the women of that area began revering her. There is a an incident that is perhaps the catalyst in her life. During her period as a sex worker, she is assaulted and brutalised by a pathan. When her own madam and others are unable to protect her from his bestiality, she decided to take matters into her own hands.Enquiries reveal that he works for Karim Lala. She waits outside a mosque for Lala to emerge after his friday prayers and somehow convinces him to help her.

The next time the pathan calls on her , Karim lala and his henchmen beat the pathan to pulp, and then Lala announces to the shocked observers:- from this day on, Gangubai is his rakhi sister. And so begins her power base due to the protection. However,the fame and gratitude SHE gets from all the Kamathipur girls for standing up for Their rights -is Gangubai's own achievement. Statues and portraits of Gangubai graced every brothel

and she will always known as the protectress of Kamathipura.

From Mahalaxmi papamani-the wealthiest drug baroness, to Jena Bai --who was so powerful that no less than Haji Mastaan turned to her for help, to tales of Molls -as in Monica Bedi, Abu Salems keep, and wives of Hindu dons, this book details them all.

To make dry facts more readable, Zaidi has woven the events into stories, fleshing them out ,infusing life and giving them background and depth. There is a foreword by Vishal Bharadwaj which invites you to dive into the book with no further delay, and what a rewarding experience it has turned out to be.

-Vindhya Sanjana

SHIRAZSPEAK

“NOTHING IN PARTICULAR” When I agreed rather reluctantly to take on the task of writing every month for the Golden Orange I never realized what I was going in for, but I had agreed, & I must confess, I did enjoy writing the last eight articles on very diverse subjects from “Destiny's Child” (Tauby) to Jagjit Singh, from Masala Dosas to “Udaan”, from the responsibility of “Being Parsi” to joys of “Grand fatherhood”. But today I'm stumped for a subject. The thoughts have just stopped flowing and like all great authors who once in a while suffer from “Writers block”, I too seem to be suffering from the same malady, not that I'm a great author !

The editor of the GO, Shabbir Shakir a.k.a. the “Great Dictator” has been sending SMS after SMS, first very polite and then as his deadline to publish gets closer, rather harsh and then finally, when he just can't wait and is about to burst into tears, I would suddenly be inspired and would rattle off my piece & send it to him JIT (just in time, as the Japanese would say!) and all would be well.

book review

But this time I have exceeded the dead line & Shabbir is just about losing his cool and I understand from close friends he has stopped eating and every time someone mentions anything even remotely related to the GO, he has a tendency to jump and mutters under his breath about how, if he were 100 Kgs heavier, he was going to knock my block off.

So 'bye for now folks got to rush and e-mail this to him, fast.

-PP Shiraz Gimi.

NAGPUR HEARING AIDS CENTRE - 9823074112

23

X-FACTOR

BALANCE IN LIFE

THE TOTAL WAY is the way that gives balance to life .

Balance is cultivated . It is not something that is in you . It comes out of experience of all dimensions of life . Balance is something that HAPPENS and not brought . The man who knows not how to cry cannot savor whole hearted laughter either . By tasting both will come a balance and with it comes grace and beauty .

Modern times lay a lot of stress on balance in life . given the fact that our exposure and ambition is in opposing sides with time. Now ,Living a balanced life is about integrating those components of your life that are truly important to you and realizing that sometimes you need to make choices about what has to

come first. Making choices is powerful and allows you to live a life that's aligned with what you value. By choosing what comes first, sometimes there are sacrifices. But living a balanced life doesn't require you to give 100 percent of yourself 100 percent of the time.

There will be times when personal/family life and work collide but by knowing what's most important to you and making choices based on this criterion, you'll be better able to balance your decisions and feel whole. When you are ready to bring balance to your everyday life, follow these tips: 1. Focus on your priorities. Concentrate your time and energy on your personal and professional priorities. Be willing to say "no" to everything else. Identify your values and align

BLOOD DONATION CAMPS The blood donation camp at MBA college of Raisoni group at Madhav Nagari took place on 24th where 29 people donated blood. The Campus cooordinator Ms. Sophia Anzari tried

your life around what's truly most important to you.

2. Get organized. Create a structured plan each day rather than reacting to whatever comes up.

3. Be flexible.. Forgive yourself when things don't get done. Stop striving for perfection and allow for more reasonable standards.

4. Create daily routines. Instill healthy habits into your daily life. Find ways to relax, relieve tension, and minimize stress.

5. Simplify your life. Begin eliminating things from your life that really aren't important to you.

Balancing needs to have one important fact at the back of your mind always, and that is …this too will pass .

-Deepali Kale

MBA COLLEGE OF RAISONI GROUP

to motivate students. They were celebrating CSR day and had also organised other activities like awareness on saving energy and fuel. Overall the camp was very sucessful.

Present amongst the Rotarians were Dr. Sheela S. Mundhada and Prashant Rajurkar.

-Prashant Rajurkar

TH

DMSR – TIRPUDE COLLEGE: 20 MARCH 2012 This camp arranged at DMSR – Tirpude College was the second one during this Rotary year, the first being conducted during installation of the Rotaract Club at this college.

The auditorium was the venue for this purpose. Contrary to expectations, the MBA student turnout and the resultant donations to this camp were very low. The shadow of

COMMUNITY SERVICE Community Welfare Project It was on the 16th of March, that an Ultraviolet Phototherapy unit for New born babies was donated by the Mulani family in memory of their late mother at the Paediatric ward of the Matru Sewa Sangh This unit is mainly used for new born babies suffering from infantile jaundice. This gesture on the part of Rotary and the Mulani's was highly appreciated by the staff of Matru Sewa Sangh. Dr. Ingole, the Paediatrician in charge gave a floral welcome to the Mulani family members and other Rotarians present.

Dr. Mrs.Pushpa Bhave who is actively involved with MSS also took us around the very

24

impending examinations seems to have cast its spell and students proved to be an elusive lot.

The camp began at 11.00 AM and closed at about 2.30 PM. The final collection of blood stood at 19 units at the end. The camp was attended by President Tauby Bhagwagar, Dr. Sheela Mundada and Prashant Rajurkar.

- Prashant Rajurkar

MATRU SEVA SANGH impressive new “Cancer Detection Centre” for women, which would be openingshortly. They have requested Rotarians to come forth and donate generously towards this new Cancer detection unit.

Present on this occasion were Pres. Tauby, Sharukh Cassad, Atul Shah, Hira and Jasu Mulani, Rajan and Jaya Mulani, Bharat Goenka and Hemant Jaitha -Shahrukh Cassad

Ultraviolet Phototherapy unit

The Rotary team with the Mulanis

ROTARY RATTLE

for@technicallychallenged.com Learn Something New

PREDICTING THE FUTURE Take a minute to remember how different life was in 1992. If you wanted to call a friend you would have to use a landline. Why? Because mobile technology was still many years away from hitting the mainstream. If you wanted to send a written message to relatives overseas you would have to use the post office. It will be quite a while before domain names like hotmail become synonymous with email technology. So much has changed in the last 20 years, but how will the world be different in 2020?

You can guarantee that the most innovative and revolutionary changes will take place in the digital sector. So what will the internet look like in 2020?

1. More Centralised We can see this trend developing at the present moment.

Facebook, Google and Microsoft are becoming incredibly powerful on the internet.

Every few months we hear the same story – Microsoft has bought Skype, Google has acquired YouTube; and there is little sign of these digital giants slowing down.

2. More Open Source Development In response to the growing influence of the big digital firms, open source technology is expected to rapidly increase as small-time developers become more and more sophisticated. Expect to see hundreds of high quality open source software suites on the market by 2020.

3. The Internet Will Be Faster and Cheaper Expect to see broadband rates decrease in the near future. Web hosting and dedicated servers will be much cheaper as well.

4. Writing and Reading On a more personal level, the influence of the internet by 2020 is expected to dramatically change the way we read and write. Gone are the days of lengthy essay-like blog entries – a more likely scenario is that shorthand will begin to dominate the online sphere. Twitter users are very familiar with this phenomenon.

5. Lack of Online Anonymity Because of the growing influence of hackers and websites like Wikileaks, it is likely that by 2020 the internet will be much more closely monitored.

6. More Wired Applications By 2020, it is expected that almost every device will be wired to the internet – from microwaves to sofas. Furthermore, more applications will be specifically designed to be net friendly.

7. Personal ID Number With growing security concerns regarding online behavior, many security analysts predict that by 2020 some nations will have implemented a personal ID number for online users.

8. Mobile Internet Mobile internet technology is very new, but many feel that by 2020 it will be the most popular way to browse the web. Many sites will be specifically catered towards mobile devices.

9. More Processes Will Move Online Although you can do your grocery shopping online, many people still prefer to buy their groceries in person. This is expected to change by 2020, with more internet savvy customers choosing to utilize online processes.

10. Cloud Computing Cloud computing has only just hit the mainstream with the recent release of Apple's iCloud. By 2020 you can expect that millions of internet users will store all of their non-vital information on the cloud.

The future is never easy to predict, but current trends are all pointing to a 2020 that is more connected but more centralized.

-Sohrab Kanga

Hello Friends, Rtn. Ajay Sancheti has done Rotary, nay the city proud by getting into the Rajya Sabha, unopposed.

Dr.Sameer Jahgirdar, was invited for an International Observer Program tp the Cleveland Clinic, which is the 4th largest in the US. He could observe deliberations on Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery.

Urvashi Rajiv Yashroy got an award for Paper Presentation in an International Conference , organised in association with Lawrence Technical University, USA. Her paper was titled 'Adventure Tourism as Value Addition to Hospitality Marketing'. She also received an award titled 'Glory of Education Excellence' from the International Institute of Education and Management, New Delhi ,earlier.

Rita Bhargava has been installed as President of the Indian Diatetics Association.

Adnaan, son of Nisreen Maimoon has bagged a job with Airbus -Bangaluru.

After a degree in Mech. Engineering from IIT Guhati, he did his Internship in France and gained know how in Airbus Mechanics.

Meenakshi Narayanan has joined the Grand moms band wagon. Her daughter Anuradha, has been blessed with a baby girl.

Shailaja and Raghav Sharma, have got their son, Shantanu engaged to city girl, Shruti Khanna.

Many many Congratulations to all of you!!

Friends, Rtn. Dr. Smita Deshmukh, lost her father in law. May Dr. Ravi and the entire Deshmukh family, derive the strength to bear the loss.

Kanchan Dinesh Naidu, had a fall and fractured her foot badly. Wish you a speedy recovery Kanchan!

Friends, guess what follows the wedding season???

Guessed it Right !

The stork has visited a lot of Rotary homes.

More about that next month.

Ciao,

-Manju Shahani

DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL PACKAGES 09890387018

25

LET'S PLAY GAMES

IT'S A DATE...

BIRTHDAYS 15 April to 14 May APRIL Rahul Sharma Neelesh Agrawal Shamsuddin Rana Atul Gupta Prashant Rathi (Bunty) Dr. Shobha Daga Dr. Iqbal Khan Behram Patel Cyrus Watchmaker Dr. Raju Wilkinson Rana Tuli Dr. Smita Harkare Mohabat Singh Tuli Aarti Kalode Dr. Vandana Hazra Sonal Ajmera Sapna Vastani Akhtar Parvez Maimoon Vandana Daga Durriya Akolawal Dinesh Chhabra Dilshad Doongaji Romal Panchmatia

15 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 28

Sarang Upganlawar Varsha Jaiswal Dr. Subhadha Gade Dr. Nandini Babhulkar Parul Garodia Vipul Gupta M AY Ruchi Chaudhary Sheela K. Singhee Sushmita Bhowmick Pallavi Joshi Inderjit Singh Ajay Sharma Meena Malji Abdul Husain Jasbir Singh Arora Kapil Bahri Nitin Deveshwar

28 28 29 30 30 30

Sangeeta Grover Manu Seth Mrinalini Marawar Arvinder Vij

12 14 14 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 LAST MONTHS QUIZ ARE....

2 2 2 4 6 7 8 8 12 12 12

ANNIVERSARY 15 April to 14 May APRIL

M AY

Alok & Anula Goenka

15 Sanjay & Sandhya Agrawa

Sanjay & Richa Sethi

16 Devendra & Sangita Parekh 2

Dr.Kishore & Bharti Taori

19 Jugalkishor & Sarita Agrawal 5

Nikhil & Anju Bansal

19 Yashpal & Parveen Seth

6

Vivek & Sheetal Gupta

21 Nakul & Nilima Malani

6

Prashant & Smita Kale

23 Kiran & Namrata Rathod 24 Seema & Raju Jain

7

Namita & Ajay Sharma

l2

7

1. Who is the longest serving President of Indian National Congress?

A. Sonia Gandhi (She should be a model for Fevicol) 2. Who is the first Indian woman Badminton player to reach singles quarterfinals at the Olympics?

A. Saina Nehwal (She should learn a few things from Sonia Gandhi) 3. Who set up the first IVF centre in India?

A. Dr. Firuza Parikh (She should now make a Sonia Gandhi + Saina Nehwal clone) 4. Who is the first women boxer from India to have won Five World Championship titles?

A. Mary Kom (wouldn't like to 'mary' her!)

5.Who is the first woman IPS? A. Kiran Bedi (she can kick some serious @$$) 6. Who is the first Indian woman to win Miss World title?

A. Reita Faria Powell (though some say she was not 'technically' Indian) 7. Who is the first woman President of Rotary Club of Nagpur?

A. Tauby Bhagwagar (She was also the first to see Naushad without any hair) 8. Who is the first Indian musician to receive the Raman Magsaysay award?

A. M. S. Subbulakshmi (But when I play her, my dog starts singing too!)

9. Who is the only Indian woman to receive Nobel Prize?

A. Mother Teresa (No jokes about her, God will punish me!)

10. Who is the first Indian woman to receive Oscar award?

A. Bhanu Athaiya (Gandhi never looked so good in Khadi) Correct answers received from Jerry Watchmaker and Sohrab Kanga (the special comments in the brackets are from him too) .

QUIZ Brands are in... They are all around us, whether its a swanky car or an amazing bag. Check out the logos and guess the brand.

8 Jayant & Uma Pendharkar 27 Sunil & Renu Thapar 9 Inderjit & Harbhajan Singh 27 Yatin & Meena Malji Ragini & Rajiv Sahu 27 Dr. Anil & Anjali Chaudhari 11 Shashi & Bela Thapar Baljeet & Poonam Sethi

29 Dr. Pushpa & Sharad Bhave 12 29 Dr. Satish & Sunanda Sule 13

GUESS WHO Please sms your answers to me on 9823080820

26

Tauby Bhagwagar and Khushnoor Chugh were the people in last months guess who...

We have been bombarded with entries and correct answers received from...

Anil Sahasrabhojanee, Sati Khanna, Sonia Khurana, Jerry Watchmaker, Vikram Naidu, Rajiv Choudhary, Abha Choudhary, Akash Agarwal, Rahul Sharma, Divya Sharma, Sharmila Sutaria, Zarine Rana, Vivek Harkare, Indrajeet Mulik, Shailja Pingle, Nimish Sutaria, Jangu Doongaji, Rina Sinha, Sapna Vastani, Vishwas Sahasrabhojanee, Anita Chitaley, Neena Parikh, Sandeep Pathak, Bilquis Vali, Manju Shahani, Nikunj Doshi, Rajiv Behal, Anjum Hussain, Parag Paranjpe, Varsha Paranjpe, Reema Sial, Anju Thakur, Aeyjaz Akolawala, Prashant Kale and Mohan Anand.

- MADHAVI NAIDU

The question this month is: There are quite a few people in this Club with excellent leadership qualities who were in line to be Presidents and then suddenly developed cold feet for one reason or another. The Club has certainly been a loser and the continuity disturbed a little too often in the recent past.

Let's find out the reasons from them directly and thereby avoid the same happening with others in the future…..

Behram Patel: Mighty, you have the wrong number here!!! I have never aspired to be the President of our Club. This question really does not apply to me at all!! I was never ever in the line to become President of our Club. With your excellent persuasion skills you convinced me to become the secretary during your term in 2004-05. In fact you will recall that I was very reluctant to accept the responsibility but despite my best efforts to wriggle out you made sure that there was no window of escape available! There is no doubt however that I thoroughly enjoyed being your secretary and it was a great learning experience.

Subsequently in Shabbir's term I became the Treasurer, again because he wanted me specifically for that post. The fact is that on both occasions I accepted the responsibility because of friendship & not because I wanted to get in line to become the President. The very fact that I refused the post of Vice President on at least three occasions clearly vindicates this fact! The question of developing cold feet therefore does not arise. I trust this completely answers the "question of the month" as far as I am concerned! Cheers---Behram

Sunil Thapar: We need to recognize that there are such things as circumstances - events miracles that we come across as we walk through life for which there are no ready explanations. However later knowledge may explain those events quite easily. But today we have to choose in the direction of where you want to be today, tomorrow or in a distant time to come. Your planning needs to be re-organized. Studying our club carefully and imaginatively for its assets and precedents which are set perfectly, the continuity is taken care of. Let us approach every year with an open mind, you shall always find a president in waiting.

Amitabh Sinha: Dear Dr Sanjiv, it is incorrect to say that people 'developed cold feet' or did not want to 'shoulder' the responsibility or could not 'stomach' the pressure or were 'unnerved' or do not have the 'guts'. In fact the reasons are different for each one of us. I accepted Shabbir's offer as he is a close friend.

(Also, it is easy to be Shabbir's Secretary as he lands up doing all the work for you!). I had made it amply clear that I do not wish to go further at that juncture.

However, I am of the opinion that the job of the president of our club, as it is today, is too demanding on time, and needs you to be stationed in the City for 99% of your time for almost one and a half years. We may not be able to find many who can give this kind of commitment! Atul will have to bring in major structural changes in the way our club runs to make the President's task less daunting and that is another topic for X-Press!!

In any case I know that each one of us lends a helping 'hand' whenever the club needs us and have our 'heart' and 'soul' in the club.

Dr Surajit Hazra: The president of our club has to plan, mobilize & motivate Rotarians and implement the projects. He /she has to lead from the front and has to be physically present in most of the projects which are more than 350 + in a year plus the weekly meetings. The whole club looks to the president to not only carry forward the set traditions of the club and its set projects but also implement new projects!! It is a full time job of 18 months, 6 months for planning and motivating and one year as president implementing it. I would have to compromise my vocation as a surgeon, as we have lots of emergencies, surgeries as well as calls. I could not have done justice to the post of president as 90% of the projects are on weekdays.

X-PRESS

Wijay Chitaley: I do not agree totally with your contention . There are various reasons as to why a candidate backs out of the race in spite of leadership qualities as felt by you.

1) Changing circumstances like family or business commitments.

2) The ever increasing expectations from the President looking to size and number of projects creates a doubt in one's mind whether he or she would be in a position to rise to the Club's expectations.

3) Looking to the number of projects whether he/she would be in a position to devote that much time from his business or profession.

4) He does not feel he has the capacities to lead the club.

Rajiv Behal: I started my Rotary journey in right earnest with the mind set to lead our prestigious club some day. But then, HE had other plans for me. Jaa rahe the Japan, pahunch gaye Jakarta, Samajh gaye na? Possibly, this 'One Way' journey has a 'U-Turn' in it for me.

“Country road, take me home (aka Rotary)”.

Well, you have the answers now….philosophical, defensive, aggressive and also explanatory!!

The fact remains that all these gentlemen have been and some still are very active and go-getting Rotarians, but have yet balked at taking that last step, whatever their reasons!! We hope that they find it in themselves to go the distance at some point of time!!…..The Club will of course benefit but I am sure, so will they!! Let's hope they do it before they really become Geriatric!!

-PP Dr. Sanjiv Chugh

27

SNAP SHOTS Rotaractors after receiving their Club Charters

PP Arun releasing the GO

B EST C H A I R P ERS O N S A W A R D F O R F E B R U A RY Jehangir Doongaji (Pulse Polio); Rita Bhargava and Neena Parikh (UDAAN); Neeta Singh (Food Festival); Monica Bhagwagar (Fellowship) ; Smita Chaubey and Neerja Shukul ( Slum Development)

PAPER COURTESY : BILT