Rotary News - February 2019

Indian Vibrations at IA

Spouses of Indian DGEs with RI President Barry Rassin, Esther, RI Director C Basker, RIDE Kamal Sanghvi and Sonal.

The Indian contingent with RIDE Kamal Sanghvi, Sonal and few international delegates.

Inside

12 A Rotarian partners with a Colonel to change lives in the North-East

An account of how a partnership between D Ravishankar, President, RC Bangalore Orchards, and Col Christopher Rego has transformed children’s lives in Manipur.

22 Surat welcomes Maloney

RIPE Mark Maloney visits Rotary projects in Surat.

26 Rotary & Aster group to build homes in flood-devastated Kerala

Rotary Districts 3201, 3202 and 3211 sign an MoU with Aster DM, a healthcare major, to build homes in Kerala.

34 A stunning all-women’s market in Imphal

Explore Ima Keithel, the 500-year old all-women’s market.

42 DGEs begin a dazzling journey at IA

Scenes from the International Assembly 2019 held at San Diego.

48 Saving hearts in the City of Joy RI District 3291 breathes fresh life for little children suffering from congenital heart disorder.

52 Rotary comes alive in Madurai

The District Conference of RI District 3000 draws better bonding among members.

56 An Interactor helps build daycare for underprivileged children

Interactor Tanvi Roy and her friends raise funds through crowdfunding to set up a crèche.

On the cover: RC Bangalore Orchards

President D Ravishankar and wife Paola with children in a village in Singngat, Manipur.

Picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

Service beyond Borders

The article 20 years of ‘service beyond borders’ explains how passionately PRIP Rajendra and Usha Saboo have been working through the Rotary platform. I met him during my PET/SET training programme in Chandigarh. His pet project brought sick people from underdeveloped countries for treatment in PGI, Chandigarh and he organised medical camps in Africa with a team of doctors. His motivation compelled me to rejoin Rotary as a member in RC Delhi Mayur

Nice articles in Jan issue

Iwaspleased to see the January issue delivered in an eco-friendly paper envelope instead of a polythene cover which, reiterates Rotary’s commitment to the environment. The Editor’s Note denotes the pathetic condition of our farmers which I hope the Government acts on. As stated by RI President Barry Rassin, diversity of vocation is Rotary’s strength. RID C Basker rightly quips that helping hands are better than praying lips. It’s a pleasant surprise to note India has 4,000

T D Bhatia, RC Delhi Mayur Vihar — RID 3012

It is great to note that PRIP Saboo, a non-medical person, had flown to African countries as a volunteer to serve African people, and has organised over 67,000 surgeries in Africa from1998. Hats off to him.

N Jagatheesan

RC Eluru — RID 3020

Major Donors, 92 AKS members, and RID 3142 has donated $25,0000 to build homes for Kerala flood victims.

RIPE Mark Maloney’s remark about Rotaract activities in India is worth reading as he says we should avoid having retired individuals as DGs. Health tips by Sheela Nambiar are useful to keep ourselves fit after 40. Colourful Colombia is an interesting article. Thanks for publishing a magazine with high standards.

M T Philip, RC Trivandrum Suburban — RID 3211

RI Director C Basker’s message on The Four-Way Test is eloquently simple, stunning in its power, and undeniable in its results. This test offers a positive vision in a world full of tension and uncertainty. It guides us to win friends, ensure a happy home life and develop high ethical and moral standards to become successful.

R Murali Krishna RC Berhampur — RID 3262

Iam a Rotarian for over 30 years, and have been a regular reader of The Rotarian and Rotary News . Thanks for carrying my report Miracle gets a second life with excellent editing. Editing in Rotary News has improved considerably since you have taken over as its Editor. The content is informative and readable.

R K Bubna, RC Belur — RID 3291

Aregular

reader of Rotary News, I find these days the articles are interesting. In the January issue, Rasheeda Bhagat’s editorial Our distressed farmers need help; Barry Rassin’s message Diversity of vocation – Rotary’s strength; RI Director C Basket’s message The 4-Way Test; Jaishree’s A Black Tie dinner celebrates generosity and the travel article Colourful Colombia were all excellent.

I congratulate RC Poona, RID 3131, for conducting training workshop for Empowering women with self-defence, which is the need of the hour.

Daniel Chittilappilly RC Kaloor — RID 3201

Thanks for the Tamil edition

Thanks for bringing out Rotary News in Tamil. The Editorial on The virtues of deweeding… is excellent as it rightly throws the spotlight on election-related woes and

Vihar to serve society. The photo of Saboo attending an African child gives me strength to continue with service.

misappropriation of funds plaguing our clubs. It is unfortunate that while we have Rtn Ravishankar donating `100 crore to TRF, we also find irregularities in project implementation. These stains must be removed. Switching over to paper envelope is laudable. The December issue has rich content.

K P Balasubramanian

RC Ambasamudram — RID 3212

Thankyou very much for publishing the World Heart Day activities of our club. It gave us all as much joy as we had in organising the event.

Dr Vijaya Bharat

RC Jamshedpur — RID 3250

Farm distress

Ireadthe editorial Our distressed farmers need help with interest. This issue is disturbing my mind due to farmers’s suicide in Maharashtra and Telangana. Political parties take up farmers’ issue only during elections, and middlemen profit while the farmer suffers. Former Tamil Nadu C M M Karunanidhi dealt with this problem by starting farmers’ markets to give them direct access to consumers. Other States need to follow suit. Farmers also need low-interest credit.

The article RC Madras South finds an angel crusader for its paediatric project is touching and proves that ‘God lives among human beings.’ Dr Prashant Shah has saved many children with his magnanimous approach, so we can say god lives in him. Rtn R Saravanan, President of RC of Madras South, deserves appreciation. His emotional quotient has taken him to greater heights.

S Mohan

RC Madurai West — RID 3000

LETTERS

Regardingyour editorial Our distressed farmers need help , you should know Rotarians do not give suggestions to elected governments. As a learned journalist you should know your limitations. In Rotary, we do only humanitarian service. We have a government to look after our farmers of India. Media houses may report many things which may be true or false. But, I suppose, Rotary News can’t. If the government fails in its bounden duties, it can be voted out.

K C Senan, RC Bidar — RID 3160

RIDE Sanghvi makes a fine point

There were good articles in December issue; in Classification ensures diversity, RIDE Kamal Sanghvi says “Rotary needs to change the world and we need to take a much larger responsibility.” With professionals, industrialists, doctors etc, a club has huge potential, “but we are still giving only books and pencils.” He urges Rotarians to take up large service projects.

These words of Rtn Ravishankar are inspirational. Even after donating `100 crore to TRF he says: “I haven’t done anything great… I find that some Rotarians belong to a variety I call cosmetic Rotarians.” How true! The article Discard your anxieties, hang-ups is really good.

Naveen R Garg

RC Sunam — RID 3090

PresidentRassin says the Rotary News cover featuring him is not about him but the flamingo who wants to go against the tide. This is not easy but we as Rotarians should have values and vision to try. How inspirational!

Soumitra Chakraborty RC Tollygunge — RID 3291

Iwasoverjoyed to read Rtn Ravishankar, the donor of ` 100 crore to TRF, say “I haven’t done anything great.” He set an example to all Rotarians when he admitted how he suffered in his childhood and school days which led him to donate such a big amount to Rotary. I find no words to thank this donor and his family members but can only say ‘May god bless them’ and wish that such people will increase in our Rotary family.

Dr D H Rama — RID 3160

Itwas great to see RC Chandigarh, RID 3080, supporting around 150 families with health and hygiene projects which are not an easy task. The distribution of blankets, an initiative of Usha Saboo, can be replicated by other clubs. Rotary through its projects can be a true inspiration to the community. Congrats to Editor Rasheeda Bhagat for giving a good insight on the event. Vijaya Kumar K S, RC Bangalore Basaveshwaranagar — RID 3190

Act against dishonest

Rotarians

Rotarians

are supposed to be men of integrity. That is why they are chosen for this service organisation. But members of some Rotary clubs are not transparent and honest in utilising funds and bring a bad name to their clubs. Such Rotarians should be debarred and their membership terminated instantly. Club presidents should be made responsible for such lapses. Your suggestion for the ‘deweeding process’ in the Editorial (Dec issue) should be initiated by the leaders as early as possible.

Arun Kumar Dash RC Baripada — RID 3262

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

Governors Council

RI Dist 2981 DG S Piraiyon

RI Dist 2982 DG Nirmal Prakash A

RI Dist 3000 DG RVN Kannan

RI Dist 3011 DG Vinay Bhatia

RI Dist 3012 DG Subhash Jain

RI Dist 3020 DG Guddati Viswanadh

RI Dist 3030 DG Rajiv Sharma

RI Dist 3040 DG Gustad Anklesaria

RI Dist 3053 DG Priyesh Bhandari

RI Dist 3054 DG Neeraj Sogani

RI Dist 3060 DG Pinky Patel

RI Dist 3070 DG Barjesh Singhal

RI Dist 3080 DG Praveen Chander Goyal

RI Dist 3090 DG Dr Vishwa Bandhu Dixit

RI Dist 3100 DG Deepak Jain

RI Dist 3110 DG Arun Kumar Jain

RI Dist 3120 DG Stuti Agrawal

RI Dist 3131 DG Dr Shailesh Palekar

RI Dist 3132 DG Vishnu S Mondhe

RI Dist 3141 DG Shashi Sharma

RI Dist 3142 DG Dr Ashes Ganguly

RI Dist 3150 DG Ramesh Vangala

RI Dist 3160 DG Konidala Muni Girish

RI Dist 3170 DG Ravikiran Janradan Kulkarni

RI Dist 3181 DG Rohinath P

RI Dist 3182 DG Abhinandan A Shetty

RI Dist 3190 DG Suresh Hari S

RI Dist 3201 DG A Venkatachalapathy

RI Dist 3202 DG Dr E K Ummer

RI Dist 3211 DG E K Luke

RI Dist 3212 DG K Raja Gopalan

RI Dist 3231 DG C R Chandra Bob

RI Dist 3232 DG Babu Peram

RI Dist 3240 DG Dr Sayantan Gupta

RI Dist 3250 DG Kumar Prasad Sinha

RI Dist 3261 DG Nikhilesh M Trivedi

RI Dist 3262 DG Bhabani Prasad Chowdhury

RI Dist 3291 DG Mukul Sinha

Printed by P T Prabhakar at Rasi Graphics Pvt Ltd, 40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600 014, India, and published by P T Prabhakar on behalf of Rotary News Trust from Dugar Towers, 3rd Flr, 34, Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008. Editor: Rasheeda Bhagat.

Board

PRIP Rajendra K Saboo RI Dist 3080

PRIP Kalyan Banerjee RI Dist 3060

RIPN Sushil Gupta RI Dist 3011

PRID Sudarshan Agarwal RI Dist 3011

PRID Panduranga Setty RI Dist 3190

PRID Ashok Mahajan RI Dist 3141

PRID Yash Pal Das RI Dist 3080

PRID Shekhar Mehta RI Dist 3291

PRID P T Prabhakar RI Dist 3232

PRID Dr Manoj D Desai RI Dist 3060

RID C Basker RI Dist 3000

TRF Trustee Gulam A Vahanvaty RI Dist 3141

RIDE Dr Bharat Pandya RI Dist 3141

RIDE Kamal Sanghvi RI Dist 3250

Executive Committee Members (2018–19)

DG Rajiv Sharma RI Dist 3030

Chair – Governors Council

DG Pinky Patel RI Dist 3060

Secretary – Governors Council

DG Subhash Jain RI Dist 3012

Secretary – Executive Committee

DG A Venkatachalapathy RI Dist 3201

Treasurer – Executive Committee

DG Shashi Sharma RI Dist 3141

Member – Advisory Committee

ROTARY NEWS TRUST

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

WhenEducating a girl is like opening a school…

two dreamers, who are also doers, come together with the perfect match in vision, compassion and generosity, then magic happens.

I discovered this in one of the most amazing assignments I have done for Rotary News, during a three-day trip to Manipur. This was after hearing D Ravishankar, President of RC Bangalore Orchards, who suddenly shot to fame at the dawn of this Rotary new year by announcing a stunning donation of `100 crore to The Rotary Foundation, talk passionately about the need to build schools in the North-East.

Let’s not forget that Manipur is one of our troubled States where militants exploit the feeling of disenchantment among many locals with the Indian State, and carry out attacks at Army posts. But when you have a retired Colonel, Christopher Rego, carrying out heart-warming work to ensure that the poorest of poor children in this lovely region, which Jawaharlal Nehru called the ‘Jewel of India’ — Manipur literally translates to ‘jewelled land’, get an education with dignity, then our men in uniform get a boost in those pockets.

Read about Col Rego’s challenging work in this issue, and the battle that children living in far-flung areas in our Northeast region, filled with hills and valleys and vulnerable to frequent floods washing away roads leading to schools, are waging to get the most basic of education. And then think about the privileged life we lead… in which our children studying in the best of schools or colleges is a given. Ravishankar has recently teamed up with Rego and has already invested `1 crore, in addition to his ` 100 crore donation, in ventures associated particularly with girls’ education and women’s empowerment.

While your mind lights up at such a firm resolve to lift girls/women out of illiteracy and poverty, moving from Manipur to the ‘developed’ State of Maharashtra, as I write this edit, my eye catches the front-page article in The Hindu Business Line this morning. It talks about unwanted girls in Maharashtra’s drought-hit region being named Nakushi (Marathi for unwanted) and condemned to fetch water. “Earlier this month,” says the article, “after wandering for hours to fetch some water, Nakushi Ahire saw some in a well a few km away in Sarde, a village in Nashik district. While drawing it, she lost her balance and fell in, and died on the spot.”

Apparently, says the report, there are thousands of girls with either this name or Dhonda (stone, in Marathi, translating to ‘burden’) across Maharashtra’s parched landscape searching for water, which is their responsibility. “Right from birth, we are told that we are unwanted. We grow with this tag, which we carry lifelong, with a pot of water. We are either Nakushi or Dhonda,” says Dhondabai Nimbule from Osmanabad. And as summer approaches, many more girls/women will die doing this task, adds the article.

As Rotary searches for the missing women members in its member base, there are also many Ravishankars (he quotes a Kannada proverb which says educating a girl is like opening a school) within the Rotary fold who are working passionately, energetically and tirelessly for girls’ education. At the end of the day, education, also of the parents, is the only answer to uproot this Nakushi culture in pockets of our country that are surely not confined to Maharashtra alone.

Rasheeda Bhagat

President Speaks

Strong clubs bring out transformational projects

Dear fellow Rotarians,

In my travels over the past year, I’ve visited many strong, vibrant clubs and districts that are transforming their communities. When I attend their meetings, I can feel the energy. When I meet their members, I can see they are people of action. And when I look at their communities, I can recognise the impact of their work.

I’ve also visited communities with Rotary clubs that were hardly more than social clubs. It shouldn’t ever be that way. Fortunately, there’s a simple approach that I believe can help revitalise any club.

I’d like to challenge every Rotary club to come up with at least one high-impact service project. Each club already has the potential, the resources, to make it happen. It has the power to change people’s lives — completely.

It doesn’t take millions of dollars. One of the most transformational projects I’ve been a part of involved providing a Jeep to a group of midwives in Haiti. We had asked the midwives what we could do for them, and they told us they needed a way to reach expectant mothers in a remote part of the country. We supplied a Jeep, painted it pink, and put the Rotary logo on it. Three years later, we went back to see how they were doing. They were excited by the outcomes: They told us that

the mortality rate for mothers and infants in that region had dropped by 50 per cent.

That’s what I call transformational service.

But Jeeps don’t last forever, and after eight years on the road, that vehicle was on its last legs. So we bought a pink Land Cruiser. It’s still on the road, allowing the midwives to provide prenatal care to women in that remote region.

What makes a project transformational? It doesn’t have to involve a lot of money, but it has to reach people and have a major impact in the community. That is the key, and that is where careful planning and thorough research come in. So do your research. Leverage your resources. Seek partnerships that can increase your impact. And then take action.

Of course, service is only part of what a strong club must offer. It must also have good speakers, provide leadership development, involve Rotaract and Interact, and bring value to its members and reasons to participate in Rotary events.

If your club is transformational and well-organised, everything else will follow. Members will be engaged, and new members will be eager to join you. Fundraising will be easier: People love to give when they see how their money is making a difference and when they know the organisation is accountable. Your club will be vibrant, relevant, and alive — and it will Be the Inspiration to those within its ranks as well as to the community it serves.

Barry Rassin President, Rotary International

Message from the RI Director

Peace through Service

Dear Rotarians,

A well-known astronaut once said his perspective about the earth changed dramatically the first time he went into space. Viewed from above, at 650 km in space, the earth looked peaceful and beautiful. Yet he recalled later that as the spacecraft passed over some parts of the earth, he was shaken into reality when he considered the ongoing conflicts in some of the regions he was flying over. During an interview he spoke of a moment when he saw the earth with a sense of how it ought to be — and sensed a challenge to do all he could to make it better. To look and make the earth a beautiful place, peace is essential. To have peace, we need to address the challenges facing the world today such as climate change, malnutrition, health, poverty and illiteracy.

Arch Klumph called Rotary “a force that has taken on an impetus that cannot be diminished.” Klumph made that insightful statement in a speech at the Atlanta Convention when he was RI President. His words were to assume prophetic significance in Rotary’s quest for peace, for it was his vision that led to the creation of The Rotary Foundation.

In 1940, The Rotarian published a commentary that came out of the RI Convention in Havana, Cuba. Long before there was a United Nations, before “human rights” was a term most people would even understand, the Rotarians’ meeting in Havana adopted a resolution calling for “freedom, justice, truth, sanctity of the pledged

word, and respect for human rights.” When the newly chartered United Nations wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it used the resolution from the Rotary Havana Convention as its framework. That was a proud moment for Rotary and Rotarians.

Former Canadian Prime Minster and honorary Rotarian Lester B Pearson, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 1957, said: “How can there be peace in the world when people do not know each other, and how can they know each other when they have never met?” Rotary provides the answer to this. Rotary is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a phrase in Sanskrit that means the whole world is one family. Rotary’s involvement in community work that brings the world closer and helps to make it a better place is driven through its global network of clubs and districts well-supported by The Rotary Foundation.

I would like to cite an article published in The Hindu’s Business Line on April 27, 2015, quoting the role of PRIP K R Ravindran on negotiating a ceasefire with LTTE during the conflict years which enabled polio immunisation of infants in the war-ridden northern parts of Sri Lanka. The result was that despite years and years of civil war, Sri Lanka became one of the first countries in the region to be declared polio-free. Thanks Rasheeda for highlighting the programme of Rotary’s peace through service.

Be the inspiration to promote a conflict free community around.

C Basker Director, Rotary International

District Wise TRF Contributions as on December 2018

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A Rotarian partners with to change lives in the

Rasheeda Bhagat

RC Bangalore Orchards President

D Ravishankar and Paola at the Lyzon Friendship School that they have built in Singngat in Manipur.

a Colonel North-East

Jawaharlal Nehru famously called it the Jewel of India; it is also the birthplace of polo and raasleela, and famous for its exotic landscape, gently undulating hills, emerald green valleys, dense forests and of course its unique Loktak Lake. When I first visited Manipur in 2002, the locals referred to it as the Switzerland of India. But Manipur has also been one of the troubled States of India and for quite some time its people have been expressing, along with other northeastern States, disenchantment with the Indian State.

For decades this beautiful region has been rocked by violence and conflict and a parallel taxation system imposed by the insurgents. All this has severely impacted development, which even though visible to the naked eye, may not figure in our data on human development indicators, because its population is barely three million.

But if a three-day visit to this State turned out to be one of the most memorable assignments I have done as Editor of Rotary News for four and a half years, it is thanks to the focused and dedicated work done here by two remarkable human beings — Christopher Rego, a retired Colonel from the Indian Army, and D Ravishankar, President of RC Bangalore Orchards, who has made a stunning donation of `100 crore to The Rotary Foundation.

Their young partnership has already resulted in building of a beautiful

There is a saying in Kannada that educating a girl is like opening a school; the same doesn’t happen with a boy. I am a huge fan of women.

D Ravishankar

RC Bangalore Orchards

school — the Lyzon Friendship School — in a village in Singngat block in Churachandpur district, about three hour’s drive from the Imphal airport, the extension of a hostel and improvement of other facilities in Ijeirong village, and a spanking new toilet for HIV/ AIDS affected children in Churachandpur, infamous for drug addiction and shared needles resulting in spread of HIV.

A military journey

Though Ravishankar is famous in the Rotary

world, Rego needs an introduction. A fourthgeneration military man from Bengaluru, a young Rego had his heart set on becoming an agricultural scientist and had secured admission to a prestigious agri institute in the city. But one fine day his grandfather incredulously asked him: “Are you seriously planning to spend the rest of your life pushing up a thermometer in animals’ bottoms?” Off he was packed to take the NDA (National Defence Academy) exam, and after he completed the course,

to the India Military Academy in Dehradun. He joined the Indian Army in 1984, and in 2003, he requested to be posted to any unit in the North-East, and they said: “Before he changes his mind, give it to him,” chuckles Rego, as we negotiate the second stretch of the bumpy road from the Imphal airport to the Assam Rifles Officers Mess in Tuibong, Churachandpur.

“My reasons for wanting to be in the NE were selfish; that area has plenty to offer for my hobbies, which include studying

culture and traditions of people, nature and wildlife, travel and music, and also photography. I am a pianist and play seven instruments including the mouth organ and the guitar. I couldn’t carry the piano with me on my army postings, so sitting in the middle of the desert I learnt to play the flute and the mouth organ,” smiles Rego.

Through our twoday visits to a school in Singngat, where Ravishankar has donated `42 lakh to build a school, and the next day the

Happiness Home where Brother Rama, a good Samaritan, looks after a bunch of HIV/AIDS children, Rego entertained the children with his music; the best part of which was singing songs, with Paola, Ravishankar’s wife, joining in with gusto, over a bonfire that sent a cheerful, happy glow that warmed not only the children’s bodies on a cold winter night but also their hearts.

Rego, who has put in 35 years of service (including his training) before retiring in

2016, was first posted to Meghalya in 2003 at the headquarters of the Assam Rifles, and next year to Mizoram.

A NE connect begins “Most Army people don’t want to come to the NE because of the lack of good schools but at that time my children were small and I was okay,” he says. In Mizoram, he found a “lot of angst among local people towards ‘Indians’. Seeing so much resentment in many people, “my wife Myrna and I decided to find out where it came from.”

One of the causes he analysed is that for Army officers who come on short stints to the NorthEast, there isn’t the time or opportunity to really connect with the local

culture. “Our boys coming from UP or Rajasthan are mostly vegetarian and they get put off by the cultural difference and stories that these people eat dog’s meat, etc. They cannot connect with the locals over either chana bhatura or Sachin Tendulkar! Very few people in the NE play cricket and Hindi movies are banned in Manipur, a diktat from the militants to prevent Hindi from taking over. So our soldiers come here with a handicap and before they know it their tenure is over,” says Rego.

But he and Myrna made a real effort to engage with the locals by visiting their homes, calling them to the Army camp, playing with their children, etc and in a short time became friendly with them. Noting his interest and connect with the

From L: Col Christopher Rego, Col Mukesh Verma and D Ravishankar.

locals, his bosses asked him to work on chipping away the resentment and distrust for the Indian State and the Army. “I found that this generation had seen the worst of the insurgency, and innocent people were caught in the fight between the Army and the militants. They resented soldiers from the “mainland” checking them in their own land, which was very essential as these are sensitive borders close to neighbouring countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh (Mizoram shares a 722 km with these two countries).”

Then there was a feeling that “they celebrate their national festivals but not Christmas, as Mizoram has a sizable Christian population.” Rego was asked to prepare an appropriate celebration of Christmas.

A Christmas celebration

He quickly identified some artisans on the border of Bengal and Bangladesh who made Durga and Saraswati idols; got them to make life-size statues

Col Chris Rego and his team.

of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and recreate the Nativity scene. “They gave us the most beautiful statues and a platoon of boys from the headquarters helped to bring them to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram. And the whole scene was put together at a popular bazaar where half of Mizoram comes to celebrate Christmas with a prominent message: ‘Assam Rifles wishes you a Merry Christmas’. It became such a big hit that

When the money we lent started coming back, we thought why are we salting our money in banks when it can change lives.

Christopher Rego Sunbird Trust

the police sulked at the Army for not informing them in advance as the roads were choked and photographers were making a quick buck as people posed for pictures with this beautiful celebration of Christ’s birth.”

And with all Assam Rifles posts across Mizoram displaying a star with the greeting ‘Merry Christmas’, many hearts were won.

Sponsoring children’s education

The Mizoram posting was more than a learning experience for Rego. The couple wanted to do something for the local children and started sponsoring their education by investing their savings and collecting funds from friends and family. After he had got `10,000 as compensation for moving

to Mizoram, a tribal boy turned up one day saying that he had got admission to an American University and also the visa. “He needed money for the ticket and we decided to give the required money to him, including some contribution from our friends. But the strict condition was that the moment he starts earning he has to return the money, so it can help another child.”

To his utter surprise, the next year, when he was about to leave on posting to Bengaluru, the boy’s father turned up at his doorstep at the Assam Rifles camp in Aizawl with a huge pumpkin, some bananas, a shawl and a bundle of money. His son had earned the money doing chores at this college. But he said if you don’t mind there is another boy who needs money to

complete his PG course. That boy returned the money in eight months, as he got a job in an IT company in Bengaluru. “So we thought why are we salting our money in banks when we can change lives? Our siblings, friends, etc joined in and the numbers grew.”

All this was done quietly when he was still in service. As the time to retire approached and he had the opportunity to choose his last posting, and instead of choosing his hometown Bengaluru, he asked to be posted in Manipur, and, being an Army engineer, he was posted with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and got another big opportunity to be in the field, travel the length and breadth of Manipur and engage with the locals. But there was violence

too; “a bomb was thrown outside our headquarters; some of our boys were kidnapped, and I was frequently delegated to resolve these issues.” This was his opportunity to find out more about the people’s reality, the diversity, the crucial issues, public perceptions, etc. The thought crystallised in his head to set up his own NGO. The day after he retired from the Army he took over as CEO of the Sunbird Trust.

When Ravi met Chris Let’s now cut across to how Ravishankar and Paola came on the scene as angel investors for Rego and his Sunbird Trust. Paola and Rego were friends from their school days in Bengaluru; “she introduced me to Ravi over a year ago, and he

saw one of my presentations, invited me over and after some discussions surprised me with a lovely cheque of `1 lakh. He also said I’d like to come to the NE and take a look.”

Again, the Rotarian surprised Rego by buying not only his but also Rego’s flight tickets. They travelled first to the Majuli island in Assam, where Sunbird was sponsoring 100 children. Now here Rego has an interesting story to relate; that of 27-year-old Bipin Dhane from Maharashtra who wanted to join his team sometime ago.

“When I told him to get some more experience, he said don’t worry about my qualification; I have graduated from IIT Kharagpur and have worked in Singapore for three years, but not

happy with the corporate world he wanted to work with the children in the North-East.”

So Rego channelised some of his donors to him, as his praiseworthy objective is to “create a team of teams instead of just having my own team.” So now Dhane runs his own school with the locals through his Ayang Trust, but 90 per cent of his support comes from Sunbird.

Recalling his trip to this school in Majuli island on the Brahmaputra river, Ravishankar recalls being “half eaten up by the mosquitoes, because the caretaker, by mistake, gave me a room freshener instead of a mosquito repellent. There were so many mosquitoes that I thought they would lift me up!” But the next morning, seeing Dhane’s impressive

D Ravishankar, Paola and Shipra (right), wife of Col Mukesh Verma, interacting with the schoolchildren.

work, he forgot the previous night’s trauma and strengthened his resolve to do more for “the neglected region of North-East”.

And that includes developing an entire campus for education, teachers’ training, skill development and vocational training and above all, women’s empowerment through self-finance ventures for which they will be trained to become entrepreneurs. “That is how I got my support from society… . I became an entrepreneur because society tolerated and supported me in so many little things. That tolerance and support I now want to pass on to other entrepreneurs. When I was struggling as a youngster, and when I say that society helped me, let me clarify that in my earlier years it was mostly women, including my own sisters who played such a huge role in making me what I am today,” says Ravishankar.

He adds: “There is a saying in Kannada that educating a girl is like opening a school; the same doesn’t happen with a boy. I am a huge fan of women. And in the North-East, you find everywhere that compared to women, men are more laid-back. In Imphal, you will find everywhere women selling vegetables and fruits in the market or on the streets, in

biting cold. So I firmly believe that women should be strengthened.”

A joint venture

Ravishankar adds that this project on the Majuli island would be a joint project between his own club RC Bangalore Orchards, RC Palmville headed by Rtn Ritesh Goel, DG Mukul Sinha (RID 3291) and DG Sayantan Gupta from RID 3240. “This commitment has been made by all of them in the presence of PRID Shekhar Mehta at a recent meet in Kolkata,” he adds.

Ravishankar ate with the locals, sang with the children and finally we went to Singngat where children couldn’t get to the school because floods had completely washed away the road that goes to the school. So we decided to shift the school to another spot.”

In Gulbarga, I want to help the nomadic tribes who sell their daughters due to poverty; in Udhagamandalam the Toda tribe needs help too.

D Ravishankar

On Dec 4, accompanied by Rego, Goel and Bipin Dhane, Ravishankar met the Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and discussions are on to get a 10-acre plot from the Government to set up such a centre.

After Majuli, Rego and Ravishankar travelled by road through Nagaland and went down to the Ijeirong village in Manipur where the NGO has a huge set up. “There

When the village chief in an adjoining area heard about this plan, he offered free land. “He gave us the land but we were twiddling our thumbs for the money to build the school. And then comes Mr Santa Claus in the form of Ravi and he said let’s build the school. This was in Nov 2017, and I thought I have heard so many such promises.”

Around the same time in Ijeirong village where Sunbird has built a lovely hostel (read about that remarkable and heartrending initiative in the next issue) “we were having a huge water problem for the children and I told him we need to build a tank to store 75,000 litres of water and he said: ‘Okay, build

it.’ Then we were trying to get into organic farming and wanted to buy the adjoining land from a farmer and Ravi said buy it! I was sceptical, but the moment he went to Bengaluru, he sent the cheque,” says Rego.

Till now Ravishankar has pumped in over `1 crore in helping Sunbird’s initiatives in the NorthEast. And herein lies the story behind his announcement of a `100 crore donation to TRF. “As I have often said before at Rotary meetings… I want to give back to society. I was doing all this work and wanted to do all this myself, but I realised that I have limitations. I am good at macro but not micro. This is where DG Suresh Hari comes in. I wanted to give my money to worthy causes and work with reliable people, of whom there is such a huge dearth.

I am not very good at judging people also. I started committing money; I went to Gulbarga where the nomadic tribes sell their daughters

due to poverty; in Udhagamandalam I wanted to do something for the Toda tribe.”

It was here that Hari cautioned him that if he continued to travel to distant places for various projects “you’ll kill yourself and won’t be able to achieve even 10 per cent of your dream.”

So he made the dramatic `100 crore donation announcement. His dilemma now is that he has already spent `1 crore and “committed another `2 or 3 crore more for these ventures. I have committed to these places and can’t go back on my promise and say that the money from TRF will take 18 months to flow into projects. Now I am struggling to find that money,” muses a worried Ravishankar.

Meanwhile, at the impressive entertainment that the children of the Singngat school have put together for us, Colonel Mukesh Verma, Commanding Officer of the 6 Sikh

When the local people here see a Mr Sharma from Mumbai or a Khanna from Delhi sponsoring their children’s education, they start believing that the rest of India really cares for them.

Christopher Rego

Light Regiment, and his wife Shipra participated. The parents and the children greet them with smiles, decorative head bands with flowers, and of course a tribal dance. Later he joins all of us for a sumptuous lunch prepared by a couple of village women in a hut which is spanking clean even though the fuel used is firewood under a chulah.

This is indeed a big statement in a State and a region of India where the Army units have long been greeted with ambushes, kidnappings, etc. Of course his security jeep, complete with gun-toting men, is there, but it is unobtrusive.

I come away marvelling at the kind of bridge of goodwill and trust that Rego has managed to build between our men in uniform and villagers in a part of India where disenchantment has reigned for long years. And he is changing the lives of tribal children in so many villages. As he puts it: “When the local people here see a Mr Sharma from Mumbai or a Khanna from Delhi sponsoring their children’s education, they start believing that the rest of India really cares for them.”

(To be continued)

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by Krishnapratheesh

RIPE Mark Maloney and Gay shared some nostalgic memories when they visited Surat in Gujarat, after spending two days in Mumbai. “It is so good to be back. We were here in 2004 on a vacation. Himanshu (PDG Himanshu Thacker) and Aruna insisted that we lay the foundation for a water project at the Niyol village near here,” recalled Maloney.

The couple, accompanied by PDG Thacker and Aruna, travelled from Mumbai by train and were taken on a

Surat welcomes Maloney

Jaishree

whirlwind tour of the Rotary projects executed by the seven Rotary clubs of the city.

“It is great to see that the project is benefitting so many villagers. The Rotary Foundation wants our work to be sustainable and continue long after the Rotarians depart. This project, like so many other Rotary projects, exemplifies the connections that Rotary establishes around the world. That is really heartening,” said RIPE Maloney, and on a lighter note added,

“I remember not being able to crack the coconut that day 14 years ago,” referring to the tradition of breaking coconut to usher in good luck.

Rotary Club of Surat, RID 3060, had executed the drinking water project in Niyol under a matching grant in 2004, with support from RC Elmira Heights, RID 7120, USA, and TRF. The Niyol Village Public Trust, run by an NRI with roots from the same village, also pitched in for the project. The 50,000-litre storage tank provides

Gay interacts with the hearing and speech impaired children at a school run by RC Udhna, as RIPE Mark Maloney looks on.

water for 4,000 villagers today. An underground sewage system has also been constructed for the entire village. Maloney, then a TRF Trustee, had laid the foundation stone for the project.

The next stop-over was the Rotary Dialysis Centre established at the Savani Memorial Hospital in Varachha area. The centre, set up at a cost of `45 lakh by RC Surat East in association with RC Neanderthal and Rotary District 1810, the Netherlands, serves 12 patients a day with four dialysis machines. “While other hospitals charge `1,750 for a dialysis, the services are offered free for the needy here,” said Project Chair Dr Amulakh Savani. RIDE Bharat Pandya joined the Maloneys and were given a traditional welcome at the hospital.

At Dhinka Chika, a children’s home run by the Charlie Help Universe Trust, the 35-odd little girls were dressed in their best and with cheerful smiles, received Maloney and Gay with a prayer and a chorus “Welcome to our home Sir and Madam.” The home is being supported by RC Surat West.

“These children are either orphans or have single parent who is extremely poor. If not for this home they would have been out there on the streets begging and been abused,” said Project Chairman Setu Gandhi.

Besides taking care of the education needs of the girls, the club has installed water purifiers and other appliances, organises regular health and vaccination camps, has set up a library and computers, and imparts computer training for the girls. “The children are very smart and dedicated and are studying in private schools,” said Club President Vivek Goel. “I could see the warmth and love in their eyes,” said Gay. She interacted with them in English, which was translated in Gujarati by Aruna. “You all have to study hard and make your lives comfortable. Education will certainly take you places,” she advised.

The couple were greeted with a group dance performance at the Mamta School for the mentally-challenged, adopted by RC Surat Roundtown. Around 45 children are being trained

in various activities here. Maloney and Gay were happy to see the clay and wax handicrafts made by the children and the colouring activity that they were engrossed in with such accuracy, taking great care that the colours do not spill out of the outlines.

The physiotherapy centre run by RC Surat Riverside was next on the agenda. At the Mukbadhir Vikas Trust School run by RC Udhna, Maloney addressed the hearing and speech impaired students, and his talk was communicated to them in sign language. The club, with support from RC Darwin, UK, has set up a sports and vocational training centre offering courses in tailoring, beautician, multi-media and motor rewinding.

The evening saw two major events — Rotaraction hosted by DRR Kushal P Shah, where Rotaractors had an opportunity to interact with the RIPE, and a meet for Rotarians of 11 Rotary clubs in the region. DG Pinky Patel, DGE Anish Shah, DGN Prashant Jani and PDGs were present, along

RIPE Maloney and Gay with PDG Himanshu Thacker and Aruna visit the water project in Niyol.

with PRID Manoj Desai and Sharmishtha and RIDE Bharat Pandya.

Speaking on the Future of Rotary, Maloney reiterated that polio is absolutely a big part of Rotary’s future. When it comes to polio, even ‘this close’ is not close enough. “It is incredibly important to understand that if we were to stop our work to eradicate polio right now and say we have done enough, we will lose everything that we have invested thus far. Within a decade we will see hundreds of thousands of children paralysed by polio, and we will also see the loss of our

We need to re-examine the time commitment and leadership positions and the number of positions that a member needs to hold before assuming a senior leadership role.

RIPE Mark Maloney

good reputation that we have worked so hard for 113 years. We have to go out there and ensure that polio remains a priority for all of the world’s governments until it is eradicated.”

With only one reservoir of the wild polio virus on the Afghanistan and Pakistan border, and only 27 cases of polio so far in 2018, “we need to stay the course.” It is going to take at least three years from the last sign of polio virus anywhere in the world, until the WHO certifies that polio has been eradicated. “At that time we are going to let the world know that Rotary was behind this success. Being known as an organisation that brought our children a polio-free world is going to raise our public profile more than anything we have ever done and make many more people who might not have thought of joining Rotary sit up and take notice,” he said.

Referring to the new Strategic Plan that will take effect in 2019–20, Maloney elaborated on each of the four priorities — increasing our impact, expanding our reach, enhancing participant engagement and increasing our

ability to adapt. Just having members in the club is not enough. “We want members actively engaged in Rotary activities. Rotaractors are a tremendous asset to our organisation. We need to treat them as equal members of our organisation instead of participants in our programmes.”

On increasing Rotary’s ability to adapt, he said that Rotary needs to be evolutionary at all times and revolutionary on occasions. “We need to ensure that the Rotary experience fits into the lives of people who we want as part of our organisation, as participants and as leaders. We need to re-examine the time commitment and leadership positions and the number of positions that a member needs to hold before assuming a senior leadership role. This will certainly mean aligning our operations and resources to Rotary’s strategic priorities to strengthen our commitment to long term membership sustainability and goals.”

In honour of his visit, D 3060 handed over the district’s TRF contribution of $3.98 lakh to RIPE Maloney. Pictures by Jaishree

RIPE Maloney and Gay, with RIDE Bharat Pandya, at the dialysis centre sponsored by RC Surat East.

RID C Basker (centre) with (from R)

DG A Venkatachalapathy, PDGs Giju Alexander George, E K Sagadhevan, DG E K Ummer and Dr Rajesh Subhash (standing right).

In yet another important partnership, Rotary and the Aster DM Group, a healthcare major, have come together to build homes for the flood-affected victims of Kerala. In December, an MoU was signed between the Aster Group Chairman Dr Azad Moopen and District Governors

A Venkatachalapathy (3201), Dr E K Ummer (3202) and E K Luke (3211), represented by PDG Dr George, in Kozhikode, with each partner committing $1 million to build these homes.

While between 300 to 500 homes are planned, in the initial stage, a pilot project for 75 homes — 25 in each of

Rotary & Aster group to build homes in flood-devastated Kerala

the three Rotary districts — will be implemented by June 2019.

RI Director C Basker, who was present during the MoU signing, commended all the three district governors for “carrying out amazing relief work that got the attention of the entire Rotary world. Now that the relief phase is over, Rotary is looking for corporate partnerships and we couldn’t have hoped to find a better philanthropist than Dr Moopen, as he is known for the charitable work done not only by his company, but also his private trust.”

He said as Dr Moopen was very keen to get the project off the ground

immediately, in this particular phase, The Rotary Foundation has not been involved as the required clearances would take time.

Addressing the small gathering of representatives from his group as well

What happened in Kerala was a calamity without parallel. Since we are from Kerala and I began my career in Kerala, we wanted to do something substantial.

Dr Azad Moopen Chairman of Aster Group

Rasheeda Bhagat

A new Rotary-Aster partnership in the offing

Chairman

of the Aster Group, Dr Azad Moopen said that he was very happy to enter into a partnership with Rotary International to build homes in the flood-devastated Kerala. “But we are looking at a partnership with Rotary beyond this one project. We have a significant presence in the healthcare sector in several countries and see about 20 million patients in a year. We are now spreading our presence in Africa, in partnership with a university hospital in Nigeria.”

One project he was keen to do with Rotary was training health professionals from Africa, “where there is a significant lack of such trained professionals. We work in African countries but whatever we or anybody else may do, the last mile cannot be covered unless you have qualified trained people on the ground there.”

In addition, the two partners could also explore extending telemedicine coverage from here to African countries. “Many of these patients don’t get proper diagnosis; if we can connect with local doctors and find out the problem, telemedicine would help them immensely. We are now doing a telemedicine project with Tata Communications, which has a large presence in Africa. And Rotary International has roots all over the world.”

as Rotary, Dr Moopen said what had happened in Kerala was a “calamity without parallel”. His group is engaged in charitable activities, particularly in the health sector in many countries across the world, including in Africa and Syria. “Since we are from Kerala and I began my career in Kerala, we wanted to do something substantial. The first thing our team did, with the advantage of our presence in several places in Kerala, was giving medical attention to the floodaffected people in places our doctors could reach.”

A positive outcome of immediate action was that thanks to preventive

If such professionals could be brought to Kerala, with Rotary sponsoring their air travel and accommodation, the Aster group, which has the training ability — it has a medical college in Wayanad, two paramedical colleges, a pharmacy college etc — could provide the training. At present, a few odd professionals come and are trained but this needs to be made an ongoing programme. “And in a year, we can train 300 people; so instead of getting our doctors to do healthcare procedures in Africa, or giving them fish, we can teach them how to catch fish!”

Responding to this suggestion, RI Director C Basker welcomed it as a “fantastic idea, which will be a truly international collaborative effort for Rotary as well, as one of our focus areas is Africa.” He said a Rotarian, Dr Rajasabhapathy, who owns the Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore, already has such an initiative going. “He invites doctors from Bangladesh and Africa and trains them in micro plastic surgery.”

He suggested that apart from doctors from Africa, such an initiative also add doctors from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines to expand the scope of the training programme.

Basker promised to take this suggestion from Dr Moopen to the RI Board and The Rotary Foundation and examine the scope of TRF funding the travel and stay of doctors in Kerala, who can then be trained by the Aster Group’s medical institutions.

measures and the information given out, outbreak of diseases commonly seen after such floods, was avoided. He said an estimated 20,000 homes in Kerala were totally destroyed in the floods and there is partial damage in lakhs of homes.

Realising that on such occasions speed is of essence, “we announced we will do 250 houses using our own funds, and they will be spread across Kerala. Apart from this, we have handed over a cheque of `2.5 crore for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.”

When he came to hear from his close friends Dr Rajesh Subhash, former Assistant Governor of 3202 and Rtn Abdul Hameed, both Rotarians from RC Calicut Midtown, and later DG Ummer, that Rotary was also rebuilding homes for the flood victims “I thought this was a good opportunity to expand our work.”

He said the Aster group had done similar work outside India too. Following the “Nepal earthquake,

To get and train doctors from Africa is a fantastic idea, which will be a truly international collaborative effort for Rotary as well, as one of our focus areas is Africa.

RI Director C Basker

we had sponsored 500 houses in the country. We spend `50 crore every year in charity (through the MIMNS Trust) and normally don’t publicise our charitable activities. But of late, and after taking a cue from philanthropists such as Bill Gates, we’ve realised that if we promote such work, others may follow.”

Executive Director of the Aster Group, Wilson said that apart from the charity done by the Group’s Trust,

Dr Moopen has set apart 20 per cent of his personal wealth in a private trust to help the less privileged.

Dr Moopen added that keeping in mind the huge requirements of helping the less fortunate in India, “I look forward to the opportunity of working with Rotary International and doing much bigger things, particularly in healthcare area because we are better equipped for that task. We have 11 hospitals in India, and are opening the 12th one in Chennai and are looking for partnerships with organisations like Rotary so we can do things at cost…we are certainly not looking at profit!”

DGs Ummer and Pathy said they were identifying land on which homes can be built. It was decided that rather than concentrate on clusters, the effort should be to give the people homes in their own areas, or else there was danger of these not being used.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat

Aster Group Chairman Dr Azad Moopen and RID C Basker after signing the MoU.

Go public

EGrants – the lifeline for a better world

very second of every day, Rotarians are doing good in the world through The Rotary Foundation. They are planning, funding, implementing and completing projects, both locally and globally. It is a source of great pride for us all.

To me, this is one of the unique features of Rotary membership. You can get as involved as you choose. You can participate in a project from beginning to end, or you can join in anywhere in the process. But it all starts with you and me making a gift to our Foundation so that funds are available.

For many of us, a district grant offers the quickest and most convenient way to participate in grant activity, because it usually involves a local project. A district grant project is a good way to showcase Rotary, to get publicity, to involve prospective own community.

Global grants offer us a way to participate in international projects in one or more of our six areas of focus. As we develop a project idea, we conduct a needs assessment to determine what is needed in the community, the resources required and how they can be accessed, and how to carry out the project collaboratively

greatest number of people, and can be maintained by the local residents once it is completed to ensure a long-term effect for have been meticulously followed.

And because of this proper stewardship and accountability, we all continue to contribute our time, talent and treasure. You making a difference in our world!

Ron D Burton Foundation Trustee Chair

Gundula Miethke

Getting around Hamburg is easy thanks to the city’s safe, efficient public transportation network. And for those who attend the Rotary International Convention from June 1 to 5 it will have something else to recommend it: It will be free.

Registered convention goers will have unlimited access to Hamburg’s public transit system, known as HVV (for a system overview in English, visit hvv.de/en/about-us/overviewservice-offer). To hop onto buses, trains, and even ferries, all riders will have to do is show their convention badge with the HVV logo and valid dates of use on the back.

The four underground lines and 28 rapid transit and regional train lines are connected to a network of bus routes. Seven ferry lines, meanwhile, run within the port and along the Elbe River. On the principal train and bus lines in the city centre, announcements are made in German and English.

For a bargain sightseeing tour, take the No 111 bus, which runs along the Elbe between HafenCity and Altona. You’ll pass sights including the Elbphilharmonie, the Landungsbrücken floating dock, the Altona fish market, and the famous Reeperbahn with its clubs and bars.

Register for the 2019 (June1–5) Rotary Convention in Hamburg at www.riconvention.org

©The

Rotarian

Rasheeda Bhagat

The outgoing global Chairman of WinS, Rotary International President Nominee Sushil Gupta, says that he is handing over the “baby we produced in 2014” with great satisfaction to his successor PRID P T Prabhakar. His happiness with the way WinS has panned out across our region is on three fronts; group handwashing stations; bringing in behavioural change in hygiene and sanitation; and removing the taboo on talking about the importance of menstrual hygiene.

He told Rotary News: “I am very happy about the status of WinS, which you can say is now on auto pilot, because each and every Rotary district of our region is vying with each other

on how many schools they can do. Earlier we were struggling to get the districts to take up WinS. They were confused and mixed up on whether they should do Literacy, WinS, or projects of other focus areas of Rotary.”

He added with a grin: “Let’s say that the baby we produced in 2014 is now healthy and kicking.” Another aspect of WinS that delights him is the fact that group handwashing has ushered in behavioural change among schoolchildren and their families through proper handwashing, which was the primary goal of WinS.

lot of confusion because nobody had a model. So we created a model!”

Add to this the tough task he, his deputy and Vice Chair of WinS Prabhakar and the rest of the team had on their hands… “we had to go on dinning the message into Rotarians’ heads that WinS is not about building toilets; it has to do with bringing about behavioural change. Now that message has gone home, and I am very happy.”

Earlier we were struggling to get the districts to take up WinS, but now with the districts vying with each other, the project is on auto pilot.

RIPN Sushil Gupta

He then relates an interesting story on how the first group handwashing station was created a couple of years ago. There was no model available either with UNICEF or the Ministry of Education. “There was a planned visit of the then RI President to one of the schools done by a Rotary club where the WinS project was to be inaugurated by him. I told the club officers that the visit is in 10 days so you have only that much time to create a group handwashing station in that school. Within a week this was ready. Even though everybody including the UNICEF and the Government were talking about it, there was a

Gupta recalls with a chuckle that the group handwashing model that Rotary is putting up in schools is so successful that a UNICEF executive had suggested that Rotary should patent this product. “But I said our aim is not to get credit or make money but to encourage the maximum number of schools to have these stations, where children can sing songs while washing their hands, and usher in behavioural change.”

No more taboo on menstruation talk

The other aspect that has thoroughly pleased him is that the taboo earlier associated with talking about MHM (menstrual hygiene management) has finally gone. “When we talk of a girl child and see the dropout rates from

WinS Global Chair PRID PT Prabhakar and RIPN Sushil Gupta.

schools, we have to see at what stage it happens. We found it happens at puberty, because the girls don’t have separate toilets and the privacy they need particularly during that part of the month. But nobody wanted to talk about it. It was a taboo subject. Even in Rotary I had to work very hard telling everybody ki MHM karo!”

The next issue pertained to the use of sanitary napkins. UNICEF was very clear that they were not promoting any product; be it a sanitary napkin or a piece of cloth. They said whatever it is, let it be clean. This dialogue was happening at the UNICEF headquarters in New York, “but there was nothing in writing. For quite some time we struggled with getting the right product which would be sustainable and affordable. I remember PRIP John Germ bringing a large packet of sanitary napkins from Australia and saying ‘Australian women have sent this!’ We were looking at what kind of product would work best, and finally we have found it.”

This, explains Prabhakar, is “a reusable and washable sanitary napkin which can be used for two years. And the cost of each kit is just `200 which anybody can afford today.”

Touching upon the adverse environmental hazards of the sanitary napkins available in the market, PRID Prabhakar, who is now the Global WinS Chair, says, “Can you imagine Chennai alone produces 90 tonnes of sanitary pads, which is an environmental disaster. These napkins use plastic material which research has shown takes 500 years to degenerate. Also, Dr Meenakshi Bharat, a gynaecologist from Bengaluru, who has researched this subject thoroughly, says that these commercially produced napkins use harmful chemicals which can trigger uterine cancer.”

Adds RIPN Gupta: “In most schools we have found that when you put sanitary napkin vending machines, they don’t work after two months. We’ve been working with a team of women, including Dr Meenakshi and Sangita Bansal, and we’ve finally come out with this economic and reusable kit, where cotton cloth is used and it is reusable, with a life of two years.”

Along with this find, he is very happy that from Kerala to Tamil Nadu to Odisha, “people have freely started talking about MHM.”

Prabhakar adds that finally the “reluctance and shyness to talk about

Can you imagine Chennai alone produces 90 tonnes of sanitary pads — an environmental disaster. These napkins use plastic material which takes 500 years to degenerate.

WinS Global Chair PRID PT Prabhakar

MHM is going. Production has already begun on this eco-friendly and inexpensive product and at a recent WinS meet in Bengaluru, where the Director of Vocational Services was present, I told him that self-help groups could produce these sanitary napkin kits. And we are going to involve Inner Wheel members to popularise the use of these napkins across our region.”

He made it clear that these will be made available in the schools that Rotary has spruced up — 50,000 in all — but “they will not be given free of cost. Because anything that is given free is not valued.”

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by N Krishnamurthy

WinS, next big activity for Rotary

Kiran Zehra

Addressing a WinS seminar recently in Bengaluru, PRID P T Prabhakar, Global Chairman for WinS, said, “I will not be surprised if Sushil Gupta in his presidential year (2020-21) inspires Rotarians around the world to take up WinS as a global project.” The WinS Target Challenge currently brings together Rotarians from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Kenya to improve water, sanitation and hygiene education to children.

Prabhakar asked, “Very often we talk about ‘What after Polio?’ WinS could be the next big activity for Rotary. So, in a district where you run major projects like the Rotary TTK Blood Bank and Karunashraya, the hospice that takes care of the terminally

ill, I am sure a simple programme like WinS will be easy to implement.”

But WinS is more than just building toilets; it is about “developing India”.

Why WinS?

Responding to a question ‘Why a club should choose a WinS project’, quoting UN statistcs, he said India ranked below Pakistan and Bangladesh in the human development index, primarily because of lack of toilets leading to open defecation. “Worldwide 61 million children are stunted because they are exposed to human waste, 33 per cent of whom are from India.” If children washed their hands before a meal and after using the toilet, diarrhoeal deaths can come down by 44 per cent, he added.

WinS is not an expensive project. “A handwash station costs just `15,000.” Clubs could also apply for global grants as up to $1.5 million is available through TRF. “Districts 3211 and 3131 received $20,000 each last year. Find a partner and apply for a GG,” Prabhakar suggested, and urged the clubs to build gender-segregated toilets and focus on menstrual health management.

Referring to instances where clubs enthusiastically start menstrual hygiene management in schools, “distributing sanitary pads, installing vending machines and incinerators, but after three months everything is discontinued,” he highlighted the idea suggested by Dr Meenakshi Bharat, member of RC Bangalore West, RID 3190, to donate reusable pads

Kiran Zehra

From L: PDG K S Nagendra, RI WinS Committee Member Ramesh Aggarwal, Global WinS Chair P T Prabhakar, DG Suresh Hari and Rtn Meenakshi Bharat.

that last for 2–3 years. “These have no chemicals, are environment-friendly and cost `200. Imagine the good you will be doing to the environment, while helping an underprivileged girl.”

A poster illustrating handwash techniques was released in English and Kannada followed by Wins Committee Member PDG Ramesh Aggarwal giving the participants details on what exactly Target Challenge involved.

DG Suresh Hari committed to implement WinS in 150 schools in the district.

Making menstruation more manageable

According to the World Bank, in India, over 113 million adolescent girls are at

risk of dropping out of school because of lack of toilets and the stigma attached to menstruation, said Dr Meenakshi Bharat, a gynaecologist. “Periods are considered a problem on so many fronts. They are huge contributors to waste, keep girls away from school, and hinder the activities in women.”

Her club has been working on garbage management in Bengaluru since 2009. The wet waste gets composted and is used in terrace gardens as a fertiliser. Single-use sanitary napkins pose a major challenge, she pointed out, suggesting the use of a menstrual cup as an alternative to disposable sanitary napkins. Made of medical-grade silicone, each cup lasts up to 10 years. On an average, a woman uses about 5,000 dis-

posable sanitary products in the same time span, “the cup is more economical and eco-friendly. I can’t think of anything more reusable; simply wash and use again. This is most suitable for girls above 18. A single investment of `1,000 can give you a no rash, no cash, no trash menstrual cycle,” she said. Due to the high cost of a sanitary pad, most girls from underprivileged families wear a single sanitary pad for a long duration, compromising on health.

The cup makes periods very comfortable. “You can do Zumba, swim or trek. It’s time as women we revisit the option to make our periods more manageable. We hope to reach out to more women,” said Meenakshi.

Rotary’s support to transgenders

Team Rotary News

In a unique gesture, RC Madras Chennapatna, RID 3232, provided micro loan of `50,000 to a transgender couple — Prem and Preethisha — to help them start an organic oil store in Chennai.

Both of them hail from an agricultural background, cultivating groundnuts and manufacturing groundnut oil.

“We met them through an NGO that works for transgenders’ welfare and on interacting with them we understood that the money will be safely invested in a trade that they had good knowledge about,” says Club President G Prabhakar. He is

hopeful that the club’s initiative will be replicated by other clubs to break the stigma, usher in better inclusiveness and further upgrade the standard of living of the people.

Initiated 18 years ago under P L Muthiah, Chairman, Microloans, the club has so far extended soft loans of `32 lakh to benefit 182 people comprising street cart vendors, tailors, tea shop owners and hair stylists. The loan amount has been recently upgraded from `25,000 to `50,000 “so that people need not look elsewhere for additional assistance to start their venture,” says Prabhakar.

P L Muthiah, Chairman – Microloans, handing over the microcredit cheque to Prem and Preethisha.

A stunning all-women’s

Rasheeda Bhagat

market in Imphal

It is believed to be the largest all-women’s market in Asia, and accompanied by the couple Rtn D Ravishankar, President of RC Bangalore Orchards, and his wife Paola, who are, comparatively speaking, stalwarts of Manipur, having built a school and much more in Manipur, I step into what is undoubtedly one of the most exciting places I have ever visited.

The Ima Keithel (which translates to ‘mother’s market’) is believed to be 500 years old and is home to some 4,000 to 5,000 women traders, who offer you wares ranging from textiles, to local jewellery, to the freshest vegetables and fruits, freshly cooked food, and even brand-new currency

If you are a fish lover, this is your market. You can choose from a variety of fish, living and dried, and can get it cooked right there on the spot.

notes, exchanged for old ones for a commission.

As you enter its portals, you can’t but be blown away by the buzz, the vibrance, the aroma of freshly cooked food, and of course the cheerful, bright colours in which the women are dressed, most of them wearing colourful traditional sarongs and shawls to bear the winter chill. They are all doing brisk business; and the most remarkable thing to note is the smile on the faces of most of the women who are striking deals with their customers or cooking vegetables and

For `10, we get a fistful of piping hot, delicious bhajjis, served lovingly, and with a smile.

fish, fresh pakodas, local roots, etc.

Located in the heart of Imphal, this colourful, sprawling market is an important hub and meeting ground for the locals. Of the many stories associated with this market, manned (for lack of the word ‘womanned’!) only

by women, one says that this market’s female-only workforce resulted from the enforcement of the Lallup-Kaba, an ancient forced labour system in Manipur that sent the men from the Meitei community to cultivate faraway lands and fight wars. With the men away most of

Since I have only hand baggage, I am advised against buying the very pungent Naga chillies. But next time, it is certainly going into my bag!

the time, it was left to the women to stay back in the villages, grow paddy and other crops, take care of the house and the children and also sell their farm produce in improvised markets.

And hence were born markets where women played a dominant role, and the evolution of the iconic Ima Keithel in the city of Imphal happened. Even today, most of the women, if not all, manning the various booths here are the Meitei women, who can be distinguished

from their very fair and flawless complexion and the tilak worn by many of these women, not above, but right on the bridge of the nose.

With barely an hour available to browse this huge market — my strong advice is to set aside a day and plan a whole meal here — we had to walk through the winding rows and rows of shops a little hurriedly. Handicrafts made of bamboo, cane and straw, ranging from baskets to boxes, and Manipuri dolls dressed

up in colourful clothes compel and captivate you, as also the traditional jewellery made of metal and colourful beads. And then of course there are a dozen or more women sitting with bundles of new notes — fresh from the mint — and trading them for old notes, for a ten per cent commission.

We run through the vegetables stalls, halting to admire a heap of huge lemons here, traditional roots, spices and herbs there, and particularly the huge earthenware pots used to ferment and dry the fish.

If you are a fish lover, this is your market. You can choose from a variety of fish, living, dried or fermented, and can get it cooked right there on the spot. Entire rows of shops in this market are reserved for customers to sit on the

benches where freshly prepared food is served to you on the tables… and with a smile. Ravishankar tempts Paola and I to try freshly fried bhajjis/pakodas. For a mere `10, the woman puts a large fistful of this piping hot delicacy on a piece of paper on your palm. It is delicious and we promptly get a refill!

Paola has told me a lot about the red Naga chillies, but since I have only hand baggage, I am advised against buying it. But the next time around, this is definitely going into my baggage. In the couple of meals I had in Manipur, I did try it out, and trust me, it can open up your taste buds, and how!

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat

Designed by Krishnapratheesh S

Rotary

Club of Madras East, RID 3232, recently launched a global grant project worth ` 95 lakh and it was inaugurated by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The club aims to equip five schools of the Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Vidyalaya in Chennai with a range of facilities including training 1,600 school teachers by the Madras Dyslexia Association to identify children with special needs. This inclusiveness was greatly appreciated by the Defence Minister.

Other initiatives under the global grant includes setting up computer labs and sophisticated laboratories for higher secondary students, equipping a primary school with classroom furniture, and upgrading all the five schools with energy efficient electrical fittings that will help save electricity bills. Most of the students in these schools are first generation learners, children of single parents and hail from underprivileged families. Providing good ambience and infrastructure for such children will help in sustaining their interest in continuing education, said Club President R M Narayanan.

Rotary Club of San Antonio, RID 5840, and TRF are the international partners. This is the largest of the 19 global grants project implemented by the club, and it will benefit a total of

Empowering girls

Jaishree

3,700 girls from all the five schools. Rotary Clubs of Ann Arbor and Chicago are the other participating clubs for this ambitious initiative.

This endeavour is part of the club’s theme for the year — Empower the girl, energise the world

The club also equipped Hindu Mission College of Nursing in the city with 40 computers and air conditioners at a cost of `14 lakh. The facilities will help in enhancing the technical knowledge of nurses and improve their competencies and overall quality of healthcare practice, says Magesh Pattabhiraman, the club’s Vocational Service Director.

Dr Sriram, Medical Director, Hindu Mission Hospital, is confident that the improved infrastructure will increase the student strength from the present 200 to 700 students, 80 per cent of whom will be girls.

The project was inaugurated by club member Ramesh Ananthakrishnan, who is also Director of DSM Soft, the primary sponsors of the facility, and past president M Srinivasan. It is part of a multi-crore facility put up by the hospital for the nurses’ training programme.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman being greeted by RC Madras East Secretary Radhika Satyanarayana in the presence of DG Babu Peram and Club President R M Narayanan.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman interacting with children at Ramakrishna Vidyalaya School. DG Babu Peram is also in the picture.

Path to the presidency

Rotary has 1.2 million members; every year, one of them becomes the organisation’s president. What steps must a Rotarian follow to reach that position? Ultimately, all candidates have their own paths, but there are some universal requirements. We combed through Rotary’s by-laws to boil it down to these basics.

Club President

Any member in good standing is eligible to be elected club president for a one-year term, though most presidents have already served their clubs as a committee chair or in some other leadership role.

District Governor

Districts select their future governors through either a nominating committee, ballot by mail, or a district conference. Any club may suggest one of its members for consideration, though the nominating committee is not limited by these suggestions. Governors serve a one-year term.

A nominee for district governor must have been a Rotarian for at least seven years and have served as a club president.

RI Director

Every year, eight or nine of Rotary’s 34 zones each selects a director for a two-year term. Nominating committees are made up of one past governor from each district in the zone or section of the zone. The committee

members interview candidates and choose one to represent the zone.

Past district governors are eligible; at least three years must have elapsed since the end of their term as governor. Candidates must also have attended at least two Rotary institutes and a Rotary convention in the previous three years.

RI President

Every year, half of Rotary’s zones get the opportunity to select Rotary’s president through their representatives on the 17-member presidential nominating committee (The zones selecting the president alternate every other year). Only past RI directors may serve on the nominating committee — current Board members are not eligible. If more than one past director from a zone wishes to serve, clubs in their zone hold an election.

Only past RI directors are eligible to serve as RI president, and most presidents have held additional leadership roles, including serving on committees that offer international experience. The term is one year.

Presidents choose their vice president and treasurer from among the second-year RI directors.

Additional stepping stones

While on paper the path to the presidency is only four steps, in practice, the Rotarians who lead the organisation have held many other roles along the way.

District leaders

District committees include finance, membership, public image and Rotary Foundation training. Other topics vary by district.

Regional leaders

Regional leaders include regional Rotary Foundation coordinators, Rotary coordinators, Rotary public image coordinators, and endowment/major gifts advisers. Other leaders may serve as trainers and facilitators at Rotary institutes, governors-elect training seminars, and other events.

RI and Foundation leaders

Rotary committees are made up of Rotarians and Rotaractors from around the world who work with the organisation’s leadership. Qualifications for membership vary by committee. Application information is listed annually in The Rotarian Rotarians may also serve as Rotary Foundation trustees.

Trustees of The Rotary Foundation

Trustees must be Rotarians. Candidates should have broad experience within Rotary and also have held leadership positions in business, government, philanthropy or the nonprofit sector.

Past and present Rotary senior leaders suggest individuals for consideration.

A task force appointed by the Rotary president-elect reviews the names and recommends at least three candidates for each open trustee

position. The Rotary president-elect chooses the nominees from among these recommendations, and the RI Board of Directors formally elects them to a four-year term.

The Board of Trustees elects its chair from among the current members for a one-year term.

Interesting nuggets

Of the five most recent RI presidents: Five had been in Rotary for more than 30 years

Five had served as a Rotary Foundation trustee

Three had served as a president’s aide

One was a member of the Arch Klumph Society

Two had chaired the RI Finance Committee

Three had received the Service Above Self Award

Five had chaired an RI or Rotary Foundation Committee

Five had been members of a convention committee.

A CSR-Global Grant partnership upgrades schools

Team Rotary News

District 3212 is all set to provide better sanitation and education to 23 schools in and around Nagercoil, a temple town on the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula. The district has struck a partnership with Kanam Latex Industries, manufacturers of surgical and examination gloves. This is the district’s maiden CSR-global grant initiative, with RC Lexington, RID 6740, the US, as international partners and TRF.

“When PDG Chinnadurai Abdullah approached Kurian Abraham, the corporate’s founder, with a plan to

upgrade schools in the region, he readily agreed to support. Abraham is a member of RC Nagercoil for 53 years now,” said N Karthikeyan, District Chairman for CSR.

The project involves providing sanitary napkin vending machines, incinerators, wash stations and e-learning in 23 schools at an outlay of $40,875 and 23 clubs adopted

a school each for the project.

The facilities were inaugurated recently by DG K Rajagopalan in the presence of PDG Chinnadurai Abdullah and Abraham.

© The Rotarian

DGEs begin a daz

DGEs and their spouses with RIPN Sushil Gupta and RID C Basker. Sonal, wife of RIDE Kamal Sanghvi, is also in the picture.

DGEs with RID C Basker and RIDEs Bharat Pandya and Kamal Sanghvi.

zling journey at IA

Indian contingent in their colourful best for the Festival Night.

RIPN Sushil Gupta and Sonal Sanghvi.

and their spouses with RID C

DGEs

Basker, Mala, Madhavi Pandya, RIDE Kamal Sanghvi and Sonal.

From L: RIDE Kamal Sanghvi, Sonal, RIPN Sushil Gupta, Madhavi and RIDE Bharat Pandya.

From L: Vidhya, PDG T N Subramanian, RIDE Kamal Sanghvi, Sonal, RIPN Sushil Gupta, RID C Basker, Madhavi, RIDE Bharat Pandya and D 3170 DRR Nishita Pednekar.

From L: RIDE Bharat Pandya, RID C Basker, RIPN Sushil Gupta, TRF Trustee Gulam Vahanvaty and RIDE Kamal Sanghvi.

RIPN Sushil Gupta with international delegates.

Connecting the World

Arnold R Grahl

RIPE Mark Maloney, a member of RC Decatur, Alabama, USA, unveiled the 2019–20 presidential theme, Rotary Connects the World , to incoming district governors at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA.

“The first emphasis is to grow Rotary — grow our service, grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, grow our membership so that we can achieve more,” Maloney said.

He believes that connection is at the heart of the Rotary experience. “(Rotary) allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences. It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.”

Maloney also called on every Rotary and Rotaract club to identify segments of their community not represented in their club by creating a membership committee with diverse members. “Through Rotary, we connect to the incredible diversity of humanity on a truly unique footing, forging deep and lasting ties in pursuit of a common goal,” he added. “In this ever more divided world, Rotary connects us all.”

He urged leaders to offer alternative meeting experiences and service opportunities to make it easier for busy professionals and people with many family obligations to serve in

RI President-elect Mark Maloney

We need to foster a culture where Rotary does not compete with the family, but rather complements it.

Mark Maloney RI President Elect

Rotary logo and theme for 2019–20

leadership roles. “We need to foster a culture where Rotary does not compete with the family, but rather complements it,” Maloney said. “That means taking real, practical steps to change the existing culture: being realistic in our expectations, considerate in our scheduling and welcoming of children at Rotary events on every level.”

He said many of the barriers that prevent people from serving as leaders in Rotary are based on expectations that are no longer relevant. “It is time to adapt, to change our culture, and to convey the message that you can be a great district governor without visiting every club individually, and a great president without doing everything yourself.”

Relationship with the United Nations

During 2019–20, Rotary will host a series of presidential conferences around the world, focusing on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations and the UN’s sustainable development goals that many Rotary

service projects support. More information will be available in July.

In 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its charter and its mission of promoting peace. Rotary was one of 42 organisations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the 1945 San Francisco Conference, which led to the UN’s charter. For decades, Rotary has worked alongside the United Nations to address humanitarian issues around the world. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status that the UN offers to nongovernmental organisations.

“Rotary shares the United Nations’ enduring commitment to a healthier, more peaceful, and more sustainable world,” Maloney said. “And Rotary offers something no other organisation can match: an existing infrastructure that allows people from all over the world to connect in a spirit of service and peace and take meaningful action toward that goal.”

Photo by Alyce Henson

Jaishree Saving hearts in City of Joy

PRID Shekhar Mehta’s office is like a mini crèche as little children climb up the chairs, while some try to ‘read’ the files on his table and the tiny tots are cuddled comfortably in their mothers’ arms. Mehta, like Santa, minus the gear, strikes a conversation with the children while handing out cookies and chocolates.

consult a heart specialist, with limited means, they were in a fix on how to proceed, before they were directed to Mehta’s office.

“It is not only heart surgeries. I never send anybody who comes here for help, empty handed. People come here with the faith that Rotary will be able to help them some way. You cannot say this is not my programme or we do not have money set aside for this,” explains Mehta, as he translates the youngsters’ chatter in Bengali into English for my benefit.

What dreams do you have for your children, I ask the parents. One father says, “I am happy my boy is alive and active. He is studying now and I will make sure that he is suitably qualified to take on the challenges of life.”

He is a member of RC Calcutta Mahanagar, RID 3291, and I was at his office to write about his club’s pet project — Saving little hearts. Rukshona Gayin (3) looks fragile but cheerful as she hides behind her mother’s pallu . Her lean frame has survived a surgery for a hole in her heart when she was three months old. When the doctor advised her parents to

One of the mothers who had sold her earrings for the child’s surgery is asked by Mehta: “Did you get your earrings back?” Pat comes the cheerful reply, “No. But I got my son back.”

“ Bada hokkar kya banegey — doctor, engineer, pilot banegi, ya desh ke pradhan mantri banegey ?” asks Mehta to the older children. One boy wants to become a pilot. Another girl, all of 8, wants to become an engineer. One wants to become a cricketer and his idol is M S Dhoni. Another wants to become an actor and in Tagore’s land, one little boy entertained us with a cute Bengali poem.

Farooq Gazi (5) has developed some minor complications, says his

PRID Shekhar Mehta, PP R P Vidhawan, Pradeep Rawat and RC Calcutta Mahanagar President Chitra Agarwal with the child beneficiaries of Saving Little Hearts project.

father, and Mehta immediately puts him on to Dr R P Vidhawan who was present for the meeting.

There were about ten children, all of whom were beneficiaries of Rotary’s paediatric heart surgery project and they are all comfortable with Mehta; some climb on to his lap and one is happy to lean on his shoulder while sitting for a photo session.

“It all started when RIPN Sushil Gupta once asked me, “Why don’t you start the Gift of Life programme in eastern India. Even though I had no clue about heart surgery then, I said okay.” Mehta says, tracing the genesis of this life-saving project. It took him about two months to put the resources together. PDG Kalpana Khound of RID 3240 suggested that she would send 15 children from the North-East to Kolkata “for us to take care of their heart surgeries.” But before he could act, one child died. “That shook me hard. For lack of knowledge on how to proceed quickly, we lost a life.”

Robinhood Doctor

Then a couple of days later, Dr R P Vidhawan, a heart specialist who was also the incoming president of RC Calcutta Mahanagar in 2006, suggested to Mehta that he wanted to do heart surgeries for children. “And I thought, wow, yeh toh zaroorat thi and here he is.” Vidhawan wanted

to do six free surgeries for the year. But during his installation, 30 members volunteered to support one child each. “So we ended the year with 66 operations, and it became a permanent project since then. Soon he came to be known as ‘Robinhood Doctor.’”

Vidhawan’s passion for treating children with CHD (congenital heart defect) comes through as he gives a background story. While interning in a hospital as a young medical student in the early 1970s he was a mute spectator who witnessed the death of two children due to senior doctors’ lack of knowledge in treating blue babies (children with a hole in the heart). Later he went abroad and learnt about open heart surgery. But it was his father, an asthmatic patient, who inspired him to pursue heart surgery.

Between him and cardiologist Ajay Kaul, a close friend of Vidhawan, the club has done 1,000 heart surgeries since 2006. The surgeon is appreciative of Kaul who was not a Rotarian, “yet he would say, ‘If you are not charging anything, chalo, even I do not want anything. That is the spirit of that man. He would visit patients by their bedside past even midnight.”

For two countries who have fought three wars in 70 years, what could be a better way of bringing peace amongst their people?

PRID Shekhar Mehta

The club was supporting the programme with members’ contribution for around four years after which the then DG Utpal Majumdar took it forward across the district and RCs Chowringhee and Calcutta got actively involved. “We have sponsored 100 heart surgeries through fundraisers and with help from Rotary India Humanity Foundation (RIHF) and other trusts,” says Neeta Setia, Director Service Projects of RC Chowringhee. She is involved in this project for 10 years now.

If the mother gets measles, rubella

trimester of pregnancy, the child heart disease.

Dr R P Vidhawan past president of RC Calcutta Mahanagar

Vidhawan’s wife is also equally involved in the project. “She takes the children to the B M Birla Hospital, admit them and tell me the room number. I just go there, reassure the mothers, pray to the Almighty and perform the surgery. Nothing equals the joy of seeing these children growing up normally, and the satisfied smile on the parents’ faces,” he says. He is sponsoring the education of five children who were his patients.

He says that if the mother gets measles, rubella or viral infection during the first trimester of pregnancy, the child is bound to suffer from rheumatic heart disease. “These people live in such unhygienic conditions and the risk is much more there.”

When Dr Kaul shifted out from B M Birla Hospital, the hospital started charging more and the clubs struck a partnership with Rabindranath Tagore Hospitals, reputed for paediatric surgery.

Enter RIHF and global grants

Soon the life-transforming project scaled up through global grants and RIHF, which was set up by Mehta when he was RI Director (2011–13), and the club’s flagship project grew speedily. One of RIHF’s goals was to perform 3,000 surgeries. “Under RIHF we took it across India — to Mumbai, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Durgapur, Jaipur and Delhi,” says Mehta.

PDG Madhu Rughwani of RID 3030 had a significant influence on him. “When I went to his district conference in 2004–05, it was Rotary’s 101st year and his goal was 101 heart surgeries. He would do fundraising for

the project through a girl called Palak Muchhal who is a big time singer today. We invited her to our club for fundraising, and raised a considerable sum.”

Mehta got in touch with O P Khanna, the founder of Needy Heart Foundation, and Dr Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bengaluru, and some heart surgeries were done there. “In Ludhiana, in association with the Indian Army, 17 children were treated for CHD.”

He recalls how his club member Pradeep Rawat (70) donated the proceeds from his paintings for the project. He organised two exhibitions named Art for Little Hearts — one at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata, and another at the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi. “He pegged the painting prices in terms of number of surgeries — this painting you buy will help 5 heart surgeries, 10 heart surgeries, etc, and raised nearly `60 lakh.”

Rotary Moment

Surgeries for Pakistani children began at the Durgapur Mission Hospital, when Kamal Sanghvi, who had gone there as RIPR, signed an MoU with the hospital for the Aman ki Aasha programme. “PRIP Kalyan Banerjee, Dr Bose of the Mission Hospital and I went to Pakistan and at every city we were whisked away to a cardiac camp where a number of children were waiting to be screened.” Rotarians in Durgapur coordinated the visa formalities, transportation and accommodation of the children and their parents for their travel from Pakistan via Amritsar, Delhi, Kolkata and finally Durgapur which is 20 km from Kolkata. “There was one instance where a child died after the surgery. That risk is also there,” he says.

His face lights up as he talks about his ‘Rotary Moment’. When he travelled to Durgapur with his wife Rashi, “we met one Asgar Ali from West

Pakistan. The mother said: Bahut khush hoon mei; yeh baccha dus din pehle chal nahi sakta tha; aur ab yahan par daud raha hei. What she said next stays in my mind even today. She said, ‘this child was born in Pakistan, but he got a life in India. Iske khoon mei Pakistan hi nahin, Indian blood bhi hai.’ For two countries who have fought three wars in 70 years, what could be a better way of bringing peace amongst their people?”

For three years after the programme began, there used to be at least one child sitting in front of his office with the parents. “And my first job was to call them and get details and send her to Vidhawan for examination.” Now that the government is extending support, very few people approach Rotary. “That’s how it should be. Because the government was not doing it, we began it. People say, government hamara copy kar liya. But that is the idea after all. If we say we only eradicated polio, we are wrong. We got the government involved and that’s how polio got eradicated.”

This is the last global grant heart surgery project the club will be doing

because last year the number of people approaching them for heart surgeries reduced. “We have the money for the last five months, but only one heart surgery was performed.” He has roped in dependable donors such as Manu Chatlani, who was introduced to him by Dr Shetty, and Manyavar, the garment outlet chain. “I have taken a backseat now and my staff member Shubo and his wife take care of the project. They meet the children, talk to parents and see that the child is saved.” The beneficiary sometimes contributes money and the rest is arranged through the list of donors.

This programme is like a pilgrimage for any senior leader who visits the district. “It is customary for every president — Sakuji Tanaka, John Germ, Banerjee, D K Lee, K R Ravindran — to meet some of the children. We do not give mementoes. Instead we sponsor heart surgeries for 5 or 10 children in honour of their visit, like during RIPN Sushil Gupta’s felicitation we sponsored five children,” says Mehta.

Pictures by Jaishree

PRID Mehta talking to the parents at his office.

Message from RI South Asia Office

Rotary International South Asia Office, Pullman / Novotel Commercial Tower First Floor, Asset No 2, Hospitality District, Aerocity (Near IGI Airport), New Delhi 110037

Rotary year 2018–19 AKS members from South Asia as on December 31, 2018:

ZoneDistrictDonor NameRecognition Level

43141Nishchal H Israni Trustees Circle

53150Ravindra Reddy MarriTrustees Circle

43141Amit ChandraTrustees Circle

43190Ravishankar DakojuFoundation Circle

53150Uday S PilaniTrustees Circle

43141Taizoon Fakhruddin Khorakiwala Trustees Circle

Jan 2019 Club Invoice based on club’s reported membership as on Jan 1 have been mailed to clubs.

Clubs can make online payment by using ‘Bank/Electronic Transfer’ details mentioned in their Jan invoice which are club specific; information given in previous invoice do not stand good now and would lead to non-payment.

In case of payment by cheque/demand draft, the same should be drawn in favour of ‘Rotary International South Asia Office’ payable at New Delhi and mailed to our office address given below:

Rotary International South Asia Office, Pullman/Novotel Commercial Tower, First Floor, Asset No 2, Hospitality District, Aerocity (Near IGI Airport), New Delhi 110037

Check current RI Exchange rate at https://my.rotary.org/ en/exchange-rates.

Contribution to Rotary Foundation (India): As required under The Income Tax Act 1961, all donors are required to either inform their Permanent Account Number (PAN) in their contribution form/letter or send us scanned copy of the PAN Card, for the purpose of reporting contributions received during current financial year.

CSR Funds: Financial Year 2018–19 is coming to an end. Many corporates still have unspent CSR funds available with them to be spent on community development initiatives. It’s an opportunity for all Rotarians to connect with the corporates with CSR kits and approach for CSR contribution. Visit https:// csr.gov.in/CSR/ for corporates in your district. Please reach out to the CSR team at SAO for assistance.

Global grant payments: Grant funds will be released by TRF on completion of following formalities — sponsor contributions

have been submitted to TRF; payment contingencies, if any, have been met; and the original legal agreement duly signed by the club president is sent to South Asia Office;

Grant funds will only be paid to the account provided along with the application and must remain in that account until used for direct payment of project expenses to a project vendor. Grants will be paid out at the current RI exchange rate at the time of payment. If a grant project is cancelled after the project sponsors receive payment, all remaining grant funds must be returned to the Foundation, where they will be credited to the World Fund.

Grants for which the World Fund award is between $50,001 and $200,000 will be paid in instalments according to a spending plan. After the initial instalment, subsequent instalments will be made once the progress report submitted by the grant sponsors is accepted by TRF and an interim site visit has been conducted by the Cadre of Technical Advisors.

Discover Rotary: This is available at https://www.rotary. org/myrotary/en/document/discover-rotary and provides an overview of Rotary, includes speaker notes, and is editable to include club-specific images or information. The presentation covers Rotary’s values, history and the benefits of membership. Present it at prospective member events or other events your club holds for the public to introduce them to Rotary.

Membership Minute and other newsletters: The Membership Minute newsletter comes through email, provides information on resources, tools and membership development ideas. It also features latest research on Rotary membership; suggestions about where to find and how to recruit qualified and committed Rotarians; ideas for creating or enhancing new member orientation programmes and tips and trends for keeping and retaining members. Membership Minute and other newsletters can be accessed through “My Rotary” at https://my.rotary.org/ en/news-features/newsletters.

2017–18 Annual Report of The Rotary Foundation is now available on https://www.rotary.org/en/annualreport-2018 . The report includes details on Rotary’s financials, and highlights from service projects.

Rotary comes alive in Madurai

V Muthukumaran

My ambition, after graduation, was to earn money and become rich. During those initial years as a Rotarian, I was aloof and non-committal,” said RI Director C Basker, speaking at Anantham , the two-day district conference of RID 3000. He added that, much against his wishes, he was inducted into Rotary in 1988 by his father V N Chockalingam, an industrialist known for doing charitable work. “He said, only in good company, you can develop trusted friendship which will enable you to hone wholesome habits and culture that will lay the foundation for success in your life.” His words came true as “Rotary has made me

what I am today and now I advise my friends and business partners to join the organisation.”

But, he cautioned, it is not enough to be a Rotarian, “you have to take part in club meetings, give your ideas and participate in community projects.”

James Bond of philanthropy

He referred to the Irish American businessman Chuck Feeney who donated over $8 billion to various charities. When asked the reason behind such vast donations, almost writing off his entire property, Feeney said, “People are born naked and finally die alone. No one can carry the wealth and reputation that he himself has been striving for a lifetime.”

RID C Basker felicitates PDG R Theenachandran and his family for their contribution to AKS. DG RVN Kannan and RC Bangalore Orchards President D Ravishankar are also present.

“We have such parallels in Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and our very own Rtn Ravishankar,” said Basker. Leading a frugal life, Feeney lives with his wife in a modest rented apartment in San Francisco. He is also nicknamed James Bond of philanthropy.

The RI Director noted that in the last five years, RID 3000, his home district, has scaled great heights in TRF giving and membership in Zone-5.

PDG R Theenachandran and spouse Vasanthi donated `1.25 crore to TRF. They are the district’s second AKS couple, the first being PDG M Muruganandham and Sumathi. He was inspired to do so after reading the RID’s message in Rotary News on how one can convert one’s money into

While you are having Madurai idlis…

In an interactive session, RC Bangalore Orchards President D Ravishankar, who pledged `100 crore to TRF, shared some hilarious moments with his co-panellists, DG Kannan and past district secretary Raja Govindaswamy. Some excerpts from the session:

Why did you choose TRF? Can you suggest a better option?

Why did you join Rotary?

It is an escape from the torture of success. In those days, I was frequently pestered with questions and riddled with anxieties when real estate business was at its peak. I wanted to touch humanity through Rotary.

To whom do you owe your success?

The failure of the Government’s Control Raj policy is the main reason for my success. If you don’t find a right partner for life, simply don’t marry. Likewise, if you don’t

find a right business partner, then be a single entrepreneur.

You have given 70 per cent of your wealth to TRF…

It is a cautious move as I don’t want to spoil my two daughters. If you keep money that is more than your need, it turns into poison.

But then why TRF? What made you to trust the Foundation so much?

If you drop cash or valuables in the Tirupati hundi, or contribute a huge sum in Mecca or the Vatican, you don’t have control over your offering.

If you give to the PM’s Relief Fund, orphanages, charitable institutes, or NGOs, you can’t be sure if the money reaches its goal. More than 50 per cent of NGOs in India are bogus.

If you deposit money in banks, then rest assured that Nirav Modis and Vijay Mallyas will siphon it off to foreign lands while, oblivious of it all, you will be having your favourite Madurai idlis in gay abandon.

Contrary to the perception in Rotary, I have written off around 85 per cent of my assets to charity in the will, and not 70 per cent as everybody thinks.

Why did you think of auctioning your Benz car?

Donating the auction proceeds of the car (worth ` 76 lakh) to TRF will help in many ways to educate the poor. Like the AIDS control and prevention school I had set up in Manipur-Myanmar border which has enrolled 500 children.

How has Rotary moulded you? Rotary energises you and Rotarians have a pure heart. I advise them to take one step forward and donate generously. It has given direction and purpose to my life. I feel what I have done is quite normal, just giving back to society a bit of what it has given me in my life so far.

From L: Rtn D Ravishankar, DG R V N Kannan and past District Secretary Raja Govindaswamy.

It is not enough to be a Rotarian. You have to take part in club meetings, give your ideas and participate in community projects.

punya and continue to be wealthy even after death.

PDG Pramod Kumar, RID 3120, the RI President’s Representative at the conference, urged the delegates to “look for inspiration within your society and even in your homes. There are many inspiring role models in Tamil Nadu.”

Guest speaker Justice R Mahadevan of the Madras High Court lauded Rotary’s steady growth over the years. He noted Rotary’s prime role in the formation of the UNESCO in 1942, and how, after the World War-II, Rotary expanded far and wide with its Rotaract, Interact and the PolioPlus campaign.

DG RVN Kannan pledged to set new records in all growth parameters in the remaining six months. He revised the district’s TRF contribution goal for the year from $1.65 million to $2 million, inspired by a panel discussion among PDGs P Gopalakrishnan, M Muruganandham and himself. He presented a cheque of `7 lakh for the Polio Fund.

Speaking on the ‘Power of networking’, IPDG Manzoor R Massey,

RID 5330, from California, US, cited a global grant project implemented by RID 3000, where 15 tailoring centres have been established, in partnership with RC San Bernardino Crossroads, his home club, under Project WEEP (Women Education and Employment Programme).

Gopalakrishnan said that “out of all India CSR funds of $900,000 last year, our district has secured $340,000, more than one-third of the national figure. With corporates like Karur Vysya Bank, TVS Sri Chakra, JVS Exports and Cauvery Medicals setting up dialysis centres, medical

If you keep money that is more than your need, it turns into poison.

D Ravishankar President, RC Bangalore Orchards,

RID 3190

facilities and adopting villages, we had a promising start.”

Instead of giving Term Gifts and Endowment Funds, Rotarians can invest in the Annual Programme Fund (APF), suggested Muruganandhan. “After three years, while half the amount will be returned, with our global partner, we can access TRF funds which will help to expand our projects,” he added, and contributed `10 lakh to the Foundation, taking his total donation to `2 crore.

While RC Theni Metro gave a Term Gift of $32,000, all the clubs in Theni jointly contributed $100,000 to TRF. RC Tiruchi Diamond City auctioned eight colourful, framed paintings and the proceeds went to the Foundation.

RI Director Datto Siva Ananthan from RID 3300, Kuala Lumpur, also participated. Four Brazilian students, being hosted by Rotarian families under the Rotary Youth Exchange, performed a Samba dance.

DGE Zameer Pasha introduced his Team Royal at the event which had over 2,500 registrations.

Pictures by V Muthukumaran

RIPR Pramod Kumar and his spouse Premlata with RID C Basker and Mala.

RI Director C Basker

Toxic kumkum-free campaign in Nepal temples Team Rotary News

Withan aim to keep temple idols in Nepal free from toxic vermilion powder, where often abir or gulal is used as kumkum, RI District 3292 has taken up a series of awareness sessions and programmes with the involvement of Rotaractors, Interactors and the local Sat Sangh Ashrams. Devotees and temple authorities will be educated on the harmful effects caused by toxic abir.

Traditional sindoor is made with turmeric and alum or lime, or from other herbal ingredients. But in recent times, red lead and mercuric sulfide (cinnabar) are used in its manufacture. Both these components are toxic and can cause serious harm to the skin, explains Uday R Sharma, Chair, Environment and Save the

Rotary spreads warmth

Planet Sub Committee, D 3292. The idols in Nepal’s temples, he says, are smeared with abir and devotees apply it on their foreheads too.

RC Dillibazar-Kathmandu is influencing local traders to supply non-toxic abir to temples at a fair price. The temple authorities have been requested to ban use of toxic vermilion powder on the temple premises. The Budhanilkantha temple has enforced such a ban.

Rotary clubs are extending financial support to farmers to grow sindoor plants and nurseries are being created to supply plants to them. The pod of this plant has a colouring achiote (red-orange condiment) which is a source of non-toxic red-colouring agent.

Reachingout to underprivileged people who need protection against harsh winters, RC Nagpur Vision, RI District 3030, distributed over 1,300 new blankets to the homeless and those staying in makeshift dwellings under their winter project — Rotary spreads warmth.

The Rotarians involved the night patrol team of Sadar Police Station in the city to distribute the blankets to 200 households. “This opened up our eyes to the humane side of the Nagpur Police about which the genera public is often ignorant,” said Rajiv Behal, Club President. The club honoured the police station with its prestigious Nagpur Icons Award.

In another noteworthy project Soul to Sole , the Rotarians collect footwear through schoolchildren and distribute it to many poor families during the summer months.

An elderly beneficiary with a woollen blanket given by the club.

An idol in the Maiti Devi temple in Kathmandu.

An Interactor helps build daycare for underprivileged children

Kiran Zehra

n Apr il 2017, Tanv i an d 34 other students from National Public School, Bengaluru, collectively raised over ` 9 lakh through an online crowdfunding platf form, F Fu l el A Dream. The money was given to Tanvi’s parents — Nabin Kumar Roy and Priyanka Pandey who are members of RC Bangalore Lakesid e , RID 3190 T h e c l u b use d t h e

n April 2017, Tanvi Roy and money to build a crèche in Iblur area in the city to take care of the children of housemaids and daily wage workers.

money to build a crèche in Iblur area in the to care of the children of City

Interact out of sheer interest and p ass i io n, resea rc c he e d an d t st d ud i ie d th e d ifficulties c ch il l dren lef t unattended at hoomme while their parents go out to earrn a living “UUsually diffficuult t t to wo k rk

Tanvi, an Interactor from Sun City Interact Club, out of sheer interest and passion, researched and studied the difficulties of children who are left unattended at home while their parents go out to earn a living... “Usually maids find it difficult to continue work

once have more than one child, because cannot leave the children

band is a alcoholic and blows up all the the wife earns. In a f few t othher cases, con t struuctiion wo k rkers have no choice but to c carrry their chil-

is unsafe. We e s saw w little child plla i ying at t d dangeroouus s construction

once they have more than one child, because they cannot leave the children alone at home. In many cases the husband is a raging alcoholic and blows up all the money the wife earns. In a few other cases, construction workers have no choice but to carry their children with them to the work site which is extremely unsafe. We saw little children playing at dangerous construction

sites all the time,” she says, A crèche is essentially a playschool or daycare where the children of maids and daily w age workers can be looked after. While there are creches for children of the middle or upper middle classes, “this is a cause nobody thinks about... people usually do things for the environment or health. Maids and daily wage labourers are poor and this kind of a playschool setting can help the development of the little ones at a very important age,” she says.

Jayanta Tewari, President of RC Bangalore Lakeside, told her about the NGO Navajeevan Mahila Pragati Kendra that runs seven crèches across the city for children from underprivileged backgrounds. Tanvi then scouted for the best ways t to raise large funds. She realised that “a a bake sale or lemonade sale wasn’t t gooinng g to help us raise big g

money.” So, she began to research and study the best ways to raise large funds. After going through different online fundraising portals, she decided to reach out to Ranganath Thota, the Fuel A Dream taught her how to use this platform to raise funds.

CEO of (FAD), who her how to use this platform to

Assisted by Siddhant Gupta, a student who helped her coordinate the project, Tanvi and 34 of her schoolmates raised about through the portal. Each one of them raised an amount ranging between 20,000–45,000, with Tanvi herself 62,000. At the end of the three-week campaign a large sum of 9.08 lakh was raised, beating their own expectation of raising

Ass i ste d b y S iddh ant student who her coordinate the Tanvi and 34 of her schoolm ates r a i sed ` 2 0 , 000 each ` with Tanvi herself raising ` 6 2 , 000. At the end of the of ` ` 5 lakh.

A grateful Tanvi extends a “special thanks to Rtn Tee Vee Srinivasan for his generous donation of

A Tanvi to e his ge g nerous donatioon n of `75 0 ,000 ”

The amount was used to set up the eighth crèche at Iblur run by the Navjeevan Trust, including the running cost of the crèche for the next two years.

When the construction work was completed, Tanvi conducted an open-toall volunteering opportunity, in association with her Interact Club and Konsult Art Academy, inviting people of all ages in Bellandur to paint the walls of the crèche to give it a playschool-like environment. “We successfully transformed

The amount was used to set the the of the crèche for the next two years. was Tanvi conducted an all opportunity, in associaArt of all ages in to the walls of the crèche to a envithe place,” she smiles.

The crèche now helps the mothers of around 60 children. Tanvi is happy that these workers can work in peace at their workplace. The children are provided with basic education, play time, healthy meals, vaccination and

The crèche now the mothers of around 60 children. Tanvi is that these workers can work in peace at their The children are with basic education, time, healthy meals, vaccination and medical necessities.

Designed by N Krishnamurthy

y N

Interactor Tanvi Roy.

Rotarians tie rakhis on the wrists of BSF soldiers

Team Rotary News

Rakshabandhan , or tying rakhi on the wrist of a brother, has always been a very sacred festival in India. Whether called Bhaubij or Sama Chakeva in other parts of the country, the sentiment behind this beautiful ceremony is the same — the sister ties a rakhi — a decorative string adorned with some colourful motif or the other — on the wrist of her brother as a symbol of her love and faith in him and he pledges that he will always protect her.

“While this was earlier a family affair which later expanded to including the families of close friends, the trend these days is for Rotarians to go to schools in tribal areas or hospitals where rakhi is tied on the wrists

of students and patients respectively. Sometimes a group of volunteers visit jail inmates or old-age homes and enjoy a few hours of bliss with them, carrying sweets and gifts for them,” says Akshay Vakil, past president of Rotary Club of Bulsar, RID 3060.

This time around, his club thought of a unique way of celebrating rakshabandhan ; a group of around 100 people comprising Rotarians and their family members travelled nearly 600 km by bus and cars to celebrate the occasion with the BSF jawans who guard our borders with Pakistan in the desert of Kutch, Gujarat.

“With special permission and a lot of scrutiny, we were allowed to visit the border area where a lone or a couple of jawans are normally at their posts. The conditions out there are so

Our BSF men were really happy that somebody had thought of this lovely way of saying ‘thank you’.

Anish Shah District Governor Elect

hostile and harsh for them. We carried along with us sweets and gifts and the women in our group tied rakhi on the wrists of the jawans and the officers,” says DGE Anish Shah, a member of RC Bulsar, who accompanied the group, along with DG Pinky Patel. Both were accompanied by their family members.

The earlier evening a music and dance programme was arranged for the jawans, officers and their families. “The happiness on the faces of our BSF men had to be seen to be believed. As it is a border area with Pakistan, this is a highly restricted region and the men were really happy that somebody had thought of this lovely way of saying ‘thank you’,” he adds.

Thanking RC Bhuj for the support extended to their club for this project, Vakil added that the entertainment programme was held at the Town Hall in Bhuj and senior officers like the DIG (BSF), Collector Remya Mohan apart from the Kutch MP Vino Chavda participated. “At the end of the project we felt we had organised the right event to enhance the public image of Rotary,” he added.

Those with cleft lip and palate, including parents of newborns with such deformity, look up to the first Saturday in December each year for corrective surgery at a one-day special camp organised by RC Coimbatore Millennium, RID 3201. The venue, St Michael’s Cathedral in the heart of the city, will be buzzing with patients, doctors and medical equipment converting it into a makeshift hospital for a day.

Project Chairman W Paul William, who initiated the cleft lip and palate surgery camp during his tenure as president in 2011, shares details about the project: “I got interested in cleft lip and palate deformity after attending one of the Rotary conventions and Dr S Prabhakaran of Vinayaka Mission Hospital, Salem, mooted the idea of holding a special camp for children born with this facial disorder.” In the maiden camp, 67 children were screened and operated upon in a phased manner.

The US-based NGO Smile Train provides a nominal amount for each child to undergo treatment. “The amount is given to the hospital. For us, the job begins 15 days ahead of the camp from Nov 14,” says William. Each year, he conducts an intensive awareness campaign with a 10-member team including the club president, secretary, Rotaractors and Project Co-chair Henry Amalraj. Posters, banners and billboards go up at

Rotary camp for cleft lip, palate defects

V Muthukumaran

vantage points, while Rotarians approach doctors at public health centres to send their patients for the special camp at the cathedral. Leaflets are distributed across 30–35 villages around the city. The club spends about `1 lakh for food and transport for the patients and their caregivers, and a stipend of ` 500 a day is given to each volunteer.

There is much social stigma attached to people having cleft lip and palate. “It is pathetic to see children and elders suffer social ignominy due to this deformity. Families tend to hide such members due to social backlash.” He attributes marriages between blood relations as the main cause for the offspring being born with such

deformity. “Newborns can’t have mother’s milk as it oozes out of its nose through the hole. From children to over 60-year-old elderly, cleft lip and palate is common in the rural areas, but it can be easily rectified through a surgery.”

Last December the camp screened 32 children, of which 26 were treated at the Ganga Hospital in the city. Since inception, the camp has treated over 370 patients. The patients are given speech therapy after the surgery.

William refers to Balasubramanian, working in Roots Industries, who was overjoyed when his child was cured of the disorder in one such camp. “Ever since, he is part of our campaigns and has brought many patients to the camp.”

A child being examined for treatment.

Health camp and Happy School for tribal villagers

Kiran Zehra

Some of the students at the Government Middle school, Nawargawan, a tribal village 30 km from Jabalpur, had “never worn shoes. Their families are so poor they can’t afford to buy these children new clothes. They wear their uniform on special occasions. If it tears or is worn out, they run a patch and continue to wear it,” says Girish Chandra Mourya, the School Principal. Last year when RC Jabalpur, D 3261, visited the village, the Rotarians were saddened to see the children wearing torn uniforms, sitting on chipped and cracked floors, and without any learning material. “But they still came to school,” said Rachna Trivedi, the Club President. This school caters to students from three tribal villages.

In order to improve the lives of these students and enhance the learning outcomes the club decided to transform the school into a Happy School. The members worked on

setting up well-furnished classrooms, improving toilet blocks, installing a handwash station and an RO plant. The walls of the school were painted with Rotary themes such as TEACH and WinS.

“One of the classrooms was used as a storage room for wooden logs and was in bad shape.

We transformed it into a library,” said Rachna. The project cost was `2 lakh.

On receiving new shoes from the club, little Badrinath of Class 3, asked his Principal ‘ iska kya karna hai (what should I do with this)?’

“I could only smile at his innocence because he had

never seen a pair of socks in his life. I sat down and made him wear the socks and he smiled. I am never going to forget that smile. We cannot thank Rotary enough for improving the lives of these small children.”

In association with the Director of Indian Information Services,

Footwear and school bags being distributed to children.

On receiving the new shoes and socks, a little boy asked: Iska kya karna hai? “I could only smile because he had never seen a pair of socks in his life.

Field Outreach Bureau, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, a medical camp was organised for the three tribal villages in the area. Hosted at Nawargawan village

the camp screened 800 people from two other villages — Dungargawan and Kulmuhi. “Since we had already worked on the Happy School, the sarpanch of Nawargawan offered to cook and serve meals for the villagers visiting the camp,” said Rachna. The camp was inaugurated by Justice Sanjay Dwivedi. Patients were treated for problems related to dental, general medicine, cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology, ortho, gynaecology and ophthalmology.

With the help of the local anganwadi workers the club created awareness on menstrual hygiene. They also taught the village women how to make cloth pads and spoke about best

practices to avoid urinary tract infections.

A Nukkad Natak staged by an NGO Rachna Sanstha explained the importance of maintaining cleanliness in and around the house and personal hygiene. Anandam,

a special exhibition, was organised where Rotarians displayed clothes, accessories and utensils in counters for the villagers to choose what they required.

Designed by L Gunasekaran

A stall at the Anandham exhibition.

A medical camp in progress.

Rotary peace fellow helps Rohingya Muslim refugees

Since August 2017, nearly a million Rohingya Muslim refugees have crowded into the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh, fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Women and children face difficult challenges

Nikki Kallio

in the massive refugee camps, including lack of adequate shelter, healthcare and educational resources, and an increased risk of sexual violence. Sakun Gajurel worked in Italy and in her native Nepal with United Nations agencies before studying

international development policy at the Rotary Peace Centre at Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As part of her Rotary Peace Fellowship, Sakun spent the summer of 2018 working in Cox’s Bazar with an organisation

A longterm solution is necessary to ensure that a whole generation does not end up without education or opportunities to better their lives.

called UN Women that provides direct aid to women in the refugee camps.

What are the greatest challenges in getting aid to Cox’s Bazar?

Close to 900,000 refugees crossed the borders in less than a year’s time. In monsoon season, things got worse. Tents built with a bamboo frame and tarpaulin cannot resist heavy rain or minor landslides. A few thousand shelters were destroyed every week in the aftermath of heavy rains.

For humanitarian agencies, reaching everyone is another challenge due to poor road conditions. The sheer number of refugees makes effective support problematic.

What problems do women and girls in particular face?

Women and girls are more vulnerable to violence. In some crisis settings, more than 70 percent of women have experienced gender-based violence. Women often report challenges accessing sanitation and hygiene facilities at night or when they are menstruating. They face heightened risks as well as increased care-related tasks such as providing food and water for their families and caring for the sick.

How do tradition and culture affect the ways assistance is provided?

Gender segregation is generally common among the Muslim Rohingya population. It is closely connected to the practice of purdah, or preventing women from being seen by men other than their husbands. Women and girls are expected to stay in the home and be close to their family, whereas men and boys are more present in the public sphere.

Through multipurpose women’s centres, UN Women engages and empowers women. Women and girls can come to a centre like the one

in Cox’s Bazar and get information about the services and opportunities in the camps. About 20 women serve in the centre in Cox’s Bazar as outreach workers. These are Rohingya women who talk to other women and bring their issues and challenges to the centre as well as to meetings with camp officials.

What kind of assistance is most needed?

Education is one of the greatest needs. The education partners in Cox’s Bazar have set up learning centres that provide three shifts of two-hour lessons. However, it is not enough. Men and women often express a desire to learn new skills.

The UN has already announced that the Rohingya refugee crisis will be a protracted issue. History shows that once a refugee crisis becomes protracted, refugees often spend decades in the settlement camps. A longterm solution is necessary to ensure that a whole generation does not end up without education or opportunities to better their lives.

Sakun Gajurel.

Illustration by

Viktor Miller Gausa.

Meet your Governors

Jaishree

Excited to implement global grant projects

Arun Kumar Jain, Life Insurance, RC Hathras Heritage, RI District 3110

He started out as a Leo when he was young and became a Rotarian in 1994.

Arun Kumar Jain lists four projects being done with global grants — a dialysis centre in Mathura, computers in a school for the disabled in Bareilly, a ventilator-equipped ambulance in Hathras and creating four Happy Schools, equipping them with furniture, toilet blocks, wash stations and library. Further, all the 21 clubs of the district were given $1,000 each from the District Grants “to motivate the members to do some meaningful projects in their community. This has been a huge hit as so many clubs have done a wide range of activities,” he says.

He is keen on increasing women members as now there are only 6 per cent female members

in his district. His wife Seema is a member of RC Hathras Aastha, an all-women’s club. “She is very supportive and even identifies projects for clubs to implement.” He aims to add 400 new members to the existing 3,938 Rotarians and install new clubs in unrepresented areas.

He wants to streamline the Rotaract activity in the district. Of the 52 Rotaract clubs only 6 clubs are active, and he has chartered 12 new clubs.

His goal for TRF contribution is $450,000. “We have collected $100,000 so far but I am confident of meeting the target as we have 4 or 5 CSR projects lined up,” says Jain.

He wants to install 40 Rotaract clubs

Abhinandan Shetty

Hotelier, RC Kundapura South, RI District 3182

He proudly proclaims that he belongs to the same club where his father and grandfathers, both paternal and maternal, were members. Abhinandan Shetty was a DRR in 2002 and joined Rotary in 2005. He holds his assignment as counsellor for an International RYLA close to his heart. He is keen on inducting quality Rotarians and is of the view that Rotaractors will make good Rotarians as they are well oriented in Rotary and its principles. So he is presently focusing on transforming Rotaractors into Rotarians. The district has just two Rotaract clubs after it got bifurcated two years ago.

“I want to install 40 clubs and the charter is ready for 25 Rotaract clubs now,” says Shetty.

His signature project for the year is to create road safety awareness among youngsters and he is involving Rotaractors to perform street plays and rallies to spread the message.

Establishing a skin bank in Manipal and extending infrastructure support to schools in rural areas are his other plans. “I have three global grant sanctions for this,” he says. He has given three handwash stations for each of the 85 clubs in the district to promote the habit among schoolchildren.

His focus is on literacy

Bhabani Prasad Chowdhury

Mechanical

contractor,

RC Bhubaneshwar Excellence, RI District 3262

Hailing from a family of Rotarians, he joined Rotary in 2004. “I want to enhance our community’s literacy level. An educated man will never know poverty and knows to take good care of himself and those close to him,” says Bhabani Prasad Chowdhury. He was inspired to engage better in Rotary following a visit to a hospital in the city.

“As a green Rotarian, I accompanied the other members to distribute fruits and nutritional food among patients, and the expression of gratitude on their otherwise pained faces made me realise the enormity of what Rotary can do to impact people’s lives.”

All his projects revolve around literacy and he is happy that his district has set up quite a number of Swabhimaan centres to teach adult illiterates. He has set a target of enrolling 1,000 such people and the clubs

have already got 680 adults for the programme. He wants the clubs in his district to focus on the Asha Kiran programme to sponsor the education of school dropouts.

The DG has set aside district grants for all the 91 clubs to set up an e-learning centre in a school in their locality. “We have two global grants to implement WinS elements to enhance school hygiene and sanitation,” he says.

With a target of $500,000 for The Rotary Foundation, Chowdury is asking clubs to achieve 100 per cent contribution. The district has been showing an upward trend in giving in the past five years, he says.

He is aiming at a 10 per cent increase in membership and emphasises on chartering more Rotaract clubs.

His wife Prativa is also member of the same club.

Reviving Rotary interest is his priority

Deepak Jain, Educationist, RC Shamli, RI District 3100

This district has come to life after a two-year hiatus and Deepak Jain is busy gearing up his team to participate in various Rotary projects. “Lack of Rotary awareness is the main cause of all issues. People should take pride in being a Rotarian,” he says ruefully.

True to his vocation, he has motivated the clubs to enhance the learning atmosphere in many schools in the district by providing furniture, computers and e-learning facilities. Presently his focus is on establishing WinS elements in at least 100 schools.

With a goal of achieving 20 per cent growth in membership, he is well on track, having already added 10 per cent members

so far. “I am keen on increasing the team of women Rotarians from the present 69, to 100. But there will be no compromise on quality,” he says. He wants to increase the number of Rotaract clubs too, which is 20 now, and is excited to share that the district is organising a RYLA after 12 years.

As for TRF contribution, the DG is a bit sceptical, for, he has “to motivate the Rotarians to give.” The district has 50 Paul Harris Fellows.

Jain joined Rotary in 1993 and loves being a Rotarian, for, it has “given me everything — friends, lot of action and opportunities to serve the community. It has changed my life for the better.” His wife Geeta too is a member of his club.

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All power to Nashik women

V Muthukumaran

Chartered in 2002, RC Nasik Grapecity was the lead club in hosting the first-ever women Rotarians conference in RI District 3030. Club member Asha Venugopal, District Events Secretary, was instrumental in its success. Rightly so, for women constitute 60 per cent of its total membership which is poised to reach a strength of at least 55 by Jun 2019 from the present 49.

“We have taken up a slew of women-centric projects such as micro-credit to Adivasi women, benefitting 50–60 persons each year. Around ` 1.25 crore was disbursed to small entrepreneurs since 2008. In healthcare, tribal women were screened for low haemoglobin count and free medicines were given to them,” says Naresh Shah, the Enclave Chair for Nashik clubs. He was also the charter president of RC Nasik Grapecity. On the literacy front, 20–30 e-learning kits were distributed to Zilla Parishad schools in the last five years.

Mammography buses

While two mammography and cervical cancer detection buses (global grant projects) are doing the rounds over the last three years, a third such vehicle costing ` 1.5 crore and sponsored by RC Amaravati Midtown was flagged off six months ago. “The specially-equipped buses, having a six-member crew including a doctor and a manager, would have screened over 72,000 women in and around Nashik,” says Shah.

Having found that tribals in Kotumbi and Waghchouda padas (Adivasi hutments) were affected by skin diseases, “they were taught basic

hygiene and sanitation. Moreover, these women are trained in soap making with neem leaves, aloe vera and turmeric,” says Durga Sali, Club President.

Soon a vocational centre will teach women of low-income families need-based skills such as plumbing, repairing household gadgets and driving. The club is working on refurbishing Kishore Sudhralay, a juvenile home.

The club’s Service Director Sandhya Jain has come up with a proposal to organise self-defence camps for girls in slums.

Galvanising Rotaractors

So far, the club has sponsored one Rotaract club and three Interact clubs. An inter-district RYLA at Sangamner, 70 km en route to Pune, attracted 57 teenagers. A multi-district Rotaract conference is planned in March 2019.

Manning traffic signals and regulating traffic flow will be taught to Interactors in a time-bound programme and certificates will be given to all participants.

During the Kumbh Mela, that occurs once in 12 years, along with other clubs in Nashik, “we hold medical camps, aid police for lost and found material, missing people, and distribute food packets and refreshments for pilgrims,” says DGND Ramesh Meher. The city attracts around 12 lakh devotees a day from all over the country for a holy dip in the Godavari river at Triambakeshwar during the auspicious month.

The club has set a target of $6,000 in TRF giving this year and since inception, would have contributed around $75,000. So far, it has four Major Donors to its credit.

Rotarians of RC Nasik Grapecity with a Mammography bus in the background.

Wordsworld Truth is beauty, beauty truth

Sandhya Rao

The best poetry reaches into the deep recesses of the heart and stimulates the mind in a myriad ways.

Haqachchha. Par uske liye koi aur marey toh aur achchha. The packed hall burst into laughter when chief guest Arun Shourie recited these lines by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz which declare that it’s good to have rights but if someone else dies upholding them, it’s even better! This was at the inauguration of the justconcluded Lit For Life in Chennai, promoted as the sharpest literary festival in the country, and Shourie was making an impassioned plea for the freedom of speech and creative expression, urging that we stand together and speak up when fundamental rights are threatened or violated. Faiz’s lines instantly resonated, proving yet again that there’s nothing like poetry to reach directly to the heart.

The discovery of a collection of Subramania Bharati’s poems simultaneously published in Tamil and English goaded me to climb a short ladder at home to reach up to two shelves of poetry coated with the dust of years. Sneezing and snorting I brought the books down and embarked on a nostalgic trip. Swirling around in my head were lines from Bharati. In one he thunders Acchamillai, acchamillai, acchamenbadillaiyey / ucchimeethu vaanidinthu vizhuginra bothinum / acchamillai, acchamillai, acchamenbadillaiyey (We have no fear, no fear at all, even if the skies break and fall on our heads, we have no fear). In another he tells children to run about and play together: Odi vilaiyaadu paappa… koodi vilaiyaadu paappa . He burned with the desire for freedom and the emancipation of women, even as he sang about wiping out discrimination of every kind, stomping up and down streets, reciting his poems in an impassioned frenzy — all this by the time he was 39, when he died (in 1921) following complications after having been trampled upon by a temple elephant.

Bharati naturally leads to Kabir. Anybody who has studied Hindi in school will know the doha (couplet): Kasturi kundali basey, mrig dhoondai ban mahi /Aise ghat ghat Ram hai, duniya dekhe nahi (the deer roams

the forest following the scent of musk which actually lies within itself, even as we seek god outside ourselves). Or this one: Bura jo dekhan main chala, bura na miliya koy / Jo dil khoja aapana, mujhsey bura na koy (I sought the bad in others but discovered, when I looked within, that there was no one as bad as myself).

The search naturally led to the master who wove pure magic with his words: Rabindranath Tagore who turned down a knighthood from the British in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, saying the bejeweled necklace did not become him, it hurt him to wear it (Ei monihaar aamaay naahi shaajay / Erey porthey geley laagey, erey chheenthey geley baajey).

This brought back memories of a late evening in Ooty (now Udagamandalam), sitting on a low wall by a sloping road just outside the home of a dear friend’s aunt, singing Rabindra Sangeet to our heart’s content. One of the poems her uncle recited that evening was about a dusky beauty called Krishnakali whom the whole village calls ‘dark’, in which every stanza ends with the line: Kaalo? Taa shey jotoee kaalo hok, dekhechhi taar kaalo horin chokh (Dark? No matter how dark she may be, I have seen her black gazelle eyes). This line sends a shiver of delight up my spine each time I recall it.

Ho Chi Minh, the venerable Vietnamese leader, former prime

minister and president, who led the independence movement of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and who worked towards the unification of North and South Vietnam, wrote a series of poems when he was a prisoner of the Chinese in 1942–43. He was smart enough to write in Chinese so that his captors could read what he was writing and thus would not be suspicious, as we often are even when we hear people speak in a language we do not understand. The edition of Prison Diary on my bookshelf has the poems in Chinese, Vietnamese and English! Here’s one small sample from Uncle Ho:

Neither high up nor far away/On neither emperor’s nor king’s throne/ You’re only a little slab of stone/ Standing on the edge of the highway.

People ask you for guidance/You stop them from going astray/And tell them the distance/O’er which they must journey.

The service you render is no small one/People will remember what you’ve done.

Some of you may remember reading in the papers in 2002 about a young man unfurling the Tibetan national flag and a banner screaming ‘FREE TIBET’ from the 14th floor of Mumbai’s Oberoi Towers when the Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji

was addressing business people inside the building. In 2005, you may have read about this young man protesting similarly when the then Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, was in Bengaluru. The young man was Tenzin Tsundue, born in a refugee camp in India, and yearning for his homeland. I happened to meet him some years ago in Rajkot where he presented me with a slim collection of his writings, titled Kora. The first entry in that book is a poem that brings a lump to the throat every time. Here it is, ‘Horizon’:

From home you have reached/the horizon here.

From here to another/Here you go. From there to the next/next to the next/horizon to horizon/every step is a horizon.

Count the steps/and keep the number.

Pick the white pebbles/and the funny strange leaves.

Mark the curves/and cliffs around/ for you may need/to come home again.

The need to find your home and the unstoppable passage of time are only two of the myriad themes that run through poems. The best remain impressed upon your heart forever. Actor Meena Kumari’s inner life and churning permeate every poem in the collection, Meena Kumari Ki Shayari, introduced and collated by lyricist Gulzar to whom she willed her entire

body of writing upon her passing. This poem is called Lamhe (Moments): Kayi lamhe /Barsaat ki boondein hain/Naakaabiley-giraft/Seeney par aakar lagtey hain/Aur haath baddhaa/ Ki issey pehley/Phisal kar toot jaatey hain (Moments are like raindrops, they cannot be held. They fall upon you and before you can catch them, they slip away and break).

In One Hundred More Poems From the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth (translation, obviously), there is this gem by Saigyo, which seems somehow connected to Meena Kumari:

Why should I be bitter/About someone who was/A complete stranger/ Until a certain moment/In a day that has passed.

Wow! In Japanese, just for the sound of it and of course for those who know the language, it goes (transliterated in the Roman script): Utoku naru/Hito wo nanitote/Uramuramu/ Shirarezu shiranu/Ori mo arishini

As the 17th–18th century Sufi poet Bulleshah, writing in Punjabi, says: Sab ikko rang kapayee da / Ik aapey roop vataayee da (Cotton is always white, and cloth of different colours is made from this cotton). So simple, so true, completely unforgettable. They say truth is beauty, beauty truth. This is the beauty of poetry, this is the truth of poetry. A brilliant collection of “remembered verses from pre-modern South India” called Poem at the Right Moment reminds us of this sentiment in a short Sanskrit poem:

Samsaara-visha-vrikshya dvey phaley amrutopamey/Kaavyaamrutarasasvaada sangatthi saj-janaih saha

In other words: The Tree of Life is bitter/but it has two sweet fruits:/good poetry/and a good friend.

Indeed. Good poetry and a good friend. What more could we want?

The columnist is a children’s writer and senior journalist.

RC Tiruchengode — RID 2982

Aveterinary camp was held at Salapalayam village in which over 500 cattle were screened for various illnesses in the presence of a government official of the animal husbandry department.

RC Srirangam — RID 3000

Aseed ball making project was organised at a municipal school as part of the club’s aim to green the environment. A free blood grouping of students for creating their identity cards was also taken up by the Rotarians.

Club

RC Pondicherry Central — RID 2981

The club distributed relief material worth `2 lakh to Gaja cyclone victims at Muthupettai village and other areas in Nagapattinam district reaching out to over 200 families with household articles and food provisions.

RC Chopda — RID 3030

Asinging competition organised by the club was inaugurated by social worker Prabhaben Gujarathi. Nineteen student groups took part in the contest.

Matters

RC

Cosmopolitan Ahmedabad — RID 3054

Thirty tricycles worth `1.65 lakh were presented to differently-abled children of Apang Manav Mandal, an NGO, with funds mobilised from within the club with the aim to make life easier for the special children.

RC Chandigarh Midtown — RID 3080

Nutrient supplements were given to 150 TB patients including 90 packets donated to State TB Cell for distribution to various dispensaries in the city. Zone AG Ritu Singhal delivered an educational talk to the patients and their families.

RC Faridkot — RID 3090

Books and medals were distributed to meritorious students and an awareness programme on environment was held at a Government Middle School by the club.

RC Bareilly Metro — RID 3110

Amedical camp held at Mundia Ahmad Nagar in the town benefitted the residents who turned up in large numbers. The club conducts regular camps in this locality.

RC Poona Downtown — RID 3131

An eye camp was held at Dimbhe Khurd village near Pune. Around 200 adults from nearby areas were screened for various ailments. Spectacles were given for 120 people and 20 were identified for cataract operation.

RID 3132

Rotary clubs in Latur, Osmanabad, Beed, Nanded, Parbhani, Jalna, Aurangabad in Marathwada region, Satara, Solapur and Ahmednagar districts celebrated Bhaubeej on the fifth day of Diwali by distributing sarees and blouse material to 50,000 needy women including sanitary workers.

RC Bombay Bayview — RID 3141

Medical equipment worth ` 40 lakh was donated to St Elizabeth’s Hospital under a global grant in partnership with RC Ramlah, Israel, D 2490 and TRF. A mega health camp was organised at the hospital where 500 people were screened for ailments.

RC Pandaripuram — RID 3150

DG Ramesh Vangala distributed 5,000 cloth bags in a vegetable market as part of an anti-plastic drive by the club. He also inaugurated a sewing machine centre under the women’s empowerment project.

RC Bidar Fort — RID 3160

DG K Muni Girish inaugurated a welcome board on the National Highway which enhanced the visibility of the club. The board was sponsored by club member Subash Bashety.

RC Mysore — RID 3181

To mark its platinum jubilee, the club organised a blood donation camp which was inaugurated by representatives of three major religions. Along with Rotaractors, the members gave clothes to children at the Leprosy Dispensary Centre.

Matters

RC Murickassery — RID 3201

Rotarians led by Club President Sunny Paimbillil visited an orphanage Assissi Santhosh Bhavan and an old-age home Snehatheertham to donate gifts to the inmates. The club also organised a cultural event for children of three anganwadis which were badly affected by flood to boost the morale of children.

RC Kozhencherry – D 3211

As part of flood relief efforts, the club is constructing new wells and cleaning existing ones in the affected areas at a cost of `3 lakh. Under Snehaveedu, a house worth `5 lakh is being constructed for a beneficiary.

RC Vaniyambadi Midtown — RID 3231

Aheartscreening camp was organised in association with Chettinad Super Specialty Hospital. Out of 150 beneficiaries, 10 were chosen for surgery.

RC Green Land Silchar — RID 3240

Ahealthcheck-up camp was organised in which parameters like blood sugar and blood pressure were tested by a reputed physician. Free medicines were distributed at the camp for the patients.

RC Belur — RID 3291

Five cleft lip patients, including a 17-year-old, were operated at a nursing home in Kolkata under a global grant project of the club.

Compiled by V Muthukumaran

Designed by L Gunasekaran

The neem tree with sweet leaves

G Singh

Narayan Chandra Naskar is 85 now and for decades he had just one prayer on his lips — to meet his relatives whose whereabouts he did not know.

After 70 years his prayers were finally answered when he united with his family members who had thought that he was not alive. He could hardly believe his luck when he returned home in October last year.

Naskar was the youngest of ten children. “My father had a small piece of land which was not enough to feed us. We didn’t get proper education and my brothers started to work from an early age.

I then decided to join them,” he says. When he was 15, he left for Kolkata to work in his brother’s garage. “I took a narrow gauge train to Kolkata paying 50 paise for the journey. Nowadays, it costs around `10 for the same trip. Soon I got a good offer from a garage in Nepal and I left Kolkata without informing my brother. Since then I lost touch with my family.”

He worked as a mechanic in Nepal for few months and then shifted to various other places before landing in Renusagar in 1984 where he got employed as first grade auto mechanic in an aluminium manufacturing company. By now he had lost all touch

with his family. He got married to Minati of Nadia district in West Bengal.

At Renusagar he met Dilip Das who also hailed from Howrah district and requested him to trace his roots. Naskar didn’t remember anything about his house except that the railway station was Pantihal and the courtyard of his house had a neem tree which had sweet leaves. He remembers his parents fight over planting the sapling of the tree and how his mother had claimed that the leaves would be sweet. Her words turned prophetic.

Dilip Das says that this neem tree played a crucial role in tracing his family. “I came here and asked

people about the tree, but no one had any knowledge about it. In fact, they thought I was insane looking for sweet leaves in a neem tree. Finally, an old man alerted me to such a tree in Ichapur Sial Danga village. I immediately rushed there and met Somnath Naskar, one of Narayan’s relative,” he says.

Somnath (55) broke down into tears hearing about his uncle whom he had heard from his father. “I was not even born when he had left the house though my father had told me about an uncle who disappeared and never returned. I was overjoyed when I heard that he was alive,” he says.

Narayan Naskar (second from L) and his wife Manati with family.

Narayan Naskar embraced the neem tree and wept for hours soon after his return as it not only played an important role in bringing him back but also revived memories of his parents.

He now spends most of his time near the pond where he used to swim along with his friends during childhood and also sits in the verandah of a local political party office that was once the Kachari (tax collector’s office) during the British

Narayan Naskar only remembered that the railway station was Pantihal and the courtyard of his house had a neem tree with sweet leaves.

Raj. “Our country was then under the British rule. The wave of patriotism had also swept our village. Freedom fighters marched from one village to another raising slogans against the

British. We would follow them, shouting slogans, though we hardly knew the wider meaning of freedom in those days. I remember the elders reading newspapers and discussions

circled over Mahatma Gandhi and the impending partition,” he says, taking a trip down memory lane.

“I always had a deep desire to be cremated in the village where my grandparents lived and died. I wanted my body to mingle with the earth of my village where I was born and had played. Finally, God has been kind to me and have answered my prayers. I do not want anything more,” he says, even as the black clouds open up to drench the earth. n

Nayan Patel appointed Trustee at Lepra

Nayan Patel, a member of RC Westminster West, London, RID 1130, has been appointed to the Board of Trustees at Lepra, a UK-based specialist charity which works to eradicate leprosy in India, Bangladesh and Mozambique.

Patel is also a Trustee of Council for Education in the Commonwealth, a parliament-based NGO, as well as serving on the Advisory Boards of Rotary India Literacy Mission and The Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Develop ment at Somerville College, University of Oxford. He was recently recognised with Rotary Internation al’s ‘Service Above Self’ Award, for his contribution

Nayan Patel receiving Service Above Self Award from RIPE Mark Maloney.

to the organisation and extensive charitable work globally. Although leprosy is no longer a health problem in developed countries, it continues to affect millions of people in large parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Lack of awareness, myths, socio-cultural beliefs and the stigma attached to leprosy are perhaps the most pressing challenges before public health activists today. “I look forward to working with the board in this global fight to eradicate leprosy,” said Patel, accepting his new assignment.n

When the heart and mind

Bharat and Shalan Savur

Too often we rush into what our mind says and ignore the heart’s call. Is there a difference? Yes. The heart is that much closer to our instinct, our gut-feel of what’s appropriate or not for the situation. Paradoxically, the mind races mindlessly, the heart prefers a slower, more measured, mindful pace. The mind judges and can be intolerant, the heart accepts and gives a long rope. The mind says yes to harmful habits, the heart says no. The mind frets impatiently, the heart is willing to wait.

The fact is, mind and heart are required for a balanced life. They don’t have to agree, but they give us the space to discern, reflect and take preventive steps. The mind is a great motivator when we need to act swiftly, while the heart is a lovely ally when we need to surrender to life’s flow and blows. And both facilitate in changing our decision when things shift.

Remember and listen. You have an inbuilt personal guidance set-up; all you have to do is listen to it. It puts you in touch with your own sense of what is right for you — a core stability that allows you to act wisely.

Most of us blurt out the first thought or reaction that pops into our mind, especially when we are with our loved ones. When it is negative, it creates disharmony in the relationship and rocks our own stability. On the other hand, before speaking, if we silently listen to our heart’s murmur and apply the Socrates’ method of questioning: “Will this help? Is it really necessary? Am I pandering to my ego?”, our stability takes over like a conductor in a

balance…

grand orchestra and harmony hums its sweet, unheard melody.

Nurture a relationship between your mind and heart. The mind holds only our ego, information and experience, not knowledge or stability. The heart holds our spirit, a deeper knowledge and wisdom. When each crosses the bridge to the other, we remain stable and balanced.

A morning mantra. To bring mind and heart together, start the day with this affirmation given by a Yoga teacher: “We develop ourselves beautifully only when we maintain a balanced state of mind and heart all the time, all the time, all the time.”

there is immense peace; where there was resentment, there’s a wide, softly yielding acceptance. Doing away with emotional stresses brings great relief, deep tranquillity and a quiet joy shining with the dignity of self-reliance.

A feel-good heart. With a clear mind and heart, it is easier to deal with physiological stress as well. Research has revealed that the heart is much happier, literally light-hearted, when the abdominal area is free of fat. It has nothing to do with looking good, but feeling good. And it has everything to do with not getting a heart attack.

Do every duty, task or chore as if you’ve chosen it. Do it wholeheartedly without any resentment, only with love.

Then do every duty, task or chore as if you’ve chosen it. Do it wholeheartedly without any resentment, and only with love. Even if regarded by society as ‘menial’, honour it as noble because from the highest perception, all is noble. Focus on every activity as if it is the only activity you have to do. Do it well with full attention. Concentrate on it with the sweet intensity of a child absorbed in playing with a toy. Be deeply devoted to the process, enjoy your ability to do it. Willingly surrender the outcome of your efforts to the world and allow a wonderful sense of fulfilment to be your reward.

When you hold this attitude and work from it day after day, a beautiful sense of quiet flourishing gathers in you — a deeper knowing that you are in the place and space you are meant to be. This knowing is a benediction — you become completely free. Where there was fear, there is now an overarching fullness; where there was an inner trembling,

Researchers say fat around the midriff is a symptom that we have unwanted visceral fat. The danger visceral fat poses is its penchant to accumulate around our organs — the heart, kidney and liver. It’s an albatross. It weighs them down, doesn’t allow them to function with ease and the stress on them is enormous. So, reduce this stressful fat by walking briskly 42 minutes daily or do stationery-cycling 30 minutes every day. Follow it up with 30 crunches. Then, 30 hyperextensions with five-pounders: Lie on your back, holding weights. Raise arms pointing weights to the ceiling. Lower both arms backward to the floor until you feel a stretch on your abs. Raise again.

Cut out sweets. Sugar raises insulin in the bloodstream disallowing the fat from being burnt. Cut out fats, alcohol and salt too. Why add when there is already excess to be rid of?

End the exercise session with this simple and helpful posture: Stand, feet together, hands at sides. Close your eyes, quieten the mind. Raise both arms sideways until fingers point to the ceiling, palms touching each other. Hold this pose for one minute. It enables all the organs to click into their correct places. Lower the arms.

Mind the mind. Above all, give up this obsession, this addiction to thinking, presuming, speculating and seeing the worst in every situation. An annoyed mind turns everything and everybody drab, irksome, awful. To the annoyed mind, a pleasant smile looks like a sneer, a beautiful person appears unpleasing, a rhythmic drumbeat sounds noisy. My wish for all of us is to have a mind full of love, blessings, acceptance and warmth. These are the three mind-rules that synchronise with the heart rules which I practise and find wonderfully effective:

Not to assume but ask for facts

Not to judge but understand the reasons or let it go

To think a hundred times before hurting someone and feel their pain and yours which is bound to arise later.

When you are synchronised in mind and heart, it’s as if the Universe is working on your frequency and sending the good stuff to you on an invisible cosmic conveyor belt. And whenever an unexpected flash of joy zips through you, know it’s the good stuff on the cosmic conveyor belt coming closer and closer to where you are.

The writers are authors of Fitness for Life and Simply Spiritual – You Are Naturally Divine and teachers of the Fitness for Life programme.

Designed by N Krishnamurthy

A Rotary circle in Mysore

Team Rotary News

On Gandhi Jayanti Day, RC Mysore Midtown, D 3181, embarked on the beautification of a circle in a residential area on the outskirts of Mysuru city, as it badly needed a facelift and traffic too had increased several-fold. The project was identified by Club President Prahlad and members contributed for it. In a short time of three months the circle was constructed at a cost of ` 3.5 lakh and dedicated to the public.

The aesthetically designed circle incorporated murals depicting various services rendered by Rotary and on the inaugural day the colourfully decorated circle attracted a lot of attention thereby strengthening Rotary’s public image.

D 3110 prepares the AGs for 2019–20

District3110 conducted a workshop for the Assistant Governors of the Rotary Year 2019–20. DGE Kishor Katru chaired the meet. Goals for the next year were discussed and the AGs agreed to raise a substantial contribution for TRF with an initial $30,000 during the first month.

Katru aims to set up a dialysis unit in Bareilly, a cath lab and an eye care centre during the year.

The team resolved to address avoidable blindness, in line with one of RIPN Sushil Gupta’s dream, by conducting rigorous screening camps. “We have set a target of making 10,000

DGE Kishor Katru (centre) with AGs and PDGs at the workshop.

villages blindness-free before the Taipei Convention, with 150 villages being adopted for the next year,” said Katru. He will be signing an MoU with Mohan Eye Institute and Shreshtha Netra Chikitsalya for performing surgeries for cataract and retinal detachment free of cost for the villagers.

Forest of Tides: The untold story of the Sunderbans

Author : Manisha Sobhrajani

Publisher : Hachette India

Pages : 166; `399

In Forest of Tides, Manisha Sobhrajani recounts her experience of living and working in the Sunderbans supervising the construction of a charitable hospital. Adjusting to a life without basic amenities, getting to know the local people, from honey-gatherers, wood collectors, forest officials to even a former poacher, this deeply personal account paints a richly nuanced picture of a challenging yet extraordinary land.

The most enigmatic of India’s landscapes, the Sunderbans is a land where dense mangrove forests, a sprawling delta and rare wildlife come together to form a biodiverse region.

On the racks

Create Space

Author : Derek Draper

Publisher : Hachette India

Pages : 306; `399

This book shows how to push back against the tide and create space in your life to think, relate and act at deeper levels. Learn to focus, manage time and take control of your mental and physical space to excel in anything. The author shows how to do just that, drawing on real-life examples and the best of both classical and cutting-edge psychological thinking. You’ll find here tips used by some of the biggest organisations to set strategy, raise productivity and create change.

Notes for Healthy Kids and for parents too

Author : Rujuta Diwekar

Publisher : Hachette India

Pages : 246; `350

Abook

for both parents and kids, Notes for Healthy Kids focuses on clearing the underlying food confusion that leads to endless diet trends. It empowers kids to make the right food choices for themselves. Targeted and misleading advertisements, and policymakers failing to protect children’s interest are featured here. It combines the latest in nutrition science with time-tested wisdom of our grandmothers, and offers easy-to-follow advice for all aspects of a child’s life.

Bus ek baar

Poet : Dr Ravindra Narayan Pehalwan

Langage : Hindi

Genre : Anthology

Publisher : Neeraj Book Centre

Pages : 200; `200

This is a composition of 200 short, beautiful and real-life inspired Hindi poems. The author writes about relationships and responsibilities, love, peace, life and death, celebration, agony, and many other human aspects. Bus ek baar covers a range of topics that can connect both children and adults. Ravindra Narayan Pehalwan draws parallels between real life incidents and his own experiences. The simple compositions will touch your heart.

Compiled by Kiran Zehra

Designed by Krishnapratheesh S

The Old Boys Reunion ordeal

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

Ageing has several rewards, not the least of which is being able to watch other people work while you relax. But to compensate for this schadenfreude, there are also those niggling aches and pains. These, however, pale in front of another problem, that utterly dismaying practice of the Old Boys Reunion. The first one I went to was about 12 years ago before any of us had retired, and hence quite pointless. It was a school thing. I had spent only a year or so at that school and wasn’t quite sure whether I counted as an ‘Old Boy’. But they invited me anyway. I refused at first but the Old Girl in charge of the festivities was very insistent and I finally relented.

The venue was an old, restored palace, now a boutique hotel with a wonderful lawn. I wandered around for a while sipping some not-so-good whiskey, wondering who was who. Not a single face seemed even remotely familiar and to add insult to growing bewilderment, when I went for my second drink the Old Boy tending the bar asked me who I was. Not quite like that, of course, but obliquely.

When I told him, he started laughing and said that particular party was on the adjoining lawn. “But finish your drink anyway,” he said. “Their lawn doesn’t have an excise licence, so no booze there.” We got talking because he seemed decent enough so I had a third drink with him.

About 20 minutes later I decided to move along and squeezed through the hedge separating the two lawns to find that here too, I could barely recognise anyone. Eventually the Old Girl who had got everyone together shuffled up and asked if I was so-and-so. I said yes and she said she thought so because I was the only one she had difficulty in recognising! The others, she said, had spent 11 years with her at the school so there was no problem. After a while I got tired of people asking me who I was and left before dinner was announced.

The next invitation came a few months ago, this time from an Old Student from my college. I had no idea who he was and ignored it. He kept texting everyday till, once more, against my better judgement, I agreed to go. On the appointed date I went to the 5-star hotel after a two-hour ordeal in the traffic. This time it was being recognised that became a problem. Everyone seemed to know me and everyone wanted to shake hands. But I hate this western practice because god knows where those hands have been. It was a terrible ordeal. I could not do

The combination, of having children working abroad and having grandchildren, became a status symbol and a topic of geriatric boastfulness.

the more formal namaste to guys who were 16 when I first saw them. After a while my face also started to ache because of all that forced smiling and fake laughing at how awful we all looked half a century after we first met. Most of the Old Students had become grandfathers and many had children working abroad. Fortunately, wives were not invited but the Old Girls were. More disillusionment.

The combination, of having children working abroad and having grandchildren, for some unknown reason, became a status symbol and a topic of geriatric boastfulness. If you scored on only one count, you came in at second place and if you scored on neither you counted for nothing. One or two poor fellows who, sensibly, had never married or even more farsightedly, quickly divorced, were banished to the outer edges of the scrum and soon left. It was one of the most horrible experiences I have had, worse in some ways even than the school reunion a decade earlier.

I decided to make a run for it, but a guy was standing at the exit demanding a subscription of `5,000, “Only, Sir,” he added impertinently. I slipped out clutching my abdomen, saying I was only going to the bathroom and obtained relief for my bloated bladder as well as my emaciated wallet. Believe me, the only thing worse than a bursting bladder is a room bursting with Old Boys and Girls.

Indian colours at IA

Above: (From L) Mala Basker, Vanathy Ravindran, Sonal Sanghvi and Madhavi Pandya.

Left: RIPE Mark Maloney and Gay being greeted by Indian delegates.

The spouses of incoming District leaders with Gay Maloney at the IA. Sonal Sanghvi and Mala Basker are also present.

Regn. No. TN/CCN/360/2018-2020

Licensed to post WPP No.TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-431/2018-2020

Total number of pages in this monthly issue, including cover, 84. Price: `35

Registered with Registrar of News Papers for India 3880/57 Rotary News Published on 1st of every month