Rotary news august 2016 for websitelr

@NewsRotary

/RotaryNewsIndia

Vol.67, Issue 2

Annual Subscription Rs.420

August 2016

Serving Together

Transformation of a village In the tiny tribal village of Pitagadia, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, thanks to RC Bhubaneswar Confluence, which has adopted the village, we saw much more than children going to school and

clean toilets with water supply. Hand in hand with mushroom cultivation went mobile phones and dish antennas!

Text and picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

Contents 28 Quite a Bagful, this!

RC Pune Central shows the way to convert newspapers into eco-friendly paper bags to help livelihoods.

30 Spotlight — Membership

12 The Raja of Rotary An account of a Rotary journey in India like no other. In a tête-á-tête, PRIP Rajendra K Saboo gives invaluable glimpses of his 55 years in service.

Highlights of the zonal Membership Training Meets that focussed on implementing the RMP 2016-17.

40 Brexit and our Partition

24 For the joy of giving Read about Rtn Saif Qureishi, who became an AKS member to motivate others also to donate to TRF.

A comparative study on the recent Britain’s pulling out of the EU and the Indo-Pak partition.

52 And now... Water ATMs in Slums Women can now get their share of water any time of the day... all they have to do is just swipe their smart cards at the water ATMs.

70 Making art is Making Health Read on to find out how pursuing some kind of art enhances one’s wellbeing.

55 Preserving Nepal’s heritage It’s a relationship with heritage that comes naturally to the Shrestha family, who are living their late patriarch’s dream through this enchanting property in Kathmandu.

42

Making magic through international collaboration

RC Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh sets up a vibrant and buzzing community centre through focussed service.

On the cover: PRIP Rajendra K Saboo and spouse Usha Saboo at their home in Chandigarh.

LETTERS

Surpassing The Rotarian! eceived the July issue edited excellently by you. I am happy to note the wonderful changes in presenting the RI information and news in a lucid manner that reflects the correct picture and makes us read the copy page by page. In the recent CoL, RI has diluted many rules and made a few things flexible.

R

Missing subscribers t was shocking to know thousands of Rotarians are not subscribing to the magazine.It mirrors the ugly face of Rotary clubs in India. Each Rotarian contributes Rs.5,000–6,000 as annual membership fees, out of which Rs. 420 is earmarked for the Magazine. I hear the reason for non-subscription is that many club Presidents unofficially collect information of members not interested in reading the magazine, perhaps due to language problems. Their subscription is diverted to club projects.

G V Sayagavi RC Davanagere Vidyanagar – D 3160

I

R

I President John Germ says the most important qualities to be a good Rotary leader are good management skills, patience and the ability to motivate and work with people.

The noteworthy quote from Bible: “To whom much is given, much is 4 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

But under your editorship, Rotary News has not been diluted; in fact both its content and presentation have been enriched!

Both the interviews — of RI President John Germ and PRIP Kalyan Banerjee - reflect the mindset of these leaders. It is very heartening to see that on many pages our PRIP Raja Saboo makes an impact and our youngat-heart RI Director Manoj Desai and Sharmishtha bring us their smiles. The articles Into the wild and Managing Depression were really good.

Once again my sincere appreciation for the new look of our magazine, surpassing The Rotarian!

PDG Madhukar B Deodhar RC Mulund Mumbai – D 3141 expected” is relevant to our well-to-do Rotarians. He says his hobby is Rotary which shows his commitment. It is disappointing to find that 20,000 Rotarians are not subscribing to any Rotary magazine. Subscription rules should be made more stringent to save these

valuable magazines giving valuable information to all Rotarians.

M T Philip RC Trivandrum Suburban – D 3211

I

t is sad to note about the missing subscribers. The Editor and her team are striving to bring out a quality Rotary News. I was happy to read about Rotary Editors’ day out at Evanston by Rasheeda. This is the best platform for the Editors to assemble and share ideas and strategies.

Healthcare for rural children by Kiran Zehra and Keep moderate, regular exercise going were interesting.

Raj Kumar Kapoor RC Roopnagar – D 3080

Seoul Convention he Korea convention will be remembered for long by both visiting and non-visiting Rotarians.

Rakesh Bhatia RC Belur – D 3291

T T

hanks to your writing I got a whirlwind tour of the Seoul Convention. I travelled between Kintex 1 and 2 several times to thoroughly enjoy the articles!

Gaurish Padukone RC Bhatkal – D 3170

Simple, straightforward, generous

P

RIP Kalyan Banarjee’s profile in the May issue was very inspiring and has increased my respect for him even more. I am a Rotarian since 1979 and I belong to D 3060. When Kalyanbhai

was our DG and visited our club, I had hosted him in my house, which was not well furnished then. He and Binotaji slept on the floor without any complaint and he gifted my daughter his expensive pen. Kalyanbhai is simple, straightforward and generous. Even when he meets me today, he remembers my name and asks me how my club is doing.

Anil P Sohoni RC Dondaicha Senior – D 3060

LETTERS Respect Rotaractors he July issue was very interesting; Let’s respect Rotaractors was excellent; When Rotary gave his mother back to K R Ravindran touched my heart. Soon we will see the greatest day in the history of Rotary when the world becomes polio free. Congratulations to you and your team for publishing such an excellent issue.

Harkishore Chanda RC Hailakandi – D 3240

T

R

I President John Germ has urged us to respect Rotaractors, who are the seeds of our Rotary Garden. If we nurture them now, they will do more for the society in future.

T D Bhatia, Rotary Club Delhi Mayur Vihar – D 3012

R

I President John Germ’s message to respect Rotaractors is very apt as they will become leaders of tomorrow. As a Rotarian who has worked with students I applaud the article and recommend its reading by all Rotarians.

N R U K Kartha RC Trivandrum Suburban – D 3211

Women and Rotary

M

ona Sitwala’s article Why single out women in Rotary? in the July issue is truly an eye-opener. I fully agree with her view. If we continue to introduce women members as “lady Rotarians,” it shows our reluctance to treat them as equals. I suggest we dispense with the practice of having a separate column for women Rotarians in the membership report published every month.

K Ravindrakumar RC Karur, D 3000

C

ongratulations for giving us such good glimpses of Seoul Convention. The article on

N

ow both print and e-version of Rotary News are priced the same at Rs 420. Please consider the suggestion to price e-version at Rs 240.

Dr Anil Latey RC Poona Downtown – D 3131

T

T

A

O

he July issue was an informative one; I liked best Kalyanda’s message, and the haldi farming story describing the good work of Rotarians to help farmers. RMB was a new concept to help grow Rotarians’ business.

Jagdish Vaghasia RC Surat East – D 3060 fter you took over as Editor, the magazine’s look, content, articles and specially photography, are among the best. I get my copy normally by the 10th, of the month but if it gets delayed even by a day, I get restless. Thank you for improving our magazine.

Siddappa Kurki

hanks for the article Into the wild.

Very well written with feedback from beneficiaries. Now over 50 girls from the same school are clamouring to attend the forthcoming RYLA Nature Study and Adventure Camp, taking District RYLA to a bigger scale.

Radheshyam Modi RC Akola – D 3030 ne of the great responsibilities of a leader is to inspire his followers.

We are fortunate to have read 12 great messages from PRIP KR Ravindran.

Each one of his messages was a lesson and thoughtful expression, and made a lasting impact.

R Srinivasan RC Madurai MidTown – D 3000

Single Mothers is also inspiring.

But article on women in Rotary

by Mona Sitwala is awesome.

She has put the facts in the right perspective. This is the right kind of women empowerment.

Neelima Garg RC Dehradun West – D 3080

T

he Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe recognising Rotary for its service is a matter of pride for all Rotarians. Also the report A Convention moment touched the hearts of all Rotarians.

PDG M Ashok Padmaraj RC Nagercoil MidTown – D 3212

T

he Editorial of the July issue Fun time at Seoul and Meet your Governors were very interesting.

RI President John Germ’s view on respecting Rotaractors should be respected.

Santosh Tiwar RC Rainbow Jalna – D 3132

I

n Rotary, every July brings new aspirations, motivational themes, new agenda, new teams full of zeal and enthusiasm. Seeds of hope are sown by new hands and experienced hands take care of a good harvest.

Rajendra Singhania RC Raipur West – D 3261

We welcome your feedback. Write to the Editor: rotarynews@rosaonline.org; rushbhagat@gmail.com AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 5

From th e E d i t or ’s Desk

The gift of education….

I

am sure thousands of Rotarians will agree with me that a single image that really cheers the heart is the sight of little children in smart school uniforms, particularly those in rural areas and from underprivileged sections of society. And when these include little girls, with neatly combed hair tied up in a vibrant red or green ribbon, it infuses a special warmth and cheer in the heart. What better image or testimony of a changing India than the assurance that at long last, we are on the road to giving every child her most essential tool for empowerment — literacy, and beyond that, hopefully, a sound education. So last fortnight it was a virtual treat to visit the small tribal village of Pitagadia, barely 15 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, and be greeted by a smiling group of boys and girls. They were dressed in their shining new school uniforms, and ready to greet the Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar Confluence, which has adopted the village for over five years.

The special guest was RI Director Manoj Desai, and we were greeted with tribal music, dance, etc. The club members explained how a primary school had been set up for the children, and Desai, who says with relish that these days at the RI he is known as the “Toilet Director,” inaugurated a toilet block and hand washing stations. More about this village and this great project in a subsequent issue of Rotary News, but my takeaway was the dramatic transformation Rotary is bringing about in the lives of tribal children, promising them not only decent primary education, but through the WinS programme, giving them more than clean toilets with water and soap. The real gift is much bigger, as WinS Chair in India and TRF Trustee Sushil Gupta never tires of stating ... adoption of hygienic practices and behaviour change that will keep away preventable diseases which have a deadly

trickledown effect in terms of both healthcare costs and mortality.

In a relatively underdeveloped tribal State like Odisha, more delightful changes are happening, and sometimes through admirable initiatives undertaken by solitary Rotarians. Elsewhere, in the tribal district of Keonjhar and deep into the forests a delightful initiative of Rtn Amiya Kumar Behera from RC Keonjhargarh in D 3262 is operating. Groups of little boys and girls, dressed in neat uniforms sit under a tree in 25 different centres, and get the gift of education from a teacher. But before classes begin, they all sing the national anthem, execute a smart salute and say with pride: ‘Jai Hind; I am a proud Indian.’ If we look around us and care to open our eyes and hearts, we’ll find so many such wonderful initiatives, both inside and outside Rotary.

Yes, we have the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and successive Governments who have been struggling to rid India of the scourge of illiteracy. Within Rotary, we have the mammoth Teach India campaign. But unless each and every Indian, blessed with such abundance … great education, decent livelihoods, minds that think and hearts that feel… embraces the pledge to make India totally literate as soon as possible, this goal will remain a dream. As Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said at the last Literacy conclave in Kolkata, each and every Indian child deserves to be in school… not in restaurants, mechanic shops, or much worse, factories and vocations that require their nimble fingers. The day we start looking at the education of children beyond our own... a wholly literate India will no longer remain a dream.

Rasheeda Bhagat

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 7

President Speaks

An inviting idea Dear Fellow Rotarians, Forty years ago, a man named George Campbell, the owner of the company I worked for, invited me to join Rotary. Back then, that was a common practice in the United States. Your boss invited you to join Rotary because he thought it would be good for business and good for the community, and you said yes. It’s not surprising that our membership surged during that period.

George warned me not to use Rotary as an excuse to slack off at work. Even so, I always had time to attend lunch meetings and serve on committees. I never had to worry that taking a long lunch once a week would hurt my advancement, or what my boss would think about the occasional Rotary phone call at work.

Today, things are different. Companies are less generous about time, and not every manager looks favourably on community service. It’s hard to enjoy a Rotary meeting when you’ve got emails piling up on your phone. It’s harder than ever to balance work with Rotary — and the model that gave us so much growth a few decades ago is part of what’s holding back our growth now.

That’s why the recent Council on Legislation adopted some innovative measures that allow clubs to vary their meeting times and expand their pool of prospective members. Clubs have more flexibility now to respond to the needs of their members and to clear away as many barriers to membership as they can. But there’s one barrier to membership that only you can remove, one thing that every prospective member needs to become a Rotarian: an invitation to join a Rotary club.

Whenever I tell a group of Rotarians that we need more willing hands, more caring hearts, and more bright minds to move our work forward, everyone applauds. But those hands, hearts, and minds won’t magically appear in our clubs. We have to ask them to join. And an invitation to Rotary is something that only you can give. An invitation is a gift. It’s saying to someone, “I think you have the skills, the talent and the character to make our community better, and I want you to join me in doing that. ” I’m the president of Rotary International, but the only club I can invite someone to join is the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, Tenn.

I can’t make your club or your community stronger. Only you can do that – by inviting the qualified people you know to join you in Rotary Serving Humanity.

John F Germ President, Rotary International 8 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Message from the Foundation Chair

More members mean a stronger Foundation

O

ur Rotary Foundation depends on a strong and thriving Rotary membership. It is, after all, our members who provide the generous support that enables our Foundation to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems. As important as that support is, it’s not the only contribution Rotarians make to our Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation has an unusual business model. Like many charities, we receive donations that we use to address a host of critical issues. Unlike most other nonprofit organisations, we depend on our members to develop relevant and effective service projects. Your volunteer labour stretches our contribution dollars and helps The Rotary Foundation to do much more with less.

The typical global grant requires hours of planning and budgeting before even one dollar is received or spent. Then the sponsors must purchase supplies, seek donated goods, set up bank accounts, organise volunteers, write reports, and monitor the project’s progress, all while working with Rotarians in another part of the world. Fortunately, our clubs have a wide variety of professional skills and talents to call upon throughout this process.

Smaller clubs may not have the financial or human resources to sponsor a global grant, even if their members share a strong commitment to the Foundation’s mission. Imagine what those clubs could accomplish with two or three times as many members.

As we celebrate Membership and New Club Development Month in August, let’s not forget the importance of quickly engaging new members in Rotary service. Make sure they know about the many opportunities our Foundation offers members to pursue their service interests, from promoting better health to providing training and education to bringing peace and stability to communities in need.

Through The Rotary Foundation, our members have a chance to use their skills to make a real difference. First, we need to bring those talented people into our ranks and engage them in our Foundation’s vital work to create a better world. And only we, the Rotarians, can bring in those new members. So it is up to us, really, isn’t it?

Kalyan Banerjee Foundation Trustee Chair AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 9

Message from the RI

Director

Imperative Change Needed

T

he year 2015-16 is memorable for me because of the following achievements.

(Some numbers might change as calculations for final numbers are in progress):

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Annual Giving – $15.3 million (only India’s contribution) New AKS Members – 8 from India and 1 from Nepal New Endowment Funds – 20 Term Gifts – 40 New Members – 5,000; New Women Rotarians – 130 My visits to 32 of 36 Districts with focus on the Strategic Plan.

Grand success of the Jaipur Zone Institute.

My Voice, My Vote Innovation Superb Presidential Conference at Kolkata on WinS and Literacy Many CSR Seminars and significant Partnerships.

Classy South Asia Reception at Seoul.

Regular newsletter -The Quest Excellent Projects everywhere.

Sharmishtha and I thank the Speedy Sheriffs (DGs 2015-16), all Coordinators and their efficient teams, and my dear friends, who made all this possible.

But I continue to wonder why in spite of all these achievements, we are getting a bad image. Mainly that is due to Elections. DGN Election pilot has now been removed as the cases increased in those years.

During the last 3 months, we successfully conducted 7 elections by E-voting. You will be surprised to know that there are no complaints, just like the last RID election.

My dear friends, it is high time we take our Zones out of the Permanent Electoral Cycle. We need the following two Imperative Changes: • Accepting E-voting wholeheartedly so that the districts are free from Electoral cycles.

• District Leadership Retreat Meet (DGs – past, present and future) to discourage groupism through excellent bonhomie. Why can't we put all our issues on the table and have free and frank discussions? All decisions with majority votes need to be accepted and implemented.

This will help good Rotarians to continue Doing Good In The World and perform Service Above Self during the Centennial Year! Let us live up to our full potential and prove that Rotary is serving humanity and changing lives.

Manoj Desai Director, Rotary International

Governors Council RI Dist 2981

DG

A Mani

RI Dist 2982

DG

T Shanmugasundaram

RI Dist 3000

DG

M Muruganandam

RI Dist 3011

DG

Dr N Subramanian

RI Dist 3012

DG

Sharat Jain

RI Dist 3020

DG

Dr S V S Rao

RI Dist 3030

DG

Mahesh H Mokalkar

RI Dist 3040

DG

Darshan Singh Gandhi

RI Dist 3051

DG

Dinesh Kumar V Thacker

RI Dist 3052

DG

Ramesh Choudhary

RI Dist 3053

DG

Bhupendra Jain

RI Dist 3060

DG

Hitesh Manharlal Jariwala

RI Dist 3070

DG

Dr Sarbjeet Singh

RI Dist 3080

DG

Raman Aneja

RI Dist 3090

DG

Sanjay Gupta

RI Dist 3110

DG

Dr Ravi Mehra

RI Dist 3120

DG

Dr Pramod Kumar

RI Dist 3131

DG

Prashant Deshmukh

RI Dist 3132

DG

Pramod Shashikant Parikh

RI Dist 3141

DG

Gopal Rai Mandhania

RI Dist 3142

DG

Dr Chandrashekhar Kolvekar

RI Dist 3150

DG

Ratna Prabhakar Anne

RI Dist 3160

DG

Sreerama Murthy

RI Dist 3170

DG

Dr Vinaykumar Pai Raikar

RI Dist 3181

DG

Dr R S Nagarjuna

RI Dist 3182

DG

Devarunda Subbegowda Ravi

RI Dist 3190

DG

H R Ananth

RI Dist 3201

DG

Dr Prakash Chandran Arackal

RI Dist 3202

DG

Dr Jayaprakash P Upadhya

RI Dist 3211

DG

Dr John Daniel

RI Dist 3212

DG

Dr K Vijayakumar

RI Dist 3230

DG

Natrajan Nagoji

RI Dist 3240

DG

Dr Rintu Guha Niyogi

RI Dist 3250

DG

Dr R Bharat

RI Dist 3261

DG

Deepak Mehta

RI Dist 3262

DG

Narayan Nayak

RI Dist 3291

DG

Shyamashree Sen

Board of Permanent Trustees & Executive Committee PRIP PRIP PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID RID RIDE

Rajendra K Saboo Kalyan Banerjee Sudarshan Agarwal Panduranga Setty Sushil Gupta Ashok Mahajan Yash Pal Das Shekhar Mehta P T Prabhakhar Dr Manoj D Desai C Basker

RI Dist 3080 RI Dist 3060 RI Dist 3011 RI Dist 3190 RI Dist 3011 RI Dist 3140 RI Dist 3080 RI Dist 3291 RI Dist 3230 RI Dist 3060 RI Dist 3000

Executive Committee Members (2016–17)

DG M Muruganandam

RI Dist 3000

Chair - Governors Council

DG Shyamashree Sen

RI Dist 3291

Secretary - Governors Council

DG Sarbjeet Singh

RI Dist 3070

Secretary - Executive Committee

DG Natrajan Nagoji

RI Dist 3230

Treasurer - Executive Committee

DG Gopal Rai Mandhania

RI Dist 3141

Member - Advisory Committee

ROTARY NEWS ROTARY SAMACHAR Editor Rasheeda Bhagat Senior Assistant Editor Jaishree Padmanabhan Send all correspondence and subscriptions to ROTARY NEWS TRUST 3rd Floor, Dugar Towers, 34 Marshalls Road Egmore, Chennai 600 008, India.

Phone : 044 42145666 e-mail : rotarynews@rosaonline.org Website : www.rotarynewsonline.org

The Raja of Rotary Rasheeda Bhagat

An account of a Rotary journey in India like no other.

In a tête-à-tête, PRIP Rajendra K Saboo gives invaluable glimpses into his 55 years in service.

W

hen asked if he is as active in Rotary as his father, Yashovardhan Saboo, elder son of PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, smiles and says, “The average of Rotary in our family is ok.”!

I am enjoying the hospitality of the Saboos at breakfast in their beautifully appointed house in Chandigarh.

Despite nursing a bad cold, Usha is a gracious hostess, gently pushing me to finish the delicacies piled on my plate.

The chickoo is incredibly sweet; “it’s from our garden,” smiles Saboo. And the huge Rossagulla is so fresh and so soft, that it has to be devoured. To an expression of guilt, Usha says supportively: “It is just sponge; dig in!”

Saboo’s Rotary journey is so captivating, fascinating and illustrious, and given his penchant for the smallest detail, the interview stretches far beyond breakfast, through a session in their sitting room, drive to his office, 12 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

at his office, and later on telephone, as I have to board my flight!

S

aboo was born in a Kolkata suburb, but those who have admired his oratory in English will be surprised to know that he underwent his early schooling in Hindi till Class 3 and 4 in Rajasthan during World War II and then up to Class 8 in a local suburban school near Kolkata. But in 1946, when his father, a high ranking executive who worked closely with industrialist G D Birla, was transferred to Kolkata, the son had to shift to the rather uppity St Xaviers School. Understandably, the teenager was very nervous at the interview and when the Jesuit priest, Father Van Buynder, asked for his age, he blurted out “12 o’clock,” instead of 12 years! The Jesuit Father made light of this blunder, perhaps took it

as a challenge, admitted Saboo, and eventually became a mentor. A badly needed one for the young boy who felt totally out of place in the new school with his urbanised classmates and their slick English.

After graduating in B Sc (Hons) from St Xaviers in 1953 in Kolkata, Saboo joined Hindustan Motors, a part of the Birla empire, where both his father T C Saboo, and father-in-law, Durga Prasad Mandelia, were top executives. “My father had joined the Birlas as a clerk, and then rose to the topmost level, and established Hindalco.” But the son’s dream was to start his own business. After four years when he wanted to leave, it was difficult because of the close relationship with the Birlas.

“But my mother was a very determined lady; she understood my earnest desire and convinced my father,” he recalls.

This job taught him the value of hard work, team work and forthrightness; he then started a venture to make

industrial knitting needles, which evolved into a joint partnership with German collaboration. This brought him to Chandigarh in 1960 to set up one of the city’s first major industries.

I

n 1961, Saboo joined the Rotary Club of Chandigarh “not to be part of service, but to meet more people in the new town.” He knew about Rotary because his father was a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Calcutta.

The Chandigarh club’s first project was a funeral van costing Rs 8,000 and each member gave Rs 200! “My salary, from my own company, was then Rs 2,500!” Slowly he got drawn into service projects, but was not interested in leadership roles “because

my ambition was business.” In the corporate world, he was making good progress and became chairman of the northern region of the AIEI, which later became the CII. “Rotary was fine, but it was the beginning of my career and I had other ambitions, to go up the ladder in industry and business.”

But destiny had other plans for him.

Suddenly his club president shifted to Delhi and despite his extreme reluctance, he was made vice president. He became the club president in 1970–71 and then chairman of the district conference. The district included Delhi and extended from Srinagar, right down to Western UP. For the district conference “I was able to get the Vice President of India to Chandigarh to inaugurate our conference. Bhichai Rattakul (who became RI President in 2002-03) was the RI President’s representative and

we had speakers of stature like Karan Singh and I K Gujral,” says Saboo.

After that “everybody thought I was gunning for the DG’s post, but when it was proposed to me I said: ‘No I’m not going in that direction.’ Every time my club or friends tried to persuade me, I continued to say a firm ‘no.’” His focus was business and family.

Those days, governorship aspirants hosted lavish cocktail parties. “Addressing our club later, Bhichai said: ‘I predict that RK — at that time I was called Raja only in the family — has places to go in Rotary. I hope he does not go the way I’ve seen here in the district.’ His indication was the parties and the canvassing!”

Saboo studiously avoided contesting for the DG’s post till 1974, when he accepted, but laying down strict conditions: He’d not host, nor let anyone else

host on his behalf, cocktail parties. No vote-seeking from clubs, no transport for those accompanying him to intercity meets, etc. These were accepted and he became DG at one shot, for 1976–77, creating a record in his district.

But, he says with a sigh, “the price was family life. Our younger son was just 12, and we took him to the International Assembly, then held in Boca Raton, Florida, US, so that he could see the expanse and wonder of Rotary… he was impressed but never forgot that Rotary took away his parents when he needed them the most — during his adolescent years.”

I

n Rotary’s history, how many DGs can boast of having both the President

At a glance Religion: I have a different definition; in Hindi it is dharm, but dharm is not necessarily believing in god, though I believe in God. It is how you adapt and conduct yourself.

So that way I am a religious man, having a strong religious belief and strong faith in the power of prayer.

Music: Am not as ardent a votary of music as Usha is… particularly in classical music. She knows the ins and outs of classical music. In fact Amjad Ali Khan calls her sister and other famous musicians like Ravi Shanker have been here at the same dining table… I enjoy music, but am for lighter music. Of course, Mukesh was a very close friend.

Reading: I am not an avid reader but love to read writing that touches the human aspect.

Fitness: I spend 90 minutes in what I call health management. It includes yoga, pranayama, either a gym or a brisk walk outside. Of course when I travel, all this gets disturbed. I realise that I have to keep my body fit because I can’t afford a new wardrobe every six or 12 months!

Food: I am a vegetarian and enjoy different kinds of vegetarian food.

I don’t take alcohol. I never was a habitual drinker, but on occasions would sip wine or champagne; not even social drinking. But once I became President-elect of RI, I had

to take a decision either I drink or I don’t drink. Because you can’t drink on selective occasions. From that time onwards, I’ve not been taking alcohol.

Future of Rotary: The world is changing and Rotary will have to change with the world. We’ve got to accept this, and yet retain our basic principles, our roots. If we tamper with that, then we will become like any other mushrooming organisation.

Movies: I am fond of movies… but I like to watch movies with happy endings, because I watch them for relaxation.

Women in Rotary: Their role is very important. I have always been for women joining Rotary and have always wondered why Rotary was so reluctant about taking them in.

Some clubs still are.

Usha’s role: Usha has had a tremendous influence on me. She may not realise it but she has played a role, just as Rotary has done, in the thought process I developed, my values and approach to life. She’s been a great influence on my realising that the most important factors in successful leadership are modesty and humility. I should thank her for being the guiding light and insisting that you better retain the very essence of humility!

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 15

of India and Mother Teresa as speakers at their District Conference? Well, Saboo pulled off this feat. Both Saboo and Usha decided that Mother Teresa, being the epitome of service, should be invited. She was reached through his younger sister in Calcutta, and responded: “If god wills, I will come.”

With just three weeks to the District Conference, he could not take a chance, and met and invited the then (Acting) President of India B D Jatti. He readily agreed; but the same evening Mother Teresa too confirmed her participation!

His dilemma was solved with President Jatti, the chief guest, agreeing to offer the Mother utmost courtesy.

Saboo says that when he took over as Governor, the District had 103 clubs already “which was a very large geographic area. The roads were not that good, the vehicles not as comfortable and the communication not as we see now.” His focussed area was “voluntary blood donation.” During his tenure he

Rotary’s biggest gift Ask PRIP Rajendra Saboo about the best gift that Rotary has given him and you get a lovely story. As RI President he had forbidden gifts, and was taken aback when greeted with a big carton while visiting Loveland, Colorado. Before he could refuse, he was told: “Please open it, if you don’t like it, we’ll take it back.”

He opened it to find a beautiful bust of his father; Loveland is the sculpting capital of the US. “They explained how they had taken pictures of my father from different angles at the Mexico Convention, where I had introduced him as my family. Look at their thoughtfulness and meticulous planning! I was overwhelmed,” says Saboo.

16 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

How many DGs can boast of having both the President of India

Rotary News is born Rasheeda Bhagat

and Mother Teresa as speakers at their District Conference? Saboo pulled off this feat.

closed two non-functional clubs against the advice of many PDGs but he wanted to run the district on the 4-Way Test.

Immediately after his tenure, Saboo was picked up as International Assembly Discussion Leader (today’s Training Leader). While serving in the second year, the then incoming RI President Rolf Klarich invited him to be member of the RI 1981 Convention Committee.

Saboo and Usha were reluctant to get too many assignments, but he was persuaded to accept. At the very first meeting, he suggested Mother Teresa’s name as a speaker. “Everybody jumped at the name; it was accepted unanimously and the President said: ‘Raja, you’ll have to get her!’”

This time he went to her directly in Delhi, and again she said: ‘Child, if god wills, I’ll come.’ “So I said, Mother there is only one person who can communicate with God and that is you. So why don’t you call him and confirm? She laughed and said give me some time.” After many visits and the same answer, and only three months for the Convention, he told her, “Mother, with the utmost respect and humility, I request you to call him now. And she said, ‘Okay I will come.’ I said I am delighted, but my RI President in Finland won’t believe me. ‘Oh you want something in writing,’ she said, and tore a page from an exercise book and wrote her acceptance!”

But the persistent Rotarian wanted more! “But how would anyone know it’s your signature, I said. She said, ‘Oh you want a stamp,’ opened a drawer, took out a rubber stamp and put it on the paper and asked: ‘Are you happy

PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, PRIP Kalyan Banerjee and PRID Ashok Mahajan at a Rotary News Trust meeting.

The recognition of Rotary News as a regional magazine happened when PRIP Rajendra K Saboo was RI Director.

In 1979, he was asked by the Board to look at printing The Rotarian in India, as well as bringing out a regional magazine for India. “In those days there were foreign exchange restrictions and while GOI allowed the per capita Rotary dues to be remitted to RI, magazine dues were not allowed to be remitted. But we could print a magazine in India. The choice was to start a new Regional Magazine or revive the old Rotary News. I wanted to look at the options and since Rotary News was located in Bangalore, I contacted PRID (then PDG) Panduranga Setty to look at the possibility of starting a regional magazine.”

Meanwhile, Rotary News had seen different avatars and was bought over first by PDG Ramesh Pai’s Manipal Group. When approached, he was happy to handover the magazine completely, and thus in 1980 Rotary News got a new avatar. The Rotary News Trust was established and the first issue of Rotary News in a new avatar was released at the Calcutta Institute by RI President Bill Skelton in 1983. In 1981-82, it was approved by the RI Board as a regional magazine thanks to the initiative and leadership role of Saboo.

This meant that those who subscribed to the regional magazine need no longer subscribe to The Rotarian.

George Paul was the first editor, and it shifted to Chennai in 1990, with PDG Viswanatha Reddy of Chandamama taking the printing responsibility here.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 17

Keep Rotary simple: Usha Saboo

R

ajendra K Saboo admits that spouse Usha has “played a tremendous role” in his mental makeup and thought process. She herself has said at many conferences that in the initial years she resented Rotary for taking up so much of her husband’s time. So over the years, how did she get so involved in his Rotary work, particularly the medical missions, I ask her.

“Well, I did my best. Before Raja dived into Rotary, I was myself busy doing some hands-on service in Chandigarh. We had a young family and I had to give up all my activities, because once you are in Rotary, you can’t say ‘No’; the merry-goround starts! But I have no regrets… if I couldn’t do some things I wanted here (in Chandigarh), God gave me the opportunity for service in other manners in other places. The best thing Rotary has given me is international friendship.”

Those who’ve interacted with Usha know that within that tiny frame and behind the soft voice is a steel frame. And she neither minces her words nor pulls her punches. “Frankly, until polio came on the scene, I wasn’t very much impressed with Rotary because we were always talking about ourselves within the four walls of a hall, whether in the club, district, Institute or Convention. We were never really going out.

As a result, people really did not know what Rotary was or what it was doing. But after taking up polio, things changed because we went to every child on the street, and people started understanding that Rotary means good for everyone.”

While this helped strengthen her conviction of Rotary, “I still think that we need to get out of the

hall. Unless we do that, people will not know much about us. But it is up to the leaders and not me to decide. My personal opinion is that out of the four monthly meetings, if one is held outside of the hall and with the community, it will be good for Rotary, but I don’t know what laws will need to change.”

She is okay, though not swayed, by the adulation Saboo gets from Indian Rotarians. “I don’t like so much applause, focus or appreciation. But that’s part of our Indian culture. I am very proud of Raja, but don’t agree with him always, and say so openly.”

Such an opening can’t be missed! So where does she disagree with him?

“Oh, please don’t ask me; so many times,” she smiles. For example, on the way Rotary meets are held in India. “The grandeur, the food part; I’ve always said the one permanent theme of Rotary should be to make and keep Rotary simple.

And that’s where we differ because he says that you can’t enforce it on people.

And I can see that people like it this way in India.”

But, adds Usha emphatically, “If you go to conferences in Australia or US, they keep things very simple, whether it is the meeting, the gifts or the food; everything is so simple.

The focus is on the proceedings. Our focus is on other things. But then this is part of our culture, particularly in North India,” she shrugs.

Adds Saboo: “The last few years, unless essential, I’ve avoided going to conferences, or District training assemblies or such events, unless held in Chandigarh. We now want to preserve our energy for projects such as the medical missions.”

Well, those are the couple’s USP and will be covered in detail in a subsequent issue of Rotary News.

now?’ I said yes, and sent it to the RI President.”

His only regret is that he didn’t keep a photocopy of it, though the RI archives would have the paper somewhere. When he and Usha received Mother Teresa and “asked for her baggage tags, she said: ‘Child, this small bag I am carrying is all I have, with a few sarees. What more do I need?”

Something significant happened in between. Saboo was invited by then RI President Jack Davis to speak as part of Voices of Asia panel at the 1978 Tokyo Convention. “These 7 minutes of speaking from the Convention dais, along with top leaders of the Rotary world, was intimidating, but perhaps gave me an exposure to the leadership of RI. I felt privileged,” he says.

From here to the RI Director’s position was “just a matter of chance, but also a sad part of my Rotary

journey which I’d rather not talk about,” he sighs.

Saboo says that his two RI role models are RI Presidents Sir Clem Renouf (1978–79) and James L Bomar (1979–80). Both pioneered the crusade for polio eradication. “When President Jim (James) congratulated me, I told him that I had mixed feelings. If with this image of my country (his election as RID was challenged) I go on the RI Board, will I be taken seriously?

I’ll never forget his words. He said: ‘Raja, your concern should be with what image of the country you will leave the Board!’”

So did it happen, I ask Saboo. “The day I attended the last Board meeting after a two-year term, President-elect Bill Skelton, who had visited India, was all praise for it, as also General Secretary Herbert Pigman, and a couple of Directors. Everyone gave me

a standing ovation at the Board, and I felt totally overwhelmed remembering Jim Bomar’s words.”

A

nother highlight was the holding of the Presidential Goodwill Conference in Delhi in 1981 under the leadership of then RI President Stan McCaffrey, with the aim to promote peace and goodwill in the region. It saw huge participation from India’s neighbours — Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. “We had to restrict participation from India and give district quotas, so that other countries could have sufficient representation,” he adds.

External Affairs Minister P V Narasimha Rao inaugurated it; Prime Minister Indira Gandhi attended the reception at Hyderabad House, top

political and other personalities from our neighbouring countries participated. It was such a high-profile event that “we did not have to lobby for media coverage; on all the three days it hit the front pages of newspapers,” smiles Saboo. “It put Rotary right on top in people’s minds, leading General Secretary Pigman to exclaim: ‘Raja, you’ve set international convention standards in a regional conference!’”

The Delhi Declaration was drafted and adopted at the concluding session and the conference became a historic occasion. Setting up of the Rotary International South Asia Office in Delhi was another milestone.

Saboo continued to invest his energy and time in polio eradication. His name as a candidate in 1988 for RI President was put up, but he did not regret the outcome because his friend Paulo Costa from Brazil was selected. The next year, he didn’t want to put in his name, but was persuaded. Benny Santos from Philippines (who later became an RI Director), “a saint of Rotary and service personified, said, you have to put in your name now. Benny made Past RI President MAT Caparas also agree.”

But after putting his name, he was not enthusiastic or hopeful because traditionally it was the turn of an American. On D-day, he forgot all about it and was out of the house when the call came. His daughter-in-law Anuradha had to drive around the town to find and tell him that the RI headquarters was waiting for his call. He came home, received the call again, said, yes to the Nominating Committee Chairman and then Usha and his daughter-in-law cried as Usha and he would be away for two years!

H

is year as RI President was filled with action and international travel, particularly to Eastern European countries, where grateful heads of state admitted that Rotary coming to them

20 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

As RI President.

was a certificate of their democracy! “It was a great year but I promised myself I wouldn’t build a statue for myself, and in this decision Usha was with me.”

His one “lurking apprehension” was that since he hailed from a country/ region that was still considered “third world”, how would he be perceived.

He knew that Rotary being a “disciplined” organisation, he would always be respected “but would it be spontaneous”, was the doubt, which disappeared, when at the 1991 Assembly he declared his theme: Look Beyond Yourself. “This was received with a standing ovation that gave me the confidence that I had nothing to fear.”

The reinforcement came at the Mexico Convention when as the incoming President he introduced as his family both his father and parents-inlaw. “Usha and I sought their blessings on stage, and this was received with a standing ovation.” Never before had parents been introduced as part of the family. To Saboo, the head of the family were his elders.

A high point of his year was a UNICEF conference at UN which he addressed, along with Jimmy Carter, UN Secretary General Javier Pèrez de Cuèllar, Audrey Hepburn as compère!

PRIP Rajendra K Saboo and Usha Saboo with Mother Teresa.

It celebrated 80 per cent universal immunisation of children worldwide.

There he painted one eye of the large Daruma doll; in Japanese folklore, a child paints one eye of the doll while making a wish and paints the second eye when that wish is realised. His wish was, of course, total eradication of polio. “That Daruma doll is still waiting for its second eye, and I hope very soon an RI President will be drawing the second eye on it,” he says.

A highlight of his year was Presidential conferences on Co-operation and Development “for more understanding

Painting one eye of the Daruma doll at the UN.

on pressing issues such as hunger, economic development, literacy and sustainable agriculture. Other initiatives Saboo took were the ‘Service above Self’ award; a 5-year PR plan; greater focus on leadership, including PETS and more focus on retaining members.

O

rlando, Florida as a Convention destination had its own challenges; Disneyworld and other attractions would compete. This was overcome by building these attractions into the programme! Meetings in the morning; entertainment, leisure in the evenings.

“We got excellent rates for Disney World, which was exclusively reserved for Rotarians. And Universal Studios did the same. Even the fireworks were customised for Rotary,” adds Saboo.

As Trustee Chair Elect of TRF, he mooted the idea of Rotary Peace Centres to commemorate 50 years of Paul Harris’s death. “We had a very strong ambassadorial scholarship programme but it was not known like Rhodes or Fulbright scholarships.” A programme was envisaged for mid-career professionals with leadership capacity and eventually seven Centres for Peace and Conflict resolution were set up in reputed universities.

Designed by Krishnapratheesh S AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 21

Many people don’t know much about Rotary Together, we can change that Despite more than a century of Rotarians creating change in communities around the globe, many people don’t understand what Rotary is, how we’re different, and why they should engage with us. To thrive in the 21st century, Rotary needs a strong identity. And while every Rotarian’s experience is unique, how we tell Rotary’s story should be consistent. You can help by following these simple steps.

Celebrate our new look and feel How can you help keep Rotary’s identity strong?

Around the world, you find the Rotary wheel along roadsides, in parks and on sponsored projects. While no two

clubs are exactly alike, our wheel signals that what Rotary represents — people coming together to move our communities forward — is the same everywhere.

Like the Nike swoosh, the power of the Rotary wheel is in its consistency.

When an organisation refreshes its logo, as Rotary did in 2013, using the updated mark is critically important.

That’s why Rotary International created the Brand Centre to help clubs use Rotary’s refreshed logo consistently and correctly.

Visit www.rotary.org/brandcenter often to find: z z

High-resolution logos and graphics you can download A quick start guide to refreshing your club website

Rasheeda Bhagat

22 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

z

z

z

Photos and videos you can use on your website and on social media to promote membership, Rotary’s areas of focus, and polio eradication Templates for brochures, newsletters, press releases, and other materials that you can customise to promote your club, project or event Sample ads for print, billboards and television

Define the value of what your club does Do the people in your community know about your club’s work?

An international survey found that 40 percent of the public has never heard of Rotary. Another 40 percent say they recognise the name but don’t know what Rotary does.

This means they don’t understand all that your club has achieved in your community. Or how, together, we’re tackling global challenges. Like German and Sri Lankan Rotarians rebuilding a maternity hospital after the 2004 tsunami, so mothers and their children can be healthy and strong. Or Austrian Rotarians welcoming refugees to their small town. Or clubs in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras working on sustainable ways to bring clean water to more people every day.

Or how we’re uniting the world to end polio once and for all.

That makes it harder to attract and inspire new members, prospective donors, and volunteers.

To help you get the message out, we’ve created a messaging tool kit, which offers clear principles and compelling talking points that you can adapt and make your own.

Spread the word in your community. Find the messaging tool kit at www.rotary.org/brandcenter.

When someone asks, “What is Rotary?” we have a clear, compelling, and consistent answer: Rotary joins leaders from all continents, cultures and

Share your story with the world What makes Rotary different?

Every Rotarian brings something distinct and indispensable to our

occupations to exchange ideas and take action for communities around the world.

community, whether it’s personality, passion or professional experience.

That multidisciplinary perspective allows us to see and solve challenges in ways others can’t.

We represent our local communities but tackle projects of every scale and on every continent, and inspire our friends, neighbours and partners to join us. We do this by connecting different points of view, exchanging fresh ideas, forging lifelong friendships — and taking action.

Because we are people of action who are tackling our communities’ most persistent problems with fresh thinking and enduring solutions.

So what is changing? Only how we tell our story. As Rotarians, you are Rotary’s strongest champions.

And Rotarians have all experienced life-changing moments when they realise the extent of our impact. These personal moments are why people join and stay with Rotary.

Take the first step: Share your Rotary experience with two friends and colleagues this month — in person, on social media, or at the office — and encourage them to visit www.rotary. org for more information.

And learn other ways you can share your stories at www.rotary.org/ brandcenter.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 23

The AKS league

For the joy of giving Rasheeda Bhagat

H

e is an AKS member and has been regularly donating to The Rotary Foundation over years for the sheer “joy of giving. It gives me joy to see good work being done by my contribution, and I believe if you are blessed with wealth, you should give.”

Meet Saif Qureishi, CEO and Managing Director of KRYFS Power Components, Mumbai, and a Rotarian

and past president of RC Bombay Pier. His Rotary journey began from his days as an Interactor in the Christ Church School in Mumbai. He became the president of the Interact Club in 1979, was selected as a youth exchange student in 1981–82, when he went to Pennsylvania in the United States.

After graduating in B Sc Physics from St Xavier’s College, he did an MBA from IIM Bangalore. Hailing from a

business family, he started his own company which makes power transformers, transformer cores and other power industry products.

Qureishi started his TRF donations with small sums of $100, and by 2012 his contribution had become $3000. In 2012, when Vijay Jalan became the DG of District 3140 — now 3141 — he asked him to become a Major Donor and Qureishi instantly

Saif Qureishi (centre) with spouse Rauzat and Cyres Mehta, PP of RC Mumbai Pier, D 3141.

24 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

I was struck by his words: If you become an AKS member, it will motivate many others also to donate to TRF.

With RI President John Germ.

agreed, contributing the balance $7,000 required. In 2014, when Ajay Gupta, “my good friend, and fellow club member, became the Governor, I called him up on the first day of his Governorship to congratulate him and told him I want to give some money for any good project that he may have. So let me know if you have a good project coming up.”

Gupta promised to do that and asked if he could contribute Rs 5 lakh. When Qureishi said he wanted to give more, Gupta raised the bar to Rs 10 lakh, “I said I wanted to give even more.”

Finally when the figure of Rs 20 lakh from Gupta got the same response of “even more,” the DG said: “Tell me the figure you have in mind.”

T

hat figure was Rs 1 crore but Qureishi made it clear that he needed a specific project/projects identified before donating that money. The DG sought a few days’ time and reverted suggesting he become an AKS member. “At that time I had

no idea what AKS was and asked for details and was told that this would mean a total sum of $250,000.”

This was more than the amount he had in his mind, which at the then exchange rate was around Rs 1.48 crore, instead of the Rs 1 crore he had in mind after deducting $10,000 of his credit. “Gupta also said another important thing; if you become an AKS member, it will motivate many others also to donate to TRF.” This struck a chord with Qureishi; “I felt that would be worth it and I agreed to donate the sum named, but for a long time did not want my name disclosed because it involves a lot of fanfare that comes along with the recognition, which I did not want.”

But why would he shy away from recognition? “Because when there is fanfare, special recognition, etc, the focus shifts away from the giving ... the joy of giving, to the recognition, and I did not want that,” he says.

The money he donated while becoming an AKS member in 2014 has gone to five projects. The first project was providing 120 E-learning kits to 120 schools in Palghar District of Maharashtra. In the second, 120 AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 25

Saif Qureishi with his mother, Kulsum Qureishi.

paediatric heart surgeries are being done in the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. Another term gift was providing modern equipment to the K B Haji Bachooali Charitable Ophthalmic & E N T Hospital in Parel; a bus was given to SEC, a school for challenged children, Mumbai; and for starting a new centre for visually and hearing challenged children in Mumbai in collaboration with Sense International (India). The total cost of the five projects, including RI grants, was $375,000 and all were sanctioned and initiated in the Rotary Year 2015–16.

E

ven after this major donation, Qureishi hasn’t stopped giving; he has already given another $30,000, taking his total contribution to TRF

26 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

When there is fanfare and special recognition, the focus shifts away from the giving.

to $280,000. “And I plan to give more,” he says simply. His reply on why he had never contested for the Governor’s post is also simple: “Because I feel there are many more capable people to play that role.”

Qureishi is married, with two daughters and his father, who was a Rotarian, but only for one year, passed away last year.

On why he prefers to make all his charitable contributions to TRF,

he says, “I feel that TRF is the right and best place to give so much money. It has no administrative cost, the projects are monitored by Rotarians themselves and the money reaches the target groups. And the projects done with TRF money have sustainability.”

On any special plans of giving during this, the TRF Centennial year, Qureishi says, “I haven’t made up my mind yet, but will certainly be giving.”

He keeps the best part for the last; on monitoring the projects that his money have helped implement, he says that now onwards he wants to involve his 700 employees from his five manufacturing units in these projects. “I want them to contribute their time and become a part of these community service activities,” he says.

WinS Announcement

Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar Jaishree

Children enjoying a handwash session in a school.

T

he HRD Ministry has announced a National Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar to recognise, inspire and celebrate excellence in sanitation and hygiene practice in government schools.

Government schools, in rural and urban areas, that have satisfied the mandate of the Swachh Vidyalaya campaign, will be honoured at the District, State and National levels under the five elements: water, toilets, hand washing, operations and maintenance and behavioural change and capacity building.

This GoI initiative was launched during the last week of June and schools were asked to apply for the award at www.mhrd.gov.in or through a mobile app: Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar.

At the Zonal WinS Meet in Chennai, WinS Vice Chair and PRID P T Prabhakar said that Rotary India WinS Committee is likely to support this programme at the national level and partly sponsor the final awards ceremony to be held in December at Delhi. Districts were urged to support this initiative and sponsor the awards and financial incentives for

Three Ministries of GoI have jointly agreed to allow the States to use the 14th Finance Commission funds for WASH in Schools.

the winning schools in consultation with the District Collector/District Education Officers.

Government funds WASH projects The Ministries of HRD, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water & Sanitation, have jointly agreed to allow the States to use the 14th Finance Commission funds for WASH in Schools. “It is a great opportunity for the District Collectors to mobilise the Panchayats to invest the money to enhance drinking water, toilet and handwashing facilities in government schools in their region.

Rotary clubs can also advice the local district administration to issue relevant circulars to the Panchayats for timely release of funds to schools and monitor the operations and maintenance,” said Prabhakar.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 27

Quite a Bagful, this!

Jaishree RC Pune Central shows the way to convert newspapers into eco-friendly paper bags to help livelihoods.

W

e have helped make 40 million paper bags last year and the project has encouraged reverse migration in areas such as Paud, Roha, etc.

People had moved out earlier in search of jobs; many had been engaged in rolling beedis for a living. They have all come back to make paper bags from old newspapers, earning Rs 125–150 a day,” says Rtn Surendra Shroff of RC Pune Central, D 3131.

A charter member of the club established in 1984, he is chairman, Paper Bag project and Trustee, Khandala Blind Home.

He initiated the art of transforming old newspapers into carry bags among the visually- challenged inmates of the Blind Home with assistance from Prof Anil Gupta, Executive Vice-chair, National Innovations Foundation. The idea was to engage them productively

for 8 hours daily, and the bonus was that they were able to make enough money to buy gifts for their families who they visit twice a year.

From Pune to Karaikal As member of the Rotary Tsunami Committee, Shroff was at Karaikal in Tamil Nadu for relief activities. He recounts an interesting incident which triggered this massive project for his club. As he was interacting with the orphan children by the seashore, they asked him about the paper bags he was carrying. When told those were made by children of the Blind Home, the Karaikal children wanted to learn the craft, and said that they didn’t want to go fishing into the sea which had taken away their parents. “When I said that I had to return to Pune the next day, they hatched a plan to make me stay!” This they did by asking him to show his airline ticket, a boy grabbing it and refusing to part with it till he had promised to teach them how to make paper bags!

250 million bags have been produced and sold since its inception.

Inmates of Yerwada Prison engaged in paper bag making.

28 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

The Rotarians encourage people to donate old newspapers sold as raddi.

PRIP K R Ravindran looks at a paper bag while Rtn Surendra Shroff briefs him about it. Vanathy Ravindran (extreme right) is also in the picture.

Shroff was only too happy to teach them the trick of converting paper into bags the same night under lanterns.

This project was then duplicated at RC Pune Central, where over 1,000 workshops have been conducted so far. It is a one-day programme where five models of paper bags are taught.

Each student has to give an undertaking to teach 12 others in a year, and thus the chain continues.

When the project was shared on Rotary Showcase, “we received 70 enquiries from various countries.

We’ve sent them demo lessons on DVDs,” says Shroff. Back home, the demand is huge and companies like SKF, Telco, Coca Cola, Gymkhana and the Golf Club support the project with their huge orders. “Chitale Bhandar and Mapro take at least three lakh bags a month.”

These eco-bags can be customised. They last for at least six months and are usable 20 times. By using back-liners of stickers and cardboard cuttings special quality bags are made

and sold at Rs 5 to 7.50 a kg, thrice the price of newspaper bags.

It is an income generation opportunity for over 10,000 people and 50 SHGs. “Over 250 million bags have been produced and sold since its inception. It is no rocket science, requires no electricity or machine power,” he smiles.

Newspaper collection The Rotarians encourage people to donate old newspapers sold as raddi.

“When I go for guest lectures, I tell the organisers to present me with old newspapers instead of mementoes.”

Over 300 tons of newspapers are collected from Rotarians, corporate offices, libraries, hotels and newspaper publishers, and are gifted to various groups for making bags. “PDG Deepak Shikarpur is a big supporter of our programme. He collects and delivers newspapers from his office/ apartment complex regularly.” Other Rotary clubs from across the country and abroad, Inner Wheel clubs,

Rotaract and Interact Clubs are also involved in this project.

The bag was a huge hit during the recent Pandharpur Wari, an annual pilgrimage where the Varkari communities around Maharashtra walk to Pandharpur to offer prayers to Lord Vithoba and 40,000 bags were marketed to the Varkaris. “We expect more business from them,” says Shroff.

His ‘aha’ moment He recalls a special moment when he had the opportunity to discuss the project with Prime Minister Narendra Modi which resulted in ten municipalities adopting this craft.

Shroff has also promoted it at the IITs in Kharagpur, Delhi and Bengaluru.

“PRIP K R Ravindran, during his term as RID, appreciated the project when he saw the mentally-challenged children make paper bags at Prism Foundation.”

This has also been taught to inmates of Yerwada Jail and Gurgaon’s Bhondsi Jail. The proceeds from the sale of the paper bags made by them were used for the welfare of their families. He was delighted when some cancer survivors gifted him with dry fruit boxes. They had repaid their loans with the proceeds from the sale of these eco-bags. And on another occasion, a woman who was abused by her motherin-law for having lost her mangalsutra to a chain snatcher, told him that she had purchased a new one. The eco bag project won the Change Maker of D 3131 award for the club this year.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 29

Spotlight – Membership Bharat Pandya

M

embership addition and retention are a critical focus area for Rotary; realising that one size does not fit all, RI has introduced Regional Membership Plans (RMP). To facilitate proper understanding and implementation of RMP 2016-17, for our Zones 4, 5 and 6A, and to have full district participation, four Regional Membership Level 2 Training Meets for the Districts of these Zones were organised by Project Lead-RMP, Bharat Pandya and Rotary Coordinators Vijay Jalan (Zone 4 and 6A) and Rajendra Rai (Zone 5) under the direction of RI Director Manoj Desai, at Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai. All District Membership teams — DGs, DMCs and Extension Chairs were represented — 35 DGs, 36 DMCs and Extension chairs participated along with RCs Vijay Jalan and H Rajendra Rai, Project Lead Dr Bharat Pandya and all the 11 ARCs. Desai provided valuable guidance at Mumbai and RIDE Basker C gave crucial inputs in a practical, business-like style in Bengaluru. The format was participative with focus on Idea Exchange and Information Sharing. Jatinder Singh and Joseph Thomas participated from the RI South Asia Office to give inputs and clear doubts.

Key Performance Indicators - (KPIs)

•

•

• • •

All the districts should have a designated District Membership Committee Chair Ensure 30 per cent of clubs set and track at least 10 goals in Rotary Club Central Each district will charter at least one new Rotary club Improve gender diversity by at least 2 per cent Improve age diversity by improving the under-40 group by at least 2 per cent

30 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

RI Director Manoj Desai flanked by Project Lead Bharat Pandya (on his right) and RC Vijay Jalan (on his left), along with Zone 4 DGs at the Mumbai Membership Meet.

•

Improve member retention by 1 per cent.

• Encourage Districts to hold one big Service project/Event involving community and Rotaractors • New Member Orientation Seminars mandatory for districts to retain new members • Increase the number of members in My Rotary by encouraging clubs to have at least half their members registered.

The RI Board of Directors have endorsed the importance of Membership with the following statement: Membership is RI’s highest internal organisational priority, while polio eradication remains Rotary’s highest external programme priority.

The strategies that emerged from the discussions included aiming to

Districts should improve gender and age diversity by 2 per cent as part of the

bring in vibrant clubs with minimum membership; identify 40 Urban and Semi-urban clubs and 30 Rural clubs as Aspiring Clubs. A District Membership Challenge Meeting (Single/Zonal) will be organised by August 15 for clubs with membership under 40/30, where the clubs’ leadership will be challenged to increase membership to minimum level of 40/30. Also, for these clubs, the target for membership growth will be 15 per cent.

Starting new clubs with at least 30 charter members, attempt to exceed targets and holding New Members’ Orientation Seminars by all districts were the other decisions taken.

ARC Mukesh Arneja, ARC Swapan Choudhury and DG Shyamashree Sen, RC Rajendra Rai and ARC Manjunath Shetty and Bharat Pandya were thanked for organising the Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Mumbai meets respectively. The message to be passed to Rotarians is to focus on retention while keeping eyes and ears open for growth, to ensure a vibrant future for Rotary. The key phrase to adopt is: Change the Trend, Bring a Friend, Retain that Friend.

Membership Plan.

(The writer is Project Lead Regional Membership Plan).

A Zonal website kicks off Bal Krishna Inamdar

Screenshot of the website.

I

t was a humid morning in early March. I was accompanied by PP Devang Goradia to the Santacruz Domestic Airport, Mumbai. Both of us were there at the behest of RI Director Manoj Desai, who was halting at Mumbai during his hectic multi-city travel.

He arrived, the usual smile, kem chho and a brisk: “Let’s sit there; not much time — just 30 minutes in transit before my next flight.”

This is only one of his several “transit meetings” since he has become RI Director.

But this has been his style ever since he has been elected as a RI Director. The ‘Transit meetings’ have become his forte, and he has new ideas all the time. Who can forget ‘My Voice, My Vote’ in Jaipur? Applauded and praised by everybody including PRIP K R Ravindran and General Secretary John Hewko, it promises

to become an inevitable part of every Rotary Institute!

Manojbhai came out with the idea — “How about RI Zone 4, 5, 6A website? It has never been done before.

A few Zones have their own websites.”

The idea was appealing; our zones are the busiest and among the most happening RI Zones in Rotary. With 39 Districts, we need to collate and display humongous work that our Districts keep doing year after year, through a single window. The work was enormous, and the Director is a hard taskmaster, but then we thought of his theme for the Dazzling Dubai Institute, ‘Nothing is impossible,’ and took up the challenge.

With assistance from RISAO, Dr Desai and his office, PDG Ashok Gupta, who had some ready data from the Jaipur Institute, and his office, we were on the job, which had to be speeded up as Dr Desai wanted the website to be inaugurated by TRF Trustee Chair

Kalyan Banerjee on July 11 in Mumbai where he was being felicitated.

And it happened … in the presence of PRID Ashok Mahajan, DG Gopal Mandhania, and a galaxy of PDGs of D 3141 and 3142.

A new chapter in Zones 4, 5, and 6A has begun with www.rizones456a. com. The website will have many features. Apart from Zone info, bio-data, communication details of Rotary leaders including RI Presidents, RI Directors, TRF Trustees and others, it will have Zone newsletters, GMLs, Rotary events including Rotary Institutes, important projects and programmes of the district. Eventually the website aims to be the most comprehensive ‘single stop’ for the Zones.

My gratitude to PP Devang Goradia and his office staff who worked very hard to get this venture going.

(The writer is PDG, RID 3141) AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 31

What you don’t know about the campaign to end polio

by Erin Biba If we’re so close to eradicating polio, why do we still need $1.5 billion to finish the job?

W

hen was the last time there was polio in Europe? If you guessed 2002, the year the region was certified poliofree, you were wrong. The last time polio affected a child in Europe was last summer. In 2015, two Ukrainian children were diagnosed with paralytic polio, and, given the way the disease manifests itself, that means many more were likely infected and didn’t show symptoms. At least one Western news outlet deemed the outbreak “crazy ” — but the reality is that no place on earth is safe from polio until the disease is eradicated everywhere.

Ukraine had fully vaccinated only 50 percent of its children against polio, and low immunisation rates are a recipe for an outbreak. In this case, a rare mutation in the weakened strain used in the oral polio vaccine was able to spread

The vaccine itself isn’t the biggest expense in a vaccination campaign. It’s the distribution of the vaccine that costs so much.

32 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

because so many children had not been vaccinated. To stop it from progressing, the country needed to administer 5 million to 6 million vaccines through an emergency programme. But as recently as March, Ukraine’s ability to do so remained in question.

Finding the occasional case of polio outside Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries that have yet to eradicate it, is not unusual. In 2014, just before the World Cup brought travellers from all over the planet to Brazil, the country identified poliovirus in the sewage system at São Paulo’s Viracopos International Airport. Using genetic testing, officials traced its origin to Equatorial Guinea. Brazil’s regular vaccination efforts kept the disease from showing up beyond the airport doors.

Those are frustrating examples for the thousands of people around the world working to eradicate polio. The fight has come a long way, but it is far from over. And while many involved in the effort say we may detect the final naturally occurring case of polio this year, getting to that point — and ensuring that the disease remains gone — will continue to require money, hard work, and the support of Rotarians around the world.

Finding polio One of the most important aspects of the fight to eradicate polio is detecting where the disease is present. This continuous surveillance is complicated and costly. Ninety percent of people infected with the virus show no symptoms, and those who do usually have mild symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and headaches. Only one in every 200 cases of the illness results in paralysis, which means that for every child with signs of paralysis, several hundred are carrying the disease and may not show it.

But not every case of paralysis is caused by polio. Other viruses that can be responsible for the polio-like symptoms known as acute flaccid paralysis include Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, Guillain-Barré and Zika. To determine if a patient has polio, doctors must collect a stool specimen and send it to a lab for testing.

To find the patients who don’t present symptoms or don’t make it to a clinic, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — the World Health Organisation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — have set up environmental sampling in the areas that are most susceptible to the disease. Fifteen to 20 countries are still at high risk despite having eradicated the illness. Because the poliovirus is most easily detected, and most easily contracted, through stool, researchers take samples from sewage systems and, in places that don’t have sewer infrastructure, from rivers and open gutters.

GPEI has developed a network of 145 laboratories around the world that can identify the disease, and Rotary has played a leading role in supporting these facilities. But regular environmental surveillance is “logistically not so easy to do and it’s relatively expensive. It adds a considerable burden to the labs to process the sewage samples, ” says Stephen Cochi, senior adviser to the director, Global Immunisation Division, at the CDC. “It costs real money to

Rotary and its partners have administered 15 billion doses since 2000, and immunised 2.5 billion kids.

keep that network operational, and this lab network is the most highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art infectious-disease network in the world. Rotarians should be proud of that — it’s the No. 1 network, bar none. ” As part of this system of labs, Rotary has helped fund smaller, more sophisticated local laboratories that are trying to keep track of the complicated genetic variations of the disease. These labs genetically test the poliovirus to follow how it changes as it spreads. All viruses mutate to confuse the human immune system, but the poliovirus is notorious for doing so at a rapid rate. This makes it easier to track the virus’s genetic changes, though the process, vital to the eradication effort, is expensive and will need continued funding. It was these specialised laboratories that allowed Brazilian authorities to trace the virus they found at their airport to Equatorial Guinea.

“Each virus has a fingerprint, ” says Cochi, and that is an essential tool for monitoring how the virus is moving around the world.

Vigilance is key to successful surveillance, says Michel Zaffran, director of polio eradication at WHO. “We need to go and investigate a case of paralysis, take specimens, and analyse it. This level of vigilance needs to continue in all of the places that no longer have polio to make sure we are really without polio. This is a hidden cost to the programme that people don’t realise is absolutely necessary to maintain. ”

Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate The appearance of polio in Ukraine last year is a perfect example of why AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 33

Besides discovering previously unknown villages, there’s the complicated task of negotiating religious or cultural beliefs that might prevent people from agreeing to be vaccinated.

34 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

kids to raise their immunisation levels is very personnel intensive. ” A vaccination campaign is almost mind-bogglingly complex. Rotarians’ contributions pay for planning by technical experts, large-scale communication efforts to make people aware of the benefits of vaccinations and the dates of the campaign, and support for volunteers to go door to door in large cities as well as in remote areas that may not appear on any map. It sometimes includes overcoming local distrust of government or outsiders and negotiating Afghanistan complicated religious doctrine. And it Burkina Faso means trying to understand the moveCameroun ments of nomadic populations or people Chad pushed out of their homes because of Democratic Republic of Congo unrest. Regardless of how they live their Equatorial Guinea lives, each of these children must be Ethiopia vaccinated. GPEI has addressed some Guinea of these issues by setting up vaccination India points in highly trafficked transit areas Iraq such as train stations or bus depots.

Kenya “In northern Nigeria, for example, Lao People’s Democratic Republic Madagascar when there’s unrest, the population Mali tends to move out of dangerous areas, ” Niger says WHO’s Zaffran. “So we monitor Nigeria carefully when a certain area is accesPakistan sible and when it is not. If Boko Haram Somalia was present, we wouldn’t vaccinate, but South Sudan the minute it was a more quiet situation Syria we’d do a hit and run — a vaccinate and run. Go in for a short time and get out. ” GPEI creates detailed logistical blueprints for vaccination teams, Rotarians have taken on the task of which are constantly refined to ensure that every child is reached. In a pro- helping to vaccinate their neighbours.

According to Reza Hossaini, cess called social mapping, health care UNICEF’s chief of polio eradication workers meet with residents of remote efforts, vaccinators on the ground have or conflict areas and ask them to draw developed relationships with local leadtheir area, comparing it with maps and ers to identify what local people want other data to try to find settlements that and need. These relationships have may have been missed. On top of the built enough trust to overcome the challenge of discovering previously “hard-core resistance ” that vaccinators unknown villages or the difficulty in have met with in the past. But this level ensuring that every house in a city has of detail in understanding the psychobeen visited by volunteers, there’s the logical reasons that a community would complicated task of negotiating the be averse to vaccinating requires scienreligious or cultural beliefs that might tific, technological, and social skill as prevent people from agreeing to be well as finding vaccinators who meet vaccinated. This is one of the areas the specific needs of each community. in which Rotary has excelled, as local DIEGO IBARRA SÁNCHEZ

vaccination campaigns are essential — and not only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Large-scale vaccinations are an enormous undertaking that require money as well as thousands of volunteers on the ground. And in places where the vaccination programmes have been successful, the challenge is now to locate and vaccinate that small percentage of children who have been missed.

The vaccine itself isn’t the biggest expense in a vaccination campaign (in fact, Rotary rarely funds vaccines).

It’s the distribution of the vaccine — transportation and staffing, for example — that costs so much. In January, money donated by Rotarians covered the costs of a Cameroun vaccination campaign that involved 34,000 vaccinators and 21,000 rental cars, which volunteers used to canvass neighborhoods and travel from home to home administering the vaccine. Funds also went to more than 3,700 town criers and 45 radio spots in Chad, to more than 14,000 local guides and 500 clan leaders to ensure that the children of nomads were vaccinated in Ethiopia, and to provide training and support for 60,000 community volunteer vaccinators in Afghanistan.

“I think sometimes people don’t realise the scale of what these immunisation campaigns are actually like, ” says International PolioPlus Committee Chair Michael K McGovern. “Rotary and its partners have administered 15 billion doses since 2000. We’ve immunised 2.5 billion kids. Repeatedly reaching the

WHERE DOES YOUR MONEY GO? Although polio is endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, we must continue mass immunisations in high-risk countries until the world is certified polio-free. Rotary supported polio eradication activities in 20 countries in 2015-16.

After the last case Even if the last case of polio is identified this year, a huge amount of work will remain to ensure that it stays gone.

Vaccinations will continue and need to be funded. In the areas where polio still exists and many of the areas where it has recently been eradicated, the vaccines contain a weakened live version of the virus, which is much more effective than a killed virus at protecting communities from outbreaks, creating what is known as herd immunity. It’s also less expensive to manufacture and distribute and, because it is given orally, much easier to administer

than the inactivated, injectable polio vaccine (IPV).

But, while vaccine with live virus has reduced polio by more than 99.9 percent, it carries a small risk. The weakened live virus inside a vaccine can, rarely, mutate back to a virulent form. Where vaccination coverage is low, it can reinfect populations, even in countries that have been certified polio-free, such as Ukraine.

To prevent this, once the virus has been certified eradicated, all of the live-virus vaccine around the world will be destroyed and replaced with IPV, which does not contain the live virus. This vaccine will be distributed,

Fifteen to 20 countries are still at high risk despite having eradicated the illness.

and trained health care workers will perform injections, a process that has already begun. The polio-fighting community will still need to vaccinate hundreds of millions of children every year until the world is certified polio-free. By that time, polio vaccinations will have become part of routine immunisation programmes around the world.

Once the final case of polio is recorded, it will take three years to ensure that the last case is, in fact, the final one. That means that if the final case is seen this year, all of these programmes will continue to need funding and volunteers until 2019, at a price tag of $1.5 billion that will be funded by governments and donors such as Rotary. That’s in addition to the more than $1.5 billion Rotarians have contributed to the cause so far.

“We are so close. We’ve got a 99.9 percent reduction in polio. But we’re not there yet, ” says John Sever, a vice chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee, who has been part of the eradication effort since the beginning. “Rotarians and others have to keep working. People will naturally say, ‘Well, it seems to be basically gone so let’s move on to other things,’ but the fact is it isn’t gone, and if we move on and don’t complete the job, we set ourselves up for having the disease come right back. ” “Rotary was there at the beginning, ” McGovern says. “It would be unfortunate if Rotary isn’t there at the finish line. We’ve done too much, we’ve made too much progress to walk away before we finish. ” Reproduced from The Rotarian.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 35

Meet your Governors Rasheeda Bhagat and Jaishree

Focus on younger, women members Dr N Subramanian RC Delhi Central, D 3011 Urological Surgeon

H

e has become DG of a bifurcated District — 3011 with 67 clubs, where, says Subramanian, his first priority will be to ensure the District does not lose the focus on polio surgeries. “And bifurcation gives me an opportunity to enhance membership; I will focus on younger and women members and create clubs in areas that are underserved.”

Asked to explain how, he says, “In my membership mbership team I have invited members who are now currently ntly serving in clubs with young members. We’ll ask them m to focus on this aspect.”

On membership goals, Subramanian says he’s lookouble the ing for a 15 per cent increase; “we’d like to double ed last number of women members that were admitted year … in our district women’s ratio is close to about 20 per cent.”

For the TRF Centennial, he has a couplee of ities “exciting ideas; extend the Foundation activities to the non-Rotary public in a very big way.” He mes explains that most often the funding for TRF comes ce of from the Rotarians. “If we take the performance the Foundation and our work in diverse areas, be it the earthquake, floods, literacy, or polio itself, to corpoth us in rates and HNIs, I’m confident they’ll partner with projects and bring in a lot of revenue outside of Rotary.”

Hailing from the Capital, he has already initiated hort areadiscussions for CSR funds; “we will present short na, so that specific presentations, say in Delhi and Haryana, heir own they know their contributions are going to their region.”

He will also concentrate on both WinS and literacy, teracy, as “they go hand in hand with basic education and if tackled properly, will address a vast range of our biggestt national problems. And WinS is related to healthcare; 400 per cent

36 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

of deaths under 5 can be prevented totally by just hand washing and hygiene.”

So what special attributes can doctors bring to Rotary?

“Two aspects; the profession itself helps you to grow as an individual with a lot of empathy. So compassion is ingrained into my profession. Two, I am aware of the importance of prevention. I might be a super specialist surgeon at a super speciality hospital. But what I address in terms of healthcare there is a very minuscule portion of the society’s needs. Prevention is what can address larger health issues and in a much better cost effective way.”

Bigger, more challenging projects

African Medical Missions enthralled him

Gopal Rai Mandhania

Dr Rintu Guha Niyogi

RC Mumbai Versova, D 3141 Alloy and Steel Bar manufacturing

RC Durgapur Steel City, D 3240 ENT Surgeon

A

T

sk him why he joined Rotary, and Gopal Mandhania says, “By 1990, I had achieved a lot in my business, which is manufacturing mild steel bars, and thought it was time to give back to society. Rotary was the best platform to do service to society. And here, I could also make a number of friends and get international exposure.”

Rotary, taught him leadership qualities. “My vision and enthusiasm levels have gone up and I feel I am a transformed person. I can take better and quicker decisions. Interacting with good people, taking up big projects and implementing them with responsibility and efficiency is another gift.”

Mandhania joined Rotary in 1990. His district has 78 clubs and over 4,500 Rotarians. His priorities this year will be “taking up bigger and more challenging service projects. Also, it being a Centennial year, TRF programmes and contributions will be very important.” He has lined up six programmes for TRF celebrations; “I don’t think any other district is thinking along the same scale that we have in mind and are implementing.”

A thrust area this year will be diabetes check-up and awareness, “as 20 per cent of our population is affected by diabetes in our region. We’ll have over 150 camps to screen one lakh people.” About 400 paediatric surgeries are also planned during the year. The Railway stations adopted by the clubs in his district will be cleaned and spruced up, and “of course we will continue with WinS.”

his ENT Surgeon joined Rotary rather late in 2004, but has been working at the 600-bed hospital of SAIL in Durgapur Steel City for 22 years and is presently a Joint Director of the Hospital.

Asked why he joined Rotary so late, he smiles and says, “Because I was never asked!” But once he was asked, the journey has been great. “I’ve had an excellent experience in Rotary. My rise has been phenomenal.”

Niyogi says that the most endearing feature of his Rotary journey has been his participation in two medical missions to Africa; Nigeria and Madagascar. “Both were mindblowing; they taught me so much. When you see patients who are not Indians in a different set up, the best of you comes out.”

Rotary has changed his mindset. “Being a medical doctor you are used to philanthropic activities such as going to medical camps and helping the poor.” Along with that, Rotary also develops your leadership skills and teaches you to take new initiatives. What Rotary gives you is that you make many new friends.”

His priorities this year will be WinS, a project on deworming of children; “due to lack of hygiene and water-borne diseases children and young adults are dying and we have to do something about it.

I love his parting shot. “Well, my passion is to do something that has not yet come. I am still waiting for it!”

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 37

Taking Rotary to unrepresented regions

‘Simple’ is his mantra T Shanmugasundaram

Darshan Singh Gandhi RC Neemuch, D 3040 Civil Engineer

H

e had charted out the plans for his District well ahead of the year and is quite excited about the public toilets that his clubs will install with the help of global grants and the trolleys that will be rolled out at railway stations for the benefit of passengers. Darshan Gandhi has planned common community projects that are mandatory for all the clubs, in addition to their regular projects. This way there will be coordination among the clubs and the Rotarians will be inspired to perform better, he says. His plans for the TRF Centennial celebrations include contribution of $26.5 from each Rotarian and the club with 100 per cent contribution will be recognised as ‘John Germ Club.’

Gandhi plans to establish 20 new clubs, particularly in hitherto unrepresented areas. Having begun his Rotary journey in 1975 as a Rotaractor, he says that involving Rotaractors in Rotary projects will be beneficial for Rotarians. Recalling the polio corrective surgery camp his District had organised in 1997 which made “many children walk back home, even though they had come to the camp crawling,” he gives the example of a youngster he met a few months ago. “He thanked me profusely and said that he was one of the beneficiaries of the camp.

Today he is employed in a bank and even as I say this I am getting goosebumps,” says Gandhi.

38 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

RC Tiruchengode, D 2982 Granite exporter

I

see a great year ahead, what with the TRF Centennial and our own Kalyanda at the helm, and it could well be a year when we will bid adieu to polio,” says an excited Shanmugasundaram. He has summed up his priorities as SIMPLE — Service, Involvement, Membership, Public image, Literacy and EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year — the contribution to TRF). His focus this year is on building toilet blocks in government schools and establishing a facility at the Tiruchengode Government Hospital to screen newborns for hearing impairment. “The neonatal care unit we installed here in 2008 was a forerunner for the district hospital and other paediatric clinics,” he reminisces.

He is a second generation Rotarian after his father who had served as the charter secretary of the same club. For the TRF Centennial, Shanmugasundaram plans to introduce 11 Endowment Fund donors, each contributing $25,000 to TRF, as well as an AKS member. Each Rotarian has been asked to contribute $26.5 to TRF. Also on his agenda is a 15 per cent growth in membership and at least 95 per cent retention.

His most unforgettable moment, he adds, was when he met a young boy whose college education he had sponsored. Now employed, the boy came up to him and repaid the money. What surprised him was when he told him that he is sponsoring the education of another underprivileged student. One act of kindness triggers a cycle reaction, he says.

Transformation through education

Healthcare is his priority

Dr Prakash Chandran Arackal

Dr S V S Rao

RC Cochin North, D 3201 Psychologist

RC Kakinada Golden Jubilee, D 3020 Urological Surgeon

H

W

is focus is to transform society through education.

“That’s why I call my District’s signature project Parivartan. We have identified 136 schools; each club will be responsible for overall development of the school and the students,” says Prakash Arackal. A Rotarian since 1999, he is proud of the numerous lifesaving heart surgeries performed by his District under the Gift of Life programme. He recounts a time when 26 Iraqi children had arrived at Cochin for cardiac surgery.

After the surgery, a three-year-old child walked up to him and hugging his legs, said ‘Thank you Uncle.’ “I still cherish that moment ... the magic of Rotary that transcends borders and languages.”

He has planned 100 heart surgeries this year under the Gift of Life initiative. A mobile mammography screening unit and houses for homeless tribals in Palghat are planned. Arackal’s aim for TRF collection during this Centennial year is $1.5 million; his other objective is 20 per cent increase in membership which includes inducting 60 women Rotarians.

e felicitated 4 Endowment Fund donors and 3 Major Donors on my installation day where RIDE Basker C was present,” says S V S Rao. His focus is on TRF and membership growth, increasing the clubs from the present 85 to 100, and add 1,000 Rotarians to his present team of 4,000.

Rao is working on establishing six Rotary dialysis centres and Rotary schools, one in every district. His agenda further includes transforming 100 schools into Happy Schools, installing 100 toilet blocks under WinS and an equal number of e-learning centres. Three global grants have been sanctioned for the TEACH and WinS programmes for the year, he adds.

He got interested in Rotary after serving as a GSE member at Missouri in 1993 and became a charter member of his club soon after. As club president he was instrumental in setting up the District’s first Rotary Blood Bank at Kakinada in 1996 which is close to his heart “because I was traumatised when a person I operated upon had contracted AIDS due to unsafe blood transfusion.” His father, a Lion member, was his inspiration to set up an old age home for women which has 40 inmates now, says Rao.

Correction The right Ravi!

Due to oversight we carried the wrong picture of DG D S Ravi in the July issue, along with his profile, confusing him with DG Ravi Mehra.

This is the right Ravi!

Simple Economics

Brexit and our Partition

B

ack in 2001, I was invited to a conference in Panchgani which was attended by a very senior French statesman. He was part of the group that drafted the European Constitution which was later abandoned because Denmark more-or-less vetoed it in a referendum on its ratification. The EU, at that time around had 460 million people, of whom many wanted that constitution. Denmark’s population then was 5.7 million!

During lunch one day at the conference, I asked him if he had looked at the Indian Constitution because he could get some insights on how to create a successful federation. He said he might, but added somewhat patronisingly that Europe was very different from India.

I replied that the problems India faced in 1947 are similar to yours now because you need to first create a political union for the economic one to last. But he simply turned away to talk to someone else. I had been put in my place, not a novel experience for me when engaging with the Europeans. They simply assume they are wiser.

Looking back now, and for what it is worth, I will repeat my gyan to the Europeans who, despite their wonderful science, economics, philosophy, music, art, etc, are politically the most naive group of people on earth. They are outdone only by the supercilious English. They deserve each other.

The Scots and the Irish, who like us have been at the receiving end for

40 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

centuries of English perfidy, seem to be far more sensible. They see the wisdom in that old saying, “if we don’t hang together, we will hang separately.”

England, Pakistan, one and same

Not to mince words, through Brexit, the Johnson-Farage duo has done to Europe what Jinnah and Liyaquat Ali did to India. The latter claimed separateness on the grounds of religion.

The former have claimed it on the grounds of ‘Englishness.’

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan The result, in either case, is the same — a likely partition. Ours was quick and painful; theirs will be slow and painful.

In 1947, most Indians didn’t want the partition but they didn’t have a choice. The Brits did have one now, but didn’t exercise it because only 36 per cent of the young amongst them went to vote even though they stood to lose the most.

The similarity between Britain and Pakistan’s approach to regional unity doesn’t end there. Just as Pakistan has

been blocking SAARC, Britain has been creating problems for the EU, the biggest one being its refusal to join the common currency.

What has been left unsaid in all this is the real reason for this obduracy.

The strong pressure to stay out of the Euro arose from something that the British will never admit: the need to not submit to EU discipline on money.

This pressure was presented as Englishness, sovereignty, antibureaucracy immigration etc. But at the bottom of it all lay the interests of Napoleon’s shopkeepers.

An article that appeared in Vanity Fair makes a simple point, that it is not Switzerland but Britain that controls a whole lot of British-linked tax havens like Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, the Caymans, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Bermuda, etc. There are other places too “with deep and old links to London.”(http://www.vanityfair. com/style/society/2013/04/mysteriousresidents-one-hyde-park-london).

Not mincing words, through Brexit, the Johnson-Farage duo has done to Europe what Jinnah and Liyaquat Ali did to India.

These links, says the article, “feed vast financial flows — clean, questionable, and dirty — into the City,” something that has been annoying the Europeans no end. The EU directives on money laundering — four so far — give us a sense of it all.

To understand the campaign for Brexit, therefore, you also have to understand the imperatives of that square mile called the City of London. Its power should never be underestimated.

What now?

Economists have long ago worked out the consequences of such strategies.

One is called the “grim trigger strategy” and the other, the “stag hunt strategy.”

The grim trigger strategy is designed to promote cooperation. It says that as long as you cooperate, I will cooperate. If you ever stop cooperating, I too will do so and never ever cooperate again (hence the ‘grimness’). The idea is that the long run loss that you will face if you stop cooperating, outweighs the immediate gain you get from your behaviour. In short your losses will be permanent.

The stag hunt thing is again also about cooperation. If the hunters cooperate and hunt together they stand a better chance of killing a big deer for dinner than if they don’t. In fact, if they hunt separately, they will get only a rabbit.

Britain has adopted both strategies at the same time which must count as one of its biggest follies of all time.

Gearing up for the Centennial Team Rotary News

A

t a special training workshop held for ARRFCs and DRFCs of Zones 4 and 6A at Delhi, TRF Trustee Sushil Gupta briefed them on the

optimum ways to meet the Centennial year goal of $300 million. Convener RRFC Kamal Sanghvi urged the delegates to highlight success stories

and promote Giving to the Foundation.

Centennial resources available online were shared. Oppotunities to use CSR funding of corporates were explained.

Highlights of the meet z Goal

setting — Districts of Zones 4 and 6A to have a target of $15.3 million.

z PDG

Vinod Bansal to develop a region-specific PPT/video for promoting the Foundation.

z Districts

to streamline stewardship procedures according to the D 3230 model.

From Left: RRFC Madhu Rughwani, TRF Trustee Sushil Gupta, RRFC Kamal Sanghvi and DRFC Anoop Agarwal.

z PDGs

Vinod Bansal and Deepak Shikarpur to follow up with CII. AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 41

Doing good with TRF help

Making magic through international collaboration Rasheeda Bhagat

O

ne of the best features of Rotary is the way international friends or associations are made by chance meetings of Rotarians. A perfect example of such magic happening and contributing to the welfare of a community is the Rotary Parwanoo Vocational and Community Centre (RPVCC), in the industrial town of Parwanoo in Sonal District of Himachal Pradesh, which is really changing the lives of people in the town.

The most heartening feature of this fine Rotary project is that it is creating women entrepreneurs through its sewing and embroidery,

42 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

RC Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh sets up a vibrant and buzzing community centre through focussed service. knitting and beauty care training units. PDG Yoginder Diwan from RC Parwanoo, D 3080, who has worked passionately to make this project a nerve centre of the community, says that “many of the young women trained in these units have either set up their own boutiques, knitting units, or beauty parlours or found employment with their skill, and are earning handsome incomes.”

But the tailoring unit was the first vocational training activity to be set

up at the RPVCC in 2003. Every year about 25 girls are trained, and the centre has till now trained about 500 young women. “Many of the girls have been employed as teachers by the Panchayats who are setting up tailoring and embroidery training centres of their own,” he adds.

Two Rotarians meet

The seeds for the Centre, which has been expanding quickly to address healthcare, educational and livelihood

needs of the community, were sown way back in 2000, when two service-minded Rotarians from across the globe, met by chance at an event organised by the Parwanoo Industries Association (PIA), addressed by the then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. They were Dr Josef Klausler from RC Solothurn (Switzerland) and PDG Yoginder Diwan from RC Parwanoo. They decided to work together to establish a Community Centre to meet the needs of the disadvantaged people of the town.

Rtn Klausler, Chairman, Sphinx of Switzerland, was accompanied by his business associate Rtn Sunil Taneja, MD of Ind-Sphinx in Parwanoo.

Sunil became and continues to be the catalyst between the two international partners.

Both the clubs decided to raise funds for the project and applied for

a Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation as well as from the State Government. Both grants came through, with the major donor being the late Josef Klausler himself, “though he didn’t like this to be acknowledged publicly,� says Dewan. The remaining money came from the local Rotarians, the PIA and the Government.

The first phase of the project cost Rs 66.32 lakh of which Rs 23.42 lakh came from RC Parwanoo, Rs 12.9 lakh from Switzerland, Rs 10.75 lakh from TRF, and Rs 19.25 lakh from the HP Government through GOI.

In this phase, one of the buildings came up, “with an outdoor sports ground, measuring over 7,000 sq metres, which has served as a multi activity centre for the local community. I’d say it has now become a nerve centre of the community life of the town. Annual Dussehra mela and many public events are held here every year,� says Diwan.

In the second phase of the project implemented in 2012 at a cost of Rs 15 lakh, a physiotherapy clinic was established under another Matching Grant, this time with another international partner, RC Oakville-Trafalgar, Canada. In the two phases a total of Rs 81.32 lakh have been spent.

While the multipurpose Community Hall is used for holding public and private social events, the Computer Training Centre caters to the needs of the students from economically weaker sections and workers from local industries who are given basic and advanced (Tally) computer training on a subsidised/ free (sponsored) basis. “Recently a set of 10 new computers, donated by a Parwanoo manufacturing company, were added for teaching 100 young kids from 12-14 years from

Many women trained by our tailoring unit have setup their own boutiques and are earning handsome incomes.

3'* <RJLQGHU 'LZDQ 3UHVLGHQW 539&& ZLWK VWDá&#x201A;&#x2021; DQG VWXGHQWV AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 43

government schools. “These kids do not have access to computers either at home or school, as our children do,” he says.

Women’s empowerment

In addition to women setting up their own boutiques, the Knitting Centre established in April 2003 and equipped with 10 Japanese hand-knitting machines is giving the trained women a monthly income ranging from Rs 3,000 to 6,000 from part or full time work. For those women who set up their own units, “Rotary arranges micro-loans to help them buy the

machines, with the Centre arranging raw material and also providing marketing support,” says Diwan. He adds that the tailoring unit has been further beefed up in collaboration with Singer India. “But let me add that Dr Klausler, our overseas mentor, who is no more, is the soul of the project and had also visited it three times,” he adds.

He feels this is the “most popular and useful activity in their Centre.

The women earn while they learn and pay their training fees from their earnings.” On completion of training, many girls set up their cottage industry by investing around Rs 25,000, which

Dr Klausler, our overseas mentor, who is no more, is the soul of the project and had also visited it three times.

PDG Yoginder Diwan.

sometimes comes as a micro-loan.

“Over 100 such cottage units have come up in the State, half of them in and around Parwanoo.”

With Indian women getting more beauty conscious, in 2013-14, a vocational training centre in beauty care was added to the RPVCC. “Young women are trained by a qualified beautician in a fully equipped lab for the various services provided in beauty parlours and 20 girls have completed the course, and some have gone for an advanced course.” Starting their parlours at home, or finding employment in other parlours are the available options.

A badminton hall, which is also used for blood donation camps, and a gym, equipped with 10 work stations, are other highlights of this community project. It charges a modest membership fee of Rs 200 a month, has a trainer, and is used regularly by about 500 men.

Designed by L Gunasekaran

44 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Rotarians address Thalassemia Kiran Zehra

T

he Rotary Wall City Thalassemia Centre, Bhuj is a place of fun for 5-year-old Garva Uday. “Of course the needle prick hurts me, but nurse aunty gives me toys and plays my favourite rhymes too,” he says. Every year approximately 100,000 children across the world are born with thalassemia, of which 10,000 are born in India. “As per the records from the District Health Officer more than 350 cases have been reported in Bhuj district and most of these children are from very poor families,” says Rtn Amit Chauhan, member of RC Bhuj Wall City, D 3051.

The club has been endorsing thalassemia awareness as its prime project from its charter year (2006).

Thalassemia is a form of inherited blood disorder where abnormal formation of haemoglobin results in improper oxygen transport and destruction of red blood cells. It can cause complications like iron overload, bone deformities, and cardiovascular disorders. Patients with thalassemia might need transfusion as frequently as once a week.

The cost could be between Rs 750 to 2,000 per unit of blood, making it impossible for the economically weak to afford treatment.

Baby Garva Uday being treated at the Thalassemia Centre.

was used in the development of the centre.

On the eve of the Rotary Year 2015-2016 the club inaugurated a state-of-the-art thalassemia centre for children. The ward is maintained by the medical staff from GAIMS. “We have tried to create a happy atmosphere at the ward. Bright coloured walls, an LED TV, video games, toys, recliner beds ... now attracts even those who were getting treatment from private hospitals,” says Chauhan. The staff members

The ward

In 2014, PDG Dr Gyaneshwar Rao, who is also the Medical Director of GAIMS (Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Science), offered the club an exclusive ward in the Bhuj Civil Hospital for developing a thalassemia centre. During Navratri 2014, a Dandiya event organised by the club raised Rs 7 lakh that

The cost of prevention of the disorder is 10 times less comapred to the cost of treatment.

are warm and striking animated conversations with the children, using puppets, is part of their job description. “When you pass by our ward, you will always hear a cackle,” says the ward in-charge Neeta Soni.

EEE approach

While the ward is taking care of the children suffering from this severe disorder, the Rotarians have taken it upon themselves to Examine, Explain and Educate the society on thalassemia. According to the club’s inputs from their research over the last 10 years preventive measures at a national level will be cost-effective. The cost of prevention of the disorder is 10 times less comapred to the cost of treatment. The need for better strategies and novel interventions to combat thalassemia is now gaining momentum in our country and RC Bhuj Wall City is happy that they have laid a strong foundation.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 45

Asha Kiran … a ray of hope n August 15, just like last year, we will launch our Asha Kiran … a ray of hope programme. Last year, we fought to free children from illiteracy. Because of the tremendous efforts from Rotarians, Inner Whe el members and their friends we have been able to reach around 33,000 children. This year let us double the number because added to our own power, we have the power of Kailash Satyarthi Foundation, with whom we have an understanding to send 200,000 children back to school.

On the eve of India’s 70 th Independence Day, Rashi and I will share a photograph of our lighting up a candle for Asha Kiran … a ray of hope on the social media. We do hope that you too will do the same. This time let us also try to get non-Rotarians, our friends and family involved as we will be circulating the link of online donation when we run the campaign.

O

RILM Chair Shekhar Mehta with his wife Rashi and daughter Chandni pledged to send 50 children back to school.

Visit the T-E-A-C-H website, www.rotaryteach.org, to see the number of children who have been adopted under this programme. If you are one of the sponsors, you will be tagged to a child/children whose regular progress will be available to you under the ‘My Asha Kiran Child’ tab on the website.

Children being screened by Rotarians of D 3250.

46 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Each child has been selected after a careful process, which include the following steps: • Advertisements calling for proposals from NGOs are placed.

• Due diligence is done by the RILM Office, against set criteria and based on documents sent by the organisations. RILM conducts onsite field visits on the shortlisted NGOs. • These are sent to the Child Development National Committee for approval.

• RILM then enters into a MoU with the partnering NGO. • It organises a child screening process with support from the local Rotary clubs on the scheduled dates. Rotarians/IW members interview the identified children.

Asha Kiran children are those in the age group 7-14; have never been to school or dropped out or not attended school for more than

45 days without informing the school; they could be laggard in their reading and writing abilities.

• The NGO sends the list of approved children for fund dispersal and upload data of the profiles of these children on the website.

• The local Rotary clubs near the NGO will monitor performance of the child by visiting the centres.

• The NGO has to conduct daily classes for these children and provide them with a bridge-course and maintain progress report of every child in specified format.

• Donors can track progress of the child by logging into www. rotaryteach.org.

Rotary clubs can graduate from Star Clubs to Superstar to Megastar to Supreme Star status. Let us reach out to 50,000 children a month. Rotary clubs have a huge role to play. Like last year the campaign has to spread like wildfire. Let us encourage every Rotarian to light a ray of hope in at least one child’s life.

Honouring dedicated teachers Outstanding teachers are honoured by RILM with Nation Builder Awards on Teachers’ Day (September 5).

Teachers being trained by British Council resource person.

Under-performing teachers are helped to enhance their skills through specialised teacher training workshops/ courses.

Last year, more than 4,700 teachers were felicitated by various Rotary clubs. This year too RILM will recognise the efforts put in by them.

Guidelines to implement Nation Builder Award (NBA) • Study the three forms: T1.1, T2.1 and T3.1 (available on the website) • Identify the schools and get consent from the school authorities.

•

• • •

•

•

Conduct the evaluation of the teachers — by the students (T1.1) and the Head Teacher (T2.1) Compile and analyse the data (T3.1) Arrange for teachers’ training for teachers with low score For high scoring teachers, collect the NBA certificate and cover letter from District Governor or District Literacy Committee Chair Organise an event, preferably on Teachers Day or Literacy Day (September 8) to hand over the certificates to them Upload report on RILM website along with good quality pictures.

T-E-A-C-H Activity Snapshots Teacher Training

In July, 120 teachers from 57 government schools underwent a 3-day training on Critical Thinking & Problem Solving & Student Leadership. The same batch of teachers will attend another session on a reflective course on the same modules in November.

RC Kodaikanal, D 3000, organised a workshop for 28 teachers to highlight the needs of children who require special care.

School Survey

Adult Literacy Centre run by IWC Bhopal.

Rotary clubs are expected to conduct a survey of five schools each. The participating clubs will receive a AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 47

certificate acknowledging the survey conducted by them, from the respective National Committee Members of T-E-A-C-H. The survey forms to be submitted by the clubs will be verified and approved by the NCMs. Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in India

A Happy School adopted by IWC Silchar.

Inner Wheel clubs of Districts 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 325, 302, 329, 324, 326, 315 and 316 completed implementation of 298 Happy Schools last Rotary Year. They also started 295 Adult Literacy Centres and trained 2,507 teachers under Teacher Support Programme.

Volunteer opportunities under TEACH: Sl. No.

Teacher Support

E-Learning

Adult Literacy

Child

Happy School Development

1.

Teacher Training — Find volunteers to provide training

Conduct survey

Adult Literacy Centre — Survey of Adult non-literates

Baseline survey to identify Asha Kiran children

Survey prospective schools for Happy Schools

2.

Pre-training survey

Monitoring

ALC — Select venue

Monitoring Asha Kiran Centres of NGO

Monitor maintenance of facilities installed

3.

Supplemental Teaching — Training in extracurricular activities after school and associated reporting

Feedback

Each One, Reach One, Teach One — Motivate and orient teacher coordinators and student volunteers

Extracurricular activities with Centre children

4.

Supplemental Teaching (Teacher Support): Collate State-wise data of Vidyanjali programme

5.

E-learning: Motivating schools for usage of equipment

6.

Nation Builder Award: Monitor awards ceremony

Note : Rotarians and Inner Wheel Members can only register as Cadre. Cadre will be especially essential for monitoring implementation, reporting within time for corporate and government projects that RILM takes up. Cadre may be required to do inter-district visits to adjoining districts regarding the assigned tasks.

48 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Doing good with TRF help

Affordable Diagnostic Facility at VHS Hospital Team Rotary News

R

C Madras Northwest, District 3230, has set up a state-of-theart diagnostic laboratory at Voluntary Health Services (VHS) Hospital in Chennai. Set up at a cost of Rs 90 lakh, this is partially funded by a Global Grant (RC Wattala, District 3220, Sri Lanka being the international partner) and a philanthropic corporate, Autotech Industries India and was inaugurated by the then DG C R Raju in the presence of Sugalchand Jain, Managing Trustee and Dr S Suresh, Honorary Secretary, VHS. With diagnostic services being very expensive this lab, equipped with modern, high-tech equipment, will now offer affordable pathological services at less than 50 per cent of commercial cost to deserving patients.

IPDG C R Raju inaugurates the diagnostic lab at VHS hosptial.

The 27-year-old club primarily focuses on healthcare projects. They had earlier established a Renal Care block with 10 dialysis units at Sir Ivan Stedeford Hospital in Chennai, at a cost of Rs 1 crore. Under this

project, 20,000 dialysis procedures have already been carried out. The club had also established the Rotary Northwest Silver Jubilee Block at the Cancer Institute in Chennai with 48 beds at a cost of Rs 55 lakh.

Ajura – The wonder App Team Rotary News

G

lobal travellers no more need to worry about the soaring call charges as they make calls across oceans. Thanks to Ajura, the mobile roaming App launched by the telecom corporate, Reve’s Ajura Pte

Ltd — it takes away the financial burden of making expensive calls home and allows the traveller to stay connected.

Users can download Ajura from the Google App store, sign up with their regular mobile number and activate the roaming option before they set on their travel. The App detects if the mobile user is online and routes the calls to it.

Users can make and receive international calls at 5 to 10 per cent of what a roaming call would normally cost.

A visiting country SIM is not necessary if the user takes all incoming calls on the App but he/she must be connected on a Wi-fi or data network. The SIM card, however, helps the user get cheaper data and be always available for incoming calls

while roaming. When the user has a local mobile number in the visiting country, the call can be automatically diverted to that number.

The international roaming facility is available in 54 countries covering North America, most of the European Union countries, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and some countries of Africa/Latin America.

What differentiates Ajura from call services of other chat Apps is that the phone calls received on the user’s home mobile number are automatically forwarded to the App, when the user is online — and the person calling need not have downloaded Ajura app.

On the Shelf

Marwaris mean business TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

The Marwaris: from Jagat Seth to the Birlas

By Thomas A Timberg Penguin Pp 189 Rs 300

A

bout 41 years ago, on a flight from Bombay to Delhi, I found myself sitting next to a well-known and highly successful industrialist, who was also a Marwari.

I was surprised that he was travelling economy and, to relieve the tedium of the flight, I asked him how come.

He looked at me, found a callow youth who seemed unaware of his impertinence, and replied with a smile that success in business was dependent on a very old question that every business men should ask at the end of every day: Aaj kinno aayo, kinno gayo (How much was earned today, and how much spent). Every day, he said, the difference between the two should be the maximum.

This smart little book is about the Marwaris. An earlier version has been updated recently by the author who is an American scholar with an intimate knowledge of the subject. He says the Marwaris, contrary to popular belief, are not from the Marwar region of Rajasthan which lies in the Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner belt. Instead, they are from the Shekhawati region which lies in an area closer to Jaipur.

He quotes K K Birla who wrote, although in a different context, that finance was in their (Marwaris) blood, just as chivalry is in the blood of some other communities. Until the 19th century they operated mostly in what is now Rajasthan but from then on they expanded to eastern and central India where they successfully edged out the Bengali and Punjabi businessmen. The dominant, negative perception of the Marwaris perhaps comes from this.

Importantly, says the author, they also played a role in the revival of Hinduism and the Hindi language in these areas.

The Marwaris proved to be very good at managing the two things that hold the key to success: risk and the prevailing environment. Much of the art of management of risk depends on information and to get this, they had to ‘manage’ the environment in a positive way.

Not everyone succeeded of course.

No one actually failed but the vast majority met with very limited success. But the ones that did do well did so in a spectacular way. The question that Timberg asks is whether they will

continue to do as well in the 21st century. No one knows, because, firstly, since the reforms of 1991 which changed the environment, many of the old Marwari firms have all but vanished and, secondly, the builders have given way to successors whose calibre is yet to be tested.

That, in more than one sense, sums up the challenge for Marwari big business in India. The scale on which the world’s most successful companies produce and sell has gone up 100 times. The old intuitive methods are no longer adequate. The Marwaris must change their ways but in this context a quote by the late Aditya Birla in this book is worth reproducing: “I have nothing against MBAs. They are brilliant boys, extremely bright and enterprising ... but the training given is better suited to multinationals. Business institutes unfortunately have a bias for sales and also their whole culture is westernised so they do not really fit in with Indian culture.”

Most people today may not agree with this assessment. But the important point is do the Marwaris agree?

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 51

And now... Water ATMs in Slums

By Saadia Azim

“W

hat more could one ask for? We have a reliable source of drinking water, which is clean, safe and, most important, adequate,” remarks Rinki Shaw of Kallikapur slum, located on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata.

She is among the many women in the area who have been using a smart card for around two years now to collect 10 litres of potable water every morning for the entire family from an automatic water dispensing machine.

The slum dwellers of Ward Numbers 108 and 109 in Kolkata have gone high-tech with a vengeance. All of them deftly use their smart cards to pick up their quota of free water from the various compact water dispensing machines, popularly known as water ATMs, installed in their neighbourhoods.

Despite living beside a huge pond, access to potable water was the biggest problem at Kallikapur.

Most women would wake up at the crack of dawn and rush to the nearest hand pump to queue up for their turn to fill up drums and buckets with water for their homes. Earlier, there was no guarantee that they would return with water. Most of the times, either the hand pump would run dry or the municipal public taps, installed few and far between, would get no supply. And there was every chance of the stored water getting contaminated.

But now, getting water is no longer the torturous chore it used to be. The women simply walk over to a water ATM at their convenience to take home their share without worrying whether there’d be any left.

The water is supplied to the community from a filtering plant that has 52 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

been set up with the technical support of SAFE (South Asian Forum for Environment), a non-governmental science and environment organisation. It is a revolutionising measure.

There was a time when the women here used to spend three to four hours daily collecting water. “We could not take care of our children or do

household chores with a free mind because collecting water was always the first priority. At least with the water machines and smart cards, we don’t have to constantly worry about this chore. And, my children do not fall ill frequently, which is a big relief,” says Kavita Pal, who heads the joint liability group (JLG) that

is in-charge of the monitoring and upkeep of the filtering plant.

The plant is supported by HSBC’s Water Programme that provided the initial funding and technical support for the sustainable model project.

The water is taken from the nearby pond and filtered in the plant that has been built on community land.

The water that cannot be purified is directed to community toilets, which are, in turn, connected to a biogas plant that produces fuel for use in the community kitchens. The filter plant runs on solar energy produced from the panels fitted on its roof, says Amrita Chatterjee, Director Communications and Research, SAFE. Over the last two years, the project has gradually attained self-sustainability. The room that houses the filtering plant has huge solar grid that produces more than 10 KW of energy to run the facility.

The water is supplied through underground channels from the nearby pond. Surface water from the pond is not used as people have inhibitions in drinking the dirty water that they use for cleaning and washing purposes. The plant purifies about 10,000 litres of water

The women simply walk over to a water ATM at their convenience to take home their share, without worrying whether there’d be any left.

daily which is dispensed from three dispensers affixed in the slum.

Though 10 litres come free, if someone needs more, they have the option of buying it, at fifty paise per litre, by topping up their smart cards with money. “The money helps in the upkeep and maintenance of the plant.

The community members have learnt to operate and monitor the machines after receiving training from Eureka Forbes engineers who have installed the filters,” says Rabi Kumar Jana, who manages the filtering plant, the 24 community toilets, the biogas unit and the community kitchens.

A World Bank study revealed that poor quality drinking water causes 21 per cent of diseases in India, creating a burden of around Rs 300 crore for the government. This

motivated SAFE to plan this project.

India has been spending around Rs 1.48 crore every year since the 1990s on various Water Sanitation Hygiene projects but even then the country ranks 120 in a UNDP survey of 123 nations on ‘safe water index.’

According to the UNDP report, it is the urban slum dwellers that end up becoming worst victims of environmental pollution, poor sanitary services and contaminated drinking water.

The project is currently being replicated in two other urban slums in Kolkata now that the sustainability of the Kallikapur initiative has been measured and recognised. “For us women, it’s been a total win-win.

More so because these days even the men have gotten involved in doing what was considered only a woman’s work. Earlier, they used to feel that collecting water, cleaning toilets and making food were activities done by women and girls. But with community ownership and participation, the onus of getting the work is being shared. Men and women have understood the merits of working side by side,” sums up a happy Rina Jana. © Women’s Feature Service

ROTARY GLOBAL REWARDS: THE GOOD YOU DO COMES BACK TO YOU

Presenting a member benefit program too good to keep to yourself. With discounts on travel, hotels, dining, services and more, Rotary Global Rewards is designed to help you get more good work done and build Rotary friendships.

Rotary Global Rewards. It’s our way of giving back to those who give so much FIND ROTARY GLOBAL REWARDS AT ROTARY.ORG/MYROTARY

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 53

Preserving Nepal’s

heritage Rasheeda Bhagat

It’s a relationship with heritage that comes naturally to the Shrestha family, who are living their late patriarch’s dream through this enchanting property in Kathmandu.

W

alking into the Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu is akin to walking into another era in history, art and culture. The sheer rugged beauty of the open-brick exteriors of the different wings of the hotel, fitted with sloping tiled roofs, supported by large, thick and unpretentious wooden rafters, or the imposing, heavy doors and windows with beautiful carvings that appear to be at least a century old, or the large terracotta urns, jars, cups, vases, brass lamps or fittings as door handles, the beautifully embroidered linen in your rooms… one can go on and on.

All these antique treasures of Nepal come together in wonderful harmony to give the visitor a unique experience thanks to one man’s passion and vision... to salvage, restore and preserve the country’s priceless heritage.

Dwarika’s story, as well as unique charm, begins with the Newari civilisation that flourished in Nepal during the reign of the Malla Kings from the 12th to the 18th century, who benefitted tremendously by Kathmandu being in the trade route between India and Tibet.

They invested heavily in their arts and culture. Over 3,000 temples and shrines that dotted the Kathmandu valley date back to the Malla era, and are a testament on their penchant for art and

beauty. Many of these were damaged or devastated by the 2015 earthquake.

At this unique and stunningly beautiful property, after checking in and on the way to your room, the message in the elevator catches the eye. It says “Dwarika’s has become an asylum and hospital for the care of wounded masterpieces in wood; here they are restored to their original beauty; (this is) a school for the training and practise of traditional arts and skills, a laboratory to research old techniques, and a living museum where people may enjoy and understand this heritage which is not only Nepali, but that of the human race. Dwarika Das Shrestha 1925–92.”

D

warika’s journey actually began way back in 1952 through the setting up of another hotel by Shrestha, who was a senior Government executive.

Its primary occupants were Indian and Nepali pilgrims who came to visit its famous Pashupatinath temple.

But today, if Dwarika’s has become such a coveted niche in the tourism industry, specially among people who cherish and treasure ancient art and crafts, culture and history, it is thanks to the relentless hard work, selflessness AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 55

Ganeshas, diyas, door handles, and a host of other unique treasures carved in wood, stone, brass, etc. Each one is an exquisite piece, and exudes a religious or spiritual cadence.

W

alking me through the sprawling property on a cool afternoon, Ambika stops before a gorgeous, intricately carved door, a stunning masterpiece. “This is from a 13th century temple which had fallen to the ground and this beautiful door was totally covered in mud. An old lady walked up to my husband at that site and said: ‘Look, look, at this treasure.’ There was nothing left inside the temple except for a sitting Buddha. He told the local people he would take that door and give them sufficient money to rebuild the temple.

This door was in no shape to be used.”

For 15 years nobody could touch the door “because it would have crumbled to pieces.” Slowly, and painstakingly

Ambika Shrestha.

and passion of Shrestha’s family — his wife Ambika, who is a Rotarian (her husband was one too), daughter Sangita and grandson Vijay. Vijay, whose father is German, and has studied finance and management overseas, opted to come to Kathmandu to help run the heritage property. He had so many other opportunities, but “I didn’t

want to be anybody’s employee,” he shrugs.

Both the mother and daughter speak with striking passion and adulation about this heritage property that they have nurtured with the kind of care, love and devotion that mortals normally reserve for their children. This includes ceiling frescos, Buddhas,

the wounded door was nursed back to health and now adorns this property.

Another window panel she shows me is an invaluable 15th century window frame depicting Krishna Leela…

Krishna with his gopikas.

So how difficult to maintain a property like this, I ask Ambika.

“Very, very difficult because we have to keep on maintaining the different pieces,” and also because the property was not really built as a hotel. “In the beginning we were just

We don’t know it otherwise… it comes naturally to us… this relationship with heritage.

Everything we have in this property is antique. There isn’t a single piece that is new.

Sangita Shrestha

gathering these antique pieces, but later we needed to get an income.” Initially they just had a workshop employing carvers but once the rebuilding began, they started training youngsters.

“There was money going out every week and we didn’t have the money to sustain the project.” Even now they have a workshop running all the time.

“We find such pieces and heal them.”

When I say that “heal” is such a lovely word to use, Ambika smiles warmly and says: “My husband used to call this a hospital!”

When she went to the bank for a loan, “at first they wouldn’t even look at my face. And the manager said: ‘Ambika, where is your collateral?’

And I said ‘all these antique pieces.’

And they said: ‘Oh, you’re offering us all these rotten pieces as collateral?’ ollate I just came away saying ng if you don’t do

is new.” Pointing out to the lighter coloured wood, she says, most of the antiques they have are made from sal wood, “that is why it is so hard.”

She is happy that the family is now able to use tourism to retain some of Nepal’s priceless heritage. “Frankly, without that, we would not have been able to keep this hotel going.”

Dwarika’s has 86 rooms, including 40 suites, and from the linen, cushions, cutlery, crockery to the stationery in the room, everything has a touch of class and beauty.

But the occupancy levels when I visit the hotel in February was low; “the earthquake and later the economic blockade with India has really hurt us,” she says.

Such unique charm and ambience, coupled with modern day comforts that any multi-star hotel offers, does not come

The bankers said: ‘Oh, you’re offering us all these rotten pieces as collateral?’ I came away, saying if you don’t understand antiques, it’s okay.

Ambika Shrestha

understand their value and importance, it’s okay!”

All the antique treasures at Dwarika’s have been collected from the Kathmandu valley.

In that earthquake-prone region wherever houses came down or were broken down, Shrestha would buy various pieces such as doors, windows, statuettes, carved pieces etc.

When I exclaim that they are invaluable, she says, “Oh yes, only now people are understanding their real value.

Everything we have in this property is antique. There isn’t a single piece that

Helping earthquake affected

H

Ambika Shrestha welcoming India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

cheap. The suite given to the then RI President K R Ravindran and Vanathy is as massive as quaint and breathtakingly beautiful with different levels. It is priced at $2,500; some of the suites cost $2,000 and a room $350. About 500 staff maintain this and another property coming up at Dhulikhel.

D

warika’s guests come from all over the world. What about neighbouring India? “Well, a few

elping the local people after natural disasters in Nepal has been a given at Dwarika’s, “but normally we get involved in small ways,” says Sangita Shrestha Einhaus, daughter of Dwarika Das Shrestha, who established this heritage hotel in Kathmandu. “But after the 2015 earthquake, our engagement has been really big.” In the immediate aftermath, they had distributed relief material and serviced 55,000 people.

Hundreds of people from the most devastated areas, who lost not only their homes but all possessions were helped, and later 350 people from the devastated Sindhupalchowk village were put up in a camp set up about 10 minutes away from the hotel. A temporary home, this camp is run by the Dwarika’s Foundation on a football field.

In all 1,240 people are being supported by the Foundation, other than 350 in their own villages. “The situation was so bad that initially we had to send them food material by helicopters.” The people are given literacy and trained in microcredit enterprises, farming, fisheries, etc.

discerning Indians do come but we are not known that much in India.”

The same evening an all-party delegation led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and including CPM Politburo chief Sitaram Yechury and Congress’s Anand Sharma trooped in.

They were in Kathmandu to attend the funeral of Nepal’s former Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

I later catch up with Sangita and ask her how she got involved in managing this property.

“Well, I grew up with this as a central part of our lives, both the heritage

and the restoration. We don’t know it otherwise… it comes naturally to us… this relationship with heritage.

And I had assured my father that I would continue his work, and after he passed away I shifted my working base from Europe to Nepal.” With little time for travel, it is her husband who commutes between Germany and Nepal.

And the relationship with Nepal’s heritage and antique treasures continues through the big workshop which does restoration work. “This hotel is only the path we took; the end goal is sustainable heritage conservation. The

We never go into areas where there are other properties. We create new destinations.

Sangita Shrestha

Ambika with daughter Sangita and grandson Vijay.

hotel gets us the funds to conserve, restore, sustain.

Of course it has to be commercially viable but all our hotels (a second property has already come up) have a purpose,” she says.

But during these “very difficult times the hotel is not profitable. The blockade has affected us tremendously, because there are no tourists and we are grappling with a very low occupancy. People abroad feel that there is no electricity, they cannot eat in the restaurants because there is no food, there is no fuel for the vehicles to move about.”

But even though grossly exaggerated, the fact remained that in February, they were purchasing fuel for their vehicles and generators in the black market. “We need almost 1,000 litres a day, four times the normal, mainly for

My husband used to call this a hospital, where wounded art pieces were healed.

Ambika Shrestha

the generators that run the elevators, ACs etc, because there are 13-14 hours of load shedding.”

So had they hiked their room rates?

“No, we cannot do that because we cannot crucify the clients for our local situation. It’s not fair,” she says and is grateful that their clients understand their difficulty and don’t haggle over the rates.

O

n the nationalities most appreciative of the priceless heritage this hotel gives a sample of, she says most do, but “those who really stand out are the Chinese and it surprises me. The Western, the European clients would automatically appreciate this kind of property, but I wouldn’t have expected the Chinese to do so. They don’t speak much English, but are really enthralled and take a lot of pictures.”

The biggest challenge in running such a property, says Sangita, is to “provide consistent quality service and retain the trained staff which is difficult in Nepal, because people keep going to the Middle East for better opportunities.”

Another challenge is to keep the water sources going. “We need to dig huge bore wells, and then have filter systems in place for the water; electricity is a challenge, generators have to keep going.”

On the future she says the endeavour will be to expand the brand.

“Dwarika’s is now internationally known and respected, so we’ll expand to more properties, but in newer areas.

We never go into areas where there are other properties. We create new destinations!”

They have three other projects in hand; one is a property in Dhulikhel, about 40 km from Pokhran which is different in concept and more expensive. “This one in Kathmandu is about architectural and cultural heritage, that is about Vedic concepts. There we’ve brought in spirituality, and have yoga, meditation, pottery, gardening, cooking.”

On the immense value of the masterpieces at Dwarika’s, Sangita shrugs and says, “The thing is that we are not collectors; we restore and conserve, and encourage others to do so too.”

Right now they have engaged a group of 50 skilled carvers, and have sent them out to “different municipalities and they will restore the windows of all the privately owned homes that were destroyed in the earthquake as the whole idea is to conserve the heritage of Nepal.”

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by Krishnapratheesh S

Club Corner District 3201 The Rotary clubs of Coimbatore, in association with GEM Medical Trust, have initiated the ‘Care for Life’ project to provide free cancer screening and treatment for underprivileged people of the southern States. While the hospital has offered to waive its charges, the clubs and the Trust will share the expenses for the consumables and medicines.

RC Cosmopolitan Ahmedabad D 3051 These Rotarians are promoting literacy on various fronts — providing television sets and DVD players in three anganwadis; enrolling village elders for a three-month adult literacy course; adopting the century-old Bhopal Prathmik Shala School, where sweaters were donated to the students and the school was equipped with e-learning facilities.

RC Karwar D

3170

The club, along with RC Karwar Seaside and Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Pune, organised an artificial limb fitment camp at Karwar. The camp that cost Rs 10 lakh benefitted 100 physicallychallenged people from the surrounding districts.

RC Hiranandani Estate D

3142

The club has adopted a novel way of fundraising this year. Club President Roopali Deshpande and spouse Shailesh Deshpande visit Rotarians’ homes and chant the Ganesh Atharvashirsha that glorifies Lord Ganesha. The dakshina thus collected is being used for community projects. The couple has so far visited 11 out of 50 members and Rs 1.35 lakh has been raised.

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 61

CONVENTION

Southern fare

The celebration of the century

I O

ften called a city of transplants, Atlanta has a food scene that’s suitably eclectic. Sure, you can find your share of traditional Southern fare.

But the eateries that locals flock to put creative twists on the classics.

For example, if you’re looking for straight-up barbecue when you’re in town for the 2017 Rotary International Convention, 10-14 June, local standbys D.B.A. and Fox Bros.

Bar-B-Q — each just a short car ride away — have got you covered. Heirloom Market BBQ offers a marriage of Southern and Korean flavours like a spicy Korean pork sandwich and ribs marinated in hot and sweet chilli paste (closed Sundays and Mondays).

Just east of downtown, celebrity chef Kevin Gillespie — of Top Chef fame — has borrowed from Asian culture as well. Inspired by Chinese dim sum-style dining, Gunshow allows diners to choose dishes as they’re passed around on carts and trays.

West Midtown’s Miller Union and Decatur’s Cakes and Ale use sustainable, Georgia-born ingredients as a foundation. At Miller Union, these building blocks transform into updated Southern staples, such as sorghum glazed quail with sunchoke, smoked beets, and grilled vidalias. At Cakes and Ale, the Southern influence may not be as heavy, but the farm-fresh food is fashioned so simply, it keeps Atlantans coming back for more.

– D.C. Register for the 2017 Rotary Convention in Atlanta at www.riconvention.org.

62 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

n 2016–17, Rotary clubs will celebrate The Rotary Foundation’s centennial by showcasing its rich history and good work. But what’s the best way to tell your community about the Foundation’s track record of improving life in communities worldwide, about End Polio Now, the Rotary Peace Centres, or your own club’s global grant projects?

Plan a Rotary Day event focused on the Foundation.

Here are some ideas to get your club started — feel free to adapt them or come up with ideas of your own. Whatever you do, encourage the community to be a part of it. And be sure to prominently display your club name and The Rotary Foundation centennial logo, and share your photos and stories on social media using #TRF100.

“The Rotary Foundation supports so many good projects,” says John Germ, who is RI President during this centennial year. “Rotarians often do these good works without much publicity. This year we have the opportunity to create awareness through publicity, especially through social media, and to attract more members and engage them in projects to build a better future.”

•

Sponsor a centennial walk, run, or bicycle race

•

Organise a centennial concert featuring local talent

•

At a local festival, sponsor a Taste of Rotary booth that features foods from various Rotary countries and provides information about Rotary and its Foundation

•

Set up a Foundation alumni reunion, inviting past Rotary Scholars and Group Study Exchange and vocational training team members

•

Organise a seminar with local experts discussing one of Rotary’s six areas of focus

•

At a community event, distribute bottled water bearing a label promoting Rotary’s water and sanitation efforts

•

Organise a drive to collect 100 items related to Rotary’s areas of focus — books, water treatment kits, first aid kits — and donate them to local organisations at a centennial event

•

Plant 100 trees or create a community garden

•

Hold a 100-hour service marathon

•

Organise a Rotary Day cleanup in a local park and encourage community volunteers to join in.

Visit rotary.org/foundation100 for more resources. Order copies of the Foundation centennial book, Doing Good in the World: The Inspiring Story of The Rotary Foundation’s First 100 Years, at shop.rotary.org.

,$6 5$6 3UHSDUDWRU\ &ODVVHV ZLWK *UDGXDWLRQ

Dazzling Dubai Rotary Zone Institute 2016 – Zone 4, 5 & 6A Dec 16-18, 2016

John F Germ RI President

Dr Manoj Desai RI Director & Convenor

W

elcome aboard for an exciting experience; explore the flavours of the Rotary Zone Institute 2016 at Dubai.

Nothing is impossible – is the theme of this Institute. It celebrates Rotary International’s successful journey in India on Polio Eradication, Literacy, WinS and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

V Raja Seenivasan RRFC & Chairman

Programmes Teaser Ice breaking session for DGEs with RI President John Germ on a catamaran (Dec 13) and GETS sessions and adjunct seminars at Hyatt Regency Deira (Dec 14 and 15) Vision 20-20 seminar (Dec 16). Zone Institute inaugural the same evening at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Conference Centre and dinner at the

Emirates offers 10 per cent discount for Institute delegates.

Contact

Institute Highlights: Presence of RI President John Germ.

TRF Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee will lead the Centennial Celebrations at Hyatt Regency Deira on Dec 15.

RI Director Mikael Ahlberg from Sweden will be our special guest.

TRF Trustee Gary Huang, TRF Trustee Sushil Gupta, RIDE C Basker and past RI Directors will grace the occasion.

Get inspired by acclaimed Australian speaker Michael McQueen and Tennis celebrity Leander Paes.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel overlooking the stunning Burj Al Arab Hotel.

Sit-down dinner (Dec 17) at the Armani Pavilion from where the Burj Khalifa arises. Desert Camp on Dec 14 with adventures such as Desert Safari, Dune Dashing, dance and dinner under the stars. Institute concludes on Dec 18 after lunch.

Registrations Visit www.dubairotaryinstitute2016. org for online registration.

Please email your queries to dubairotaryinstitute2016@gmail.com Accommodation The official venue Hotel Hyatt Regency Deira is full. However, Hyatt Regency Creek Heights (5-star) and Holiday Inn (4-star) are available. Book early to avoid disappointment. Transfers will be provided from all the three hotels to the venues.

Chairman: PDG V Raja Seenivasan Mobile: +919840024466 Email: rajaseenivasan@gmail.com

Organising Secretary: DGN Abhay Gadgil Mobile: +919850900001 Email: abhaygadgil3131@gmail.com

Vice Chairman: PDG TVR Murti Mobile: +919848021462 Email: murtitvr@hotmail.com

Joint Secretary: PDG N Asoka Mobile: +919443364932 Email: nasoka@rediffmail.com

Rotary

& Social media

Twitter

Twitter

Handing over leadership

Rotary Serving Humanity

Responding to PRIP KR Ravindranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweet on handing over leadership to RI President John Germ, Rotarians thanked him for his #service and tweeted with the hashtag #youareindeedagifttotheworld.

Apart from tweets of congratulations and thank you, many lauded him for effectively using social networking.

Rotary International is sharing on twitter stories of #Rotaryservinghumanity from around the world. Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors around the world are tweeting with the hashtag #100actsofgood.

Twitter

Digital campaign to end polio Twitter

Gaming Fever Since its launch, Pokemon Go has excited many of its users and according to data from SimilarWeb, the game has been installed on more Android smartphones in the US than a famous dating app. A digital creature appeared at the One Rotary Centre, Evanston. Minutes after its tweet #PokemonGo, some Rotarians posted pictures of having found these creatures at different spots, including a club meeting.

Rotary International has thanked UAE for its support to #endpolionow in Pakistan. @Rotary has been sharing stories of individual Rotarians and Rotary clubs helping this cause.

FOLLOW US On our Facebook page @RotaryNewsIndia or on Twitter @NewsRotary for latest news and updates from the Rotary World.

Compiled by: Kiran Zehra

From software to food Revathi Suresh Find out all about Archana’s abiding love for food and what makes her website India’s leading recipe and food discovery website.

I

often wake up thinking about food.

And it’s not just because I’m hungry.

I am not a happy person in the kitchen, and anxieties about putting food on the table not just once but several times a day have beset me for as long as I can remember. So the menu I’m planning for the day takes up the first ten minutes of my morning — which says something for experience, because I do remember a panicked time when I would spend the entire day wringing my hands, taking hours to plan a single meal that involved two basic ingredients, rice and curd. I did finally graduate from complete food paralysis into a kind of joyous phase of discovery where I experimented constantly with recipes from cookbooks subjecting, one memorable time, my new spouse to around five litres of a ginger rasam

Archana Doshi on the job.

666 ROT ROTARY ARY NEWS NEWS AUGUST NE AUGUST 2016 2016

that tasted and looked like ditch water.

He manfully slurped it down mealtime after mealtime making the right appreciative noises, though I have no doubt he ate many a despairing meal outside the house in those days. As did I, on the sly.

While the doughty cookbook is still as popular as it ever was, given the number of them I see on shop shelves, it has, for me at least, lost its appeal though I know a well-written cookbook can be as enriching as any piece of literature. I now go to my favourite websites for recipes to refresh and add to my repertoire. Archana’s Kitchen (www. archanaskitchen.com) is one such haunt I came upon by chance. I love that they have vegetarian versions of many popular dishes — there’s plenty for the non-veg palate too — but I imagine that

different people go there for different reasons, not always related to the occasional recipe hunt alone. For example, drop down menus list anything from weekly meal plans (a blessing for the working professional) to food recipes for toddlers and babies; there are lunch box ideas, dietary information for the health conscious, and recipes for festival goodies if you’re tired of shopbought sweets and are yearning for the flavours of mom-made food.

Archana Doshi founded Archana’s Kitchen in 2007 and you can read

more about that on her website. In this interview with Rotary News, she talks about her abiding love for food and what has made her project famous as ‘India’s leading recipe and food discovery website.’

What made you decide to make food your business?

I was a software engineer and when I had my children, I decided to take a break to spend time with them. I realised I did not want to get back to engineering as it would take time away from my children.

Friends and family told me that I should write a book on food as I was very passionate about it. And this idea made me get online and build a website where I could share this passion with the world. And gradually, as I received a lot of validation, I made this my business.

We have such a complex relationship with food. There’s food we love, food we hate, food we can never forget and food we can’t wait to forget. But no matter what, we’re thinking about food all the time, and what we’re

going to eat next. So what happens when food becomes work and consumes you, instead of the other way round? What is your relationship with food?

When I started Archana’s Kitchen I shared my thoughts about the food I loved and my favourite recipes. As it grew into a business, I began to think about my users.

With millions of users visiting the website every month, our aim is to help everyone who wants to cook feel confident and accomplished in their kitchen. For that, the recipes have to be so well-written that even a person who is new to cooking is not intimidated to give it a try. This drive to help people and reach out to them so they can become confident cooks is what keeps me and my team going strong with the work we do. And when we hear feedback from users about how much they love what Archana’s Kitchen gives them, it makes us work harder.

The above is my relationship with food at work.

My relationship with food at home is to cook for my family. I get immense pleasure and joy cooking and feeding

What brings enjoyment is when you cook food for your family and it brings a smile to their face.

my boys at home, and I am blessed to have a family that loves what I cook.

Food, what we eat, how we prepare it, has changed so much over the last couple of decades. Not only is there an availability of a huge variety of cuisines from around the world, but almost everyday there are new ingredients in the market, imported and exotic, often pricey.

Food shows on TV have popularised the idea of cooking your own meals to suit your palate, even transcending socioeconomic and socio-cultural barriers so there’s something for everybody. How much pressure is there on websites like yours to constantly keep innovating so that fans keep coming back for more?

Food trends keep coming and going.

Trends don’t determine everyday cooking.

But what brings enjoyment is when you cook food for your family and it brings a smile to their face—this could be something as simple as rajma chawal or rasam sadam.

At Archana’s Kitchen, we believe that food has to be made simple, elegant, and cooked in a healthy way using local ingredients. We share recipes from around the world keeping in mind ingredients that can be bought easily and made with ease in one’s own kitchen.

With due respect to the TV shows, while it is wonderful to see people getting interested in eclectic cuisines, only a small handful might try plating something as exotic as what is shown on TV. The majority only watch such shows for entertainment.

How do you find the balance between experimenting and innovating, and at AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 67

We share recipes from around the world keeping in mind ingredients that can be bought easily and made with ease in one’s own kitchen.

the same time trying to draw on tradi-

tional recipes that people can identify with?

It’s not difficult. We never forget the roots of regional cuisines from India and around the world. We focus on keeping our basics strong, we are constantly listening to our users to understand the kind of food that they like to cook and share recipes accordingly.

When it comes to festivals, we share traditional recipes from various regions.

We also focus on seasonal recipes and at other times we innovate by tweaking exciting recipes that focus on special diets so that we can offer variety to our users.

Revathi Suresh

How do you navigate the notions of gender that are attached to the ideas of cooking and household responsibilities? I notice that all (but one) of your contributors are women. Was this a

conscious decision you took — to keep men out of your kitchen?

I was born in a family where my dad made lunch on Sundays, and my brother is a super awesome cook who used to run a gourmet restaurant in D C while holding down a daytime management consultancy job. That’s how inclusive my family is when it comes to food.

And as much as I would love for the

website to reflect this quality, no men have volunteered to write for us. So through this interview, I call upon men to write in with their favourite recipes.

What is Archana’s real kitchen like?

It’s simple, super organised, spanking clean and well-stocked, so much so that I can cook any cuisine any time based on my mood and the seasons.

Do you enjoy food more when you cook yourself or when someone else does the cooking? How do you keep yourself excited about food?

I love the food I cook and enjoy eating it as much as I love making it. I enter my kitchen, pick up my knife and chopping board, and the excitement begins.

And this is an absolute truth. This love existed even when I lived alone when working as an engineer. I truly believe the food we eat and our lifestyles make us what we are.

I hate letting my kitchen sleep but I do it once in a while … when I go to a good restaurant to dine with my family.

Designed by Krishnapratheesh S

68 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Attention all clubs RTGS Transfers

W

e are getting RTGS transfers without any details. Henceforth, please ensure that every RTGS transfer is immediately followed by an email to the Rotary News Trust, giving information such as Name of the Rotary Club, Amount and the Remittance date.

Failure to update us with these details will throw up the club’s name in the ‘Dues’ list.

Also send us the updated Address List along with PIN CODE and language option (English or Hindi) and Print or E-version. If your members opt for E-version, please update us with their phone numbers and email-id to send them the e-magazine.

rotarynews@rosaonline.org

ANNOUNCEMENT

Own a piece of Rotary history “Doing Good in the World: The Inspiring Story of The Rotary Foundation’s First 100 Years” commemorates the Foundation’s centennial in 2016–17. This book tells the fascinating story of how The Rotary Foundation became one of the world’s leading humanitarian organisations.

You can order a hardcover copy for $40 or a leather-bound limited edition for $100.

Order today at

shop.rotary.org

With effect from July 1, 2016 the revised RI exchange rate is US $1 = INR 67.00 Source: RI South Asia Office

Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Editor, trustees of the Rotary News Trust, or Rotary International.

Every effort is made to ensure that the magazine’s content is accurate.

Information is published in good faith but no liability can be accepted for loss or inconvenience arising from errors or omission. Advertisements are accepted at face value and no liability can be accepted for the action of advertisers. The Editor welcomes contribution of articles, news items, photographs and letters, but is under no obligation to publish unsolicited material. The Editor reserves the right to edit for clarity or length. Contributors must ensure that all material submitted is not in breach of copyright or that if such material is submitted, they have obtained necessary permission, in writing, for its reproduction.

Photographs in this publication may not be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the consent of Rotary News Trust.

Printed by Mukesh Arneja at Thomson Press (India) Ltd, Plot A-9, Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar 603209, India and published

by Mukesh Arneja on behalf of Rotary News Trust from Dugar Towers, 3rd Flr, 34, Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008.

Editor: Rasheeda Bhagat.

Making art is Making Health Bharat & Shalan Savur

W

e can chart a beautiful path from illness to wellness.

A path far more pleasant than hospitalisation. It’s a special setting in mind, body, spirit in which the rivers of imagination flow with lyrical joy, birds of expression sing songs melodious and moving, dewdrops of emotions sparkle like Alladin’s jewels, trees of love generously shower leaves of affection and soft petals of blessings.

You might have already guessed it. Yes, it’s the way of the artist, the poet, the storyteller.

A recent study bears this out. In the premises of the Drexel University, US, candidates busily engaged themselves in making art. Imagine a room full of adults silently sketching, colouring, their creative juices astir. And at the end of the session? Lower levels of cortisol, the stress-inducing hormone.

Inner stillness I don’t think it’s only the sketching per se but the intention and innocence that come with it. Unspoken is the sentiment, “I am here to have fun, not to compete or prove anything to anyone.”

The mind wants to cooperate. And that’s huge. It does not resist. It becomes pliant, peaceful, silent, deeply absorbed in the activity. It’s fascinating to be all there as your hand describes a line that curves and straightens and coils according to what you wish to portray. The whole body participates by reaching a

I found in the writing of poetry a trancelike anaesthesia, relieving me from fear and confusion.

70 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

wonderful state of inner stillness, awaiting some beautiful outcome.

Your blood pressure becomes normal, heartbeats steady, hormones balanced, organs function at a comfortable pace. Along with holding the sketch pencil, you hold the reins to wholesome health, free from destructive thoughts and physical shortcomings.

The mind becomes patient, calm, focused. There is no intense effort. Since there is no unnecessary pressure, no trying too hard, something delicate and light and fresh opens inside. No surprise then that the participants unanimously described the sketching experience as “therapeutic, relaxing, thoughtful.”

The power of poetry On the same lines, hospitals, prisons, rehabilitation centres across the USA are using poetry to calm fears and plant strength. As disturbances die, minds resurrect and bodies heal. “Poetry helps the distressed to relax, the stricken to recover and the psychotic to relate,’ says a new school of psychology. A poem grounds. Fear and rage don’t seem like daunting monsters, indecisiveness doesn’t feel like a weakness anymore.

There’s an easing, a sense of release as isolation dissipates. Surely, if poets could have the same feelings and boldly express them in print, I am not the only one to be so afflicted. Also, the metaphors in the poems pave and soften the way to understanding oneself and the circumstances. When a metaphor takes the feelings lurking inside me and places them outside as words, I can review them without the accompanying shame or smallness. In the new light, I can reframe them and feel the rawness in me heal; and let the power of my new understanding pull me out

of the pits of self-pity. For, metaphors do not make me judge myself unkindly.

With their charm, they compel me to listen to their message as I listen to the wind whistling through the windows or the invisible bird that coos and chants like a winged monk. And willy nilly, I let go that-which-is-holding-me-back and awaken to a new, awesome sense of aliveness.

Re-finding rhythm.

Adverse to verse is a powerful idea that needs to be practiced. There’s a feeling that a large part of the pain is the effect of being out of rhythm with healing vibrations. Poetry re-establishes that lost rhythm to mind, body, spirit. In her book Coping with Cancer, Margaret

Massie Simpson writes, “During chemotherapy treatments, I found that recitation of remembered poetry and the writing of my own poetry were powerful anaesthetisers.” She adds, “During each crisis over the past 15 years, I found in the writing of poetry a trancelike anaesthesia, relieving me from fear and confusion. There was no fear of the operation… only anticipation of removing the lump — the one barrier between me and health. Without fear, I did not develop many of the side difficulties such as nausea and pain experienced by many cancer patients.”

We may not know it, but health is itself a perfect poem, wordless, art

in unceasing action. The Masters say that the origin of rhythm in music arose from the rhythm in human movements of cycling, walking, breathing while awake and breathing while asleep.

Cycling? Yes. The action we perform as infants when all we can do is lie on our backs — air cycling if you will.

Stationary cycling is its adult version.

Cycling enhances circulation I know from personal experience that great waves of healing flow within and without when we cycle. Cycling stirs up energy in the environment filling it and cyclists with dynamic peace and bonhomie. Cycling enhances blood

circulation to enrich with oxygen and revitalise every body cell. It recharges the circulation of the synovial fluid in every joint to ‘grease’ and make it smoothly flexible. Cycling nudges the aqueous fluid to bathe our eyes and improve our vision. Ah! It’s like infusing liquid balm, a powerful healing nectar through our entire system.

But when you cycle, bring to it a deep intent of inviting joy and wellness into you. See yourself as making health, making art through your movements for 30 minutes daily. And at the end of the cycling session, feel a sense of exhilaration, achievement, satisfaction as you would in painting a leaf and watching it come alive through the movements of your fingers. Similarly, feel your health growing and glowing each day through the movements of your feet. And say in delight, “I’ve done it!” Your brain records the delight. And once the mind accepts and gamely cooperates, the breakthrough is immense. For, as Dr Rudolph Ballentine writes in his book Radical Healing, “Exercise can provide the strategic wedge that will pry open a stubborn disease.” That’s tremendous!

The wonder moments I think making art is the new track to mindfulness, the new way of praying, the new form of meditation. There’s silence and solitude and reverence and innocence and even a growing empathy with everybody and everything. When the Zen monk who chopped wood and watered plants daily sat and sketched a bamboo tree, he exclaimed, “O wonder of wonders! O bamboo tree! O water, o plants! O wonder of wonders!” This is what making art does — there’s less of ‘me’ and more of wonder. The less I am, the more I heal. Every day, wake up with the thought, “Today, I will make art.” And see how the day brightens and becomes a smiling, soothing companion.

The writers are authors of the book ‘Fitness for Life’ and teachers of the Fitness for Life programme.

Designed by Krishnapratheesh S AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 71

Trustees take office RI President John Germ’s appointees to The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees as of 1 July William B Boyd Pakuranga, Auckland, New Zealand ill retired in 1995 as general manager of Gordon and Gotch Magazines Ltd., New Zealand’s largest magazine distributor. He is trustee of New Zealand’s Trees for Survival Trust and the June Gray Trust. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Order for Community Service in the 2007 New Year Honours list and became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2013.

A Rotarian since 1971, he has served Rotary as president, treasurer, director, Foundation trustee and chair, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, Rotary information counselor, committee member and chair, International Assembly moderator, training leader, and district governor.

Bill is a recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and its Distinguished Service Award. He also received a Distinguished Service Award from Rotary Down Under.

B

Gary C K Huang Taipei, Taiwan

G

ary is an adviser for Wah Lee Industrial Corp. and Bank of Panhsin, and is director of Federal Corp. and Sunty Development Co. Ltd. He previously was president of Malayan Overseas Insurance Co. and chair of Taiwan Sogo Shinkong Security Co. Ltd. He received the Civic Service Award of the Federation of Non-Profit Associations and the Outstanding Community Service Award from Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior.

A Rotarian since 1976, he has served Rotary as president, vice president, director, Foundation trustee, International Assembly group discussion leader, regional session leader, task force member, committee member and chair, and district governor. He also was chair of the 2014 International Assembly Committee; adviser for the Permanent Fund Committee for Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong; and PolioPlus advocacy adviser for Taiwan.

72 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

Gary is a recipient of the RI Service Above Self Award and Presidential Citation and the Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award.

Barry Rassin East Nassau, Bahamas

B

arry is a consultant to the Doctors Hospital Health System in the Bahamas. He has served over the years as chair of Project Read Bahamas, chair of the Quality Council of the Bahamas, and vice chair of Safe Bahamas.

A Rotarian since 1980, Barry has served RI as director, RI president’s representative, RI president’s aide, committee member and chair, task force member, RI training leader, and district governor. He is one of four account holders for the Haiti Earthquake Relief Donor Advised Fund and has been leading the Rotary relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

He is a recipient of RI’s Service Above Self Award and is a Major Donor and Benefactor of the Foundation.

Seiji Kita Urawa East, Saitama, Japan eiji is chair of a construction company. He also runs affiliated companies that operate nursing and children’s homes as well as office rental space. He is a chair of the Saitama Athletic Association, an adviser of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and a trustee of the Saitama Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A Rotarian since 1982, Seiji has served RI as a director, Executive Committee member, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, district training leader, International Institute vice chair, and district governor. He also served on the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Recovery Fund Committee.

He is a recipient of the Presidential Citation and the Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. He and his wife, Nobuko, established the Seiji and Nobuko Kita

S

Endowed Fund for the Rotary Peace Centers. Seiji is a Major Donor and a member of the Foundation’s Bequest Society, Paul Harris Society, and Arch Klumph Society.

Kenneth M Schuppert Jr. Decatur, Ala., USA

K

en is a partner with the firm of Blackburn, Maloney, & Schuppert LLC, practicing corporate, real estate, and probate law.

He is a member of the American and Alabama bar associations and has served on several bar association committees. He has also served his community and church

on numerous committees and boards, and in other leadership positions.

A Rotarian since 1983, he has served RI as director, vice president, president’s representative, committee member and chair, regional Foundation coordinator, Rotary coordinator, Council on Legislation representative, task force zone coordinator, training leader, moderator, and district governor.

Ken is a recipient of the RI Avenues of Service Citation and The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award. He and his wife, Lynn, who is also a Rotarian, are Benefactors, Bequest Society members, and Major Donors of the Foundation.

Reproduced from The Rotarian

WhatsApp Etiquette Vibhakar Ramtirthkar

A

WhatsApp group is mostly created for disseminating information. But very often, appeals made by some stalwarts to stick to information are ignored.

If certain norms and etiquette are observed, such groups will be really valuable.

Post only brief information about the prime activity of the group, with only one or two photos.

Many times we receive essays, long poems, political appeals, comments and criticism on public issues.

Thanks, Congratulations, Thumb Up, Namaskar, Flowers, Faces, Registration, Enquiry, etc is personal and should be sent on personal numbers and not in groups. In one group, there was information that jackets will be distributed at the venue and participants should communicate their size. Within next two days the group was flooded with messages on sizes ranging from 34 to 44!

Posts on groups should be limited to 6 am to 10 pm only. Many people keep their handsets near the bed, to check the time or for alarms. If the phone pings then, sleep is disturbed.

While creating a group, one has a choice of creating an open group or a broadcast group. In an open group messages of all go to all and following ethics becomes necessary. In a broadcast group the message is sent by

administrator to all but the replies come only to the administrator who has the option of forwarding it to the group.

Awkward situation arise, especially in Rotary groups, where someone communicates his project’s success and within no time someone else communicates a sad demise. Then follows alternate messages of congratulations and condolences.

Business groups, sports groups, art groups, are normally controlled groups. But in Rotary groups many members of different classification come together for a social cause.

The interests of the members differ. So it must be remembered that one cannot force choice on others.

What is common is only to be followed, else there will be disappointment and unhappiness.

(The author is past president of RC Pune Katraj, D 3131.)

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 73

RC Rasipuram Educational City RI District 2982 A passenger shelter was constructed at the High Court bus stop to offer protection for the commuters from the rain and sun.

RC Thuraiyur Perumalmalai RI District 3000 Over 350 patients were 55 screened and operated at a cataract surgery camp conducted by the club along with Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore.

RC Bhusawal RI District 3030 To enhance the greenery at the cremation grounds in the area club members planted 1,000 saplings of neem, pepal, tamarind, gulmohar and mahogany.

RC Gwalior Veerangana RI District 3053 Kits consisting of clothes and personal hygiene items were distributed to the children from poor and rural backgrounds.

RC Goraya RI District 3070 The club in association with D 3460, Taiwan and TRF installed a water cooler and Aquaguard water filter at the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Goraya.

74 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

RC Paonta Sahib RI District 3080 The club organised a Annapurna Diwas under its theme Eat, Pray, Love to feed the poor and underprivileged in the region.

RC Jhansi RI District 3110 The club conducted a dental awareness camp to sensitise the students of Rotary Deaf and Dumb School on oral hygiene.

RC Lucknow RI District 3120 Along with King George Medical University and CURE International India Trust, the club conducted clubfoot corrective surgeries for babies.

RC Pune East RI District 3131 The club upgraded and modernised the Primary Health Centre, Talegaon Dhamdhere village at a cost of Rs 10 lakhs.

RC Aurangabad Cantonment RI District 3132 School uniforms were distributed to underprivileged students from 40 schools to encourage them to come to school.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 75

RC Sawantwadi RI District 3170 Eco friendly bags were distributed to shoppers at the local vegetable market to promote the club’s green cause, ‘Say No To Plastic Carry Bags’.

RC Mangalore North RI District 3181 Around 2,500 college students participated in a business quiz that was jointly conducted by the club and MSNM Besant Institute of Management, Bondel.

RC Koothattukulam RI District 3201 The club distributed saplings of medicinal plants to students of the Government UP School, Koothattukulam.

RC Srivilliputtur Town RI District 3212 The club donated bedsheets worth Rs 20,000 to the Srivilliputtur Government Hospital.

RC Madras East RI District 3230 Along with RC San Antonio, Texas, D 5840, RC Irvine, California, D 5320, and TRF, the club upgraded the Government Adi Dravidar Higher Secondary School.

76 ROTARY NEWS AUGUST 2016

RC Hailakandi RI District 3240 Observing De-worming Day the club distributed albendazole syrup and tablets to 250 students of rural schools.

RC Arrah RI District 3250 The club set up a Rotary Pillar with the wheel and a display board elaborating the 4-way Test at the Rotary Bal Udyan to enhance Rotaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public image.

Raigarh Steel City RI District 3261 Under its project Amrit Dhara, the club installed a RO water plant at a school to provide clean and safe water for the children and staff.

RC Calcutta Majestic RI District 3291 Rotarians gifted musical instruments to HIV positive children staying at Arunima Hospice.

RC Sainamaina RI District 3292 The club donated carpets and mats for prison inmates of a local police station.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 77

Membership in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives

WHERE CAN YOU LEARN TO BE A MORE EFFECTIVE ROTARIAN?

THE LEARNING CENTER PUTS THE TRAINING YOU WANT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS.

GET STARTED AT ROTARY.ORG/MYROTARY

Rotary at a glance As on June 1, 2016

Rotarians

: 12,10,209

Clubs

: 35,407

Districts

: 534

Rotaractors

: 2,13,601*

Clubs

: 9,287*

Interactors

: 4,62,806*

Clubs

: 20,122*

RCC members : 2,04,125* RCC

: 8,875* * As on May 2, 2016

As on July 4, 2016 RI RI Rotary No of Women Rotaract Interact Zone District Clubs Rotarians Rotarians

5 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

2981 2982 3000 3011 3012 3020 3030 3040 3051 3052 3053 3060 3070 3080 3090 3100 3110 3120 3131 3132 3141 3142 3150 3160 3170 3181 3182 3190 3201 3202 3211 3212 3220 3230 3240 3250 3261 3262 3271 3272 3281 3282 3291 3292 Total

109 63 113 72 77 85 99 94 65 67 61 96 109 75 81 77 112 72 120 88 80 78 95 63 128 65 78 147 136 129 134 96 75 147 86 102 74 82 59 118 192 118 148 104 4,269

4,291 2,742 4,633 2,968 3,307 4,056 5,307 2,219 2,452 3,515 2,468 3,770 3,105 3,124 2,142 1,858 3,769 2,981 5,074 3,382 4,750 2,954 3,234 2,223 5,277 2,725 2,939 5,615 5,090 4,789 4,140 3,758 1,917 5,789 2,916 3,722 2,403 2,992 1,032 2,105 5,284 3,246 3,816 3,655 1,53,534

190 75 349 527 550 233 651 269 177 550 348 338 262 198 74 86 189 284 944 302 782 379 287 107 340 150 142 623 295 251 203 203 249 447 338 580 230 355 158 328 693 250 621 485 15,092

51 43 190 38 53 102 65 48 43 35 16 48 56 56 30 10 48 35 71 55 96 48 72 17 46 28 23 117 78 78 11 89 74 164 53 45 15 39 39 30 208 116 57 100 2,736

211 106 371 90 102 456 226 104 144 128 32 101 147 177 36 73 48 49 216 125 215 169 174 42 264 163 259 321 105 404 69 235 188 427 137 194 100 67 14 35 79 23 115 99 6,840

RCC

167 39 112 29 54 353 139 135 334 130 91 122 54 99 122 146 71 49 70 104 81 63 109 81 158 68 86 46 46 39 121 126 78 303 132 173 42 70 13 35 184 38 563 95 5,170

Source: RI South Asia Office

District 3141 kickstarted the TRF Centennial Celebrations with a Black Tie Dinner in Mumbai. Here TRF Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee is felicitated by PRID Ashok Mahajan and DG Gopal Mandhania. The District proposes to raise over $2.65 million to commemorate the Centennial year.

Vice Chancellor of The IIS University, PDG Ashok Gupta, D 3052 (left), received the Shan-E-Rajasthan award from the Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh (right) for his outstanding work in promoting education of girl children.

D 3131 planted more than two lakh saplings across Maharashtra on July 1 as part of their State level Maha Tree Plantation Programme, in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra and the Conservator of Forests, Pune and Raigad.

Saraswathi Narayenen (second from right), spouse of Rtn Nan Narayenen, RC Madurai West, D 3000, was felicitated for her 40 years of service in the Inner Wheel Club of Madurai City. She is the founder-member and founder Vice President of the club.

AUGUST 2016

ROTARY NEWS 79

Subscribe

NOW! for Rotary News Print Version & e- Version

For the Rotary year 2016 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2017 As concerned citizens of the world, those of you who are alarmed at the degradation of the environment and slaughter of trees, kindly opt for our e-Version.

Annual Subscription

India

Rs.420 Print version

e- Version No. of copies

Rotary News (English) Rotary Samachar (Hindi)

For every new member the pro-rata is Rs 35 a month.

Please attach the TYPED list of individual members with their complete address and PIN Code.

Intimate language preference (English / Hindi) against each memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. Please do not send the Semi-annual Report for address list.

Rotary Club of .......................................................................................................... RI District ................................

Name of the President/Secretary ...............................................................................................................................

Address ...................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................

City ............................................. State ................................................................ PIN 45% $PEF 1IPOF 0Ä&#x203A; 3FT Mobile ...........................................................E-mail ...............................................................................................

Cheque/DD No. ............................................. Dated .............................................. for Rs. ............................................

Drawn on ..................................................................................................................................................................... in favour of â&#x20AC;&#x153;ROTARY NEWS TRUSTâ&#x20AC;? payable at CHENNAI is enclosed.

Date:

President/Secretary Mail this form to: Rotary News Trust, Dugar Towers, 3 Floor, 34, Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008.

Tamil Nadu, India. Ph: 044 4214 5666, e-mail: rotarynews@rosaonline.org rd

Subscription norms 1.

Subscription is for the Rotary year (July to June).

2.

It is mandatory for every Rotarian to subscribe to a Rotary magazine.

3.

The annual subscription for the magazine is Rs 420 per member.

4.

Subscription for the full year must be sent in July, in the prescribed form.

5.

Those joining after July can pay only for the remaining Rotary year at Rs 35 an issue.

6.

Subscription account of the club with Rotary News is a running account and does not cease at the end of June every year.

7.

Names of all members, with their complete postal address with PIN CODE must be typed and sent along with the form and DD/cheques payable at par.

8.

Copies of Semi Annual Report SHOULD NOT be sent as address list.

9.

Language preference (English or Hindi) should be stated alongside member’s name.

10. Members, please ensure that your name is included in the Subcribers’ list that your club sends us. Often, names of members who have paid their subscription, are left out from the club list.

11.

Clubs must inform Rotary News about reduction in number of members, if any, before or in May. Please help reduce wastage of copies.

12.

Clubs are liable to pay for the number of magazines we despatch according to the list available at Rotary News Trust.

13.

Unpaid dues of the club will be shown as outstanding against the club. Any payment received subsequently will be adjusted against earlier dues.

14.

Clubs with subscription arrears will be notified to RI and may face possible suspension.

15.

We are in the process of tallying our subscriber list with RI membership from India.

16.

If you want to switch to The Rotarian, please do so. But inform us immediately to avoid receipt of Rotary News. Or else your club will have to pay for it.

In Brief

NSDC partners with ALISON The National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) have signed a partnership with ALISON to offer free online learning through a new website, www.indiaskillsonline.com, as part of the Indian Government’s ‘Skills India’ programme. ALISON which provides over 750 online certified courses has included NSDC’s curriculum on its platform, along with the ‘pre-departure’ courses, to prepare Indian migrants for working in the Middle East. The courses, which are taught in English and Hindi, will shortly be available in other Indian languages also.

Gods accept ‘stock’ now Mumbai’s iconic Siddhivinayak temple will now accept shares of listed companies as donations. The temple has opened a Demat account through SBICAP Securities to help devotees directly transfer the shares. The electronic platform will later be extended to other financial instruments such as bonds and mutual funds. However, one has to watch out for the Income Tax laws before rushing to donate. The Tirupati Trust operates a Demat account since last year after it found it difficult to transfer to Balaji’s name the physical share certificates dropped in the temple’s Hundis!

Ozone layer on a healing path The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic, a cause of great concern, has shrunk to ‘Size India.’ It has shrunk by 4 million sq km since 2,000 when ozone depletion was at its peak. Researchers have found that more than half the shrinkage was due to reduction in atmospheric chlorine originating from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) emitted by dry cleaning processes, aerosols such as hairsprays and old refrigerators. The 1987 Montreal Protocol banning use of CFCs was signed by almost all the countries as a step to repair the ozone hole.

English language is expanding Prosthetic limb for Thai elephant Mosha, the elephant, gets her ninth artificial leg at a hospital in Thailand. She was the first elephant to be fitted with prosthetic leg a decade ago when she was maimed by a landmine near Myanmar. She was 7 months old then and weighed about 600 kg. Today her weight is about 2,000 kg. Her growth necessitates frequent upgrades of the prosthetic limb. A Thai orthopaedician, Dr Therdchai Jivacate, designs these prosthetic limbs for the elephants.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has updated its pages to include social media lingo such as ROFL (Rolling on the floor laughing) and Tl;dr (Too long, didn’t read). Glamping (glamorous camping), Scooby Snack (a snack eaten to satisfy hunger induced by drinking), Listicle (an online article in a list form), bovver (bothered) are few other new words that find place in the dictionary.

Labour of loveâ&#x20AC;Ś As with any popular tourist destination, the main street leading up to the magnificent Konark temple in Odisha is bustling with roadside shops offering attractive ware. I was fascinated by the beautiful little houses and animals, mainly elephants, made of coir and coconut shells. It was heartbreaking to find that the tiny elephants were priced at only Rs 10.

What the craftsperson makes from this labour

can be imagined. In interesting juxtaposition with these lovely locally crafted delights for children were handbags and backpacks made of synthetic material. No prizes for guessing what sold more. How long, I wondered, before these traditional crafts just bow out of the race. Surely there is some expiry date for labour of love?

Text and picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

REGN. NO. TN/CCN/360/2015-2017 LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT NO.TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-431/2015-2017 REGISTERED WITH REGISTRAR OF NEWS PAPERS FOR INDIA 3880/57 ROTARY NEWS PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

Advertise in Rotary News ... with a circulation of 1.2 lakh, and connect with 3.5 lakh readers. Reach some of the most influential industrialists, businessmen, finance professionals, doctors, lawyers and other high flyers.

Tariff Back cover

Rs.1,00,000

Inner Front Cover

Rs.60,000

Inner Back Cover

Rs.60,000

Inside Full Page

Rs.30,000

Half Page

Rs.20,000 Specifications

17 x 25 cm

Full page

17 x 12 cm

Half page

Advertisements in colour only

Rotary News Trust Phone: 044 42145666, e-mail: rotarynews@rosaonline.org