Rotaract News - January 2020

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@Rotaract_India

@RotaractNewsIndia

January

2020

(Quarterly)

Picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

Union Minister Smriti Irani with DRRs at the Zone Institute in Indore. She got a roar of delight from the youngsters in the hall when she announced that she has been a Rotaractor too.

She is seen in the pictures with the DRRs, RI President Mark Maloney and Gay, RI Director Bharat Pandya and Madhavi and Institute Chairman PDG Raju Subramanian.

She was a Rotaractor too

Inside

34 Rotaractors create MHM awareness in Prayagraj 40 Workshops enrich D 3232 Rotaractors 44 Campaign against drugs in Guwahati

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Panvel Rotaractors raise sexual abuse/LGBT awareness in rural children

20 A Rotaract club sustains an annual

event for special children for 19th year

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Rotaractors to pay dues, but less than Rotarians: Maloney

36 Mumbai Rotaractors set for mega growth

30

Millennial achievers inpress youngsters

On the cover: RAC Panvel Elite Charter President Ria Munot with tribal children during a session on child sexual abuse.

42 Green Ganesha transforms into a plant

JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 3

RI Director Bharat Pandya (Zones 4 & 7) RI Director Kamal Sanghvi (Zones 5 & 6) District Rotaract Representatives 2019–20 Zone 4, 5, 6 & 7 2981

Nishanth Govindarajan

2982

Arshan A J

3000

Harish Vasan

3011

Arpit Mehra

3012

Mudita Khurana

3020

CH V V Aravind Prasad

3030

Shantanu Anil Agrawal

3040

Tejasva Gandhi

3053

Kaushal Sahu

3054

Imran Jat

3060

Chintan D Shah

3070

Shveta Thakur

3080

Ishita Kaith

3090

Rohit Wadhwa

3100

Nidhi Gupta

3110

Alok Pandey

3120

Kushagra Bansal

3131

Akshay Deepak More

3132

Rtr Santosh Vitthal Shinde

3141

Kushal Hitesh Bhuva

3142

Nikita Ghamande

3150

Vinod Kumar Ameti

3160

Anurag Ajeet Jain

3170

Rahul Shivaji Mohite

3181

Ganesh GT Bhat

3190

Shashi Kumar M

3201

Ajai S

3202

Sanjiv Kumar Chandrasekar

3232

Senthil Mani A

3240

Deepjyoti Das

3250

Rahul Rajgadia

3261

Rahul Shrivastava

3262

Rtr Chinmoy Sourav Gayan, Sr

3291

Soumyadeb Barman

3292

Sneha Shakya

Rotaract News Editor Rasheeda Bhagat Senior Assistant Editor Jaishree Padmanabhan Senior Sub Editor Muthukumaran V Sub Editor Kiran Zehra Designers Vishwanathan K Gunasekaran L Krishnamurthy N Krishnapratheesh S Send all correspondence to

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Editor’s Note

A young Rotaract club does exemplary service

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liches apart, such as “from the mouth of babes” or “the child is the father of the man”, which nevertheless are true, by its decision to give a much greater thrust and expand the Rotaract family within Rotary, RI top leadership has indeed scored a winner. That this is bound to be a gamechanger for Rotary’s foremost priority — a much younger, more vibrant, more diverse and gender-balanced Rotary membership — can be glimpsed in the cover story of this Rotaract issue. The Rotaract Club of Panvel Elite, Maharashtra, which has barely completed its fourth month after being chartered, has already completed 17 community service projects and fun events.

Caring for animals, conducting a dental screening and treatment for rural, tribal children in a village near Panvel, celebrating Children’s Day by encouraging not only the 25 members from their own community-based club of young

professionals, but also Rotarians from their parent club — RC Panvel Elite — to dress up as children in an event titled Bacche baney hum are some of their projects.

But what impressed me the most was their young and dynamic president, Ria Munot, talking at length about a session on child sexual abuse for about 150 inmates of an ashram in a rural area near Panvel, which has a residential facility for destitute children. The session didn’t stop at that; the children were told not only about good touch, bad touch and safe touch of course, but also briefed on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights.

The social worker accompanying them, as well Ria and other Rotaractors, explained to the children that it was not “abnormal” to enjoy a physical touch from a person of the same sex. Now this is how progressive and forwardthinking our youngsters are.

Our laws may slowly open up and decriminalise gay relationships, but even in educated, upper class and urban families, this is something that is frowned upon, and the very subject is taboo. So when our Rotaractors take up this “taboo” subject in a rural area and explain it, along with child sexual abuse, to children who live in close proximity — there are a total of 450 children in this ashram — it is a progressive step indeed. Also, in an era when sexual violence against our girls and women is increasing, it is service of a high order to alert vulnerable young girls from the lowest strata of society about sexual abuse which takes different forms and can be done in a variety of subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Just like the positives in preventive healthcare, awareness at an early age on what constitutes sexual abuse can save the child from serious assault in the future.

This is only one example of why Rotary needs Rotaract, and how these young agents of change can benefit Rotary in myriad ways.

Rasheeda Bhagat JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 5

M E S S A G E

F R O M

One-to-One

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he recently concluded Rotary Zone Institute had a first-of-sorts in that Rotaractors (DRRs) were invited to participate in the Institute for the first time in our zones. The presence of a good number of DRRs at the Institute speaks well of their involvement in Rotary. Not only did they attend the Institute, they also had a separate session which was addressed by many senior Rotary leaders and they were involved in a panel discussion in the general Institute Plenary. It was a reiteration of our efforts to Elevate Rotaract.

I believe that Rotaract is about building leadership skills, learning, unlearning and relearning about the responsibilities that each young person has — to himself and to others — and to imbibe values that could last a lifetime. That is what the Institute offered to the Rotaractors — an opportunity to be inspired by the Dare to Dream awardees — double amputee Vikram Agnihotri, educationist Uttam Sanjel, revolutionary farmer Dnyaneshwar Bodke, para-badminton world champion Manasi Joshi and many others who ‘dared to dream’ and pursued their dreams.

The take-home message was that if we dare, dream, identify a purpose and work towards it with dedication and perseverance we can achieve all we want. As someone rightly said, “We cannot build the future for our youth but we can build our youth for the future.” That is Rotary’s aim to build a strong, vibrant youth with a sound value system for our nation’s future.

We have progressed as a nation. Challenges remain but we tend to focus only on the negative. We say the government is inefficient, roads are bad, railways are a problem. We say our country is going to the dogs.

And we complain and complain and come up with the excuse, ‘It’s the system.What can I do?’ The system has to change. And we wait for the “system” to change. Who will change the system? It is you and I, my young friends. We can change it if we dare and dream. Through Rotaract you have the opportunity to embrace the change, become the change and be the torchbearers and trailblazers of change.

As Gandhiji rightly said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Let us, through Rotaract work, do just that — become that change to ensure a brighter future for our world.

Enjoy Rotaract!

Bharat Pandya RI Director, 2019–21 6 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

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D I R E C T O R S

Be honest, fearless… guide us

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t the Rotary Zone Institute held in Indore in December 2019, one of the most interesting sessions in which I had an opportunity to interact closely with Rotaractors was connecting with the DRRs and getting first-hand their views on why they are in the Rotary family.

And, what is it that they enjoy the most about being Rotaractors? Anybody who attended this session, as well as a panel discussion with Rotaractors, will vouch for the confidence and boldness with which our young Rotaract leaders aired their views. While answering questions, they were honest and forthright and did not hesitate to express something which might be unpalatable to the RI officers — present and past — who attended the Institute.

The mantra of the day is “Elevate Rotaract”, after the CoL okayed at its meeting last year the very crucial proposal to make Rotaract a member of RI. We’ve always said that you are gen-next and the future of Rotary.

But as I pointed out, while moderating the very candid panel discussion at Indore, now that RI has lifted boundaries such as age limit and a Rotary club having to sponsor a Rotaract club, your responsibility increases too.

We, the senior leaders in Rotary, take you very seriously, because you are the future of Rotary. Courage and youth — these are two words that go together; I would add two more words to this — innovation and change.

I am positive and confident that with your innovative and new ways of thinking you will electrify our organisation and make Rotary much more diverse, dynamic, purposeful and a fun organisation.

You are the future of Rotary; we expect you to be honest, fearless and guide us to make Rotary more vibrant, embracing change and diversity. The ‘Elevate Rotaract’ decision was necessary, as we had found that barely five per cent of Rotaractors were becoming Rotarians. Let me reassure you that your views… what you think, say and do, are all taken very seriously on the 18th floor of the Rotary headquarters in Evanston where the RI Board meets.

Do not limit yourself in your thinking, and guide us through the next decades… till Rotary completes its second centennial.

Rotary needs you; Rotary welcomes you!

Kamal Sanghvi RI Director, 2019–21 JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 7

Panvel Rotaractors raise sexual abuse/ LGBT awareness in rural children Rasheeda Bhagat

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n an era where even the educated and the upper middle classes are hesitant to talk about LGBT rights and tell their children that it is okay to be attracted to the same gender, Rotaractors of Rotaract Club of Panvel Elite, RI District 3131, did an LGBT awareness programme

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for tribal children in a village near Panvel, while doing a session on child sexual abuse.

An extremely active communitybased club, which has been chartered barely four months ago, it has a membership of 25, and “in the four months since we were chartered, our club has

done 17 projects/events,� says Ria Munot, Club President, a certified financial planner and analyst, now pursuing a higher qualification.

In Dec 2019, the club organised two very important projects for the 450-odd inmates of the Warwane Ashram Shala, a residential facility

for destitute tribal children in a rural area in Pen, near Panvel, Maharashtra.

Here a dental check-up was organised for all the 450 children; “the dentists were shocked to find that many of them had very poor oral hygiene, due to which their teeth were decaying badly,” says Ria. Oral hygiene kits — a toothbrush and toothpaste, sponsored by a Rotarian

from their parent club RC Panvel Elite — were distributed by the Rotaractors to the children.

But here comes the more important part; in another session the Rotaractors explained to the children about good touch, bad touch and safe touch. It was here that issues related to LGBT rights came up. “The girls got up and spoke bravely and openly about what

was happening to them. When we talk about child abuse, often abuse by the same sex also happens,” says Ria. She recalls how one of the younger girls at this hostel was being abused by an older girl, and the children were told that when this happens it should be brought to the notice of the teachers or the ashram authorities. Another girl, who was being touched like this,

Girl children being addressed on good touch, bad touch and other sexual abuse.

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Tribal children waiting for dental check-up.

welcomed it and “so we explained to them about the LGBT community, so that they know this is okay too.”

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hat generated the utmost interest at this session was, when one of the dentists, also a social worker, Dr Samidha Gandhi talked to the children about the different nuances and repercussions that follow when a hasty decision to elope is taken at a young age. This was explained in the context of the Marathi blockbuster and award-winning film Sairat, which takes a critical look at an epic love story of two youngsters — a rich upper class high school girl who falls in love and elopes with a poor but smart boy, and the struggles they face.

“All the children had seen the movie and were very interested in the discussion; the biggest advantage was that Dr Samidha, who addressed them, was very fluent in Marathi and engaged the children in their mother tongue while discussing the Marathi film,” adds Ria. Over 150 girls were present during the session and openly discussed their

Oral hygiene kits being distributed

by Club Treasurer Kajal Jain.

experiences. “We realised how important it is to make kids aware about sexual violence and abuse, as well as the concept of LGBT, so that they can be alert all the times and protect themselves. Dr Samidha conducted this session beautifully.”

She adds that they decided to do the session on good touch, bad touch and sexuality issues with the teenaged children because data from “the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre shows that one girl in four is sexually abused on a daily basis; with 34 per cent of the kids being sexually abused by family members.” It adds that 3.25 lakh children are at the risk of becoming victims of commercial child exploitation each year.

JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 11

Rotaractors of RAC Panvel Elite.

We realised how important it is to make kids aware about sexual violence and abuse, as well as the concept of LGBT, so that they can be alert all the times and protect themselves.

The dental screening identified children with bad cavities and other dental problems; they have been shortlisted and the Rotaractors are organising free treatment for them.

In another fun event titled Bacche baney hum, the Rotaractors decided to celebrate Children’s Day in November by bringing out the child in them. At an event held at a spacious bungalow of a Rotarian from their parent club, the men sported shorts and t-shirts and were all seen eating candies and lollipops. “The idea was to celebrate the child in us and relive our childhood,” says Project Coordinator Krishna Soni.

“Not only do children bring out the best in us, but they also empower and teach us so much; while most of us are always trying to teach children a thing or two, we often forget that there is so much that we can learn from them,” says Ria. Soni says “a trait that adults should learn from them is letting go. They move on. Letting go can help us live a peaceful life. Through this programme we wanted to encourage Rotarians and Rotaractors to take a happiness pledge.”

Designed by N Krishnamurthy

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Rotarians impress Rotaractors with ideas V Muthukumaran

RC Mangalore President Jathin Attavar (2nd from L) and PDRR Yathish Baikambady at the Rotaract installation.

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irst, concentrate on your studies and then without compromising your academic pursuits, involve yourself in service activities and such programmes that will shape your personality, said Jathin Attavar, President, RC Mangalore, RID 3181.

He was speaking at the installation of new office-bearers at RAC SDM PG Centre for Management Studies and Research.

Attavar urged the Rotaractors to initiate a number of Rotaract

projects for the youth and community. Over 100 green saplings were distributed to students for planting them either on the campus or near their homes. He inducted the current year President Shamith Shetty into office by collaring and handing over the gavel.

Rtn Yathish Baikambady, a past DRR, touched upon Rotary’s global outreach programmes and how, as Rotaractors, the students can prepare themselves for a bigger role as Rotarians.

Recalling an incident where he lost his belongings, including his wallet, during a visit to a city in North India, he said the local Rotarians provided him accommodation, food and took care of him very well. They even purchased tickets for his return journey, said Baikambady, pointing out the special bonding among Rotarians.

Thereafter, within days, he got back his lost belongings. In his brief speech, the club’s Rotaract Chairman Vinod D’Souza urged the

Rotaractors to organise blood donation camps on a regular basis to save precious lives.

The four-yearold Rotaract club has 125 students pursuing PG diploma courses in finance, business management and HR management.

RAC Besant PG Studies, another Rotaract club sponsored by RC Mangalore, organised a blood donation camp under the Save a Life district project, with support from the Indian Red Cross Society.

JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 13

Rotaractors to pay dues, but less than Rotarians:

Maloney Jaishree

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he increasing importance of Rotaractors — from the resounding success of the #Elevate Rotaract vote at the last CoL, invitation of 60 Rotaractors at the International Assembly 2019 at San Diego, to their huge participation in the Hamburg Convention — was reiterated at the Indore Institute. In a first-of-its-kind, 26 Rotaractors were

brought to Indore to participate in the proceedings, with an exclusive session for them, which saw diverse views on the recent Board decisions pertaining to Rotaract.

At a panel discussion, it was disclosed that the RI Board has decided to collect per capita dues from Rotaractors. To a query from Srijitha, PDRR of RID 3291, on the amount,

RI President Mark Maloney said that it will be decided at the upcoming Board meeting. “It will be a reasonable rate.

Definitely not as much as what Rotarians pay. It will streamline our administration. At present we really do not know how many Rotaractors we have.

When we have dues paying members we will have statistical information that we can plan with and build upon.

District Rotaract leaders with RIPN Shekhar Mehta, Rashi, RID Kamal Sanghvi, RI General Secretary John Hewko, his wife Margarita, TRF Trustee Jennifer Jones, PDGs Shyamashree Sen and Ruchir Jani.

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Further, with Rotaract as member of RI, clubs will be expected to do some service and we need funds for that.”

He said this at a panel discussion with TRF Trustee Jennifer Jones, RI General Secretary John Hewko, DRR Kushal Bhuva from RID 3054 and PDRR Srijitha of RID 3291, moderated by RID Kamal Sanghvi.

Maloney, RIPN Shekhar Mehta, RID Bharat Pandya, TRF Trustee Gulam Vahanvaty and PRID C Basker were among the audience comprising Rotarians and Rotaractors. #Elevate Rotaract, lifting the age limit of Rotaractors and doing away with Rotary sponsoring Rotaract clubs were all discussed.

“Why was it necessary to elevate Rotaract?” asked Sanghvi to Jennifer.

She replied: “In 2016, we found that only five per cent of Rotaractors transitioned into Rotarians. That shocked us. We thought that Rotary was part of their DNA and we should keep them as part of the family. The decision on dual membership at the 2016 CoL brought the Rotarians and Rotaractors one step closer. Many Rotaractors did become dual members. Then in 2019, we elevated Rotaract and made it a member of RI — a very important step

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to tell Rotaractors that you are more than just members, you are part of the Rotary family.”

The vote for Elevate Rotaract at the 2019 Council didn’t pass the first time. “There was a humongous campaign which started within seconds on social media, so much so, there was a repeat vote the next morning, and it was approved with a huge majority.

What a celebration that was,” she said.

“The decision has given us more responsibility so that we can execute bigger things now,” commented DRR Bhuva and PDRR Srijitha said, “A number of my fellow Rotaractors have promised to join Rotary now.” She is a dual member since 2017 and will be chartering a Rotary club by the end of this month.

Following recommendations from the Elevate Rotaract Task Force, the RI Board which met in October, has removed the upper age limit of Rotaract while maintaining that Rotaract is a programme for young adults. Commenting on this decision, Hewko said that when the upper age for Rotaract was 30, and 40 was the threshold for joining Rotary, it was a big gap. People who had left Rotaract could engage with Rotary only after 10 years.

Below: From L: Rtn Ashish Ajmera, PDRR Srijitha, RI General Secretary John Hewko, RID Kamal Sanghvi, TRF Trustee Jennifer Jones, DRR Kushal Bhuva and RID Bharat Pandya.

Rotaract leaders at the Institute.

run sessions in a district conference, projects and to really make a difference. They are just not guards to do the heavy weightlifting. They can provide tremendous ideas, energy for leadership in terms of how we can move Rotary forward in India, and throughout the world.”

“Srijitha, would you still like to open a Rotary club or would you

like to stay as a Rotaractor,” asked Sanghvi.

“When I joined Rotaract it was more of fellowship, professional development and leadership. Now we are moving towards a Rotaract that is equally emphasising on service. I think one should listen to his/her inner call.

You may be 30 or beyond. But you will know that it is time to move on

V Muthukumaran

By then they were lost. “We found we were losing 95 per cent Rotaractors.

Hence, this decision to allow Rotaractors to continue in Rotaract until such time they are ready to join Rotary.”

To the DGEs and DGNs, he said, “Utilise this opportunity to strengthen membership. Treat Rotaractors as equals. That means, giving them positions wherever appropriate — to

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What does Rotary expect from Rotaractors

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otaract leaders had an opportunity to be up and close with RI President Nominee Shekhar Mehta, RI Director Kamal Sanghvi and RI General Secretary John Hewko in an exclusive session prior to a special plenary for Rotaractors.

What do you expect from us? asked a DRR to RIPN Mehta and pat came his reply: “Be good people.” This set the tone for his address to the Rotaractors.

Quoting the words of Benjamin Disraeli, “The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity”, he added, “Tomorrow belongs to you. How good the tomorrow will be depends on how good you are.

When my children were young, I never ever asked them to do well in their exams. I only wanted them to be good human beings.”

His next advice was to love one’s nation. “It is very important that we discipline ourselves.

To me a country’s character is defined by how well-behaved you are in a queue. If you cut the line it means you don’t care for other people’s time or patience.

Spare a thought for others before you think of yourself. Rotary is all about that,” he said. He urged the youngsters to be honest always and never buckle to pressure “in a society where corruption is rampant.”

Referring to the recent developments in Rotaract, he promised the Rotaractors that they can expect more good things to follow soon. “Rotaract is like a river and Rotary is the sea. Every

18 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2020

river ultimately joins the sea. The scope is vast. We Rotarians may have the experience. But your minds are sharper than ours. Right now you may be blinded by blinkers. Once they are removed, you will find the world is different out there. With barriers such as age limit and Rotary clubs to sponsor new Rotaract clubs removed, your world has become huge. All the best to you,” he said.

RID Sanghvi continued on the same lines saying, “When the boundaries are lifted, responsibility increases.

You are the future of Rotary, the nextgen. You have to guide us through the next 100 years of Rotary. Be fearless and do not limit yourselves. Everyone on the 18th floor of the RI Headquarters is looking forward to having you on board with us. We are looking at several more possibilities.”

General Secretary Hewko observed that community-based Rotaract clubs do better than institution-based clubs. The US has mostly university-based clubs while in Europe it is mostly institution-based.

Referring to the lifting of the age limit, he said that in India the decision may not be very exciting. But in Germany, which has a strong Rotary, this is considered an outstanding idea. There the threshold to become a Rotarian is 40. “There is a 10-year gap when people leave Rotaract and join Rotary at 40. By then, they would have moved on and lost connection with Rotary.”

He also discussed the challenges of regionalisation of Rotary policies.

“We have been successful in one product line for 114 years. The onesize-fit-all concept will no longer

work.” A tradition followed in India may not work elsewhere. It is time to develop different products for different types of club experiences. There are lot of differences and dynamics going on in different countries across the world, he said.

“We know the membership is declining and we have a retention problem. It indicates that either people are not buying your product or they buy it and don’t like it. You can fashion the type of product that works for you here in India. The point is we should not lose the glue that keeps us all together with this regionalisation,” he said.

Hewko added that the RI Board is devising better ways to integrate Rotaract with Rotary.

“We need to bridge the demographic gap, and a part of that is doing things together. You are fantastic in technology and organising things, much better than Rotarians. You’ve got the energy and passion. Rotarians have the money. We have to make them work together. My dream is to see 1.4 million Rotarians and 1.4 million Rotaractors.”

Karthik Kittu, a Rotarian from Bangalore and a past DRR, recalled how when as a Rotaractor he had to just hold a flag and line up along with other Rotaractors outside an auditorium where the then RI President Bitchai Ratakul came to address a Rotary meeting. “We were not even allowed inside. Now Rotaract has evolved in a great way.”

RID Bharat Pandya with Rotaractors. DG Suresh Bhasin (second from L) is also seen.

to the next level. I felt this transition being a dual member. Some of you would like to continue as a Rotaractor and certainly at some point you will get a call. It opens out boundaries and gives us opportunities to serve,” replied Srijitha.

Surprisingly, the decision lifting the cap on age limit did not go well with a majority of Rotaractors or Rotarians. “It need not be 30, and can go up to 35. But age limit has to be defined. Because Rotaract is such a fun movement that nobody would want to leave. Ultimately I strongly recommend every Rotaractor to join Rotary as and when they become financially comfortable,” commented PDRR Shashwat Desai, son of PDG Ashish Desai and DG Bina of RID 3060.

Rtn Harshvardhan, a past DRR 15 years ago and a second-gen Rotarian, said, “The essence of Rotaract is in its youth. By extending the age, you are removing the essence of the youth.

Taking it beyond 30 will boomerang for Rotary.”

RIPN Mehta, sharing his views on the decisions, said, “The DGs, DGEs

and DGNs have agreed to include their DRRs as members in their Membership Committees. The Board has removed the age limit for Rotaractors, but it doesn’t stop any club from having an age limit. If a Rotaract club wants to fix an age limit as 35 or 40, you can still do that. I think we have the best of both worlds.”

Jennifer observed how much Rotarians and Rotaractors can learn from each other and she saw this firsthand at the last IA at a breakout session on public image. “When a DGE said that Rotaractors can help with the social media, a Rotaractor from India quickly responded: yes, we can help you with technology and social media.

But we want you to teach us how to tell a story. The moment was so brilliant… this idea of cross-mentorship between Rotarians and Rotaractors.”

Another Board decision highlighted by Rtn Karthik Kittu, a past member of RI’s Rotaract-Interact Committee, was that if five Rotaractors pool in and contribute $50 to TRF, they will get a certificate directly signed by the TRF Chair. “This is a

remarkable decision. Earlier you would get certificates only on contributing $1,000,” he said.

There was a mixed response to the decision allowing Rotaract clubs to be chartered without a sponsoring Rotary club. Srijitha felt that institution-based clubs do not require a sponsor, but community-based clubs need one.

But Bhuva opined that doing away with the sponsor was not a great idea.

“We are a group of young people who may want to become president by chartering a new club. Then the club’s sustainability will go down. Further if a Rotary club is sponsoring a Rotaract club, then Rotary will hand-hold them in the initial stage at least,” he added.

Earlier RIPN Mehta, RIDs Pandya, Sanghvi and Hewko addressed the Rotaractors in a brief session. “Rotaract is growing in our country. But you must take your positions seriously and focus on membership,” said Pandya, adding that in many clubs, it is only on paper and the process needs to be streamlined for better benefits.

Pictures by Jaishree JANUARY 2020

ROTARY NEWS 19

A Rotaract club sustains an annual event Rasheeda Bhagat

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for special children for 19th year

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f sustainability is the crucial factor in getting an award, then one should go to the Rotaract Club of Akash, sponsored by RC Madras Fort, RI District 3232. One of the few Rotaract clubs in India with most of its 45 members being young professionals, the club was established 24 years ago, and for the 19th year in succession, it recently organised its most loved annual event in Chennai. Providing differently-abled — both physically and mentally — children a platform to showcase their talent.

On Oct 12, this year too, the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in Chennai was abuzz with activity, fun and excitement as it had about 600 young visitors from different schools for special children in the city. They were here to sing, dance, paint, perform all kinds of feats and acrobats...

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and generally let their hair down. When I get sketchy details but great pictures from the Rotaract club’s President Poornima Sundararaman about the event titled Punnagai (smile in Tamil), I turn to the club’s Facebook page for more details. Here, two photographs and a video clip catch my attention.

One is a pookalam (floral design) done in

vibrant colours such as red, yellow, green and orange titled ‘Save me’.

It is an image of India that the child wants to be saved; the other is titled ‘Save Nature, Save Earth’. The environmental concerns of the younger generation are amply demonstrated by these two images.

The video is of a teenager with an amputated leg performing the

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Poornima Sundararaman President, RAC Akash

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most amazing dance and acrobatic movements on the stage; his confidence and style takes your breath away!

Poornima, now in the US for personal reasons, says the club has 45 members, but only 30 are really active. Punnagai is an annual event in which the club’s Rotaractors get totally involved. Club Secretary Arjun S says that for this event, they get about 500 to 600 children from different schools in the city. For the whole day, the children are “our responsibility. Right from picking up the kids from different schools, providing them with breakfast, lunch, followed by high-tea and dropping them safely back to their schools is our task. While doing

all this we have to ensure that the children never lose their smile!,� he says.

This is more a community-based rather than a college-based club, with most of the members working. While Poornima is a data analyst, Arjun works in a corporate. He says every year they organise this event in a grand manner and this year the cost was `4 lakh. “We raised the money through corporate sponsorship and donations from Rotarians,� says Arjun.

Poornima adds that this one-day cultural show includes both the physically and mentally challenged children. “On this day, every year, we provide a platform to these children to let

down their hair and enjoy themselves as they put up various performances in music, dance, painting, rangoli/kolam and a host of other activities in a creative and innovative fashion. It provides them an inter-school platform to display their talent to the world, which boosts their morale and kindles their creative spirit,� she says.

What is even more striking than the fact that a Rotaract club has nurtured and sustained a single project for 19 years is that they take care to invite prominent

people from the world of art and culture, so that when they spot talent, they can give those children a much bigger platform and possibly a livelihood in the future.

Adds Poornima, “We find this event so purposeful and enjoyable, both for us as well as the children, that we wish we could replicate Punnagai in other cities as well so that more special children get this platform.�

Really enthusiastic about community service, this Rotaract club is also conducting another event titled Sangamam, a RYLA-like programme for government school students to develop leadership qualities in them, and a sports tournament for rural children.

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ROTARACT NEWS 25

73 Programmes

of Change

by RAC Godavari Kiran Zehra

26 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

W

hat does the term transgender mean?” asked Hemangi Mahajan, the club coordinator of RAC Godavari, RI District 3030, while addressing Rotaractors from three colleges as part of a programme to create awareness on the fundamental rights of the third gender at Godavari Foundation College of Engineering, Jalgaon. This programme was also a part of the club’s marathon Drafting Dreams 73 Programmes of Change, in seven days to mark the 73rd Independence Day of India.

“To be identified as a woman or man in a society obsessed with traditional gender roles is a privilege. For anyone outside the binary system it is not just difficult but sometimes impossible even to go about doing a decent job or for that matter simply being respected,”

she says, adding that “this is why its important to address the youth about the need to understand the spectrum of gender and sexuality.”

Prior to the event, the Rotaractors met with members from the transgender community and learnt about their living conditions. “Education, jobs, and most importantly, respect, is all they need. We are talking to you, so you understand and talk about it to your families and friends,” Hemangi adds.

Sushil Patel, a Rotaractor who participated in the programme says, “Talking about it is a progressive step.

It is shocking to many and some find it commendable that as Rotaractors we are taking up subjects that need to be addressed. But regardless of their reaction, this is the first step towards making these

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ROTARACT NEWS 27

youngsters feel comfortable around us in schools, colleges, or in a train.”

The other projects the club took up include a range of programmes for women and children in rural parts of Jalgaon.

One of the programmes that was “very challenging” was when their club decided to “run a rural school for a day.” They chose subjects like awareness on child abuse, basic self defence, manners and etiquette,

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and talking about our national heroes.

Rotaractors also invited the women to participate in a jewellery designing programme. The Rotaractors who conducted this programme used wool, macaroni shells and other readily available items.

“I enjoyed the session and have learnt to make necklaces and bracelets. I hope to make a few more of them and sell them to college students and make

some money,” says Shilpa Chaudhari, a participant.

Other notable programmes were Vote for better India — a skit on voting rights, menstrual health and hygiene, a nature safari and a cleanliness drive. DRR Shantanu Anil Agarwal says, “It is amazing to see that the club has successfully completed such meaningful projects in just seven days. Congratulations to the team!”

Traffic awareness drive a big success in Kanpur V Muthukumaran

Rotaractors and police officers at the traffic awareness campaign.

U

ttar Pradesh ranks top among Indian States in reporting as many as 1.49 lakh road fatalities in 2018, according to the latest national survey. With an aim to create traffic awareness, RAC Kanpur, RID 3110, launched the Pehal (Step 1) campaign to make the larger public understand the personal loss and suffering they have to endure because of deaths of their kin in avoidable road mishaps.

Traffic SP Sushil Kumar (Kanpur) inaugurated the campaign at the Dr Virendra Swarup Public School in the presence of a large gathering of Rotarians, Rotaractors, students and the public. Explaining in detail the rules and regulations governing vehicular traffic, the police officer

said hefty penalties would be levied on motorists who flout traffic rules. He urged two-wheeler riders to wear helmets as they prevent head injury to a large extent.

School Principal Dr Shushma Mandal thanked Rotaractors for such a valuable campaign which would enhance road safety in the city. “We made placards and banners for people to understand the importance of road safety and following traffic rules. The principal assured that 2–3 students and a couple of teachers will join hands with us to regulate traffic outside the school during peak hours,” said DRR Alok Pandey, RID 3110.

After ensuring traffic rules are followed near the school for 10 days, “many of the parents appreciated our work. But there

were also others who did not like our campaign as it was a hurdle in reaching their offices on time. But we persisted with our efforts and distributed pamphlets on the dos and don’ts about traffic rules.”

On the last day of the initiative, Dr Shushma felicitated the Rotaractors with token gifts. “We have chosen the school as the first step in our road safety campaign as we felt it was important first to educate children before taking this message to elders,” said Pandey.

Apart from DRR Pandey, Project Advisor AG Lalit Khanna, District Rotaract Trainer Gaurav Jain, RAC Kanpur President Sagar Nigam, its Secretary Diksha Talreja, Project Directors Devanshu Bhalla and Manan Nigam are the key members who made Pehal campaign a big success.

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Millennial achievers impress youngsters Jaishree

T

he Millennial Summit put together by the Rotaract clubs of RI District 3141 left an indelible mark on 1,100 Rotaractors who attended it.

Young achievers shared their experiences, challenges and failures. “We shaped this event so that the success stories of these millennial leaders will inspire young minds. It is easy for the youth to connect with people of their age, rather than hearing from the older

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generation, and our speakers were just brilliant,� says DRR Kushal Bhuva.

Twenty-five-year-old entrepreneur Farrhad Acidwalla spoke about how he achieved his childhood dream over the years and turned his passion into profession. At 13, he built an online community devoted to aviation and aeromodelling and later launched Rockstah Media, a business focused on web development and marketing. Harshwardhan Zala

Deepa Unnikrishnan

Munaf Kapadia

was another speaker. A CEO at 16, he shot to fame at 12 when he designed a drone to detect and defuse landmines planted on war fields without risking human lives. Hip-hop artist Deepa Unnikrishnan impressed the youngsters with her story on how she fought hard and waited patiently until she got recognised for her work in Bollywood flicks Uri and Gully Boy, smashing patriarchy

existing in filmdom. “Hers was a lesson in staying calm and focused, and believing in your dreams,” says Bhuva.

The team took six months to put this programme together. “It was a huge hit and now we are getting offers to buy this concept, as Ted Talk and Moth are so expensive,” says the DRR. It was a five-hour programme and not a ticketed event. The

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Above: DRR Kushal Bhuva (2nd from L) along with the dignitaries at the Millennial Summit.

Left: Bombay Stock Exchange CEO Ashish Chauhan.

CEO of BSE, Ashish Chauhan, sponsored the venue which cost about `12 lakh. He was a charter member of RC Bombay Nariman Point and is now its honorary member. “We had a sizeable amount of sponsorships,” says Bhuva, adding that the funds will be used to repair and renovate schools and provide scholarships for needy students under the district’s umbrella project Prayas.

They had arranged for the sponsors to route the money to schools identified by them earlier. For example, one of the corporates is funding the repair work of three classrooms in a school in Vikhroli.

“We are planning to make this an annual event,” smiles Bhuva.

Other speakers included Anandini Fernandes, an advocate who runs the Soup Kitchen that serves food for the underprivileged; Munaf Kapadia who quit his job in Google to launch his restaurant, The Bohri Kitchen; VJ Sushant Divgikar who was crowned Mr Gay India 2014; and Anto Philip, Co-founder of the Under 25 Summit.

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RI Board Decisions T

he RI Board of Directors meeting was held in October 2019 at the RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA. Here is a gist of the Board decisions pertaining to Rotaract.

In reviewing several recommendations from the Elevate Rotaract Task Force, the Board agreed to z allow Rotaract clubs to organise without a sponsor or with a Rotaract club sponsor z remove the upper age limit of Rotaract (but maintained that

z

z z

z

the programme is for young adults) strongly encourage Rotary districts to include Rotaractors in every district committee further review establishing per capita dues for Rotaractors eliminate the $50 chartering fee for new Rotaract clubs, beginning July 1, 2021 (provided that a Rotaract per capita dues structure is in place) encourage future RI presidents to appoint Rotaractors as advisers to RI committees

explore developing a mobile app to better facilitate Rotary and Rotaract club management and communications.

Set the following goals pertaining to Rotaract: z increase the number of reported Rotaractors by 100 per cent by 2022 z increase the number of reported Rotaractors that join Rotary clubs by 20 per cent by 2022 z increase the number of reported Rotaractors to one million by 2029. z

Rotaract club directory launched in Sunam Team Rotaract News

A

Rotaract Club Members Directory was launched

by RAC Sunam, RID 3090, with support from its parent Rotary Club of Sunam. The Rotaract club directory project was guided by RC Sunam President Y P Mangla and other Rotarians. “The directory will help build fellowship and business relations among members and in the community.

Also, the publication will forge good relations with the community,” said Rtn Naveen R Garg.

Steered by President Deepak Singla and Secretary Raj Bansal, RAC Sunam has taken up a

The Rotaract club directory being launched.

number of school and environment projects such as distribution of school uniforms, shoes, jerseys, school bags, tree plantation drives and ecology awareness camps. PP

Sachin Garg, Rtrs Raj Bansal and Hanish Singla are strong pillars in the execution of Rotaract projects in Sunam. The Rotaractors have also taken up Road Safety Awareness

drive with the support of local police. Rtns Rajesh Goyal, Sumit Bindlish, Anoop Goyal and Naveen Garg were special guests at the launch of the Rotaract Club Directory.

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ROTARACT NEWS 33

Rotaractors create MHM awareness in Prayagraj Kiran Zehra

Rotaractors and NCC cadets create MHM awareness among the rural women.

O

ver 300 tribal women in Dharhariya slum and rural Prayagraj have ditched unhygienic menstrual practice, thanks to the efforts of the Rotaractors of RAC MLN Medical College, members of RC Allahabad Elite, RI District 3120, and the NCC unit of the college.

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Ten teams carried out the task of distributing 7,200 packets of sanitary napkins, and went doorto-door introducing the women in the area to ecofriendly sanitary napkins, safe menstrual practices and taught them how to dispose the menstrual waste in a safe way.

“Considering the high cost of retail sanitary napkins and the lack of

education about menstrual hygiene we put together this initiative to assist mainly the young women in the slums and rural regions,” says Surya Bhan Kushwaha, President of RAC MLN Medical College. “Our sponsor club RC Allahabad Elite, supported us in our endeavour and are willing to help us continue this project,” he adds.

“When the Rotaract club approached us, we heard them out completely and our club president Muniraj Patel, agreed to help in the funding and sponsoring of the project. We wanted our Rotaractors to know we are here to support a good project,” says Ritesh Singh, past president of RC Allahabad Elite.

“We collected data to examine the overall sanitation hygiene among women in these regions and found that there is lack of sanitation facilities. Some of the houses don’t even have a toilet.”

The other thing that they had to tackle was “the cultural beliefs, taboos and lack of awareness

A door-to-door distribution of sanitary pads.

about the importance of menstrual hygiene,” says Kushwaha. During the course of their visits, they discovered that some

women did not want the pads. “There is no demand for sanitary pads in these places because there is no awareness

Rotaractors distribute clothes for the needy.

about the importance of sanitation and hygiene,” he adds.

The NCC cadets interacted with the women

and spoke to them about how they could manage their periods. “We don’t know if it was the cadet uniforms, but the women were willing to share their issues with the NCC girls comfortably.”

To bridge the gender gap with respect to menstrual hygiene awareness, Kushwaha says, “we are talking to the boys in the college about it. This way we can break the stigma attached to it and it is important that there is an open dialogue on the issue.”

The club has also donated warm clothes for close to 100 families in the slums of Daraganj, near Prayagraj.

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ROTARACT NEWS 35

Mumbai Rotaractors set for mega growth V Muthukumaran

D

RR Kushal Bhuva, RID 3141, is brimming with joy as the two-day RYPEN — Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment — held recently was a resounding success. Thanks to great feedback from college students, “we are confident of doubling our current membership of 5,000 by Dec 2020, if everything goes as planned.”

With 113 Rotaract clubs doing around 9,000 projects, campaigns,

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online activities and fundraisers-cumevents in a year, this Rotaract district attracted 1,000 Interactors from 30 schools at the RYPEN which was held at Malad, a western suburb, and Hume High School at Byculla, a city downtown. In the morning, the students were exposed to experiential learning through activity-based workshops for acquiring leadership skills. In the evening, they had fun programmes

with Q and A sessions on the Rotaract movement with queries such as “why one should be a Rotaractor, its benefits and how Rotary matters in this world.” Through online platforms, the district is targeting students of 69 colleges in Greater Mumbai to increase membership.

To begin with, colleges without a Rotaract club are being targeted by the district membership team. “At the

Right: School girls being screened at the Oculus eye camp.

Bottom: DRR Kushal Bhuva (centre) with schoolchildren and Rotaractors at the RYPEN workshop.

same time, we don’t want to start new clubs, but only encourage the students in these colleges to become Rotaractors by joining community-based clubs in their neighbourhoods,” explains Bhuva.

In the first phase, Rotaract stalls are being set up in over 40 colleges to facilitate the registration of new members.

During the 11-day Ganesh Mahotsav, over 20 Rotaract desks were put up under the marquees erected for sheltering Ganesha statues in different localities of Mumbai. “We brief the visitors on Rotaract projects and how they are working for a better world along with Rotary clubs,” says Bhuva.

Jeevan Daan When heavy rains lashed Mumbai recently and trains were either running late or cancelled, Rotaractors coined slogans like trains hai late, mat karo wait! Karo blood donate; karo jeevan

daan, karo raqt daan to motivate people to donate blood at the mega Jeevan Daan camps held at 23 venues such as Dadar, CSMT, Ghatkopar, Mulund and Andheri railway stations, Saifee Hospital, colleges and malls. About 1,400 bottles of blood were collected.

Over 150 Rotary and Rotaract clubs and 430-plus Rotaractors took part in Jeevan Daan. “Along with blood camps, organ donation pledge forms were also distributed. People were made aware of the importance of donating their organs. Over 300 pledge forms signed by potential donors were received,” says Bhuva. Further, they have identified over 2,000 donors by July-end.

Oculus In its third year, Oculus, the mammoth year-long camp, has screened 5,000 schoolchildren for eye disorders till July 2019. Free spectacles were given to the beneficiaries. Over the last two years, Oculus camps reached out to over 13,500 children from underprivileged families.

“We have received good support from district officials and schools for the eye camps and will continue to expand the project to more schools in the coming years to spread smiles among children, the future of our nation,” adds Bhuva.

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ROTARACT NEWS 37

Rotaractors on a heritage tour Jaishree 38 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

S

ixteen Rotaractors from various RI Districts toured Prayagraj and Varanasi for two days, thanks to the Inter District Youth Exchange (IDYE) programme hosted by the Rotaract clubs of RI District 3120. The visitors came from RIDs 3054 (Rajasthan), 3080 (Haryana), 3141 (Mumbai), 3291 (West Bengal) and 3292 (Nepal/Bhutan) and were hosted by the Rotaract clubs in Prayagraj and Varanasi.

It was a wholesome experience and words are just not enough to describe the experience, says Waishali Arora from RAC Wings Scouts, Yamuna Nagar, RID 3080. She led a team of four Rotaractors from her district to the IDYE. “Varanasi was on my bucket list for long and I am glad that I could make it now. The food was amazing and the hosts were warm and made us all feel comfortable,” she adds.

The visiting team was taken on a guided tour to Sarnath, Kashi Vishwanath temple and few other prominent temples in both the cities. “Watching the mesmerising Ganga aarti on the banks of the river and a boat ride the following day will stay in our memories for a lifetime,” she says.

The team enjoyed the local delicacies too with equal fervour. Specialities such as kachori-sabzi, litti-chokha and wrapping it all up with the Benarasi paan, made a big hit with the visitors, says host DRR Kushagra Bansal. He adds that the Rotaractors got a cultural experience visiting the Triveni Sangam, a confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, and Anand Bhavan, the ancestral home of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“This idea of IDYE came to us last year when we hosted a group of four Rotaractors. We wanted our district, which has not been so popular, to get noticed, and now after the programme, we are getting noticed.” He thanks Muniraj Patel, President of RC Allahabad Elite, DRCC Ajit Mehrotra and International Service Chairman Ravi Shankar Singh for the smooth conduct of the programme in both the cities.

International Service Director Rtr Priya Shukla and Zonal Rotaract Representative Simran Manuja worked out the logistics for the tour.

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ROTARACT NEWS 39

Workshops enrich D 3232 Rotaractors V Muthukumaran

M

ore than 2,000 Rotaractors from RID 3232 took part in the annual district Rotaract Assembly — Mass: Mark A Success Story — held in Chennai and enjoyed a range of brainstorming sessions, fun and lively interactions.

DG G Chandramohan and PDG ISAK Nazar addressed the gathering with inspiring speeches. A galaxy of speakers including Rtns Joseph Raja and Devendran briefed the youth about their roles and responsibilities and how they can shape up as active Rotarians in the near future. DGE S Muthupalaniappan was the chief guest at the valedictory session.

Earlier in July, a workshop titled Transformers was organised for Rotaract club secretaries of the district. Deepak Chandrasekhar, a past Rotaractor, made a video presentation on the roles and responsibilities of a club secretary and in another session, a briefing on Report Submission Format to the district on a monthly basis was

Above: A session at the Thinnai Palli workshop.

Left: DRR A Senthil Mani (3rd from L) along with Rotaractors at the Unscripted workshop.

40 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2019

Right: A cultural show at the Rotaract Assembly.

explained by Rtr R Akshaya, District Secretary. She gave a demo on how to upload a project report in the district website.

Mersal, a cultural fair A slew of on-stage and off-stage events was organised as part of efforts to showcase the myriad talent of Rotaractors. “Mersal opened up a platform

for youth to exhibit their diverse skills in front of 4,000 Rotaractors. RAC Ethiraj College for Women bagged the winner trophy, while the runner-up trophy was given to RAC Chennai,” said DRR A Senthil Mani.

Grooming public speakers A novel platform called Unscripted served to present various talent of

Rotaractors such as public speaking, solo acting and other stage shows in front of a large gathering.“This event gave an opportunity for Rotaractors to perform in front of a crowd without being judged by anyone so that they gain confidence and learn from their mistakes. Unscripted is an initiative to pull out the hidden talent and nurture them to make Rotaractors shape up their career over time,” explained Mani.

With the help of RC Ambattur, the District Rotaract organised a Thinnai Palli (verandah school) at the Rotary Hospital at the Ambattur Industrial Estate, near Chennai. “The initiative aimed to train Rotaractors to become motivational speakers in schools and thus reduce dropouts,” said the DRR. Social activist Dr Rajini Sriraman, Rtn Mythili Muralidharan and Rtr Lenin Mani inspired the Rotaractors with their address. A training workshop for district avenue directors and sergeants-at-arms was held at the Stella Maris College to equip Rotaractors on their responsibilities and brief them on how they could stage various events that nurture fellowship among them.

Multiple sessions had speakers who explained to Rotaractors the various avenues of service in a programme titled Expecto Patronum which had over 200 delegates.

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ROTARACT NEWS 41

Green Ganesha transforms into a plant Kiran Zehra

42 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2019

B

efore the preparations for Ganesh Chaturthi started in full swing, a group of Rotaractors from RAC Vizag Metro, RI District 3020, sat down with a potter in Dwarka Nagar, Visakhapatnam, and helped him to make eco-friendly Ganesh idols in clay with seeds embedded in them.

“This was an effort to promote love for plants among devotees as the seeds will sprout into plants after it is immersed in water. In fact, it works two ways, as people will immerse the idols at their homes instead of taking them to the waterbodies,” says Club President Afreen Bano.

Most Ganesh idols are made from Plaster of Paris, and are non-biodegradable. They continue to float on water and will adversely impact the waterbody’s ecosystem.

The paint on the idols which have high content of lead and mercury destroy the flora and fauna in the water. In order to protect the environment and fight these challenges during the festival, the Rotaractors who are passionate about “a clean and green India,” worked with local potters to create biodegradable idols. “These Ganesh idols were

a big hit and people were happy that they could celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi without affecting the environment,” she says.

While the idea to make environmentfriendly Ganesh idols came to the Rotaractors back in 2014, they gave the statues a green spin last year when the club was inspired by a local campaign — a seed flag or a flag made of seed paper. The handmade, biodegradable flag was made from a type of paper that included different plant seeds. The seeds sprout when the paper is planted in the soil. “We were inspired and decided to replicate the idea in the Ganesh idols,” says Afreen.

It is a win-win situation because “washed away or kept at home, these statues will turn into plants.” Many other Rotaract clubs in the district were also inspired by the concept, says DRR Arvind Prasad, adding, “we celebrate a festival for a good cause, but if the festival is hurting the environment, it really isn’t a festival.”

RAC Vizag Metro gave out almost 500 idols within Vishakhapatnam and is planning to reach a bigger number next year with the cooperation of other clubs in the district.

RAC Vizag Metro President Afreen Bano promoting the ‘Green Ganesha’ among a group of devotees.

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ROTARACT NEWS 43

Campaign against drugs in Guwahati Jaishree

A

ssam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi recently launched an anti-drug campaign — Mukti: Up for Hope, Down for Dope — initiated by RAC Guwahati Luit, RID 3240.

The campaign is to create awareness and educate the youth against drug abuse. “We are planning to take the message to at least 10,000 youngsters and provide positive

counselling through seminars, street plays, art and music,” said DRRE Tushar Jalan, who is also the charter president of the club.

The year-long project involves visits to colleges by a team comprising a psychologist, psychiatrist and a motivational speaker put together by the club. The project is part-funded by its Chairman Shivam Saraf who is

The menace of drug abuse is one of the most challenging issues we face today. Your thoughtful efforts will encourage the society to fight it.

Jagdish Mukhi Governor of Assam

From R: Project Chairman Shivam Saraf, DRRE Tushar Jalan and RAC Guwahati Luit President Rishabh Surana honour Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi.

44 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

also the Joint Secretary of the club and the balance is collectively borne by other members. The programme is initiated in memory of Shivam Saraf’s grandfather, Justice B P Saraf, who was a Judge of the Guwahati High Court and also former Chief Justice, J&K High Court.

Eminent jurists, police officers and educationists attended the event.

Parents must be alert to read the behaviour of their children so that any untoward behaviour can be addressed at its germination itself.

“The menace of drug abuse is one of the most challenging issues we face today. It has wide-ranging impact on the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities, as well as on the security and sustainable development of nations,” said Governor Mukhi, addressing over 400 college students at the event. He appreciated the club’s efforts for initiating the campaign.

“Your thoughtful efforts will encourage the society to fight drug abuse,” he said and urged the government agencies to check the availability of drugs so that the youth do not have access to them.

He spelt out the responsibilities of the government, police and the judiciary.

The government should work to combat the menace; the police should take measures to curb drug-dealers and the judiciary must take up cases related to drug-abuse on priority, he added.

Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi addressing the meet.

It is not enough to rehabilitate the victims, they should also be given ample opportunity to get into the mainstream.

DRR Elect Tushar Jalan

The governor extended a call to the parents to spend quality time with their children, and create an environment conducive for them to discuss any issue without hesitation. “Parents must be alert to read the behaviour of their children so that any untoward behaviour can be addressed at its germination itself.”

Jalan appealed to the government through the governor for proper

measures to be adopted to take care of street children and orphans who are at a high risk of drug-addiction and stressed on the need for stringent action against drug peddlars. “It is not enough to rehabilitate the victims, they should also be given ample opportunity to get into the mainstream,” he said.

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ROTARACT NEWS 45

Binging on street food

in Indore Rasheeda Bhagat

W

hen you have to cover the proceedings of a Rotary Zone Institute for the magazine, in however spectacular city the conference may be held, you can say goodbye to really seeing or “experiencing” the city, in all senses of the word. Unless you are a latenight swinger, which I am not!

So when the Zone Institute of RI Director Bharat Pandya was announced at Indore, the first thing one thought about was the mouthwatering street food that Indore has on offer. Its Sarafa Bazaar is legend when it comes to street food. The first, and only, free evening had to be grabbed. Landing at the Indore airport in the evening, with my

A plate full of Bhutte ka kees.

46 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

colleague Muthu, who can hardly be described a foodie, given that he can live happy for an entire year on thayir sadam (curd rice), with a modest vegetable thrown on the side, after a quick check in, I marshalled my colleague Jaishree and PDG Shyamashree Sen — both confirmed street food lovers — and headed for Sarafa Bazaar. Muthu tagged along… more as a photographer, and an observer of our hogging, than a consumer!

Indore’s street food, we had been warned, comes alive only after 9 pm and we hit the Sarafa Bazaar, a jewellery market by day, just after 9 pm, to explore what it had on offer.

The first thing that hits you on this street are huge, inviting round platters loaded with the most tempting sweet delicacies, ranging from gulab jamun

to rabri/firni to jalebi (incidentally it was in Indore, I learnt the difference between the jalebi and imarti, of all the places, at the breakfast table, and out of all the people, from PDG Raju Subramanian!). Then there are the halwas of course… from gajar halwa to moong ka halwa, as well as the piping hot malpuas! Trust me, one stomach is not enough to enjoy Sarafa!

W Rabri on offer.

e first went in for the most recommended item in Sarafa — garadu which is made from yam, is fried and spiced up with a chatpata masala powder. It was okay; it didn’t really tantalise my tastebuds. What did were the aalu spirals, thinly sliced

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ROTARACT NEWS 47

Hot malpua.

potato done up in a spiral, topped up with cheese and chaat powder and fried to a delicious, soft golden brown.

It was a perfect mix of crunchy and soft, and spicy.

Helpfully, at the very next stall was an offering of “coconut crush”, which a little disappointingly, was only tender coconut served with coconut water, making one yearn for the yelaneer payasam (tender coconut payasam), a South Indian delicacy. With this not being sinful enough, our next stop was at the jalebiwala who offered to fry for us a fresh batch. The offer was taken and the delicious fare lapped up hot on a lovely, cool early winter evening.

As Muthu politely turned down almost everything, only gratefully lapping up the more familiar tender coconut water, and was happy clicking away, the

48 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

three of us continued our pursuit of more delicacies, stopping to try some “corn kiss”, which was passable, till we laid our eyes on the pani puri guy. The different types of water on offer were not as varied as the ones you find in Ahmedabad, but the pani puri was delicious and we gorged on it, till we couldn’t have any more.

And after all this eating, we had spent hardly `500, not counting the `250 or so spent for the “coconut crush”.

Totally stuffed, we could only leave envious

Paan in a variety of flavours.

Mouth-watering gulab jamun.

glances at the vendors offering all kinds of paav bhaji, momos, chaats and a host of other delicacies, till we came to the Delhi Kulfi stall. By now it was midnight, and we unanimously concluded — all four of us — what’s a winter night without a delectable kulfi? It was two mango and two sitafal kulfis, and it melted in the mouth. Fulfilled, happy and almost singing, we marched on, meeting DG Kiranlal Shrestha from Nepal, enjoying jhaal muri.

Soon the stalls selling a wide variety of paans caught our eye. The famous “smoke paan”… the type that lights a fire in your mouth and only the very brave go for it… was of course there, but it was accompanied by equally exotic stuff such as cherry paan, strawberry paan, chocolate, mango,

JANUARY 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 49

butterscotch, leetchi paan... you name the fruit and it was there.

No, we didn’t try the paans; after all there should be a reason to return to Indore’s Sarafa.

I

f you notice, almost all the shops had the facility to pay through scanning the Paytm QR code, which makes payment so easy.

Some of the vendors such as Susheela who served us the corn kiss, has been here for 15 years. Most of them pay between `8,000 to `10,000 to the shop owners for the space. But business is good, and when you ask PDG Shyamashree Sen enjoying aalu spiral.

Jalebi - fresh and hot.

50 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2020

for their daily earnings, you get big smiles and no numbers!

While the food was awesome, what was even more awesome was that a street like Sarafa, which must be getting thousands of footfalls every evening, manages to remain reasonably clean. When you have finger food, your fingers need to be wiped, or washed. But most of the shops do not offer paper napkins… Mahesh, the young jalebiwala had this explanation: “Ma’am, giving paper napkins is not a problem; the problem is that most of the people who come here are tourists, and they simply wipe

their hands and throw the napkins on the road, but we will be fined by the municipality.”

It’s with good reason that Indore has been smashing the charts as India’s cleanest city for a few years now!

We were told that at 2 am when the market winds up, the Municipal Corporation cleaners are there within 15 minutes and next morning the shopkeepers come to a spanking clean bazaar.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat and V Muthukumaran Designed by Krishnapratheesh S

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