Rotaract News - October 2020

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@Rotaract_India

@RotaractNewsIndia

October

2020

(Quarterly)

Rotaract Outstanding

Project Awards 2020–21

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otary International recognises Rotaract clubs that are making a sustainable impact in one of Rotary’s areas of focus through their innovative community or international service projects with the annual Rotaract Outstanding Project Award.

Refer https://my.rotary.org/en/learningreference/learn-topic/awards for online nomination form. The form must be submitted by Feb 1, 2021. Rotaractors can nominate projects executed between Feb 1, 2020 to Jan 30, 2021 for the award. Each Rotaract club, district, or multi-district may submit only one project for consideration.

Winners will be announced at the Rotaract Preconvention.

Evaluation criteria Project submissions will be evaluated in the following areas: Sustainability (25 per cent); community assessment and impact in Rotary’s six areas of focus (25 per cent); collaboration with Rotarians, local experts to enhance effectiveness (20 per cent); support of Rotary’s commitment to change lives locally and globally (15 per cent) and; percentage of Rotaract club members involved in development and implementation of project (15 per cent).

Optional supporting material Project submissions may include links to online photographs, videos, blogs, social media sites, local media coverage, and other information that demonstrate the reach and impact of the project submission.

Inside 16 R otary marks a presence in Arunachal with a Rotaract club 42 A Rotaract club springs to life again 46 Extending kindness during Covid

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Giving is the new cool for Mumbai’s Rotaractors

ID 3030 Rotaractors find 36 Ropportunities to serve

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RID 3012 Rotaractors inspire creativity

44 Aurobindo Rotaract takes up MHM campaign

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A past DRR shares his wonderful Rotaract journey

On the cover: A member of RAC H R College, RID 3141, giving a carton of groceries to a woman affected by lockdown.

otaractors plan Happy 48 RSchools in Dimapur

RI Director Bharat Pandya (Zones 4 & 7) RI Director Kamal Sanghvi (Zones 5 & 6) District Rotaract Representatives 2020–21

Zone 4, 5, 6 & 7 3000

Sabarinathan Kaliyamoorthy

3011

Sarthak Bansal

3012

Varda Sardana

3020

Arun Sampath Kanigalla

3030

Abhishek Goyal

3040

Bharat Vijaywargiya

3053

Surendra Joshi

3054

Jay Balasara

3060

Swapnil Gaud

3070

Arjun Kalia

3080

Samir Madan

3090

Bhupesh Bansal

3110

Alok Pandey

3120

Rajan Kumar Gupta

3131

Shraddha Lamkhade

3132

Shrikant Vijaykumar

3141

Ojas Joshi

3142

Amit Lad

3150

Sindhura Pabbisetty

3160

Naga Sree Sumankitha Vommina

3170

Sahil Pradeep Gandhi

3181

Abhijith M S

3182

Prashanth Acharya

3190

Raj Vamshi K B

3201

Janani Mani

3202

Dhanasekar Govindaraj

3212

Antony Rexin A J

3231

Senthamarai Kathir

3232

Anbarasu B

3240

Tushar Jalan

3250

Tasneem E Gul

3262

Harishankar Jena

3291

Madhurima Barman

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

ROTARY NEWS TRUST 3rd Floor, Dugar Towers, 34 Marshalls Road Egmore, Chennai 600 008, India.

Phone: 044 42145666 e-mail rotarynewsmagazine@gmail.com facebook @RotaractNewsIndia twitter @Rotaract_India instagram @Rotaract_India website www.rotaractnews.org

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The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Editor or Trustees of Rotary News Trust (RNT) or Rotary International (RI). No liability can be accepted for any loss arising from editorial or advertisement content. Contributions – original content – is welcome but the Editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or length. Content can be reproduced, but with permission from RNT.

Editor’s Note

When the young spread their wings…

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sn’t it as astonishing as wonderful that the Rotary family had to make its entry into the scenically beautiful northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh through the Rotaract Club of Namsai which was chartered this August? This after a three-decade wait since the formation of RID 3240 in 1990. The state is yet to have a single Rotary club! This is because of security concerns as Arunachal Pradesh shares its border with China, and the GoI is reluctant to allow NGOs to operate here; and the tribals are wary about those from outside the state influencing and changing their values and lifestyle. As V Muthukumaran’s article in this issue points out, DRR Tushar Jalan has enough reason to be on “cloud nine”, as this Rotaract club becomes the fourth in South Asia to be chartered by another Rotaract club, RAC Tinsukia, and the district is the second one in the region to achieve the rare feat of a Rotaract club sponsoring another one.

As our cover story points out, while Rotarians across India have reached out to the less fortunate during the corona pandemic, helping out with both food — hot meals and dry rations — as well as safety aids such as

masks and sanitisers, Rotaractors have stood by their side shoulder to shoulder to render such invaluable community service. I was amazed to note so many projects done by Rotaract clubs, all sponsored by Rotary Club of Bombay, which are detailed in the cover story.

Apart from the number of community service projects they do, it was educating to note that each of them had some kind of a strong linkage with social media.

The power and energy, and more than that the optimism and compassion of the young are unparalleled.

Combine it with the power of social media and it makes an explosive cocktail — to do good. Take for instance, the case of the octogenarian couple in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar who run Baba ka Dhaba. A young man who visited it found the 80-year-old chacha who owns it weeping because the pandemic had hit his dhaba hard and he was hardly getting any customers. This youngster took a video of the man weeping and posted it on twitter asking people to help him. It caught the eye of celebrities such as cricketer R Ashwin, who offered to help the couple but was requested to retweet it instead.

He did so, urging his 9.8 million followers on Twitter to ensure that the old man’s spirt was not broken and added: “Let’s do our best for him.” Other celebrities joined in. The video, and with it the appeals, went viral and in no time, Delhiites were queueing up at the dhaba, to sample the food, not to mention the television crews.

It was so heartening to find that the chacha, who could be seen kneading more atta for the rotis in demand, along with his paneer-mattar, dhal etc, hardly had the time for interviews!

It required just one youngster, one mobile phone and one tweet, as also a large and compassionate heart, to bring about such a difference in two elderly people’s lives.

Rasheeda Bhagat OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 5

M E S S A G E

F R O M

Change begins from you

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came across a profound statement by Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General that “any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.” I can say to each Rotaractor that tomorrow will be much better because of your vision and leadership. This is exactly what we are aiming for in Rotary — helping build Rotaract and helping Rotaractors develop and sharpen their leadership skills.

Remember one person can truly make a difference. Mohamed Bouazizi was a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, which became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution. This was the inspiration for the Arab Spring against the autocratic regimes of the Middle East and the North African governments.

That is the power of an individual to make a difference, to force change. Each one of you can be a power of change. You, the young people, are in a unique position to use innovation and technology to disrupt, to upend, and be the force that transforms our communities to do away with inequalities and create gender equal societies.

Believe in yourself, believe in your ability to do good in our world. Rotary is looking up to you to provide the leadership. To lead tomorrow, you must learn today.

Let me share some qualities that make a successful leader.

Flexibility and adaptability. Softness always triumphs over hardness. What is malleable is always superior to what is immoveable. Therefore be more flexible, open and accepting to change and other people’s viewpoints.

Integrity and values: Flexibility does not mean compromising on principles. The most important quality of leadership is integrity and a sound value system. Integrity and leadership are closely linked. Mahatma Gandhi had no guns, no money but he had the power to move millions of people. They trusted his integrity and walked behind him. Character builds trust and trust makes leadership possible.

Lead by example: There is an old saying about leadership… “to show the way by going first”. This captures the essence of leadership. You can’t lead by pointing a finger at someplace and asking people to go there; you must go there first. When you do things that you want others to do, it gives you more credibility and conviction.

Alexander the Great set the example of excellence with his leadership style; he led his troops literally from the front. When his troops went hungry or thirsty, he went hungry and thirsty; when their horses died beneath them and they had to walk, he did the same.

You have the opportunity to blaze a trail and leave behind a legacy, in your club and community, of which you can be proud, Rotary can be proud. Do your best as Rotary opens opportunities.

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

R I

D I R E C T O R S

Transforming communities

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otaract is a global movement of young leaders who are developing innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in communities across the world. It is so heartening to note that that Rotaract clubs are bringing together young people who are 18 and older, to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through the planning and execution of community service projects of great substance.

In communities worldwide, Rotaract members work side-by-side with Rotarians to take action through service. From big cities to rural villages, Rotaract is changing communities like yours. In the current pandemic times, it is so gratifying to find that Rotaractors across India have taken on service projects for community welfare and to bring relief to the underprivileged sections through distribution of food, foodgrains, and other material, to bring dignity to those less fortunate than us.

It is important that Rotaractors should ask themselves this question all the time: What can I do to change the world? What can I do for those who are less fortunate than myself?

As young people you are fearless, brave, impetuous, dynamic and self-confident. You have the ideas, the creativity and above all, the great energy and enthusiasm to shape a better world. You are full of hope and through innovation and imagination, have the potential to not only become problem-solvers, but also bring about a a positive social change in the world.

I would like to advise you to be in a continuous search for ways and means that generate the desire to bring about lasting and sustainable change in many different areas in our world‌. by helping the environment, individual families as well as communities. With globalisation and technology, the world has even become smaller, with unlimited possibilities of making so many wonderful connections. All this give you, Rotaractors, a unique chance to come together in unity, solidarity and empathy to forge real and lasting friendships.

Remember as youth you are responsible for building your nation, to make your community good and noble, inclusive and meaningful. If you understand this responsibility, and execute it with energy, focus and commitment, a large number of crimes may reduce within one day. At the end of the day, for any community or country, one responsible youngster is better than 100 careless youngsters.

Kamal Sanghvi RI Director, 2019–21 OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS 7

Giving is the new cool for

Mumbai’s Rotaractors Rasheeda Bhagat

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hen the taskforce of the Rotaract Club of H R College, RID 3141, wrapped their young minds over a set of grim statistics which pointed out that 16.3 crore people in India lack access to safe drinking water, 28.7 crore people lack basic education and 20 crore people have no access to reliable power, they decided to do something about it.

“Everyone wants to see change, but no one wants to be the change.

So we said let prepare ourselves to be that change,” says Jinay Parikh, director of the club’s taskforce.

Hence was born Aashayein-Adopt A Village, a community initiative with the objective to do holistic development of rural villages in Maharashtra. Their most powerful mantra was collaboration.

Carried out in five villages in Ahmednagar district, the

Rotaractors focused on water and sanitation, electricity and education. In collaboration with the Watershed Organisation Trust, the Project Boon was started, “under which we have built 14 wells, four check dams and a number of hand pumps,” says Purvi Todi, co-director of the taskforce team.

Next, partnering with the Liter of Light, an organisation that has put together an open source design for a low-cost tube light that refracts solar light to provide daytime interior lighting, “we have installed more than 150 solar powered lights, including community street lights, study lamps and house lights, in these villages,” says Parikh.

For the education and entrepreneurship component of their social outreach initiative, the Rotaractors started Gazab Maharashtra, to educate youth about the importance of

A young participant at Project Gazab Maharashtra.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 9

entrepreneurship and business studies. “Till date we have funded 60 entrepreneurs with seed capital to set up self-owned and sustainable businesses,” he says.

In addition, 30 re-usable sanitary kits, which can be used up to 4–5 years, were distributed in these villages, and four community toilets were also built. “We have also conducted workshops with the villagers to teach them the importance of sanitation and hygiene,” Purvi adds.

Parikh says the Rotaractors realised that due to drought conditions in these villages, “there was no work in farms and the farmers couldn’t get enough produce for sustenance. We are grateful to RAC H R College, who came to our rescue and built check

dams, tanks and wells in these villages.”

The Rotaractors have made this an interactive programme and this project has pages on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Linked In. For more info: aashayeinadoptavillage.com Pahunch As India reeled under the adverse impact of the Covid pandemic, the club members in collaboration with Goonj Foundation, took up the initiative to distribute ration to those severely affected by the pandemic and the resulting lockdown, as well as those devastated by the floods that Mumbai witnessed.

To do this project, “we visited the Backbay bus depot in Colaba and distributed 750kg of ration and

A rural woman gets a sanitation kit.

10 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

60 additional units of 1litre oil packets to 30 families residing in the Colaba slums. Later, we talked to members of those families to understand what further help they need, so that we can work towards providing it in the future. By doing this project we learnt first-hand that it is in giving, that we receive, and that giving is the new cool,” says Parikh.

In yet another project, this club, realised that the entire world was embracing digital platforms, “and moving ahead, but left behind a good part of our communities, as we moved online.” The result was that several children, who could not afford online tools, were left behind and their education came to a total standstill. So the club came out with Project Pahunch,

Our mental health is as important as our physical health, and many of us have experienced existential crises or stress, anxiety or other emotions similar to these.

Nejvi Safari secretary, RAC Jai Hind College

an initiative to provide online education to the underprivileged kids.

This was done by encouraging people to donate their old phones, tablets and laptops to help such children attend their online classes.

Those who didn’t have old phones to spare, donated `6,000 to bring a smile on the face of a young child, who was given a new cell phone with this money.

A rap competition Mic Drop was an online rap battle competition organised by the Rotaract Club of Jai Hind College, RID 3141, in September to give an opportunity to the participants to showcase their talent.

The videos of the talented participants who qualified in the first round were shortlisted.

After further vetting through an initial round, for the grand finale, the participants had to perform over Instagram Live in front of the chosen judges, who were professional rappers. “The energy throughout the rap battle was very high. The participants were encouraged by a very enthusiastic audience in the comments section of Instagram. The club hopes to organise similar projects in the OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 11

Ration kits being distributed to tribal families.

future,” says club president Urvi Gandhi.

Solace The second project done by the same club around the same time in September was titled Solace, an international service initiative organised to celebrate World Peace Day on Sep 21.

“We first did a survey to determine how many people are aware about the Middle East crisis, the violence associated with it and its impact on the lives of the local people,” she says To spread awareness to those who are unaware of this humanitarian crisis, the team posted a video on Sep 21 at 6 pm about the Yemen civil war and the Syrian 12 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

war, highlighting their impact on the local communities. The team then composed a promotional message, and circulated to various groups, along with details of several websites where donations could be made to help the adversely impacted people.

“We sincerely hope that those who can help with making a donation will do so, and help make the world a better and more peaceful place to live in,” added Urvi.

Dear Me Following to the T the idiom that charity begins at home, Rotaractors of the RAC Jai Hind College organised in September a zoom meet to assess the mental health of its own members and send out positive

signals to deal with stress and tension on any kind. Says Nejvi Safary, club secretary. “Our mental health is as important as our physical health, and many of us have experienced existential crises or stress, anxiety or other emotions similar to these, which act as a catalyst to deteriorate our mental health at some point or the other in our lives.”

With the current Covid pandemic forcing self-induced quarantine at home and making imperative social distancing norms, “we know everyone, especially teenagers are going through many challenges in order to cope with these feelings.”

Hence the professional development team of the club came up with the idea of organising Dear

A young girl presented with a mobile phone.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 13

mental health kit. They were also cautioned about the fact that while this project was to help them feel better, they must seek professional help in case they were facing something serious.

Adds Nejvi, “Dear Me was a successful project which got so much positive feedback from the participants. It gave our team immense satisfaction to have organised this project, especially when the members were flooded with messages of how participants have connected with their old friends who make them happy. We intend to repeat such programmes to ensure the continued well-being of our members.”

10 bags of hope The Rotaract Club of Hinduja College, RID 3141, did a social media initiative on Instagram to raise funds and with the money raised, the members decided to donate food grains to needy tribal families. They put together what the Rotaractors termed “10 bags of hope”, each containing 135kg of raw food grains. Each ‘Bag of Hope’ included 5kg rice, 5kg wheat, 1kg dhal, 1kg sugar, 1litre cooking A virtual installation programme of RAC Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship.

Me, a unique seminar exclusively for club members, on building a personalised mental health kit. The seminar dealt with various aspects of mental health such as: • How to cope with stress • Remembering to love oneself • Creating and visiting a “happy place” in times of sadness • Connecting and bonding with people who help and facilitate our mental well-being • Meditation, yoga, adequate food and rest • Getting rid of negativity.

14 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

In the interactive seminar, where the participants were assured that they were in a “safe space”, a few fun activities and games were organised as a part of the event.

Apart from other exercises, the participants were asked to write all toxic and negative aspects of their lives and taught to “delete” them by tearing those sheets or paper.

At the end of the project, the mood in the virtual room was certainly lighter and more relaxed.

Participants were advised to remember that they own a special

Rotaractors with villagers at the Aashayein Project; Bottom: A screenshot of the Dear Me programme.

The Rotaract Club of Hinduja College, RID 3141, did a social media initiative on Instagram to raise funds and with the money raised, the members decided to donate food grains to needy tribal families.

oil and salt. These bags were distributed to 10 tribal families, said Jeel Thakkar, club president.

Fly High On Sep 22, the RAC Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship, RID 3141, celebrated its 4th installation ceremony, based on the theme Fly High. “As the theme indicates, this year our club hopes to achieve

greater heights by inducting new Rotaractors. Because of the pandemic the installation ceremony took place on zoom. The meeting began with a video detailing the club’s activities the previous year, with outgoing president Dhruv Parikh sharing his thoughts on the club’s year-long journey.

The event saw participation from senior Rotary leaders, with RI President Holger Knaack himself addressing the youngsters, and explaining to them why Rotaractors were so important in the Rotary family. He urged the youngsters to seize the opportunity that Rotary provides for their personal growth as community leaders as well as rendering service to their communities.

Rotary Club of Bombay president Framroze Mehta, Rtn Indu Shahani, DRR of RID 3141 Ojas Joshi, and presidents and members of several Rotaract clubs participated. Riya Jain was installed as president for 2020–21 and the club’s theme for the year ‘Lead to Inspire’ was introduced.

Designed by Krishnapratheesh OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 15

RAC Namsai charter president Khusbu Sharma

Rotary marks a presence in Arunachal with a Rotaract club V Muthukumaran

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elcome to the land of the rising sun. Rotary is now present in Arunachal Pradesh, the northeastern state known for its scenic wonder and pristine beauty, through Rotaract Club of Namsai which was chartered on Aug 14 after three decades of wait, since RID 3240 was formed in 1990.

Interestingly, prior to this, the state of Arunachal Pradesh had no presence of Rotary.

Which means this Rotaract club has reached this northeastern state, even before a Rotary club could!

16 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

DRR Tushar Jalan with RIPE Shekhar Mehta and Rashi.

Some other records were also created in the process — this new club is the fourth in South Asia being chartered by another Rotaract club, RAC Tinsukia; and the district is the second one in the region to achieve this rare feat, a Rotaract club sponsoring another one.

Understandably, DRR Tushar Jalan is on cloud nine. “Our district has entered into the record books of RSAMIDO and we have received all documents from them. With 15 new Rotaractors, the new club was formed in Arunachal under the leadership of charter

president Khusbu Sharma. We are confident of growing to a 35–40-member club by the end of June 30, 2021,” he says. RAC Namsai, a community-based club, would not have been possible but for three persons — Jalan, district secretary general Amit More and the redoubtable Khusbu, whose “good rapport with the tribals and district officials made it easy to open a club,” says the DRR. Six months of hard work Being a frontier state, Arunachal shares

a long border with China and “due to security concerns and strategic reasons, the government usually does not give permission to NGOs to operate here. Also, the tribals are very sensitive about sharing space with outsiders,” explains Jalan. But after seeing the brand value of Rotary and the reach of Rotaract among the youth, “the District Commissioner R K Sharma gave us permission to start the club and we are happy to have the blessings of the CM Pema Khandu,” says Khusbu.

She is now working with Jalan to open a Rotary club in this state within a year. Rotary Club of Tinsukia has extended logistics and other support to Jalan in setting up a Rotaract club in Arunachal Pradesh.

However, it took six months to complete all formalities after a special team from District Commissioner’s Office visited the area, interacted with the tribals to get their feedback and made a ‘pros and cons’ study on the feasibility of having such a youth club in a primitive habitat. Following a positive signal from the locals, OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS

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Rotaractors from RAC Nehu, Shillong, presenting a Sanman citation to a Covid warrior.

thanks largely to the goodwill Khusbu enjoys in this remote belt, “we got a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the DC.” A solemn pledge During his swearing-in ceremony on July 12,

Jalan took a pledge to start Rotaract clubs in Arunachal, Manipur and Mizoram as “my vision is to spread Rotaract into all parts of northeast India during my DRR tenure.” His next stop is Manipur, followed

by Mizoram (October) where spadework is on to start Rotaract clubs.

Jalan owns Intercone Global, a company which is into corporate governance, branding and marketing and has a successful family business in Jalan’s

Rotaractors distributing flood-relief assistance under Project Sahyata.

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group known for quality tea. “I invariably use my good relationship with top police officers, local officials and entrepreneurs across the northeastern region to promote Rotaract in a big way.”

Project Rakshitam with a tagline ‘guarding Covid frontline warriors’ is a huge success as 400 Rotaractors from 30 clubs have so far distributed face shields, hand sanitisers and pedalled sanitiser pumps worth over `2 lakh. The money came through self-funding

by Rotaractors.

Project Sanman (to bestow respect) has felicitated over 500 Covid warriors with certificates of appreciation. “We honoured frontline warriors including ambulance drivers, sanitary workers, nurses, bank staff, policemen,

garbage pickers and doctors from across our district.”

Project Sayhata A mega flood-relief project with a tagline ‘Assam needs you’ has caught the imagination of the youth and the public. “Each year around five million people of Assam and thousands of animals and livestock are affected by the deluge in Brahmaputra River,” explains Jalan.

When he took over as DRR, he formed a partnership with 12 different Rotary, Rotaract clubs and districts to raise money for taking up relief and rehab measures for the flood-affected people.

Till August, “we have raised `1.5 lakh to set up flood relief camps at five places in Assam.” Those sheltered in Rotaract camps were given ration kits, food, groceries and essential items such

Members of RAC Gangtok Royale donating face shields to a policeman under Project Rakshitam.

as mattress, coil and utensils, etc for daily living. Around 1,500 families are being accommodated at the flood shelters.

In the final phase of Sayhata, the Rotaractors led by Jalan donated flood-relief material worth `1.25 lakh to Rupatchithi Sankar Dev Sisu Niketan, a government school for tribals at West Karbi Anglong.

DRR Tushar Jalan and RID 3240 secretary general Amit More (3rd from right) along with Rotaractors.

The donated items include two bookshelves, 100 chairs, five teacher’s tables, three multipurpose boards, two water filter units, two dustbins, chalks and markers and five LED tubelights.

More clubs, members While there are 60 clubs according to the RI registry, only 40 are active in RID 3240 with their

office-bearers motivating Rotaractors to take up community projects. He started his DRR tenure with a district membership of 878 Rotaractors and the goal to take that number to over 1,000.

Till September, four new clubs were opened and in a historic event, 175 new members were inducted in a single day (Aug 28) at a zoom event.

“We are confident of opening six more clubs and our strength nearing 1,500 by June 2021, a membership growth of 71 per cent,” he says And hopefully, a new Rotary club in Arunachal Pradesh by this time next year, he says, which will be a defining moment for the 115-year-old service organisation.

Designed by L Gunasekaran.

OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS

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Breaking gender stereotypes by engaging men Kiran Zehra

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hartered in 2016, the all-women’s club RAC Femina, RID 3011, has taken up a series of programmes under its flagship project Mardana: Men and Emotions, that works for women’s empowerment and ushering in a more equitable society. “Through our programmes we try to break the stereotypes and taboos associated with gender issues in our country,” says Ayushi Gupta, club president.

The three-phase project is being executed with great enthusiasm by

Rotaractors. As this was a sensitive issue “we approached our male colleagues and family members for the first event — Let’s Express,” she says. On a paper, the participants were asked to write down what came to their mind first on hearing certain stereotype questions and assumptions. To one of the questions — Have you cried in public? — most of the men replied with a reluctant ‘yes’, while some said a less confident ‘no’. “All the answers went against the general assumption that men don’t cry

Women holding paper bags at Project Parwaaz.

20 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

in public. This event gave the participants a forum to talk about their pent-up emotions and how they truly feel about gender issues,” says project chair Mansi Yadav.

“It’s high time men change their attitude towards women.

Harassing and hurting women nahi chalega.

We want to show the real meaning of social responsibility because that is true

masculinity,” says Sahaj Verma, president, RAC Outstanding Business Solutions, who participated in the Men ki Baat (Man Talk) webinar hosted in the second phase of Project Mardana.

This was followed by an online Vent it Out event, a discussion and interview session on handling emotions, that highlighted the ill-effects of ‘toxic masculinity’.

“Some of the panellists narrated their experiences wherein they suffered the brunt-end of harsh masculinity. “Some of their experiences were eye-openers. The fact that they get trolled for showing emotions or supporting women is disturbing,” says Mansi.

One of the participants, Charchit Garg from RAC Delhi Janak says the interactive session helped him “understand that it’s not desirable to live up to these false standards and notions” in order to confirm to the stereotypes. “We are not expecting to bring change overnight. But our project has a modest aim to change one man at a time by sustaining our Project Mardana in the years to come,” says Ayushi.

Women making paper bags.

paper bags as part of its anti-plastic campaign.

“We collected waste paper from housing colonies for taking up this workshop in a big way. And we are happy to note that all the women got well-trained in the art of making paper bags which are environment-friendly,” she says. The Rotaractors also delivered the finished products to housing societies.

Some of the paper bags including some colourful fancy bags made by women from Paschim Vihar and Azadpur slums sold at `150 a piece during Diwali last year and all the proceeds were given to the makers.

Digital literacy Designed especially for women living in the slums, Vayask Saaksha

The event, Let’s Express, gave the participants a forum to talk about their pent-up emotions and how they feel truly about the gender issues.

Anti-plastic drive Parwaaz – Sapno ki Udaan, initiated in 2018, trained 35 women at a slum in Jahangir Puri, Delhi, in making

Mansi Yadav Project chair, RAC Femina

spreads awareness on financial literacy and helped them understand government schemes, taxation and banking, including digital banking.

“We live in a digital world and they need the knowledge to cope with times like these,” Ayushi points out. Sarla, a domestic help from Azadpur slum, has opened her first bank account and manages it over her smartphone.

“Rotaractors taught us about Google Pay and Paytm and how to keep our bank information safe,” says the woman who now gets her salary on Google Pay. The financial literacy workshop also highlighted government schemes like MNREGA that offered minimum wage guarantees to rural underprivileged women.

OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS

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RID 3012 Rotaractors

inspire creativity Jaishree

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his year RI District 3012, led by DRR Varda Sardana, has designed diverse projects providing wings to imagination while taking care of the well-being of both women and the environment.

Rotaract clubs are enthusiastically adopting district projects related to both.

Project Artisans has been devised to improve the livelihood of women. Six Rotaract clubs — Vaishali, Delhi Youngsters, Ashoka Artisans, tisans, Dayal Singh College, PGDAV GDAV Evening and Delhi Aakash ash — have collaborated for the project. The Rotaractorss identify underprivileged women in their localities and nd skill them in various handicrafts. ndicrafts. “We match the artistic skills and

We used these upcycled articles as mementoes in our district and club events.

talent of artisans with modern marketing techniques to make these valuable crafts accessible to all,” says Varda.

These women have been trained to stitch masks and pouches. Some of them were taught bottle-painting,

embroidery and also to make diyas. The Rotaractors source the raw material from their known circles. “We approached boutiques and got waste material for making masks and pouches.

Our members provided bottles from their homes for painting.”

The initiative was a success and in the three months up to September the district distric was able to “With Navratri generate `10,000. “W and Diwali around the th corner to we are getting the women wo potli bags,” she make diyas and potl has says, adding that a catalog c been designed and is i circulated among friends and families to generate more orders. o The project will help these women present presen their creations in exhibitions aand other marketing channel channels and the district plans to assist as them with ideas so that they th can earn better wages. Varda V hopes to provide health hea awareness for them in the coming months. “We are looking for collaborators and contributors for co to help this project pr women grow and be wome self-sufficient.” self-s

Above: Colourful diyas handcrafted by women. Below: Anti-plastic drive in progress.

We are looking for collaborators and contributors for this project to help women grow and be self-sufficient.

Project Meraki is about tackling the plastic usage challenge.

“Waste isn’t waste, until we waste it. We encourage upcycling plastics in all forms. The idea is to create awareness and discourage use of plastics.” Fifty Rotaract clubs have collaborated in a plastic collection and upcycle drive.

Bottles, boxes and caps were collected and given new avatars as pen stands, book marks, flower pots, magnets and showpieces.

“We used these upcycled articles as mementoes in our district and club events.” It is an ongoing OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 23

project and the future plan includes producing eco-bricks using plastic bottles and using them for creating benches, tables and dustbins.

Project Hope was executed for the first 20 days of the year.

It encouraged Rotaractors to undertake deeds of kindness to help all living beings around them. “The year 2020 has seen a lot of calamities. People have lost so much in terms of lives, property and livelihood.

Through Project Hope we want to instill positivity and optimism among people,” says Varda.

The project saw participation of 35 Rotaract clubs from RID 3012 and 50 clubs from across the country and abroad. “We reached out to approximately 10,000 people and 800 animals in various ways,” says the DRR. Activities ranged from providing drinking water to security guards, vendors, sanitation workers, birds and animals,

Above: Food packet being distributed under Project Hope.

Below: Women learning embroidery.

to teaching underprivileged children through online platforms; educating people about coronavirus; distributing face masks and other protective gear, food, clothes and stationery, sanitisers and gloves; visiting orphanages and old age homes and cheering the inmates and planting saplings.

In September, the district added another new project — Project Aayina — to impart sexual awareness and the need for menstrual hygiene in adolescent children. “We have designed a curriculum and are conducting sessions for our Interactors. Once schools reopen we will organise programmes both there and also for the slum children,” says Varda, who is an assistant professor in Sriram College, Delhi, with six years of Rotaract experience.

24 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Rotaractors chart out village facelift programmes V Muthukumaran

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illage adoption tops the list of priorities for DRR Janani Mani, RID 3201, whose team is working on draft agreements they will be entering into with three village panchayats for taking up a range of programmes covering sanitation, healthcare and education.

Since July, after she took over the reins of district Rotaract, “we are focusing on the finer details of Project Dream Village. This name is yet to be finalised, but we are clear on two objectives, that is, ushering in sanitation facilities such as toilets and setting up primary health centres in two villages, and revamping the existing one at the third village,” explains Janani. She is confident that the adopted villages will be turned into “models of envy for others to follow suit.”

With DG Jose Chacko Madhavassery urging clubs to take up Happy Schools, the Rotaractors will form teams to give a facelift to government schools in their adopted villages. “We will hold classes, upgrade amenities and renovate school buildings, if required, at the three villages.” An online session on Covid awareness is being held regularly for students of private and government schools with experts giving useful tips and suggestions to ward off the pandemic.

All the clubs have taken up Covid relief measures such as donating ration kits, groceries and essential items to the needy families. “Rotaractors pooled in their money and are doing collective work at their respective clubs since March,” says Janani.

DRR Janani Mani (sitting, centre) along with club presidents-elect of RID 3201.

Rotasia 2021 The district Rotaractors won the bid in February to host Rotasia slated for April next year tentatively. “We are hopeful of a huge delegation from six countries, namely Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan. And no efforts will be spared to make it a mega success,” she explains. Out of 109 clubs registered in My Rotary, only 70 are active in this district which has 2,256 Rotaractors, all of them have updated their profile at the RI registry and got their official IDs. But there are two specific issues of concern to DRR. First, she wants all Rotaract clubs to ensure that their bylaws are renewed, updated and being followed religiously. Secondly, clubs must open bank accounts and keep updated accounts of their project activities. “We face procedural hassles like a PAN card for clubs to open

bank accounts and other documentation hurdles which come in the way of managing our funds effectively,” says Janani.

Mental health cell A set of volunteers is being trained by a psychologist to act as mental health counsellors who will be attached to the mental health cell of the district Rotaract. “We will announce a helpline for those in need of guidance on mental well-being to call us and get valuable tips and suggestions from our team. This is my pet project and once the normalcy resumes, after the pandemic, this health programme will be publicised in a big way through a blog and other digital platforms,” says the DRR. The Rotaract’s health helpline will be available for all sections of people across age groups to seek advice from a team of wellness counsellors, she adds.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 25

A past DRR shares his wonderful Rotaract journey Kiran Zehra

PDRR Kshitij Choudhari (L) with PRIP Rajendra Saboo (R).

26 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

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eated in the audience at the RID 3132 District Assembly in 2013, 23-year-old Kshitij Choudhari, charter president of RAC Techplorers, was taking notes from a speech being delivered

by PRIP Kalyan Banerjee. “At one point I just stopped writing and listened in rapt attention just like everyone else in the room. He wasn’t just making a speech; he was actually talking to

us. He said, ‘We cannot simply go home and say we shall try our best. We need to commit ourselves, absolutely and fully, and do what needs to be done.

With that resolve at least one of you will succeed because to do anything we have to start ourselves.’At that point I made up my mind that I was going to reach within and do something for my community,” says Choudhari, who has a dual membership of both Rotaract and Rotary.

He thanked PDG Prafulla

Mirajgainkar for “letting us Rotaractors experience the international spirit of Rotary by allowing us to attend the assembly”.

Last year he was inducted as a member of RC Aurangabad East and is the club secretary this year. “I thank Kalyan Banerjee for inspiring me and hope to see him soon,” he adds.As a Rotaractor, working on RILM projects was one of his favourite things to do. “RIPE Shekhar Mehta showed us that we have

to first work locally to succeed globally. Even as we all were stuck at home and wondering where to start, he raised crores of rupees to fight the pandemic and has already signed MoUs with a dozen other organisations and the government for future programmes. The way he inspires others is by doing it himself first,” he says. He recalls meeting Mehta at the Rotaract district conference he had hosted as DRR in 2018– 19. “Simple, humble, and

to the point, he was full of appreciation for the projects Rotaractors had done.”

Having participated in two consecutive RYLAs he was encouraged by Rtn Anupam Goval of RC Aurangabad East to start a Rotaract club in his college — Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Aurangabad. RAC Techplorers was chartered in 2011 and Choudhari says, “this was the best thing to have happened to us engineering students.

With members of RAC Techplorers.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 27

It was so difficult for us to crack campus interviews because our language and speaking skills were poor.”

As president of the club, he started the Rotaract School of Leadership, a certificate course for language, communication, and leadership skill development in his college. “Unlike big cities, there is very little scope for us to find a decently priced and authentic training programme outside the college.

Through Rotaract we could help local students with this programme,” he says.

The PDRR has also served as editor for the newsletters of RSAMDIO (Rotaract South

PDRR Choudhuri (behind) with PRIP Kalyan Banerjee.

With PRIP Barry Rassin.

28 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Asia Multi-District Information Organistation, an RI initiative to train Rotaractors, connect DRRs, and help them look beyond the club level). “With RSAMDIO, we get an opportunity to attend conferences, get involved in projects and participate in training seminars on a local, national and international level,” he says.

Rotaract gave him a chance to travel, look outside the boundaries of his State and learn new things. “I met my wife through Rotaract and got my business idea when I was a district youth exchange student. So you can say Rotaract shaped my life so far and Rotary is shaping my future.”

Choudhari owns a gaming centre, NGG E-Sports, in Aurangabad, and has a RotaryRotaract dual membership. As a Rotarian, he feels welcomed and happy to be part of RC Aurangabad East, a 35-year-old club.

“I am in the learning phase of a Rotarian and have a long way to go,” he says.

RAC ISME hosts online gala Team Rotary News

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artnering with We Can, We Will Foundation, RAC ISME, RID 3141, trained 40 children living in the slums of Mumbai under their project A step Ahead. The Rotaractors trained them in lateral and innovative thinking, in addition to teaching their academic lessons. They have decided to extend their support and guidance even after this 45-hour programme is completed.

The club hosted a movie night for its members and raised `2,300. The amount was contributed to an NGO to help feed stray animals.

The Rotaractors joined hands with the NGO to distribute food to street dwellers during the lockdown.

Speaktravaganza, an online communication festival for professional development, was hosted by the club. It included fun topics in art, singing, comedy, Bollywood movies, Harry Potter quiz and an online scavenger hunt. DRR Ojas Joshi enthused the online gathering saying that “the virtual programmes will help in better bonding among members and improve their networking and latent skills.” The event was shared live on Instagram with over 200 participants.

Brain Train was another fun game that tested the knowledge of brands and logos and the virtual event had 70 participants.

OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS

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A combo of service and fun Jaishree

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ID 3053 led by DRR Surender Joshi organised a virtual RYLA in August. The two-day programme had a participation of 300 youngsters. This is probably the district’s first E-RYLA, says Joshi, adding that “with the Covid pandemic looming large, we have to adapt ourselves in an innovative manner, and still continue our activities that can transform the world for the better. We owe it to our community.”

The RYLA was conducted in the presence of DG Harish Gaur, DGE Sanjay Malviya, DGN Rajesh Chura and DRCC Manish Taparia.

PDG Arun Gupta and PDRR

Mukesh Pratap Singh shed light on Rotary and Rotaract and how the organisation helps in transforming a person. Gupta, addressing the general participants, described the various avenues that Rotaract offers for personal growth.

The events comprised both speaker and activity sessions.

Rotarians Bhupendra Singh Rathore and Khushal Sharma spoke on motivation and entrepreneurship while Priyesh Bhandari, a past governor and a former DRR, motivated the participants with his talk on ‘Dare to Dream’. Digital innovation and developing rapport between NGOs and corporate companies were some of the other topics discussed.

The participants were trained in leadership and marketing. Offline tasks included feeding animals and creating and marketing an energy drink.

Cash prizes were sent to the title winners. The event was anchored

by District Rotaract secretary Vinay Harsh and ZRR Sonal Jaiswal.

With the Covid pandemic looming large, we have to adapt ourselves in an innovative manner, and still continue our activities that can transform the world for the better.

The virtual ‘seven days seven events’.

RAC Prestige Gwalior, RID 3053, conducted ‘Seven days seven events’, a programme that encouraged the club members to implement seven activities in a week ranging from spreading awareness

on cancer through posters, poetry writing, feeding street dogs to blogging on World Tourism Day (Sept 27). Rotaractors shared photographs online of their visits to heritage sites and participation in cultural events. The seven-day schedule wrapped up with Dhadkan, a wellness promotion programme where the members were encouraged to upload pictures of their fitness activites such as yoga, jogging and aerobics.

“There was hectic interaction among the members on all seven days with each one of them trying to outdo the other,” says club president Shailja Singh. Some activities such as poetry writing and poster-making had the involvement of family members too, she adds.

RAC Alwar Hope began the new Rotaract year with its support for the newly added area of focus — supporting the

Left: A mega tree plantation drive.

environment. The club members organised a ‘Green yatra’ by planting saplings across Alwar and protecting them with tree guards. Their greening campaign included placing banners and posters in prominent places with messages on deforestation, global warming and ozone depletion, and urging the public to plant trees and take care of them. “We plan to dedicate at least one day every month for mother earth and focus on some greening activities that day,” says Yash Sharma, the club president.

OCTOBER 2020

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Madurai Rotaractors hold niche programmes V Muthukumaran

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ore than inducting new members or doing big budget projects, RAC Madurai North, RID 3000, is taking up impactful programmes and community initiatives “which will inspire service-minded people to join Rotaract as our work will have its brand recall value,” says club president K Madhusudhan.

The two ongoing projects — letter exchange with Rotaract clubs across the world and Sarithara Saturday

(historical Saturday) where Rotaractors and public are invited to speak on niche issues like health and nutrition, education, sports, career and personality development with a view to share ideas and bond with each other, apart from being a platform to develop oratorical skills — are being run successfully and may give birth to fruitful agreements in the near future.

“We hope to enter into twin club pacts with foreign clubs at the end of letter exchange schedule. So far, we have exchanged letters on social

media, Apps and through email with 35 clubs including around 5–6 foreign Rotaractors,” explains Madhushudhan.

Through exchange of letters, Rotaractors strike friendship by sharing Rotary values as this has opened a bonding platform, he says.

Around 55–60 participants including 40 Rotaractors log in for zoom webinars on weekends to hear views on special topics in Sarithara Saturday. “We have a set of regular visitors to this online event and have plans to convert this group into a Rotaract

RAC Madurai North president K Madhusudhan (sitting, left) along with Rotaractors at a Little Library.

Also seen is immediate past president E Vigneshwaran (left).

32 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Rotaractors during the implementation of a school project.

Business Forum that will hold meetings at a venue and opens up opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.”

Covid relief, other projects Grocery kits, food packets and cash doles of `1,000 each are being given to migrant, daily wage families to ease their pain during lockdown. “So far, around 200–220 families have benefitted from our food and cash donations to families in Madurai. Due to logistics, we could not extend this food aid to suburbs and nearby places,” says club trainer R Lokesh Kumar, a PDRR who mentors the Rotaractors on project implementation. Twenty Rotaractors are involved in fund collection, purchasing groceries and packaging them for distribution to needy families.

Project Anna Seva donates 25kg rice bags to Hands of Compassion, a special home for mentally-challenged people who are treated, given nutritious food and comfortable stay and then sent back to their homes. The Rotaractors have delivered groceries and dress material to 30 inmates of this special home during the lockdown.

Along with Karpipom, a local NGO, the club is holding a series of child sexual awareness camps in government schools over the last two years wherein sensitive issues like ‘good touch, bad touch’, misconduct and stalking are taking up with students in government schools.

“Due to Covid, we are unable to hold awareness sessions this year. Before the pandemic, we had reached out to over 50 schools and 5,000-plus primary students in Madurai, Karur, Dindigul and also to college students of Anna University, Trichy,” explains Kumar. With a tagline ‘No more Hasini’ the Rotaractors hold fun games and interactive sessions with children to elicit in a subtle way if they have been victims of sexual abuse in the recent past.

Smart training was given under Arivuchudar Project to students of 25 government schools across eight revenue districts including Madurai, Trichy, Dindigul, Perambalur and Pudukkottai. With the aim to inculcate reading habit among children, Little Libraries were set up in five

government schools in Madurai.

They have roped in Naturals, a salon chain, for Project Gift in which they collect bundles of hair and make it into wigs for donation to cancer survivors. “While people are coming forward to donate hair during lockdown, the salon is keeping us informed on when they will resume operation,” says Kumar.

Membership growth Among the 75 registered members, only 50 are active in this community-based club. “We are not really kin to expand membership as we are looking for just 10 new Rotaractors this year to carry forward our projects which are being sustained over the years with a bunch of passionate youth,” says Madhusudhan. Their parent Rotary, RC Madurai North, plays a supportive role in Rotaract projects and “some of the Rotarians come forward to purchase material and other resources for our ongoing programmes and help us to find sponsors when we need them,” says Lokesh Kumar.

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ROTARACT NEWS 33

Rotaractors extend tarpaulin roofs

to homeless families V Muthukumaran

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ith the proliferation of urban slums in Ahmedabad leading to rise in homeless families, RAC Indus University, RID 3054, took up a maiden initiative in providing a roof over those living on roadsides and in shanties.

“There are some who dream of having a good night sleep without facing the hassles of floodwater or chill weather. Our Chhat ki chahat par Project has extended tarpaulin roofs to over 10

34 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

families in August as they were some of the worst hit during the monsoon,” says Krupali Patel, club president. “We will be doing this project every year during rainy season.”

In August, Rotaractors visited an area at Satya Marg in Ahmedabad and installed the tarpaulin covers to the beneficiary families through a group effort. “We did it all by ourselves. But we could not reach out to more needy families due to the pandemic restrictions.

Next time, we are aiming to cover major areas in the city,” says Krupali. The project was sponsored by Rtrs Nishant Patel and Panjari Mehta who instead of celebrating their birthdays with a gala collected a sizeable amount and gave it to Krupali for taking up this novel initiative.

A different Raksha bandhan Instead of sisters tying rakhi to their brothers on Raksha bandhan, the club members, male and

female, did this sibling ritual to their sisters within the Rotaract families.

“Our sisters were tied with rakhi as a token gesture for their commendable role as frontline warriors against coronavirus. Whether they are nurses, teachers, housewives or in any other profession, their role during the pandemic is noteworthy,” says Krupali.

A video presentation on the greatness of India with its multicultural diversity and heritage was uploaded on the Facebook

and Instagram handles of the club to remove the misconceptions and myths about the country that prevail among foreigners.

“Each of the 10 Rotaractors was given 10 myths about India to work on and

they came out with their own set of videos with screenshots and factsheets to dispel such wrong notions. I collected their work and made a common video that was uploaded on the social media for the

Rtrs Panjari Mehta (4th from L) and Nishant Patel (right) along with club members and project beneficiaries.

benefit of foreigners,” she explains.

Krupali initiated this India video project as “I felt there are many people living abroad still thinking our country as an illiterate, backward, caste-based and tribal society which we are not.” And the video created by the Rotaractors addresses these misconceptions with facts and proofs taken from the

common source. The institution-based club with 26 members is mentored by its parent RC Ahmedabad Metro. “Our Rotarians are supportive of our plans and guide us in our projects.

They have assured us that they will provide funding to our Chhat ki chahat par Project from next year and make it reach out to more beneficiaries,” says Krupali. n OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS 35

RID 3030 Rotaractors find opportunities to serve Jaishree

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n the last week of June a severe cyclonic storm Nisarga swept across coastal Maharashtra, leaving the people of the region completely shattered. Kokan Kinarpatti comprising Alibaug, Dapoli and Ratnagiri was badly hit. The storm ravaged several acres of fields in this lush green region known for mangoes, palms, coconut, cashews and rice cultivation, destroying the livelihood of the villagers.

The Rotaractors of RID 3030 quickly reached out to the people affected by the storm. “Already, the area was grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and the storm came as a big blow for the people, especially the underprivileged,� said District Community director Nilesh Chaudhari. As soon as the storm eased, some Rotaractors visited the affected areas and assessed

36 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Above: A mega plantation drive being launched.

Left: Stationery kits being provided to school children by the members of RAC Chalisgaon Classic.

Below: Covid relief being provided to needy families.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 37

people’s needs. “Many farmers had lost their crops. We pooled in funds for a fortnight from our district team.

Thirteen other NGOs also contributed to the cause.” Chaudhari’s personal contribution was `15,000.

Cash was credited into the bank accounts of farm labourers and saplings were given to landowners 38 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

whose crops were destroyed in the rains. His club, RAC Nasik Metro, adopted 80 families around Kokan.

“We distributed grocery kits with sufficient quantity to last for at least two months,” he added.

The club has been providing sanitary pads to orphanages in and around Nasik since 2016,when it was

chartered. “Last year we had given 15,000 packs to various orphanages.

This year our target is to distribute 85,000 packs,” said club secretary Shouvik Basu, adding that the club members provide menstrual hygiene counselling to adolescent girls in the orphanages. The club is actively participating in the district project

A Rotaractor fills homeopathy pills in bottles.

Left: A Covid awareness demo while distributing face masks.

Shikshat to distribute stationery kits to schoolchildren throughout the year.

Rotaract clubs of Satana Pride and Satana Baglan planted 5,000 saplings in Virgaonpade village.

Twenty-five Rotaractors, Rotarians and 250 RCC members helped in the greening drive which was launched

with fanfare by chief guest Justice V A Avhad from the Satana court.

“Our RCC members will water and nourish the saplings regularly,” said Kamlesh Jadhav, president, RAC Satana Pride.

Rotaractors from seven Rotaract clubs packed homeopathic immunity booster, Arsenic Album, in 7,850

bottles and distributed them among people in Jalgaon to provide them protection from coronavirus.

RAC JIT, along with RC Nagpur Ishanya, distributed face masks in and around Nagpur to over 1,500 people including police officers and sanitation staff. The Rotaractors conducted an awareness drive to safeguard against coronavirus by holding placards in busy traffic junctions across the city.

During the visarjan after Ganesh Chaturthi when idols of Ganesha were taken out in a procession to be immersed in the Godavari river, members of RAC Nashik Metro distributed sanitisers to people.

“Since it was a huge gathering it was important to safeguard people from getting infected by the virus,” said Chaudhari.

Under the district project Seva hi parmo dharma, clubs distributed food to migrant labourers and the needy across the district. RAC Nagpur, along with an NGO Vibha Foundation, provided food and grocery kits to around 1.5 lakh people for ten days in March when the Covid lockdown was announced.

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Mumbai Rotaractors hold online classes for disadvantaged kids V Muthukumaran

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his nine-year-old club with a motto ‘Act for Impact’ does community projects with a two-fold objective — to create a better society with impactful programmes and mould professional and leadership skills of Rotaractors.

“Our Open School offers online general classes on Saturdays for poor children at NGOs, orphanages and special homes in Mumbai, Nagpur, Indore and Uttarakhand. Once the pandemic subsides, we plan to hold physical meetings in Mumbai for a large gathering of children from underprivileged families on Sundays,” says Payasvi

Pathak, president, RAC Bombay Airport, RID 3141.

Presently, 150 children in the age group of 4–14 years are being tutored by a team of 70 Rotaractors in batches.

The club has tied up with four NGOs for conducting online classes on diverse subjects including general knowledge, current affairs, creating awareness on hygiene and sanitation and webbased fun activities, among others. “Once we resume field activities, the children will be taught English, math and communication skills.

There will also be a yoga demonstration and the

students will be coached through model exams,” says Rtr Meet Shah, social media director.

Due to Covid restrictions, the club members are not able to meets so “we carry our regular activities through social media and Apps. One such is an online interaction with old age homes in which the Rotaractors hold fun sessions with senior citizens.” At present, the club is holding online programmes for eight old age homes in Mumbai, Pune and Gujarat. “We will be visiting them soon and donate grocery, food and other essentials on a monthly basis,” says Shah.

Cricket fundraiser The Rotaractors are waiting eagerly for the launch of their fundraiser, IPL Fantasy League Tournament, an online cricket contest scheduled to kick-off during the IPL inauguration in Dubai. “It is a virtual cricket contest with lots of fun and we are assured of at least 300 participants, each having paid `30 as entry fee,” says Payasvi. The proceeds of the online contest will be used to purchase 2,000 masks and 2,000 sanitiser bottles which will be distributed to homeless people and migrant families eking out a living on roadsides, she says.

After Covid restrictions are eased, the club

RAC Bombay Airport Payasvi Pathak (sitting, right) at a meeting of children of Open School.

40 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Rotaractors at the Scooby Dooby Project that fits reflective collars on street dogs.

will be taking up wall beautification and river clean-up as two major projects for the year.

“We are yet to identify the public places for wall painting and also select a waterbody for restoration as both are still on planning stages,” she says.

The wall paintings will be done at busy places such as railway stations, school campuses, public libraries and parks.

Payasvi is keen to start a regular session on menstrual hygiene for underprivileged women in Mumbai. “We will start this project in a small way and expand it to reach more beneficiaries in a phased manner.”

Around 90 per cent of its

132 members are college goers, and the rest are young professionals who have just graduated from college. The Rotaractors have placed reflective collars on over 200 street dogs at Andheri, Juhu and Bandra,

among other localities in Mumbai, to protect the mongrels from being mowed down at night by speeding vehicles due to poor visibility.

Named Scooby Dooby, this act of kindness for street dogs reflects the

After Covid restrictions are eased, the club will be taking up wall beautification and river clean-up as two major projects for the year.

Payasvi Pathak president, RAC Bombay Airport RID 3141

compassionate side of their impactful projects, says Payasvi, a final-year student of Data Science Engineering at NMIMS, Mumbai.

For Meet Shah, a BE student who joined the club last year, the smiling faces of the inmates at old age homes and orphanages give him “immense satisfaction and a feeling that my work has brought a positive change, though it may be miniscule, in the community.”

Their parent Rotary, RC Bombay Airport, helps them with “monetary support and also fixes the venue for Rotaract projects if we are unable to do it on our own,” adds the club president.

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A Rotaract club springs to life again V Muthukumaran

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et grand targets, work towards them so that “you start your career at the right time to move in the right direction,” said former Isro scientist Mayilsamy Annadurai while addressing over 700 school and college students at the Vinnai Thodu (Touch the sky), a webinar to mark International Youth Day hosted by RAC

42 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Coimbatore Texcity, RID 3201.

He urged students to “chase your dreams to achieve success” but with a caveat that they should work passionately towards their goals. In the emerging post-Covid world, youth must be well-prepared to take on challenges; “it is not enough to excel just in studies, but due

importance must be given to extracurricular activities too.” Annadurai explained in detail the checklist that India had to achieve as he noted in his Vision 2020 Mission. Former President Abdul Kalam’s dream big mantra should be adopted by all students to achieve excellence in their chosen fields, he said.

He narrated a Buddhist parable to

drive home the importance of self-evaluation and the need to handle criticism in a positive way to come up in life.

Additional chief electoral officer, Chhattisgarh, K C Devasenapathi spoke on a five-point formula to crack the UPSC and other competitive exams.

He clarified the queries of students on issues like coaching and exam

preparations at an interactive session after his speech.

RC Coimbatore Texcity president Dr V Ravendran motivated the Rotaractors to take up community projects by stating that his club is ready to extend all support in their endeavour. District Rotaract Committee chair Godwin Maria Viswasam said, “I will recommend this novel youth project to DG Jose Chacko for declaring it as a district Rotaract project.” The RAC Coimbatore Texcity has been revived after a gap of five years, he

Former Isro scientist Mayilsamy Annadurai at a webinar to mark International Youth Day.

noted, and under a new leadership it has found its moorings with such youth initiatives like Vinnai Thodu.

DRR Janani Mani thanked Annadurai for his inspiring speech which would go a long way in sensitising the youth on the challenges ahead and the need to equip themselves with right skill sets for success. Rtn Hendry Amalraj, zonal chairman, District Priority, also spoke on the occasion.

The participants logged in from Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem and Palakkad among other nearby districts.

A great start Five years ago, the club was shut down “for want of leadership as there was none to take over that responsibility then,” recalled Logesh Bharani, president, RAC Coimbatore Texcity. Now with 25 Rotaractors, he had revived the club with great hope and vision to do “socially relevant and impactful projects.” Wasting no time after taking over the reins, he along with his Rotaract team has already completed two Covid-relief projects.

First, they distributed over 70 hygiene kits containing sanitisers, masks, gloves and soap to needy families in Chennai, Vellore and Coimbatore at a cost of `10,000. This was followed by a cash donation of `1,000 each to 10 migrant, daily wage families who had lost their livelihood due to lockdown. Club secretary K R Athiray said a new project titled Open Talk will be launched soon in which ordinary, but aspirational women will be invited to share online their ideas, and creative thoughts with Rotaractors. Bharani, a customer service associate at Amazon, and his secretary are confident that Open Talk will extend a “useful platform” for young women striving hard to achieve success in diverse ventures. They expressed their “heartfelt gratitude to our parent Rotary — RC Coimbatore Texcity, who had contributed the seed money for us to start Covid projects,” said Bharani.

OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS

43

Aurobindo Rotaract takes up MHM campaign V Muthukumaran

W

hile the Covid lockdown has inhibited Rotaract projects, Sakshi Raman, president, RAC Sri Aurobindo College, RID 3011, is busy inducting new students into her club. Despite hurdles, they have already done nearly 40 outreach events, camps and relief activities in the national capital region, Assam and Bihar since July.

In August 40 new members were inducted, and “we have targeted a membership of at least 150 by the end of next June. But the lockdown will hamper our membership drive and being an institution-based club, the final year students after passing out quit as Rotaractors.” Hence, they have to motivate the freshers and others to join Rotaract which is a challenge, she says. Last year, the membership stood at 196 and “each year we have to induct new members to carry on our club projects,” says Sakshi. But she is confident of taking forward some of the flagship projects of the club without any hassles this

44 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

year too. Project Rudhir (red blood) holds a series of awareness camps, sessions and workshops on menstrual hygiene among women in slums and girls at government schools over the last three years.

Last year, the women at Saket, Pushp Vihar and Mukundpur from large slum clusters were covered under Project Rudhir, apart from students

from five schools in the NCR. “We reached out to 350 beneficiaries who were taught about menstrual hygiene with dos and don’ts. They also got sanitary napkins and hygiene kits that would ensure menstrual hygine among the less privileged families,” she explains.

Due to extended lockdown, the club has so far completed only two

phases of this project — an online poster campaign on Facebook and Instagram that focused on menstrual woes during the pandemic. This benefitted around 230 underprivileged women. In the second phase, a guest speaker from Riopad, a franchisee of Noble Hygiene, explained in a webinar on the need to adopt scientific means

useful items to at least 600 families.”

Above: Club Rotaractors during a roadshow.

Left: RAC Sri Aurobindo College president Sakshi Raman distributing sanitary pads to beneficiaries.

Below: A Rotaractor giving food packet to a fuel outlet staff under Smiling Faces Project.

during menses by the use of sanitary pads and other hygiene packs. This webinar reached out to 140 beneficiaries.

Project Grim with a tagline ‘good hygiene, healthy life’ creates awareness on adopting good sanitation practices

and distributes sanitisers to needy families.

The club makes use of a community centre at Masoodpur to employ eight women to pack sanitisers for handwash that are being distributed to poor families in slums and backward colonies.

“We take delivery of handwash solution from a third party and get the packaging done at the centre for distribution.

Last year, Project Grim reached out to 2,500 beneficiaries in eight phases and this year, we are hopeful of touching 4,000 lives. We have already done the first phase since July that benefitted 40 persons,” says Sakshi.

Under Smiling Faces, the club distributes food packets, sparsely-used clothes, footwear and other essential items to poor families and roadside dwellers living a marginal existence. Last year, the project benefitted 400 families, “and we are confident of donating

Flood relief campaign Having conducted a week-long online campaign for flood relief for cyclone victims in Assam and Bihar, the Rotaractors collected large bundles of relief material and cash from Delhi residents. “We bought utility things with the donated amount and an eight-member Rotaract team visited Patna and Guwahati from Aug 5 to distribute relief material to the flood-hit families,” explains Sakshi. The Rotaractors visited the damaged houses of 66 families and presented the relief material to them.

Most of the project funding is done through a mix of membership fees (`250 per member), big donations from sponsors and contributions from their parent club, RC Delhi South-West. “We can bank on our parent Rotary club for the right inputs and mentorship for projects.

They also sponsor our select projects and help us to get donations from corporates too,” says club president, a final year student of BA (Economics).

Due to lockdown restrictions, the Rotaractars conduct their weekly meetings through zoom or Google Meet to chart out monthly activities. But once the normalcy resumes, they are hopeful of resuming their club meetings at a park near their college.

OCTOBER 2020

ROTARACT NEWS 45

Extending kindness

during Covid Kiran Zehra

D

uring the lockdown, many stray dogs were left hungry. They had to roam the streets and rummage the dump yards and garbage bins to find something to eat as all the shops, hotels, market and eateries were closed at Ramanagara near Bengaluru. “Finding dogs or any pet animals going hungry is unacceptable to us,” says H S Nagarjun, past president, RAC Shanthiniketan Ramanagara, RID 3190.

The Rotaractors of this club feed at least 50 stray dogs in Ramanagara every day.

The initiative was first mooted by club president E Nagendra when he saw some dogs searching for food. Some even started chasing people as they became more aggressive with the non-availability of food. “India records more than 20,000 rabies cases a year and the disease is rising due to the huge growth of stray dogs in urban areas. Once you feed them, they become calmer and won’t hurt anyone,” says Nagendra.

The advisory by the Animal Welfare Board of India circulated two days before the first lockdown 46 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

also “inspired us to do something for the strays.

It said that feeding stray animals is an essential service and encouraged local authorities to allow people to feed street animals during the lockdown because, without that aid, large numbers of animals will suffer and die,” he says.

“We uploaded photos of our Rotaractors feeding the animals on social

media to spread the message and encourage more people to replicate the kindness,” says Nagendra.

A salute to Karnataka State Police The club expressed its gratitude to the police force

by pinning Covid Warrior badges on 200 officers in Ramanagara. “They manned the roads and ensured that the lockdown was successful while risking their lives for us. While some laughed and mocked at them for being too strict in implementing the Covid

rules, the policemen won our hearts as they stood there like a rock and made us stay indoors.”

ASI Keshav Murthy thanked the Rotaractors for this token of appreciation.

“It's a long road ahead for

all of us. Please do treat all the Covid warriors with respect because each of us risks not just our lives but our family’s lives too, to keep you safe,” he said.

The club celebrated Senior Citizens Day

with the inmates of Darideepa old age home.

The highlight of the visit was when “two aged women taught us an old patriotic song,” recalls Nagarjun. Club members performed a scene from

While some laughed and mocked at them for being too strict in implementing the Covid rules, the policemen won our hearts as they stood there like a rock and made us stay indoors.

Above: Police personnel being honoured with Covid Warrior badges.

Left: Rotaractors plant saplings on a school campus.

the Mahabharata and in the end the Rotaractors took a pledge that “we will never disrespect or desert our parents and will treat them with dignity when they need our support in their old age. It was an emotional moment for all of us,” he adds.

The Rotaractors also planted 1,000 saplings on the campus of Morarji Desai Residential School near Ramanagara.

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ROTARACT NEWS 47

Rotaractors plan Happy Schools in Dimapur V Muthukumaran

T

here is a peppy note in the voice of Nikhil Jain, president, RAC Dimapur, RID 3240, as he chats with me on the phone, explaining the Covid-relief work his club members have taken up in several localities in Nagaland.

“We have sprayed disinfectants at seven major areas including Marwari Patti, G S Road and Murgi Patti covering a 4km radius. We did this work in partnership with RC D ­ imapur, our parent Rotary club,” he says.

A couple of district projects like Rakshitam (protecting frontline workers) and Sanman (honouring Covid warriors) are in full swing during the lockdown.

“Four workers of municipal corporation were honoured with Sanman (respect) certificates signed by DRR Tushar Jalan.

Under Rakshitam, we donated

48 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

Above: RAC Dimapur president Nikhil Jain giving Covid relief material to a doctor at a primary health centre.

Left: Rotaractors with grocery items and essentials for seven families who were victims of a fire mishap.

two large Covid kits containing 100 hand and foot pedal sanitisers, 300 face masks, three PPE kits and 150 face shields to the primary health centre at the Burma Camp and a quarantine centre at Chumukedima, a city suburb,” explains Jain. The two Covid kits cost `35,000. Rtr Pankaj Giri was feted with a Rotaract Karo-Na Warrior Award by the DRR for his selfless service during the lockdown.

Shortly, the club will be installing a handwash station, an RO filter unit and automatic sanitiser dispenser at the G ­ overnment OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS 49

Rotaractors at the ‘Each one, feed one’ Project.

Middle School, Half Nagarjan, the largest co-ed school in Nagaland having over 800 students. This RILM project is being implemented at a total cost of around `70,000, met by sponsor firms.

Club Assembly After the swearing-in ceremony of new office-bearers, the club had its first physical meeting at the Club Assembly (Aug 30) where Rotaract t-shirts were distributed and a club’s newsletter Parindey was released.

“We will bring out this magazine once in two months and this maiden edition was themed Magnum Opus,” he says. Dr Nitin Agarwal from RC Dimapur, the training officer, spoke on the duties and responsibilities of Rotaractors with inspiring anecdotes. “All the four directors under community, professional, club and international services were given instructions on taking initiatives in their respective domains.”

Following a report in the national media that ranked Dimapur as one of the 10 dirtiest cities 50 ROTARACT NEWS OCTOBER 2020

of India, “we are planning a major cleanliness drive across the city.

We owe a lot to Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, and once normalcy resumes, a slew of field activities will be taken up by our Rotaractors.” In the long term, the club is toying with the idea of adopting one or two government schools to revamp the infrastructure and improve the academic skills of students in a phased manner under the Happy Schools Project.

We are planning a major cleanliness drive across the city. Once normalcy resumes, a slew of field activities will be taken up by our Rotaractors.

Nikhil Jain president, RAC Dimapur

More than 120 food packets were distributed to homeless people and migrant families worst hit by the pandemic in Each one, feed one Project. “The money was collected through members’ contributions and public donations for the cause,” says Jain. Their parent RC Dimapur is a ready partner in Rotaract initiatives and “also get us sponsors for our mega projects.” With 25 members, this 45-year-old Rotaract club banks much on a fundraiser titled Rota Dandiya Utsav during Navaratri which attracts social celebrities and Rotarians for a gala evening.

“This year due to the lockdown, we are not sure if we can hold this fellowship event, but we are keeping our fingers crossed,” he adds.

Nikhil Jain, a BCom graduate, is into his family business of medical retailing and also helps his father in his charitable activities in and around Dimapur, “the sort of work that is similar to the projects we do in Rotaract,” he adds.n

On the racks

Shhh! Don’t talk about mental health Author : Arjun Gupta Publisher : Notion Press Pages : 206; `300

Burnt Sugar Red, White & Royal Blue Author : Casey McQuiston Publisher : St Martin Publishing Pages : 423; `499

A

royal wedding turns out to be a PR disaster for both Alex Claremont Diaz, the son of the first woman President of America and Henry George Edward James Fox, Prince of England. Up for reelection, Alex’s mother forces a fake friendship between the two handsome and charismatic men. The fake Instagram friendship soon turns into love and what follows is chaos. With the paparazzi behind them all the time and an ocean in-between, their correspondence is restricted to emails. Both men realise they have a lot to risk and that their relationship holds the power to derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations.

Casey McQuiston speaks about a gay love story, cancel culture, twitter replies, and everything dear to the millennials in this book.

Most importantly she highlights the present issues of the young and a world as we know it.

Author : Avni Doshi Publisher : Hamish Hamilton Pages : 240; `1,407

L

onglisted for the Booker Prize 2020 this is a poignant story about love and betrayal between a mother and a daughter.

Tara, a wild woman in her youth, abandons her loveless marriage to live in an ashram with her child Antara, and falls in love with a guru. Antara retells her tale about living at the ashram, and her suffering under her mother’s self-centered version of selfactualisation. Now Tara is old and forgetful and Antara is tasked with taking care of her mother she never loved. This book talks about the change of roles from being a daughter to becoming a caregiver for an elderly mother and fearless portrays the complicated feelings a caregiver can experience. The anger and helplessness that stem from the feeling of being inadequate in the role of a daughter to being taken for granted while the sick person is showered with understanding and pity, this book is packed with unsettling emotions.

A

simple, sensitive 19-yearold boy, Yashasvi, suffering from clinical depression decides to end his life. Timely and appropriate, the story walks you through the history of depression, baseless theories, and the mentality of the society towards the subject. The book shares an account from the bygone eras from 500–1,400 AD where the mentally-ill were considered to be possessed by a demons and holes were drilled in their skulls as treatment. In 1247, the Bethlehem hospital Hospital in London was established for the mentally sick, but they were chained, beaten, and experimented on. Today they are called names and abandoned by their friends and family.

How Yashasvi fights his emotional outbursts, anger and suicidal thoughts forms the crux of the story. This is not a self-help book but with the help of the protagonist, history, facts and statistics, the author destigmatises mental health by creating awareness on mental health issues.

Compiled by Kiran Zehra OCTOBER 2020 ROTARACT NEWS 51