Rotary News - May 2016

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Vol.66, Issue 11 Annual Subscription Rs.420

May 2016

Incoming TRF Chief

Join the Traditional

South Asian Reception at RI Convention Seoul, South Korea Dear Members of the Rotary Family We invite you to participate in the traditional South Asia Reception at 6.30 pm on Saturday, May 28, at CONRAD SEOUL. It is a great opportunity to meet our world leaders RI President KR Ravindran, President Elect John Germ, Board of Directors, Trustees of The Rotary Foundation and our own leaders PRIP Raja Saboo, PRIP Kalyan Banerjee and others.

We are having some excellent and delicious Indian food for dinner. You can meet our fellow Rotarians from South Asia and network with them. It is a great occasion to invite your International Partners. Looking forward to meet all of you.

Regards Dr. Manoj Desai Dr. Sharmishtha Desai

VENUE CONRAD SEOUL 10 Gukjegeumyung-ro (Yeouido), Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07326, Korea Tel : +82 (0)2 6137 7522 Fax: +82 (0)2 6137 7545 Mobile: +82 (0)10 8912 6567

Registration Fees : INR 5,500 per person Payment Details : Ravi Vadlamani, Axis Bank, Naaz Centre, Guntur SB A/c. No. 070010100153096. IFSC Code : UTIB0000070 PDG Dr Ravi Vadlamani Chairman South Asia Reception dg3150@gmail.com

PDG A S Venkatesh Co-Chairman South Asia Reception venkatesh@grouppopular.com

PDG T V R Murti Secretary South Asia Reception murtitvr@hotmail.com

Contents 22 A man of commitment An interview with RI President Elect John F Germ.

27 COL Highlights A peek into the high points of the Council on Legislation 2016.

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A cocktail of compassion, leadership and vision

A voracious reader, an art lover, a foodie and a forgiving man … add to this his dynamism, leadership skills and ability to see the big picture, and you have the incoming Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee.

28 Germ inspires incoming Presidents The multi-district PETS and SETS offered a unique opportunity for incoming club leaders to prepare for their leadership roles in the coming year.

34 Why ISIS, Taliban are afraid of education Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s passionate appeal at the Kolkata Presidential Conference to end child labour and empower children with education.

36 The Seven Sisters get a Rotary Medical Mission In yet another medical mission led by PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, Rotarian doctors and volunteers bring RAHAT to Dimapur.

48 A Rotary Peace

Conference laid the foundation for SAARC When the entire South Asia region shares similar cultures, religions, customs, the “trust deficit” can be ended only by its people.

53 Rotary Global Rewards The member benefit programme that offers discounts on products and services to Rotarians and Rotaractors.

58 A dream village school One man’s dream provides quality education to children of several villages.

68 Memories... of Kasheer

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Happy schools, minds and bodies

Rotary leaders urge clubs to give more impetus to the WinS programme to see more children in school.

On the cover: Incoming TRF Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee and spouse Binota.

Picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

LETTERS

A

ll articles in the February issue were excellent. I have never read any magazine so thoroughly before though I am a voracious reader! The year I spent as President of my club is one of the best in my life. Kudos to you and your team for the pains you take in bringing out a wonderful magazine every month.

Rtn Jaya Savanur RC Hubli Midtown-D 3170

Rotary News gets better and better

C

ongratulations to you and your team for making Rotary News a true mirror of news from several RI Districts, and highlighting activities of various Rotary clubs. A Rotarian for 30 years I find commendable the new look you’ve given to the magazine through beautiful layouts, thoughtful editorials, in-depth and objective presentation of Rotary’s current and future projects. The quality of photographs is excellent. A new series of articles by experts and professionals on various subjects such as health, food and tourism are added attractions for readers like me.

In any magazine readers expect two things — matter and manner.

Matter every magazine does provide, but what enhances the value of the production is the manner.

Rtn BD Sharma RC Phagwara South East-D 3070

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am at a loss of words to appreciate all your editions of Rotary News.

You have proved to be an excellent and thoughtful editor. Your innovative ideas are clearly visible and I really admire you for this wonderful accomplishment. I am a professor of philosophy in Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and founder of an all-women’s Rotary club — RC Bhubaneswar New Horizon, chartered in June, 2007.

Rtn Jayanti Jagdeb RC Bhubaneswar New Horizon-D 3262

4 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

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ompliments to you and the Board for bringing out excellent issues month after month with captivating photographs and fascinating coverage of various services rendered by Rotary and other Rotary events. Rotary News was appreciated even by PRIP Charles C Keller for outstanding journalism!

Rtn K Shrikanth Rao RC Shimoga-D 3180

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ongratulations for your editorial, Two CSR Champions, published in March. Having highlighted the generosity of philanthropists, such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rajashree Birla, you have inspired many Rotarians to loosen their purse strings. The cover story relating to the charity of Sandra Shroff bringing major changes in the lives of the

people in Vapi, Gujarat is worth mentioning. Thanks for the heart-touching and inspiring articles and editorials.

Rtn CL Thomas RC Kalamassery-D 3201

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otary News is getting more and more interesting; my compliments to the Editor and her team. It is sad that once again polio vaccinators have been targeted in Balochistan, killing 15 people. Pakistan’s commitment to polio vaccination is laudable. Since 1985, Rotary has contributed $1.3 billion to protect over 2 billion children in 122 countries. And Rajashree Birla has helped tremendously in this campaign with matchless humility and generosity. The issue carries reports of many clubs working with TRF help.

I salute the Literacy Heroes, and compliment Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi for his lovely speech. The February issue gives good details of TRF and the Rotary peace conference in California. I have enjoyed reading PRID P T Prabhakhar’s stirring speeches and now enjoy Manoj Desai’s writing.

Rtn Raj Kumar Kapoor RC Roopnagar-D 3080

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am a Rotarian and past president of my club from 1985 and a regular

Make it more visually appealing

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y father became a Rotarian when I was ten years old, and since then The Rotarian has been ‘must read’ for me. When I joined Rotary, I continued with Rotary News, then edited by KV Chari. Over the years the magazine has shaped my thought process and made me a broad-minded and open-hearted Rotarian. It gets better each year and with each editor. But many new Rotarians don’t read it. This is

a challenge and for Rotarians who don’t travel, it’s impossible to know the magnitude and diversity of Rotary. So to make them read, can we change the layout, make it more visually appealing, make some articles shorter with a link on the web for the complete article? Let’s identify ways and means to get more Rotarians to read the magazine.

Rtn Sajanan Nambiar RC Vapi Riverside-D 3060

LETTERS reader of Rotary News. Under your editorship the progress of the magazine has been good. My wife, a past Inner Wheel president, takes more interest than me to read the magazine. All the articles are interesting and inspirational. I have a small request; kindly ensure that the magazine reaches us on time. I have received the March issue only in the first week of April.

Rtn Magan Tandon RC Lakimpur Kheri-D 3120

Great interview

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am a Rotarian for the past 50 years; I found the feature on Jennifer Jones interesting; Rasheeda Bhagat’s beautifully crafted interview is highly appreciated.

She has shown her journalistic acumen in probing deeply into the mind of Jennifer Jones about roles and opportunities for women in Rotary. The interview was a good read.

Rtn Radheshyam Modi RC Akola-D 3030

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y heartiest congratulations to the editorial team for the “Grand and Great” style in which Rotary News is being brought out. It is a pleasure to go through, being exhaustive and informative on how Rotarians are assisting in literacy, health, environment, etc and improving lives.

In the April issue, the articles: ‘Why didn’t you come earlier?’, ‘Returning their childhood’, ‘No longer Children of a Lesser God’, etc were enthralling.

Each page has to be read again and again. My request: devote more space for news from Northern India.

Rtn R N Sehgal RC Ludhiana-D 3070

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am very pleased with the article — We’ll see an RI woman President in five years. I support the idea of a woman taking up the duties and responsibilities of an RI President. At present, Rotary has many eligible women for this position — Jennifer, Carolyn or Noyer, to name a few. Certainly, to become an ideal RI President, it is the leadership qualities, being well-versed in Rotary matters and personal integrity that matters and not the gender.

Rtn K Ramakrishna RC Sullia-D 3180

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always read the President Speaks column. His speciality is narrating big Rotary matters with small interesting stories. The story of Mother Teresa and an airline director who had come to hand over a ticket to her was great.

Rtn N Jagatheesan RC Eluru-D 3020

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veteran Rotary Spouse down memory lane, which reports Usha Saboo’s speech, is motivating and encouraging. She is a role model to all Rotary spouses, and I suggest Ushaji should share her experience with other spouses at suitable platforms. This will result in active involvement of spouses and add to Rotary’s success.

Rtn DK Zarekar RC Nashik Ambad-D 3030

Step wells of Gujarat

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always wait eagerly to get my copy of Rotary News. The article on the step wells of Rajasthan and Gujarat is extraordinary. Every minute detail has been included in the description. I am

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he April issue was impressive. The front inner picture of the two Nepali girls with the RI President K R Ravindran says it all. All the articles and photos by the Editor were excellent.

Well done! I look forward to a woman becoming an RI President in the coming years. The feature We’ll see an RI woman President in five years is a boost to all woman Rotarians, and should be read by all Rotary spouses.

Jennifer Jones’ record-breaking performance is appreciable. Her words are heart-touching and portray her dedication and love for Rotary — “I loved being club president so much that I could have continued for 20 years! The hardest part was stopping!”

I congratulate D 3230 and D 3590 for their excellent project — Happy Village. The most impressive article was Returning their childhood. The life which God failed to give the children, Rotary gives. My best wishes to RC Guntur Adarsh. This issue makes me more proud of being a Rotarian. Thanks Rotary, thanks Rotary News!

Rtn CA V Jayaprakash RC Salem East-D 2982 from Patan, North Gujarat where Rani ni Vav is located and was very happy to see the inclusion of our world heritage site in our monthly magazine.

Rtn Dr Dikshit RC Patan-D 3051

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

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 5

Board of Permanent Trustees

Governors’ Council RI Dist 2981

DG

Dr Gunasekaran Chinnathambi

RI Dist 2982

DG

R Vasu

RI Dist 3000

DG

R Theenachandran

RI Dist 3011

DG

Sudhir Mangla

RI Dist 3012

DG

Jitender Kumar Gaur

RI Dist 3020

DG

M Jagadeeswara Rao

RI Dist 3030

DG

Dr Nikhil Arvind Kibe

RI Dist 3040

DG

Sanjeev Gupta

RI Dist 3051

DG

C A Lalit Sharma

RI Dist 3052

DG

Pradhuman Kumar Patni

RI Dist 3053

DG

Anil Beniwal

RI Dist 3060

DG

Parag Sheth

RI Dist 3070

DG

Kuldip Kumar Dhir

RI Dist 3080

DG

David Joseph Hilton

RI Dist 3090

DG

Dharam Vir Garg

RI Dist 3100

DG

Deepak Babu (Acting DG)

RI Dist 3110

DG

Sharat Chandra

RI Dist 3120

DG

Ved Prakash

RI Dist 3131

DG

Subodh Mukund Joshi

RI Dist 3132

DG

Dr Deepak Prabhakar Pophale

RI Dist 3140

DG

Subhash Kulkarni

RI Dist 3150

DG

Gopinath Reddy Vedire

RI Dist 3160

DG

Dr Gautam R Jahagirdar

RI Dist 3170

DG

Shrinivas Ramkrishna Malu

RI Dist 3180

DG

Dr A Bharathesh

RI Dist 3190

DG

K P Nagesh

RI Dist 3201

DG

Kamlesh V Raheja

RI Dist 3202

DG

George Sundararaj

RI Dist 3211

DG

C Luke

RI Dist 3212

DG

J Navamani

RI Dist 3230

DG

C R Raju

RI Dist 3240

DG

Chandu Kumar Agarwal

RI Dist 3250

DG

Dr Bindu Singh

RI Dist 3261

DG

Rakesh Dave

RI Dist 3262

DG

Sibabrata Dash

RI Dist 3291

DG

Jhulan Basu

PRIP PRIP PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID PRID RID

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

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

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (In addition to Board of Permanent Trustees)

DG Chandu Kumar Agarwal

RI Dist 3240

Chair - Governors Council

DG C R Raju

RI Dist 3230

Secretary - Governors Council

DG Subodh Mukund Joshi

RI Dist 3131

Secretary - Executive Committee

DG Dr Gautam R Jahagirdar

RI Dist 3160

Treasurer - Executive Committee

DG Sudhir Mangla

RI Dist 3011

Member - Advisory Committee

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

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

From th e E d i t or ’s Desk

Winds of change at Rotary

T

he COL (Council on Legislation) meet was held in Chicago in May, and many Rotary leaders have hailed it as a path-breaking one. As many as 180 proposals were discussed over the COL week and quite a few significant decisions were taken. That the RI dues for Rotarians will now go up by $4 a year for three years is a decision that is bound to cause some anxiety among Indian Rotarians. But then, as PRIP Raja Saboo put it at the COL, even though this was not a small amount in India, when he asked himself what Rotary had given him, he had to admit “Rotary has made me a better person.” And he couldn’t put a price on that!

But more than the raising of RI dues, the lingo and the mood, as gauged, not from a snowing Chicago, but far away from a smouldering Chennai, was to usher in change. The RI leadership has finally decided to walk the talk; after endless debates on change — how to change, where to change, when to change, what to change — the COL has finally embraced change. And this change comes wrapped in a package of freedom and flexibility for the clubs. We’ve heard most senior Rotary leaders saying that “Rotary happens in the Clubs,” and not at the RI headquarters in Evanston. Well, now those clubs will be armed with the freedom to decide how often they meet, where they meet, what form or mode that meeting will take, but within the framework of at least two meetings a month.

Also, the stringent criteria on who can join a Rotary club have also been relaxed by Rotary’s legislative body; the earlier six criteria for membership have now been relaxed and replaced with the simple requirement that a person with good character, good reputation in the chosen profession

and enthusiasm and willingness to serve the community can become a Rotarian. This is certainly bound to boost membership. Add to it the new rule that Rotaractors can now join Rotary clubs as ‘associate members,’ and the changing face of Rotary is amply evident. The best news for us at the Rotary News Trust is the mandatory subscription to at least one Rotary magazine — either the regional magazine or The Rotarian — has been reinforced. Of course if there are more than one Rotarian living at the same address, then they can get only one magazine. But when we match our subscription data to the number of Rotarians in India, and the total subscription to The Rotarian — which by the way comes at a price tag of $24, compared to sub-$7 (Rs 420) for Rotary News — we find there are a few thousand Rotarians out there who are not subscribing to any magazine. This is a serious breach with consequences which the club will have to face. According to the rule book, if we bring this to RI’s notice the defaulting clubs can face a range of issues including inability to participate in district nominations and elections and even suspension. As the new Rotary year approaches, both outgoing and incoming Presidents will do well to ensure that their clubs are not defaulters in this area.

Beginning this month, we’ve started a new feature — Club Corner — where four good projects of different clubs will be featured.

Rasheeda Bhagat

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 7

President

Speaks

Dear Fellow Rotarians, Some years ago, in the Kano plains of Kenya, a well-meaning development agency took on the task of improving water availability to a rural community.

Committees were formed, meetings were held, and the local people were consulted. The main need the community identified was improved delivery of water for irrigation and livestock. A plan to meet this need was created, and the work was soon begun, exactly as the community representatives had requested.

Yet once construction began, it was met by immediate protest from groups of community women, who came to the site and physically blocked workers from building diversion channels. Upon further investigation, the agency realised that the water it was diverting for farming came from a source that dozens of families relied on for water for cooking, drinking, and washing. The entire project had to be scrapped.

Why? Because it had never occurred to a single member of the all-male team in charge to consult the local women. At every stage, it was assumed that the men knew the needs, spoke for the community, and were able to represent it. Clearly, this was far from the case. The women knew the needs of the community, and its resources, far better — but their opinion was never sought.

We have had women in Rotary for only the last quarter of our history, and it is no coincidence that those years have been by far our most productive. In 1995, only 1 in 20 Rotarians were women; today, that number has risen to 1 in 5. It is progress, but it is not enough. It is only common sense that if we want to represent our communities, we must reflect our communities, and if we want to serve our communities fully, we must be sure that our communities are fully represented in Rotary.

Rotary’s policy on gender equality is absolutely clear. Yet nearly onefifth of our clubs still refuse to admit women, usually by claiming that they simply cannot find women who are qualified for membership. I would say that any Rotarian who makes this argument, or believes it, himself lacks the two most basic qualifications for Rotary membership: honesty and good sense.

A club that shuts out women shuts out much more than half the talent, half the ability, and half the connections it should have. It closes out the perspectives that are essential to serving families and communities effectively. It damages not only its own service but our entire organisation by reinforcing the stereotypes that limit us the most.

It leads our partners to take us less seriously, and it makes all of Rotary less attractive to potential members, especially the young people who are so crucial to our future.

To tolerate discrimination against women is to doom our organisation to irrelevance. We cannot pretend that we still live in Paul Harris’ time, nor would he ever want us to. For, as he said, “The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again. ” Let us see to it that the story we write in Rotary is one of which he would be proud.

K R Ravindran President, Rotary International

Council on Legislation

Democracy at its Best!

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t is held once in three years and attended by more than 530 representatives from all the RI Districts in the world to debate, discuss and electronically vote for the submitted resolutions/enactments by any and all the districts.

All the items are divided into two parts — Enactments and Resolutions.

A proposed enactment seeks to amend the RI constitutional documents.

A proposed resolution is any item that does not seek to amend these documents (the RI constitution, RI bylaws, the standard Rotary club constitution) but the other RI policies and procedures.

It is a 472-page binder with Regular Legislations (1601 to 16 - 181) — Enactments categorised in the areas of Club administration, avenues of service and object of Rotary, club meetings, attendance, membership, RI officers and Elections (RI President, RI Directors, Governors and miscellaneous), legislative procedures, The Rotary Foundation and Rotary International.

Friends, it is an incredible experience. Please do go to Rotary's website and see how a paradigm shift is coming especially in innovations and flexibility.

These could be important to make Rotary relevant in the 21st century, so do visit our website: www.rotary.org The COL 2016 is rated as the most progressive one, as it opens the door to gen-next with innovation and flexibility.

Manoj Desai Director, Rotary International

A cocktail of compassion, leadership and vision Rasheeda Bhagat A voracious reader, an art lover, a foodie and a forgiving man ‌ add to this his dynamism, leadership skills and ability to see the big picture, and you have the incoming Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee.

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y father came to Vapi and said: ‘Kalyan, there is nothing here, it is empty, barren land full of cobras and other snakes; chalo yaha se.’ But I said because there is nothing here, we can do anything. That was my outlook. He gave up on me and went away.”

In a relaxed mood, Past RI President and incoming Trustee Chair of The Rotary Foundation Kalyan Banerjee reminisces on his early years in Vapi, Gujarat, where he started the United Phosphorus Ltd; “but it was Rajju Shroff’s money.”

We are seated at his and Binota Banerjee’s lovely, cosy home in Vapi,

Incoming TRF Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee with spouse Binota.

Before the marriage the man promised his bride: I’ll earn more money than you can spend.

which is undergoing some renovation.

I am familiar with Banerjee’s erudition and grey cells, but it is his candour and wry sense of humour that distinguish the man for me. We begin by discussing the newly acquired beautifully carved wooden door from Kutch, where under his leadership, Rotarians of RC Vapi and District 3060 had done phenomenal reconstruction and rehabilitation work after the Gujarat earthquake of 2001.

“I was there within 24 hours, searching for the then DGE Bharat Dholakia. The town was totally dark, people were crying and burning dead bodies in the middle of the town.

I went to where Bharat lived and asked about him; nobody replied. Suddenly, lifting a mosquito net put up in the middle of the road, he emerged, and started crying after seeing me. There were no phones, no water, no power, and he said, ‘I can’t be DG.’ I said you must; I’ll help you. My office in Bombay is yours.”

For two years Banerjee led a Rotary campaign, one of the largest rebuilding efforts in India; “we helped build over 1,500 homes and 170-odd schools.” Since then, along with the people, the arts and crafts of Kutch are close to his heart. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a Rogan painting done by an artist in Kutch to US President Obama, he has also got a couple for his home. “Did you notice the hitchko (jhoola) outside; that’s from Bhuj too. I love the arts and crafts of Bhuj,” he says.

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anerjee comes from a “very middle class” family. His grandfather worked as a clerk with the British Government in Shimla; his father worked for a while with the Union Carbide before starting “a real estate business in Calcutta, where he made some money, but lost more!”

His education began at Rabindranath Tagore’s Shanti Niketan, continued in a Calcutta school, before he was sent to the Scindia School in Gwalior. After a year at St Xavier’s College, he wrote the IIT entrance exam and was among the first to get

My father came to Vapi and said: ‘Kalyan, there is nothing here, it is empty barren land full of cobras and other snakes; chalo yaha se.’

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 11

So the freshly minted IIT graduate joined Excel Industries, started by the Shroff brothers, on a salary of Rs 300! “They were astute Kutchi businessmen and entrepreneurs, but very fair, sincere and honest.” One day the youngest brother, who he called Kanti kaka, read his palm (“I don’t

know if he could actually read palms!”) and said: “You are very bright and have a great future, and it should be with us only.”

Banerjee was sent to Assam to set up a chemical factory, which he did, but soon fell very ill, there. It was a godforsaken place, “if you wanted water in the middle of the night, you had to make sure there was no snake under the bed. The food was a problem too.” So he returned to Calcutta after six months to work for the company’s branch there, but fell ill again, and the nurse in the hospital who did his check-up was Binota!

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o smitten was he by the beautiful nurse that a seven-day stay stretched into 45 days. So was it love at first sight, I ask him?

Clearly embarrassed, he says, “I don’t know. You can ask her!” I do;

I am not a good cook.

I only cook tea! I also make toast but Binota says I am not good at that either!

From our Archives

in. The young chemical engineer passed out in 1964 with first-class honours, and wanted to work for ICI, like his cousin. But the latter urged him to join a small firm where “I’d learn actual chemical engineering. He said IIT might be famous, but what you’ve learnt there is nothing!”

At a glance Religion: It’s a matter of the mind. I don’t go to temples all the time. But faith yes, always.

a film actor, but a humourous writer.

Those are the kind of books I enjoy.

Cooking: I am not a good cook. I only cook tea! I also make toast but Binota says I am not good at that either!

Old time classics: I’ve read them; in Senior Cambridge read the Kon-tiki Expedition, of a journey across the Pacific on a raft. One of my favourite books. I also find Alexander McCall Smith, who writes on Africa, fascinating.

Fitness: Yoga for 20–40 minutes; for 15 years.

Movies: These days I watch only Hindi movies, mostly while travelling.

Books: I read all kinds of books and like personal stories, biographies; how people became successful, what drove them. I might read anything from Shashi Tharoor to Naseeruddin Shah,

Favourite cuisine: Everything is my favourite. When I was President, we had decided to eat the local cuisine wherever we went. We ate some unusual things we wouldn’t have eaten

Food: Fond of good food, but getting to be less and less of a foodie as I grow old.

otherwise … such as raw meat ground into a paste, sprinkled with spices and served to us, like paste to be spread on bread. After we ate, we were told it was raw meat!

Music: Indian classical; love Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar. I try to attend music concerts in Pune or Chennai; PDG Ramakrishna Raja is my very close friend.

Future of India: It has to be good; we are a bright new country, but like John F Kennedy said, very few people are asking what we can do for our country and not vice versa. That culture has to change and I think it is beginning to happen.

what did she like about the patient?

She smiles, demurs ... “I thought he is a good man … I don’t know, it is very difficult to explain.” Banerjee takes over. “Her friends said she does not give a lift to anybody but I found I did not have any problem!”

But he was a Brahmin and she a Kayast; his family, more than hers, bitterly opposed the match. “My mother tried very hard, and took me

to our family Gurudev, who told me ‘Aisa mat karo’ (Don’t marry out of caste). I said I’d listen to him, but he had to meet her once. He did, and said go ahead, marry her.” Adds Binota, “He also told us the day to get married, the honeymoon date and advised us to move to Bombay.”

After tying the knot at the famous Dakshineswar Kali temple in Calcutta, he moved to Bombay and

His weakness is his inability to say “no” and he is more than generous to his critics!

– PRID Yash Pal Das

With PRIP William B Boyd.

lived in Kanti kaka’s house. “Kaki asked Binota, what do you want for a wedding gift … jewellery or a stainless steel crockery set, and she chose the latter as we had nothing.” Within a year, his mother was reconciled.

Meanwhile in Excel, the Shroff brothers gave some land and money to the children of the fourth brother who had passed away. Rajju Shroff was one of the recipients, and a worried “Kanti kaka, told me please go with him or else he might finish everything given to him.”

From our Archives

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he couple moved to Vapi in 1968 where he started UPL, because the Government was giving many incentives to attract Gujarat industrialists, all rooted in Bombay then. The carrot was that Vapi was only 10 km from the Maharashtra border and close to Mumbai. “Land was available here at Rs 3 a sq yard; now the cost might be Rs 3,000 a sq inch,” he says. UPL

Kalyan is a wall climber; an organisation has walls of inertia, prejudices, ego, opposition, odd situations. He can climb such walls and manage people with gumption and tenacity.

– Rtn Sunil Vakil

was set up on a 16-acre plot; “though simply a B Sc graduate, Rajju Shroff was an innovative man and said let’s make something nobody makes in India.” They zeroed in on red phosphorus, used in huge quantities in the match and fireworks industry, which was hitherto imported from Germany.

So what kind of salary did he get?

“Rs 500, but because it was a new MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 15

factory, for six months we didn’t get any salary.”

Meanwhile, Binota gave up her job. There were options for voluntary work, “but nursing is serious business and if you have duty, you can’t say I won’t come as my mother-in-law is visiting. But I did many things with my knowledge,” she says, and adds that after their wedding, the young man had promised his bride: “I’ll earn more money than you can spend!”

Vapi was a barren jungle and they’ve sighted not only cobras but also leopards! There were no schools or hospitals; after a 38-year-old colleague died of a massive heart attack, they helped start a dispensary and then a small hospital, which has now evolved into a 200-bed super speciality hospital put up by Rotary and

We’re known as an old people’s club. Our

went to the school that they had started here, before going to their father’s alma mater in Gwalior.

time is up. A time may soon come when the RI President won’t be above 60; there’s a great possibility of that happening.

UPL. Says Sandra Shroff, Vice Chairman of UPL, “When Kalyan is in Vapi, he visits the hospital at least once, if not twice.”

Both their children Kanishka and Ruma were born in Vapi, and first

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C Vapi was started in 1971 but Banerjee joined it only the next year. “I am not a founding member; in 1972 they invited me to join and have regretted it ever since!” In three years he was president. The next step to the DG’s post is an interesting story.

D 3060 then extended to Indore and Bhopal, and “big shots from Surat, Rajkot, Bhopal, Indore, would visit seeking our votes.” Once when he saw a DG aspirant, one such big shot, “not capable of even tying his pyjamas and having a servant to do it, I thought if he

With TRF Trustee Sushil Gupta.

KB’s Rotary milestones Literacy campaign in India Binota Banerjee says that while travelling across the world during Banerjee’s year as RI President, “we found every country has its own regional problem; so he told people “find your problem and work on it.”

When Indian Rotarians asked what they should concentrate on, he said ‘education’. That is how the Literacy Focus started.”

Priorities as TRF chair I’d like each District to take up at least one signal project for the year, and the highest amount should be raised. Presently, only 25 per cent of Rotary clubs contribute to TRF. Giving is part of Indian culture; my grandmother taught me to give something to the beggar who came to our house. And don’t expect a return after giving; the only return you should expect is happiness and satisfaction.

In India there is no dearth of money but there is a dearth of good people to give that money to … so let us be those good people.

Future of Rotary Younger people. We are known as an old people’s club and that’s causing a huge disconnect with the present generation, particularly in other countries.

But the good news is that it’s changing. I came into Rotary as a 28-yearold; today I am 73 and we carry on as though Rotary belongs to us and we belong to Rotary. That is not true.

Our time is up. A time may soon come when the RI President won’t be above 60; there’s a great possibility of that happening.

Women and Rotary They are more committed. Once they take up a job they stick to it and get it done. The men sometimes do it

for publicity or image, but the ladies think differently. Surprisingly some of the strongest clubs in the US still don’t admit women. Just as some clubs in India don’t take men. But that is our culture.

Binota’s role Very supportive. As enthusiastic as I have been. Never been negative.

Sometimes when spouses are negatively inclined against Rotary, it is difficult to move ahead. We had one RI President whose wife bluntly told him that her interest was neither in Rotary nor his presidency and if he wanted the presidency he’d have to go alone and he did! But to have your spouse’s support is a huge plus point.

How far till we see a woman RI President?

Very close … it might happen even next year.

With PDG Bharat Dholakia (extreme right) during the rebuilding project in Kutch.

can think of becoming a DG so can I! Ours was a club of very young people, upstarts actually, and we decided let’s field a candidate. So what if we lose?”

So among “all the big shots, I stood for Governor’s post and was elected (for 1981–82) at first shot.”

On what Rotary was like in those days and what it gave him, he says, “It gave good friends, good contacts, but above all, an opportunity to come together with good people, and we forged lasting family relationships.”

RC Vapi started in 1971, invited me to be a member in 1972 and have regretted it ever since!

18 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

He adds UPL would have anyway put up schools, colleges, hospitals, etc in Vapi, “with or without Rotary, but working with Rotary was having good friends to work with. Some gave money, some didn’t; some gave time or at least moral support. Vapi was the hometown of nobody; most people had only settled here, but for me it was different.”

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s DG, his horizon widened.

Once at a Bangalore meeting, he brazenly asked the visiting RI President Stanley McCaffrey (1981–82): ‘Mr President, why don’t you come to Vapi, where I come from?’

“In those days the RI President was like god, a word with him was like speaking to god. Strangely, he said ok, I will come. Today an RI President’s schedule is fixed well in

advance, and he can’t make a sudden detour. But then it was different. So we brought him to Vapi to this very house, because where else could you put up an RI President? There was nothing here in 1981.”

As UPL’s head honcho Rajju Shroff “loves Rolls Royce cars and has three of them, he gave us one and we drove the RI President in a Rolls Royce on a two-lane highway to Navsari, where he visited the eye hospital Rotary had put up. We also took him to Surat and Daman where he stayed overnight. He and his wife were very happy.”

This was the first time an RI President had visited the District; “earlier, nobody had the courage to even ask.

So two things happened; Vapi came into Rotary limelight and Rotarians asked who is this boy who is taking the RI President to Vapi. People started taking notice of me and as a result I got many friends, and a few enemies too!”

Before leaving, a gratified McCaffrey asked Binota: “I want to give some assignment to Kalyan, what assignment do you think is good for him?” And she said: “He is good at nothing, except perhaps one thing — fighting. He always fights with me and we never agree on anything!”

Banerjee was made a discussion or training leader for the International Assembly; before him only PRIP Rajendra K Saboo had got this post.

“An IPDG training other DGs was a very rare thing!”

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nd thus, he became a rising star, and without any godfathers; which worked both for and against him. His training leader assignment and articulation skills fetched invitations from DGs to their districts. In those days there weren’t too many Rotary leaders in India with good

Rajju Shroff has three Rolls Royce cars; he gave us one and we drove the RI President in a Rolls Royce on a twolane highway to Navsari!

public speaking skills. He was appointed an RIPR in 1982–83. When it came to becoming an RI Director, Banerjee was not very lucky; and lost twice, which was rather frustrating and he and was about to give up; “I thought I can’t keep losing like this and I have to concentrate on my career too! But one Govindaraj from Bangalore told me: ‘You must stand; people want you to become RID.’ ” He did, and won; and was RID from 1995–97. Next came the post of TRF

Trustee; the only post left was that of RI President. Here too there were two failed attempts. But finally it happened; “the telephone came in this very room, from RIPE John Germ, who was then the Chairman of the nominating committee.”

Germ asked him, “You’ve been chosen, will you accept? I said ‘Oh my God,’ and he said don’t say Oh my God; say yes or no!” Banerjee recalls that late into the night Rotarian friends such as “Kanu Desai, Ashis Roy, etc, were sitting with me; they said whether you get it or not, we don’t want you to be alone tonight!”

I quizzed two Rotarians on what makes Banerjee special and a leader to look up to. PRID Yash Pal Das, who served on the RI Board as a Director

Presently only 25 per cent of Rotary clubs contribute to TRF. Giving is part of Indian culture; my grandmother taught me to give something to the beggar who came home.

With PRIP Rajendra K Saboo.

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 19

when Banerjee was RI President in 2011–12, says, “As RI President, he demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities on and off the RI Board.

I admire him for his humbleness, his intellect and his patience.”

Prodded to give a weakness, he says: “His weakness is his inability to say “no” and he is more than generous to his critics!”

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o what was special about his year as President, I ask Banerjee.

“Well you should ask others that; but I’ll say that concepts such as Rotary and TRF coordinators, RCs, RRFCs and RPICs were brought

in by me. Particularly, the emphasis on public image. I said Rotary is not known outside our ranks; India had not yet become polio-free. I felt that Rotary should be known for more than just being an organisation that does something for the community. We are much more than that. If we want to become a worldwide organisation having a say in the world, we have to enhance our public image.”

A greater engagement of Indian Rotarians with the social media was also brought in by him, as also the concept of membership as a regional thing. “I said what will work in Japan will not work in India. So these are some of the concepts I brought in.”

Rtn Sunil Vakil, from RC Baroda Metro, who worked closely with Banerjee for the reconstruction work Rotary did in Kutch after the devastating earthquake of 2001, says he “made more than 40 trips for this purpose. He would come from Mumbai and straightaway do the arduous road journey, often during very hot weather. For the entire reconstruction project, he led from the front.”

One “outstanding quality” in the incoming Trustee Chair, adds Vakil,

As a young DG, I brought RI President Stanley McCaffrey to Vapi and as a result got many friends, but a few enemies too!

is that “Kalyan is a wall climber. In an organisation there are so many walls … walls of inertia, prejudices, ego, opposition, odd situations. He is one leader who can continuously climb such walls … and manage people with gumption and tenacity. In those aspects, he stands out.”

The other quality he admires in the “very well read” Banerjee is “his easy accessibility, even to ordinary Rotarians. He doesn’t carry a chip on his shoulder and is full of humility.”

But his best quality, adds Vakil, “and probably the reason he has reached this position, is that he is very forgiving. Even of those people who have failed … he always believes in giving people another chance, that is why so many people rally around him. Also, compassion is interwoven in his personality and whatever he says comes from the heart.”

A pause, and Vakil goes back to the accessibility aspect. “He has the rare ability of being accessible and yet he can maintain a dignified distance. If you’ve noticed, he rarely hugs anyone, just like me!”

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by S Krishnapratheesh

CONVENTION

MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDATION CHAIR

Sustainability matters

The TRF centennial celebration — ready for launch in Seoul

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n 2014–15, The Rotary Foundation provided $20 million in global grants supporting water and sanitation, more than any other area of focus. If your club or district was involved, or if you would like to become involved, check out the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group’s World Water Summit, which will be held on 27 May before the Rotary International Convention in Korea from 28 May to 1 June.

This year’s theme is “Sustainable Strategies — Sustainable Solutions: Bringing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene to a Changing World.” Six major speakers will address attendees about topics such as the history of sustainability (Vanessa Tobin, Director of WASH, Catholic Relief Services); what Rotary should do to ensure sustainability (Harold Lockwood, Director of Aguaconsult); and the sustainability of WASH financing (Gary White, co-founder of Water. org). Between keynotes, attendees can attend smaller breakout sessions with panels discussing different facets of sustainability.

RI President K R Ravindran also will speak, and staff from The Rotary Foundation will provide an update.

This is the eighth summit held by the group. Previous themes have included WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in schools and effective collaboration. Register at wasrag.org/ wws8-seoul-korea.

Register for the Rotary Convention at www.riconvention.org.

he 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation will occur in June of next year, and a full year of activities is planned leading up to it, starting with the 2016 Convention in Seoul and culminating with the 2017 Convention in Atlanta.

I remember well the excitement of the Rotary centennial in 2004–05, and I hope that Rotarians worldwide will treat the Foundation’s centennial with the same enthusiasm!

The centennial celebration will launch at the Seoul convention, and the entire general session on Tuesday morning will feature the Foundation’s programmes. However, it is the activities of clubs and districts that will determine the success of the centennial celebration. To assist in the planning of centenary events, the Rotary Resource Centre in the House of Friendship in Seoul will offer Rotarians helpful materials and ideas.

For Rotarians who are unable to attend the convention, the same materials will be available for download at www.rotary.org /foundation100. The tool kit includes: z

Ideas and activities for clubs and districts

z

Promotional flier and bookmark for the centennial book, Doing Good in the World

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Promotional postcard

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Sample press release for clubs to promote local activities

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History of The Rotary Foundation PowerPoint

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Centennial letterhead, logo and PowerPoint template

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Centennial video (highly recommended)

Rotary would not be as strong and vibrant as it is today without the tremendous support of The Rotary Foundation, and it is now time to celebrate its 100th birthday. Rotary is a grassroots organisation with more than 35,000 clubs, most of which have directly benefited from support of The Rotary Foundation.

Therefore, I truly hope that all of you — and your clubs — will show your appreciation for the Foundation that Rotary created for the purpose of Doing Good in the World!

Ray Klinginsmith Foundation Trustee Chair MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 21

A man of commitment We talk with Rotary International President-elect John Germ

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hen John Germ takes office as Rotary International’s president in July, it will mark his 40th year in Rotary.

In that time, he’s likely best-known for leading Rotary’s $200 Million Challenge, a fundraising effort sparked by a challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Rotarians surpassed that goal in 2011, raising $228.7 million toward polio immunisation activities.

“I never questioned that we would raise the funds,” he says. “Rotarians have been so generous.” In fact, raising money for polio was one of Germ’s first leadership roles. He became a member of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1976. “I wasn’t involved, other than going to meetings, until 1983 when I was asked to be club secretary,” he says. “Then I was asked to participate as district co-chair for the polio fundraising campaign.” After that, he was hooked. “The more active I became, and the more good that I saw being done, the more I wanted to do,” he says. Germ went on to serve Rotary as vice president, director, Foundation trustee and vice chair, and RI president’s aide. He and his wife, Judy, are also members of the Arch Klumph Society. Professionally, Germ continues to consult for Campbell & Associates, a Chattanooga engineering firm he started working for in 1965 and eventually served as chairman and CEO. Editor in Chief John Rezek spoke with him about his next big commitment — his yearlong role as RI president.

22 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

THE ROTARIAN: What are the most important rules of leadership, and from whom did you learn them?

TR: What are Rotary’s most existential challenges? What can individual Rotarians do to meet them?

GERM: To me, the most important rule of leadership is to be a good listener. A good leader must be a person who can motivate, encourage, delegate, inspire and communicate co well.

Listening enables yo you to better understand the needs and desires of others.

GERM: Rotary’s biggest challenge is membership. We need to expand our membership so we can do more work.

We need to attract younger people, like Rotary youth programme alumni.

Recently retired individuals are another group to engage. We are an organisation with high ethical standards and a classification system. These standards should be maintained and our current members educated on why each one of them should be sponsoring other qualified individuals to become Rotarians.

TR: What does a pe person in your position never do?

GERM: A person in my position never asks anyone to do something I would not do myself. myse TR: What are the core c qualities and character traits tha that every Rotarian should have?

GERM: The most important core value is integrity. Without W integrity, one has nothing.

TR: Some presiden presidents spend most of their time travelling; travelling some frequently attend to business at RI headquarters.

Which will you be?

GERM: I intend to do both. Visiting clubs and districts is important to provide motivation, to say thank you for the work being do done, and to convey me the TEAM message: “Together Everyone Ac Achieves More.” At the same tim time, coordinating activities and an providing continuity bet between RI leaders, staff, and T The Rotary Foundation lea leadership is critical.

Therefor Therefore, we must hold meetings that include the president president, president-elect, president president-nominee, TRF chair, TRF chair-elect and the general secretary. There join board meetings, should be joint at least one pe per year, to ensure continuity and ccooperation. This requires time in Evanston.

TR: Why is it so hard for the public to understand what Rotary is and does?

How would you remedy that?

GERM: For many years, Rotarians worked both locally and globally without seeking publicity or recognition.

When a survey was conducted a few years ago, it was no surprise to me that the general public was unaware of Rotary and the work we do. We need to wear our Rotary pin with pride. We need to enhance Rotary’s public image by successfully and enthusiastically marketing who we are and the amazing things we are doing and have done locally and globally. No one should ever have to ask, “What is Rotary?”

TR: What was more difficult to decide upon: your presidential theme or design of your tie?

GERM: The design of the tie. It was easy to create a theme around service.

I was inspired by the work that Rotarians do locally and globally through the polio

We need to attract younger people, like Rotary youth programme alumni.

eradication campaign and in the six areas of focus of The Rotary Foundation — so my theme is how I describe our work, Rotary Serving Humanity.

TR: What were the two or three most important steps in your journey to the presidency? What advice would you give to a Rotarian who wants to follow in your footsteps?

GERM: I think I became president due to hard work. I successfully completed terms on the Board of Directors, as a trustee for The Rotary Foundation, and have been involved in projects locally and globally. It all starts at the club level. One must be a successful club president, district governor and RI director to be considered by the nominating committee. A broad base of experience is essential along with a vision to improve Rotary. A person needs to work hard and do the best they can while always learning something new every step along the way.

TR: What was your reaction upon hearing the news of your nomination?

GERM: Judy and I were having dinner when we received the phone call. We were excited and humbled by the news.

When we listened to the comments of the nominating committee members, we were more humbled and realised a great amount of faith was being placed in us to lead Rotary, especially in the centennial year of The Rotary Foundation.

A person in my position never asks anyone to

TR: Which jobs in Rotary have you enjoyed the most?

do something I would not do myself.

GERM: The job I enjoyed most following being club president was MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 23

My theme is how I describe our work, Rotary Serving Humanity.

chairing the $200 Million Challenge.

Visiting clubs and districts, seeing the enthusiasm of Rotarians to fulfill our promise to the children of the world for eradicating polio, was overwhelming.

Participating in National Immunisation Days and seeing the smiles on the mothers’ faces as their child received those two precious drops had chills running up and down my back. How can one do better work than that?

TR: Let’s imagine that the president can accomplish anything he wants during his presidential year. What are the top three things you want to accomplish?

GERM: First, eradicate polio. Second, increase our membership so we can have more willing hands, caring hearts, and inquisitive minds. We also need to increase diversity within our organisation. Third, create more partnerships and sponsorships with corporations and foundations. Our work with the Gates Foundation, WHO, UNICEF, and CDC shows us that working together is successful.

TR: If you could change one thing about RI immediately, what would it be?

GERM: To have Rotary run more like a business rather than a social services organisation. A major source of Rotary’s income is membership dues.

I’d look into new sources of revenue, such as partnerships or sponsorships.

We also need to be sure the services offered are those that the clubs and districts want and not what we think they want or need. When a business begins to see expenses increase without an increase in revenue, the business looks 24 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

at ways to cut costs and not necessarily increase fees charged for services.

A business always looks for better ways to do things.

TR: If you were asked to describe five important, though not necessarily apparent, characteristics about yourself, what would you say?

TR: Rotarians employ about 600 people to run the organisation. You’ve met many staff members over the years.

Characterise their efforts to a member who has no idea what RI does. Do Rotarians get value for their money?

GERM: My parents taught my brothers and me to be respectful of all people and to be honest and trustworthy in all aspects of life.

I have been described as an out-ofthe-box thinker, respectful, reliable, trustworthy, persistent, a motivator, a delegator, a confidant and a team-builder.

GERM: Rotary staff support is essential for Rotary to do the work it does.

Our outstanding staff works diligently to provide the tools needed for clubs to function better. This includes developing education materials, grant assistance and stewardship guidance.

The staff provides great value to our organisation.

The job I enjoyed most following being club president was chairing the $200 Million Challenge.

TR: If you could have a personal conversation with every Rotarian, what would you say to each of them?

GERM: I would say thank you for what you have done; thank you for what you are doing; and for what you are going to do to improve your community and change lives. I would also ask them to repay the opportunity someone gave them by asking each member to invite another person to become a Rotarian.

Pictures Credit: Rotary International Reproduced from The Rotarian

Conventional wisdom This year’s convention in Korea, 28 May – 1 June, offers more than 100 breakout sessions to choose from.

Keynote speakers: Gain perspective at plenary sessions ROSIE BATTY Advocate for victims of domestic violence and 2015 Australian of the Year Batty established the Luke Batty Foundation in memory of her son, whose murder by his father at cricket practice dominated headlines in Australia. Her Foundation supports the Never Alone campaign to support victims of domestic violence.

YANGHEE LEE United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar and former Chair, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Lee, of Korea, is a professor and prolific author of articles and books on human and children’s rights. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and in 2009 she received the country’s Order of Civil Merit award.

GARY HAUGEN President and Chief Executive Officer, International Justice Mission In 1997, Haugen founded International Justice Mission to protect the poor from violence in the developing world, a topic he explores in his latest book, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence.

DANANJAYA HETTIARACHCHI World champion public speaker In addition to being a sought-after motivational speaker, trainer and executive coach, Hettiarachchi bested some 33,000 competitors from around the world to become the first Asian-born winner of the Toastmasters International public speaking contest in 2014.

GARY KNELL President and Chief Executive Officer, National Geographic Society, and Chair, National Geographic Partners Before coming to the National Geographic Society, where he oversees the organisation’s non-profit activities around the world, Knell had a long career in media. He’s a Past President and CEO of National Public Radio and the Sesame Workshop.

SARAH PARCAK Associate professor of anthropology, National Geographic fellow and 2016 TED Prize winner Parcak, founding director of the Laboratory for Global Observation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, runs a company that uses satellite technologies to detect and map historical and cultural remains, such as ancient cities and cemeteries.

MAHATRIA RA Spiritualist Ra, a spiritual guru from India, is the founder of Alma Mater, an organisation dedicated to self-mastery and holistic personality development. His philosophies have helped thousands of professionals, world leaders, athletes and musicians transform their lives.

MARK WADDINGTON Chief Executive Officer, Hope and Homes for Children Since 2011, Waddington has run Hope and Homes for Children, which focuses on improving the lives of youth affected by conflict and the quality of institutional care in Central and Eastern Europe and Africa. He brings 20 years of development experience.

Reproduced from The Rotarian MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 25

President-speak at COL

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couple of months ago, the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away. An article in the New York Times fascinated me … his unlikely personal friendship with his fellow justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He was on the right, she is on the left.”

With these words RI President K R Ravindran welcomed the delegates at Rotary’s Council on Legislation at the RI headquarters in Evanston.

The CJ had disagreed with all her views, be it equal pay for women, same-sex marriage, voting rights or abortion. “They disagreed on every one of the most divisive issues in modern American politics. And yet their families vacationed and celebrated the New Year together every year, and Scalia once said about his great legal adversary, ‘My best buddy on the Court is Ginsburg.’ ” This public friendship made a significant statement about the US Supreme Court — that it was strengthened by respectful debate.

“The idea that you can argue, disagree passionately but never let it touch your friendship,” is rarely seen today.

Except in Rotary; on the RI Board and every three years during the COL “where we can argue, debate, put the democratic process to work, and still go out in the evening together.”

Sometimes he felt Rotary should invite Parliamentarians around the world so they could learn “how real democracies should work. It would be a good community service project!”

Ravindran said he often thought Rotary was a microcosm of the world — “not a perfect world — but a better world. A world where we try our best, consciously, at every moment, to allow our better selves, cooler heads and warmer hearts to prevail; to actively choose, at every

26 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

moment, to put Service above Self.”

The COL gave Rotarians the opportunity to live the ideals of Rotary.

The President then related the story about how a German PDG, Kerstin Jeska Thorwart, was the driving force behind the rebuilding of a maternity hospital destroyed by the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004. Since then it had treated over 2.5 million women; “in 2014, 12,000 babies were born there, and not one mother died — a statistic many western hospitals would covet.

This is one of the great success stories of Rotary. But none of it would have happened without the one female Rotarian who said I want to help — and had the skill, talent and determination to move every mountain that stood in her way.”

It is impossible not to wonder how much good Rotary might have done, but never did, because we voted to shut-out women in 1964, again in 1972, and yet again in 1977.

Looking at this achievement of one woman Rotarian, “it is impossible not to wonder how much good Rotary might have done, but never did, because we voted to shut-out women in 1964, again in 1972, and yet again in 1977.”

If the earlier Councils, instead of saying, “that is not what we do in Rotary,” had voted for women’s entry much earlier, Rotary could have served the world even more. He urged the delegates to remember all the time, as they discussed and debated issues, that the one tradition or philosophy that mattered was ‘Service above Self’ “and that is the only tradition we need to preserve at all times. That sentiment is what should guide you, in every question, and every vote. We must place the health of our organisation above the habits of our clubs, the work of tomorrow above the familiarity of today, and the needs of others, above our own desires.”

Ravindran reminded them that the “decisions you make here will not end here. Their effects will ripple out to every corner of the world for years, decades, even generations to come.

They could take us forward to a new era of service, or set us back on a course to regret forever.”

COL Highlights Jaishree

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epresentatives from the Districts worldwide gathered at Chicago to review and vote on proposed legislations at the COL held from April 11 to 15. It discussed over 180 proposals during the week.

An account. z

z

z

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RI dues to increase, by $4 a year, over three years. This means you pay $60 in 2017–18, $64 in 2018– 19 and $68 in 2019–20. Welcoming the increase, PRIP Rajendra K Saboo said: “I come from a part of the world where $4 is not a small amount. But I ask ‘What has Rotary given me ... Rotary has made me a better person.

What price do you put on that?’”

RI Treasurer Per Høyen and Vice President Greg E Podd have also favoured the rise.

Clubs get freedom on when and how often they meet, mode of meeting, etc. At least two meetings a month mandatory. Six membership criteria replaced with the simple requirement that a member should have good character, good reputation in the chosen profession and is willing to serve the community. The clubs can now “choose their own members without a checklist,” which encourages membership growth. Rotaractors can now join a Rotary club as ‘associate members.’

Mandatory subscription to at least one official Rotary magazine reinforced. Rotarians living at the same address can subscribe jointly to a regional magazine.

A separate Council on Resolutions (COR) will be created leaving the COL free to deal exclusively with enactments. The COR will meet

PDG A S Venkatesh (right) at the COL session.

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z z

z

z

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online once a year to make recommendations, to the Board.

Instead of 15 committees, smaller clubs to have five committees — club administration, membership, public relations, TRF and service projects.

References to admission fees in the bylaws will now be removed.

More clarity on the role of the RI president to serve as motivational leader for Rotarians and act as chair of the Board.

A new club will now need a minimum of 20 members to get chartered.

Smaller districts merger approved, as also dividing larger ones. Of the 535 districts, 8 have fewer than 1,000 members. Board to get more flexibility to do so.

The COL approves creation of Membership Committee that would be appointed by the Board, with eight members on a three-year term.

In an eco-friendly measure, the COL did away with the rule that 10 printed copies of proposed legislation should be sent to DGs and COL members, as they are available online. z It affirmed polio eradication as RI’s priority. z

Voted Down Extension of RI Directors’ term to three years. z That a DG needs to be a Rotarian for at least nine years instead of the present seven years. z Changing the size of the Council — Proposal for nine representatives from each zone rejected, as also suggestion that two Districts send one representative to COL. z Both resolutions to raise or lower the age for entry to Rotary from the present 30, to 35 or 25 rejected. z

Source: www.rotary.org MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 27

Germ inspires incoming

Presidents Jaishree The multi-district PETS and SETS offered a unique opportunity for incoming club leaders to prepare for their leadership roles in the coming year.

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t is that time of the year when the incoming presidents and secretaries learn from veteran Rotary leaders the nuances of leading their clubs in the coming Rotary year. The presence of RIPE John F Germ and RI Director Manoj Desai added flavour and a uniqueness to the two-day MD-PETS

You will not be measured by what you do as an individual, but by the relationship you have with your club.

– RIPE John Germ

and SETS of Districts 3051, 3052 and 3060 organised at Ahmedabad.

“It feels so good to be on my home ground,” said Desai, recommending to us the fafda-kadhi combo, and hot jalebis at breakfast.

“To be trained by our own leader, RI President (elect) John Germ is a rare occasion. It gives us lot of inspiration and prepares us for the next year,” said Rakesh Bhargava, an incoming club president.

The orientation seminar was chaired by Desai, with assistance from Counsellor Ashok Gupta and Coordinator Ashish Desai. Hosted by RCs Kankaria (3051), Jalore (3052) and Bulasar (3060), it brought together around 400 participants comprising

A colourful welcome to RIPE John F Germ.

next year’s presidents and secretaries, in the presence of their DGs.

Flexibility — the buzz word Flexibility in Rotary was the underlying message conveyed by RIPE Germ repeatedly at the workshop. Addressing his ‘All Stars team,’ he asked, “Who says we have to meet at a certain time every week, or have a meal every

time we meet?” For him, a Rotarian’s attendance meant his wholesome “participation in his club project.” He urged the incoming club officers to embrace change and take up challenges that improve people’s lives. He asked them to engage in the global eradication of polio, increase membership and encourage corporate partnerships. Desai summarises this simply as “PMP.” Pepping up the incoming presidents, Germ said, “Your job is to make things happen and get your team more involved in Rotary. You will not be measured by what you do as an individual, but by the relationship you have with your club. The Presidential Citation is not for you, but for your club.”

Desai, describing his address a “deeksha given by a guru to his disciples,” summed up the working of the Strategic Planning, KPI and Presidential Citation. He urged the clubs to sign up with Rotary Club Central and Rotary Showcase to publicise their activities to the world. “Gone are the days when we served humanity silently. Now we have to tell the world what we do, only then more people will be encouraged to join Rotary.

Blow your own trumpet. We want more helping hands,” he said.

Questions galore The breakout sessions for each District were handled by the Districts’ senior Rotarians. Germ and Desai visited each of these classrooms and answered the queries from the presidents and secretaries. “This face-to-face with the RIPE is a unique concept,” said Desai.

One Rotarian asked why the RI dues and the registration fees for programmes such as PETS were so high.

“You add a lot more to your club meetings, so your club dues are high,” said Germ. Referring to the “fancy gifts” packed in the kit, Germ said, “I see this only in this part of the world. It is unique. I like it. Don’t give it up.” The two leaders were however floored when a woman president suggested concessional dues for women Rotarians.

RIPE John Germ, RID Manoj Desai, PDG Ashok Gupta along with DGs and incoming Club Presidents.

Another president wanted to know how to establish a partnership with corporate offices. “Identify a person in the company and make him a Rotarian.

He will see for himself what Rotary does,” said Germ. Desai advised the Rotarians to invite the CEOs for a meet and tell them what Rotary does.

Other questions related to Rotary Global Rewards and simplification of Global Grant procedure. Lessons on planning for the year, recruiting new members and the national flagship projects — Literacy and WinS — were provided by resource persons such as PDGs Gyaneshwar Rao, Ratnesh Kashyap, Vijay Jalan, Ashok Panjwani, Dineshsinh Thakor and

You have tremendous opportunities to perform in TEACH. Look around you and make Happy Schools for children.

RID Manoj Desai

Y S Kothari. District Secretary (D 3060) Meera Panjwani elaborated on the secretarial responsibilities.

Desai urged the presidents to adopt at least one project of Literacy and WinS. “You have tremendous opportunities to perform in TEACH. Look around you and make Happy Schools for children,” he said, citing Ashish Desai’s efforts in installing 25,000 e-learning facilities in schools partnering with various corporate houses.

The second day was dedicated to discussions on enhancing Rotary’s public image and the use of social media.

“Don’t flood your Whatsapp group with personal messages,” said PDG Ashish Desai, talking on Rotary etiquettes and the impact of social media.

“This multi-districts concept is a great idea for us to meet our friends and share thoughts on various topics. It is a wonderful opportunity to get together with our friends who were with us before the District was divided,” said Rtn Dharmendra Joshi.

Pictures by Jaishree Designed by N Krishnamurthy MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 29

Happy schools, minds & bodies Rasheeda Bhagat

C

o-incidentally, just when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call on Swachh Bharat, Rotary International was also introducing its WASH in Schools (WinS) programmes in some countries, including India, TRF Trustee and WinS Chair Sushil Gupta said, addressing a session on Swachh Bharat at the Kolkata Presidential Conference on Literacy and WinS.

30 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

This is a game-changing programme which addresses three of the six focus areas of Rotary; water and sanitation, basic education and literacy and disease prevention and health care.

“This new initiative of Rotary is totally in sync with Swachh Bharat, Swachh Vidyalaya programme, the key focus of which is to usher in well-maintained and functioning water and sanitation facilities in all the 1.4 million

government schools in the country.”

This in turn would inculcate in children cleanliness and “make them change agents to usher in behavioural change in our society.”

Gupta said that Nadiya district, near Kolkata, had become cent per cent free of open defecation. It all began by introducing better hygiene practices in schools and the “children then forced their parents first and then the whole

Much more than just toilets It was a slightly exasperated WinS Chair Sushil Gupta who addressed the Swachh Bharat session in Kolkata. He said almost all RI Districts in India were involved in Rotary’s commitment to build clean and hygienic toilets in 10,000 schools this year.

“We’ve already entered 7,000 schools. But still there is lack of clarity when it comes to looking at the project in its totality.” Some districts were building toilets, some are doing hand wash stations, some others were putting incinerators for menstrual waste and yet others concentrating on potable water supply. “But please understand that our objective is not just building toilet blocks.

I repeat we have to get out of the mentality that our objective begins and ends with toilet blocks. We are entering schools to improve them, our WASH in Schools involves complete water sanitation and hygiene. I want to emphasise that

From right: PDG Bharat Pandya, PDG J B Kamdar, PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, Usha Saboo, PDG Raja Seenivasan and Marlene Kamdar.

But I am missing one person, a person whose dream (on literacy) we are seeing being realised …. and that person is Kalyan Banerjee.

Rajendra K Saboo

community to change. That is the power of children to change society.”

He said TRF has started WinS under the guidance of UNICEF as a pilot in countries such as India, Guatemala, Kenya and Honduras.

Rotary India was committed to working on 10,000 schools this year and “we’ll deliver that number very soon.”

G

upta urged Rotarians to implement this project in its totality, as its objective was beyond just building of toilet blocks. “We have to ensure clean water, separate facilities for girls, imparting of proper hygiene training and involving school management in the entire programme.”

group hand washing stations are not meant to be used only after a child uses a toilet but also before and after midday meals.”

The idea was to make washing of hands a habit in children before and after their midday meals “so that we inculcate the habit of cleanliness in our children. WinS provides a healthy and protective school environment to prevent diseases. It promotes equity by showing all children have access to these facilities which will help them to reach their full potential.

Mere building of toilet blocks is not enough, our real objective is to bring about behavioural change and this will come only if you run the programme in full and not in parts.”

Only then would children become agents of change, and change “their families and communities, so that we can truly make our country Swachh Bharat and Samriddha Bharat,” concluded Gupta.

It is estimated that 30 to 40 per cent girls drop out of schools at puberty because they do not have separate toilets essential for menstrual hygiene management. “There is also no education on how to deal with this major change in the lives of girls at puberty.

Also, many students skip their schools because of water-borne diseases.”

Ultimately the success of WinS, when implemented properly, would improve retention of children in schools and “pave the way for a new and healthy generation. But it takes determination, courage and passion on our part to create these agents of change,” Gupta said, adding in a lighter vein, “I don’t know about you but my hand washing has also improved after starting this programme!”

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 31

A

ddressing the session on “Swachh Bharat — our commitment,” PRIP Rajendra K Saboo lauded the conference, the speakers and the new ideas thrown up on both Literacy and WinS. “But I am missing one person, a person whose dream we are seeing being realised …. and that person is (PRIP) Kalyan Banerjee.”

He had “happy memories” of his childhood in Kolkata. Also firmly etched in his memory was the experience of watching Mother Teresa’s last journey in the same Netaji Indoor Stadium, where he had gone to pay his last respects to “that frail lady who by her sheer willpower, devotion and dedication had won the whole world. She believed in cleanliness of the body … that every person who is dying must be cleaned before their last rites.”

Along with a healthy mind that stored happy memories a healthy body was required, as also a healthy environment to live in. He said that while the WinS goals and execution was admirable, the Rotary community also needs to revisit the oath Rotarians had taken at the Chennai Institute on Swachh Bharat in 2014. He recalled how the Surat plague of 1994, caused

I don’t know about all of you but my hand washing has also improved after starting the WinS programme!

Sushil Gupta

by indiscriminate disposal of garbage on roads, had resulted in the city’s total transformation. “Today, Surat is one of the cleanest cities in Gujarat and India.”

S

haring his experience from a recent medical mission to Rwanda, in which RI President K R Ravindran had participated, Saboo said that Rwanda, a country where an estimated one million people had been killed in 100 days in 1994, “taught me something. From then onwards, the leadership realised the importance of reconciliation.

Today you can’t find a single piece of garbage on their roads. You don’t find individuals throwing litter anywhere.

Their hospitals do not smell.”

Periodically, the citizens have to clean the streets or do community

service, Saboo said, and reminded Rotarians that their Chennai pledge obliged them to donate two hours a week or 100 hours a year for the Swachh Bharat initiative. “We have to ask ourselves if the oath taken at Chennai was to please the PM or our own conscience … or give us a good feel that we’ve done something we can boast about.” Unless we recognised that Swachh Bharat was serious business and not “just a slogan or a political gimmick, and consider it our commitment, we won’t get anywhere.

My home is not just four walls, it is my neighbourhood, my city, my country.”

C

hairing the session PRID Yash Pal Das said that if we want to see all our children educated, we should ensure they go to happy and wellequipped schools. “Would you like to go to a school where the ceiling is leaking, where there are no benches and you have to sit on the floor, where there is constant stench from the toilets, no library, no clean drinking water? Certainly not because these are unhappy schools.”

Unless a child was happy, he wouldn’t learn well. RILM’s objective

PRID Ashok Mahajan signs an MoU with Chaitali Moitra, VP (Sales — Schools), representing Macmillan Publishers India Private Limited. Also present (from right) PRID Panduranga Setty, PDG Devang Thakore, PRID Shekhar Mehta, PDG N Asoka and PDG Rajani Mukherjee.

32 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

was to convert all “unhappy schools into happy schools. Our mission is to have separate toilets for boys and girls, fresh and clean drinking water, desks and benches, uniforms and shoes, libraries and playgrounds. Our target is to convert 1,000 unhappy schools into happy schools with a budget of about Rs 50 crore. The task seemed impossible but with the combined effort of Rotary and Inner Wheel, 733 schools have already been converted into happy schools.”

Some districts which had excelled in this initiative were 3190, 3051, 3140 and 3060, Das added.

A

ddressing the inaugural session, TRF Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith said that this was the fourth Presidential Conference of K R Ravindran. The first one, on Peace and Conflict Resolution, was in Ontario, California; the second, in Cannes, France, on disease prevention and treatment; the third in Cape Town, South Africa on economic development, and the fifth one is being held in Manila, Philippines, again on water and sanitation.

Last year when he was in India — he’s been coming here for 30 years — he was struck by the close bond between Rotary and India. “I am now writing an article on ‘Rotary has changed India and India has changed Rotary.’ I’ll finish it and send it to Rotary News!”

Saying service projects of any kind, particularly WinS, in South Asia are “bigger, better and bolder than any other place in the world,” Klinginsmith

Service projects of any kind, particularly WinS, in South Asia, are bigger, better and bolder than any other place in the world.

Ray Klinginsmith

TRF Trustee Chair Sushil Gupta with RILM Secretary PDG Anirudha Roy Chowdhury.

said “during polio eradication, you (Indian Rotarians) showed us how you can immunise 100 million children in a single week. You’ve raised our aspirations.”

Addressing the inaugural session on 'Reshaping our approach to Education,' eminent educationist Sraddhalu Ranade, enumerated several innovative ways to evolve a “new approach to education, which will empower children to become self-dependent leaders and not dependent followers.” While industrial education aims at “rational and only partial development,” an integral approach to education will result in increasing creativity and achieving our “deepest and highest potential and fulfilment in life.”

Education should also be “self driven” to get best results, he said.

Explaining RILM’s role in adult literacy, PRID Ashok Mahajan said over 100 adult literacy centres had been established and both Rotary and non-Rotary volunteers were involved

in this task. Exams were conducted and there was an 81 per cent pass rate.

“Over the next five years, we are going to make 10 lakh illiterate adults literate.”

But, added Mahajan, when it came to adult literacy, “there is need to also improve their skills and livelihood opportunities.” RILM was exploring different ways to do this and had signed an MoU at the conference with the Maharashtra Knowledge Development Corporation to provide skills to 50,000 adults.

PRID Sudarshan Agarwal recounted how through the Him Jyothi School many girls from disadvantaged families had been empowered. This initiative had shown that education was a great leveller. PRID Panduranga Setty chaired a session on 'Teacher Support' and PRID P T Prabhakar addressed a session on WinS. Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by N Krishnamurthy MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 33

T

he feathers in Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s crown are many; the march he organised in 2001 to make education a fundamental right for every child; it got the support of 168 MPs across parties.

Or p the global march against ainst child labour and child trafficking that he organised and which went across oss 103 countries, covering 80,000 km with the demand for an international law. “When we reached Geneva and the general assembly of the ILO, no government could withstand the moral demand emand of children for education. We said id ‘No more guns in tiny hands, we want nt books, pencils, toys.’ Finally, thanks ks to the humble effort from the soil of India, an international law was passed. assed. Since then the number of childd labourers has decreased from 260 million to 168 million in fifteenn years.

At that time 130 million children were then out of school, now there aree less than half — 59 million. on. It is possible. If you have courage, conviction, on, commitment, clarity, ity, but more important, t, if you have compassionn for our children, we can do it … it’s not such a big deal. eal. We’ll do it together.”

Satyarthi said the he great power of education has as been acknowledged by those ose fundamentalist forces who ho feel that if the children are educated, they will demolish molish their evil designs. “As many ny as 5,000 girls have been snatched tched away by the ISIS from their ir parents on the borders of Iraq. How do you feel when you read that a 5, 6 or 7-year-old girl, who was in school, has been sold into sexual exual slavery by the ISIS at a lesser er price than a cigarette pack? Whose ose daughter is she, if not yours, if not mine.”

And if that girl did not “perform” (sexually), she he was buried alive in an earlier prepared grave.

Why ISIS, Taliban are afraid of education Rasheeda Bhagat RI President K R Ravindran greets Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi as RILM Chair Shekhar Mehta looks on.

A 10-year-old boy, taken out of a school, is given a gun in his hand to kill the suspected traitors of ISIS. He couldn’t operate the gun, so was buried alive. In Pakistan, 140 children were killed in the Army school … “Whose children were they,” thundered chil Satyarthi, “yours and mine. These peoSaty ple (Taliban) understand the power of education.” He then related the story of educ mother of one such child he visited — a mo he has h been working in Pakistan for over thirty years. She told him that hurried my son not to be late for “I hu school … I sent him to school in a scho uniform and got him back in a cofunifo fin.” What was his guilt, sin, fault?

These Pakistani children are also our Thes own, these Syrian girls are also our own own. “We are a nation where for own over thousands of years our rishis and munis have been talking of Vasudeva mun Kudumbam … so this is mine and this Kudu is yours yo is mean mentality.”

For those who are liberal in heart and mind, the whole universe is theirs. an ““We have to rise above narrow ppolitical boundaries for all our children. What happened in Nigeria — 40 girls were kidnapped from school and one doesn’t know their fate, whether they are alive or dead. Kidnapped by those fundamentalist forces who know the power of education.”

The world was facing three serious enemies; the first one was apathy. “We live in a competitive world; the competition in careers, w education, personal life, and so on, ed us down, confining us to is narrowing na our oown selfish interests and apathetic our neighbours … it’s a global pheto ou nomenon,” he said. nom Next comes fear; after 9/11 N everything has changed — the ecoever nomics, geo politics, psychology. “We nom live iin fear or terrorism which is not an isolated but a global problem. isola The third one is impatience and T intolerance ... your own children and intol youth are not as tolerant or patient as yout were. These three enemies have to you w

Kailash Satyarthi with PDG Kamal Sanghvi.

be fought through education, empowerment, entrepreneurship, which means we have to ensure best quality education for all our children.”

A

World Bank report conducted over fifteen years in 50 countries establishes that a single year of schooling for a developing country would give a 0.37 per cent additional return on the GDP. If done over ten years, the return will be 4 per cent higher on the GDP. So the path to sustained economic growth goes through education … quality education. Not through slavery or child labour.

Disclosing a startling statistic, the Nobel Laureate said globally 168 million children are in full-time jobs, whereas 200 million adults are jobless.

Why? Because children are the cheapest source of labour. If they get education, they will become empowered young people so it is better to get work out of them in early childhood, seems to be the mantra. “So their childhood is taken

away and the adults remain jobless.

Studies in India, Peru, Nigeria, Brazil, etc, establish parallels between child labour and poverty. Many people think children are working because of poverty. No child has created poverty in the world, or war or violence.” He added that no child was responsible for the world we are facing now … our planet and its people are in danger, peace is in danger … no child is responsible for it. “We are responsible for poverty, and poverty will never go without the elimination of child labour.”

Again, a World Bank study, done along with agencies such as UNESCO, proves that every single dollar invested in education gives a return of $15 in twenty years. Also, $1 invested in eradication of child labour gives seven times the return in twenty years. So why don’t we prioritise eradication of child labour as an economic imperative for which there are moral imperatives as well, he asked.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by N Krishnamurthy MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 35

The Seven Sisters get a Rotary Medical Mission Thomas Manuel In yet another medical mission led by PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, Rotarian doctors and volunteers bring RAHAT to Dimapur.

I

f you don’t look too closely, Asunba seems like just another middle-aged man. He lives in a village near Dimapur, the largest city in Nagaland. During the last week of March, someone showed him an ad in a newspaper — one of the many publicity measures undertaken by the members of District 3240 in the lead-up to the Rotary RAHAT mission from March 28 to April 5. With the aid of a family member, he made his way to the District Hospital in Dimapur city. There, he waited in line to see a doctor, and when his turn finally came, described his problem. Unable to afford the necessary surgery, Asunba has been forced to carry around a catheter attached to a plastic bag for the last 11 years. I met him in a ward at the second site of the RAHAT mission, the Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research’s Referral Hospital (CIHSR).

He was about to go in for surgery and the expression

on his face betrayed both his fear and his hope.

The Rotary RAHAT Medical Mission at Dimapur is a free surgical camp organised by RI District 3080. Inspired by the success of the Intercontinental Medical Missions that he started in 1998, PRIP Rajendra K Saboo was approached to take similar

missions to economically-backward areas within India. “Indian doctors,” says Saboo, “are unique in one sense: their ability to innovate. They have worked in sites where logistics and infrastructure are not ideal and still find ways to do fantastic work.” And starting in 2006 in Kalahandi in Orissa, through missions in Madhya Pradesh,

Medical Director of RAHAT PDG Dr R S Parmar (right) operating on a patient.

36 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, this prowess has held various doctors from all over the country in good stead.

The latest mission in Dimapur offers a fresh challenge in a new region.

District 3240 is the largest RI District in India by area, covering all the seven States of the North-East as well as Sikkim and parts of West Bengal.

There are 79 clubs and almost 3,000 Rotarians. But for various reasons, including the remoteness of the location, there’s a disconnection between the region and the rest of India, says DG Chandu Agarwal. “District 3240 does not have a lot of recognition in the rest of the country. So we wanted to make everybody aware of the seven sisters of the North-East and help build a better relationship with citizens of this area and the mainland.”

When I arrive on the second day, the mission is in full swing. The organising members are constantly running around, answering questions from patients or reaching for their phones to make sure things are getting done.

The main venue is the government’s District Hospital. A new block has just come up and even before it’s officially handed over to the hospital authorities, it’s become the locus of the RAHAT mission. In front of the gleaming

From right: PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, DG Chandu Agarwal and DGE Dr R Bharat reviewing a patient.

white building, a large wedding-style shamiana has been erected to house the registration area. Hundreds of people have come and queued up to submit filled-out application forms. A group of young volunteers help those who find the form intimidating. Past the registration area lie the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) where the mission doctors who have come from various parts of the country are screening patients.

Dr Jammula M Rao, a general surgeon for over 35 years from

Bhubaneshwar, sits in one of these rooms with former classmate and mission volunteer, Dr Suresh Sablok from Nahan, Himachal Pradesh.

I watch Dr Rao as he patiently explains to a patient why rushing into surgery isn’t a good idea. “God has given us the opportunity,” he says, “It’s not the number or the quantity I’m interested in, it’s the quality.” Though Dr Sablok is a veteran of these medical camps, having participated in many of the Intercontinental Medical Missions

The RAHAT team.

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 37

Asunba was about to go in for surgery and the expression on his face betrayed both his fear and his hope.

to Africa, he finds each one unique.

“Every time it’s a new challenge, new place, new language,” he says.

After they screen the patients, a list is prepared of those who need surgeries and their surgical schedules are decided.

The operating theatres (OTs) are where the crucial work is happening. The OTs are located at both the District Hospital and the Referral Hospital at the CIHSR. The District Hospital has clearly seen better days with even the light fittings above the operating table showing their age. Dr Sushil Karia, the lone urologist of the group who hails from Rajkot, didn’t mince his words when he rated the infrastructure ‘one out of ten.’ In the Ophthalmology department, Dr Pankaj Shah, Dr Chirag Bahuguna and Dr Perminder are better off. All the necessary equipment is available and the doctors are taking full advantage of it. “What we are planning to do in one day would normally take a month here,” says Dr Pankaj Shah, an eye specialist from Mumbai.

PDG Dr R S Parmar is the medical director of the mission and I meet him while he is prepping for surgery.

“There was a lady carrying a tumour for 30–40 years and she couldn’t lie down properly,” he says, showing me a grisly photograph of the tumour after it was excised. Neurofibromatosis or Von Recklinghausen disease is a disorder caused by the mutation of a gene responsible for control of cell division.

The patient’s tumour which was cut from her thigh weighed six kg, says Dr Parmar. He proceeds to praise the local 38 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Patients queue up at the RAHAT camp.

staff and nurses assisting with the surgeries, saying “they have a great zeal to work.” Khrievotsunuo Sekhose, a nurse at the district hospital for 20 years, shyly tells me, “we usually work from 7 to 4, but these days we’re at the hospital from 7 to 6.30.” All the nurses are working almost twelve-hour shifts for seven consecutive days, even giving up their Sunday for the Mission.

At the Referral Hospital, DGE Dr R Bharat from D 3250 is working along with Dr Manik Sharma and Dr Chanjiv Singh to perform plastic surgery procedures with the aid of the staff at CIHSR. “The medical profession has been commercialised, everybody knows,” says Dr Bharat, “I take great pleasure in these missions. They have become a part of my life. But the challenge is to combine volume with safety.” All the

Every time it’s a new challenge, new place, new language.

Dr Suresh Sablok

surgeons, including the ortho team of Dr Jayant Nawani, Dr Jagdeep Singh and Dr Manmohan Rawat, are pleasantly surprised at the impressive state of the facilities at CIHSR. The director of the institute, Dr Abraham Joseph, formerly of Christian Medical Centre, Vellore, says quite proudly that among other things, they have the first nursing college in Nagaland.

“For the first two days, it was very challenging,” says DG Chandu Agarwal, “as it was the first surgical camp of such scale in the entire North-Eastern region.

But things are going smoothly now and due to word-of-mouth, numbers are growing every day. We are seeing 300 to 400 patients a day at the OPD and more than 200 surgeries have been done over the last four days.” The Chief Medical Officer of Dimapur and his deputy visited the Mission. “They are doing a commendable job,” the CMO said. Nitin Agarwal, the chairman of the steering committee, says, “RAHAT is about touching people’s lives.

Motivating people was hard in the beginning, but after seeing the results of the camp, everyone is so motivated.” It is clear that the lives of the patients, the doctors and the organisers have all been touched by this wonderful initiative.

Pictures by Thomas Manuel

Help for a flood ravaged village Jaishree

DG C R Raju along with the Rotarians of RC Madras Industrial City talk with the beneficiaries.

A

nakaputhur near Chennai is an active handloom hub reputed for its ‘Madras handkerchief.’

The weavers hold a place in the Limca Book of Records for weaving saris from 25 varieties of natural fibres.

They use fibre extracts of jute, plantain stem, bamboo, aloe vera, etc to weave saris, dress material and even laptop bags.

This village, like several others, was severely battered by the record-breaking November rains that lashed the coastal belt of Tamil Nadu.

Manjula, a resident of the village, runs a pedal loom weaving unit earning Rs 15,000 a month. The flash floods at her home-cum-unit left her and her family with just the floor,

washing away the unit and household articles. She was literally on the streets. Like her, more than 200 weavers in the village lost their livelihood and belongings.

The Rotarians of RC Madras Industrial City, D 3230, led by Club President R Gopinath, quickly stepped in to act in two phases to help the flood victims. Under the first phase, they provided immediate relief comprising basic amenities, shelter and food to over 150 homeless villagers. Revival kits worth Rs 5 lakh with 32 survival items were distributed to more than 150 beneficiaries in the presence of PDG J B Kamdar.

The second phase initiated by Project Chairman S A Premkumar

was aimed at reviving the livelihood of the weavers. Vocation resurrection aid in the form of power pedal looms and around 50 motorised sewing machines were distributed. The total cost was Rs 16 lakh. DG C R Raju, lauding the endeavour, said, “It is heartening to see the village back on its feet. If not for this timely intervention by the Rotarians, we would have lost the region’s famed banana fibre material.”

Manjula, in an emotionally charged voice, thanked the Rotarians, saying, “After our basic needs of food and shelter were taken care of, the bank loans loomed large over our heads. Now with your support we can get our act together.”

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 39

Audio Vision – Made in India Kiran Zehra Ausion, the innovative mobility aid, makes life easier for the visually challenged by audibly alerting them to obstacles.

V

inod Deshmukh (55) began his career as an R&D engineer at Wipro, Bangalore, in 1982 and was instrumental in setting up Wipro’s design centre in the Silicon Valley. Introducing his partner S N Padmanabhan (53) at Innovation Hub Technologies, he says, “We studied at IIT Kanpur, worked together at Wipro and Mindtree and it’s a total coincidence that we decided to do something for the society at the same time. Perhaps we share the same zeal.” Both set out to apply technology to fulfil the need of independent mobility for the visually impaired. And in 2013 they invented India’s first handheld mobility aid for

the visually impaired. “It’s more like bridging the gap between the cane and an obstacle,” he explains.

chose to explain with their actions and “kept trying persistently. Sometimes we blindfolded each other to check how the machine worked,” he adds.

The beginning

Deshmukh recalls how each time they met someone to get some assistance on their research they would first meet their doubtful eyes. “Their thoughts would be so loud that you could read it on their face,” he quips. When they began visiting blind schools to get the inputs and feedback for their machine “nobody would look excited or happy. We were told that many come there saying they want to help and stop turning up after a while,” says Padmanabhan. They

The Torch

After a year, they introduced Ausion, a wearable assistive technology for the visually challenged. Deshmukh

“It’s more like bridging the gap between the cane and an obstacle.”

%HQH¿FLDULHV ZLWK WKHLU PRELOLW\ DLG

40 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

explains that it is based on the principle of echolocation and can detect an object and translate it into sound. The user can hold it in the hand or wear it on the wrist.

It operates with a single button and head phones emit musical notes when it detects an obstacle within three metres range. Like a torch that lights the way in the dark Ausion uses the audible feedbacks to alert the the visually impaired.

“The best part — it’s a 100 percent made-in-India product,” he adds. One of the users from National Association of the Blind, Bengaluru, says, the machine can detect overhanging obstacles at the chest, shoulder and head level allowing greater freedom of movement.

The Rotary Connection

RC Bangalore North, D 3190, has been working with the visually

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impaired for seven years now and has completed 13,000 surgeries to rectify avoidable blindness. The club had been looking for a good project to celebrate its golden jubilee year 2015–2016 and chose to do a little

extra for the visually impaired. Club President Prakash Gawankar called on his old friend Vinod Deshmukh and at the end of their meeting “we had recalled all our old memories and sealed the deal for Ausion as our golden jubilee project,” says Gawankar. So far the club has distributed 400 machines to visually impaired students and teachers.

For the two techies, “Rotary is a trusted social organisation and reaches every part of the world, so who wouldn’t want to work with them!” Quiz them on which part of their life was more exciting — IT industry or their Innovation Hub? Both find the latter more satisfying.

Deshmukh says “this has given us a chance to change the lives of many people.”

A Cycle rally with a Message Team Rotary News Thousands of cyclists participated in Rotathlon, an event of RI District 3060, to sensitise the public in making India a cleaner, greener and literate nation.

F

ebruary 21 — two days ahead of Rotary’s 111 th anniversary, the streets of Gujarat, the UTs of Daman and Diu, and that of Dhule and Nandurbar in Maharashtra came alive with cyclists on a mission to spread the message of a progressive India among the public.

The idea was conceived to simultaneously carry out the event by all the clubs of the district, on the same day, at the same time, in

their respective cities/towns. And thus Rotathlon got kick-started with the theme: Clean India, Literate India — Prosperous India.

As many as 62 clubs organised a cycle rally in their respective localities. More than 25,000 people comprising school and college students, citizens, NGOs and Rotarians and their families participated in the event creating a record of sorts, says the District PR Chair Hemant Antani.

The project was extensively discussed at all cluster seminars held all around the district. Social media was widely utilised by all clubs to publicise the project in their own towns.

A common logo was designed, which was used by all participating clubs, for their banners. The local District leaders such as the MPs, MLAs, and Collectors were invited for the flagoff in each of the towns. DG Parag Sheth appreciated the endeavour as a good public image exercise.

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 41

ADVERTORIAL

The Lasting Impact of Global and District Grants over Rs 2 crore 20 lakh Through the Grant Making Model Rotary International reaches the most susceptible and underprivileged sections of the society and provides a sign of relief to the destitute beneficiaries. Just to quote one of the finest example is from District 3170 when Past District Governor Rtn Mohan Mulherkar diligently utilised the Grants funds in collaboration with District 3710 Korea and District 7255, USA to set up 30 hitech reverse osmosis water purification plants in rural schools thereby delivering safe, pure and contamination free water to more than 40,000 students. The second was providing family planning services to the marginalised and less fortunate population about family planning, sexual and reproductive health in association with Family Planning Association of India. The project serves more than 1 lakh recipients every year.

During the same year, benches, computers, projectors were benevolently donated to the needy rural schools, the supremacy of the grants further assisted him to set up physiotherapy centres, vocational centres and rain water harvesting systems towards bringing in the desired societal change.

If we glance at the power of these grants and the projects, they have truly served Rotary’s six areas of focus.

The projects are having a long-term impact, are sustainable and the goals are clearly measurable. Numerous beneficiaries will reap the benefits year on year.

R I Cadre (Auditor) Member PDG Rtn Chandrasekhar is enthusiastic as he appreciates the RO Water Projects during his inspection of 22 RO plants travelling around 1,900 km by road.

In the presence of Past RI Director Rtn P T Prabhakar and RI Director Elect PDG Rtn C Basker.

Family Planning Association of India, Dharward.

Creating an

IIT-like college for blind Rasheeda Bhagat

Jagriti, a school for the blind near Pune, has been nurtured by RC Pune University Rotarians for long years. Now they have put up a specialised quality institute for visually challenged.

44 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

W

hen the father of Pramod Gokhale, a past president of RC Pune University, D 3131, was only 21, due to an accidental high dose of penicillin, he lost his eyesight, “becoming totally blind. He was a qualified automobile engineer,” recalls his son.

But undeterred by his handicap, the senior Gokhale started his own auto dealership in Pune, which today has 80 employees. In 1986 he got a national award for the most efficient handicapped entrepreneur.

But he did more than start an auto dealership; in collaboration with the National Federation for the Blind, Maharashtra (NFBM), he started Jagriti, a school for visually challenged girls in the outskirts of Pune.

Here about 100 girls from disadvantaged families in rural Maharasthra get residential accommodation and education.

Jagriti also offers employment opportunities to young blind women.

At present, it has a modest campus, but a spanking new one is now coming up at a cost of $130,000.

But more of that project, which ambitiously hopes to become ‘the IIT for the blind,’ later.

At the old Jagriti campus, I meet Sonali, 21, who is proofreading over braille, an English book translated into Marathi. Dnyaneshwar N Tapkir, President Emeritus, NFBM, who has been working with Jagriti for 38 years, explains that through the use of Duxbury Braille translation software, English or Hindi books are translated into Marathi, or vice versa and Sonali and a few other girls working here are proofreading the translated text.

Two of their proofreaders have got jobs in Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. We encourage them to leave; it is better for their future.

in History. “I was born blind … though I can see a little light. There was a vacancy here for proofreading, I applied and got the job.” She gets a salary of Rs 12,000, hopes to complete her BA soon and apply for a bank job.

“We encourage them to do that as that will be better for them in the long term,” says Gokhale, adding that two of their earlier employees have got jobs in Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Suman, 21, is another proofreader who came here last year after completing her BA in History from Fergusons college. Her father is a mattress maker and she too gets a salary of Rs 12,000. “With this money I am able to take care of all

my expenses and I don’t ask my parents for any money.” She also saves money from her salary for higher education. “My objective is to do a course in library science and get a job as a librarian, as I love to read all kinds of books, in Marathi and Hindi.” Premchand is her favourite writer and she loves his classic work Godan. “Her mother language is Bhojpuri but she has mastered Marathi,” explains Tapkir.

Many girls from Jagriti are sent by vans to schools for ordinary children, and their pass rates are encouraging. “For the last 16 years, our girls have been getting 100 per cent pass in Class 10 exams of the State Board. Many of our girls get 60-80 per cent marks, competing with normal students. Our endeavour is to give them more than mere text books in braille. We want to give them magazines and other books, and open out the world of books to them,” he adds.

W

ith the Rotarians from RC Pune University wanting to do much more for the visually challenged, they have embarked upon setting up “an IIT-like institution for the blind. We want to attract the brightest students

S

onali, who is visually challenged too, joined two years ago and is now pursuing her BA degree MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 45

from all over India and give them specialised and advanced courses to empower them to make not only a living but a career,” says Gokhale.

With the Maharashtra Government giving them two acres of land, and the NFBM constructing a spanking new building, the Rotarians have put in $1.3 million (including $90,000 donated by Abhay Gadgil, DGE of

D 3131, as a Term gift) to provide state-of-the-art facilities. Inaugurated in February by Bollywood star Nana Patekar, the facility has cheerful and well-appointed classrooms, a training centre, laboratory, a music room and an office. A residential complex for the girls is now under construction. “We now have 150 blind girls from various rural areas of Maharashtra, and once

From left: Rtn Pramod Gokhale, Magar (Jagriti School), Dnyaneshwar N Tapkir (President Emeritus NFB, Maharashtra), Pankaj Shah, PP Dr Ravi, Secretary Pallavi Deshpande, President Deepa Gadgil, Director Youth Services, Sujata Kulkarni.

46 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

the hostel is ready we will take 150 more girls. We are offering technical education here and taking day scholars too. It will not really be an engineering college but close to one … we will make our students competent and qualified for IT industry jobs,” says Gadgil.

President of the Club Deepa Gadgil, and other Rotarians such as Sujata Kulkarni, Pallavi Deshpande, are playing an active role in this facility for blind girls. Says Sujata, “We are very committed to ensuring that these visually challenged girls get economic independence and empowerment.”

Gokhale adds that when PRIP Rajendra K Saboo visited Jagriti’s new complex to lay the foundation stone, he said, “This facility should be like a temple of wisdom for the visually challenged.”

Apart from the Duxbury Braille translating software, the school has audio recording systems, iPods donated by Rotarians and Sunetra tablets in which audio lessons are fed.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat Designed by L Gunasekaran

A Rotary Peace Conference laid the

foundation for SAARC Rasheeda Bhagat When the entire South Asia region shares similar cultures, rreligions, customs, the “trust deficit” can be ended only by its peo people.

Past President of RC Aurangabad Metro Chandrakant Chaudhary with DG Deepak Pophale, D 3132.

M

any people may not be aware that the Rotary Conference on Goodwill for South Asia that was held in Delhi in 1981, and addressed by the then External was addresse Minister P V Narasimha Rao, Affairs Minis to the formation of “was a precursor precur SAARC (South (Sou Asian Association Regional Cooperation),” said for Regiona President of the Rotary Club Past Preside Aurangabad Metro Chandrakant of Aurangab Chaudhary. He H was addressing the session of the Internainaugural se tional Peace and Goodwill Summit organised by the club and the Dr Babasaheb A Ambedkar Marathwada University (D (DBAMU).

This was endorsed by none less than former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at a special meet held in Hyderabad H House later in Delhi, he said. At the 1981 conference, the then RI President Presid Stanley McCaffrey and PRIP Rajendra R K Saboo had participated.

Welcomin Welcoming all the participants, especially tthose from Nigeria, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, he said such conferences which people to people contact promoted pe were the only way to move forward troubled by violence and in a world tro divisiveness.

“Somebody once asked Dr Robert “Somebod Oppenheimer who supervised the creation of the first fi atomic bomb if there was any defence defen against the weapon.

Our culture, economics, bilateral relations join us, but the politics within our nations has divided us.

‘Yes there is; it is peace,’ the scientist had said.”

Why this distrust?

He said in the “thickly populated” Indian sub-continent, all major religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity found place, but despite all religions having similar principles there was so much distrust and unrest.

Chaudhary said at a time when huge problems such as poverty, unemployment, health and illiteracy were plaguing these nations, the only way to move forward was through peace and understanding and “by removing the trust deficit.”

Underlining the need to “set aside differences and work towards a dynamic and development-centric South Asia,” he said only NGOs like Rotary can take concrete steps for bridging the trust gap and promoting peace in a region where “our culture, economics, bilateral relations join us, but the politics within our nations has divided us.”

It is ironic that in the 69 years after the British had left the subcontinent, “when we talk of peace and goodwill, a question comes: Is it really possible?”

Listing out ways to promote peace in South Asia, he suggested the conference deliberate on improving economic linkages between Rotarians in the region; sharing of technical

know how in these countries for service projects; regular inter-district and inter-club business conferences in different SAARC countries to promote business and understanding; exchange of cultural troupes and a South Asian cultural festival for performing and visual arts along with an annual film festival on a rotational basis in different countries of the region; group and youth exchange programmes;

sister-club concept; inviting Rotarians from SAARC countries at district conferences; and inter-country RYLA camps with the DGs setting aside funds for the last.

Let’s join hands “This initiative of our club to promote peace and goodwill in the SAARC countries is to crystallise a dynamic platform for creating a road map for MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 49

Visiting Rotarians from Nigeria, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

social and economic development of over 1.5 billion people in this region.

For this, we, 150,000 Rotarians of South Asia in nearly 4,000 Rotary clubs in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, must join hands,” he said.

It is ironic that in the 69 years after the British had left the subcontinent, when we talk of peace and goodwill, a question comes: Is it really possible?

50 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Chaudhary announced that in collaboration with DBAMU his club was instituting a Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Award, for which nominations will be invited from the 33,000-plus Rotary clubs around the world and the first award will be given in February 2017, for which RI President K R Ravindran has been invited.

Vice Chancellor of the University Professor B A Chopade said a joint committee from his University and RC Aurangabad Metro would select the awardee.

Addressing the meet, DG Deepak Pophale congratulated RC Aurangabad Metro for organising the peace summit for ten years and said peace and conflict resolution was a focus area of Rotary.

Keeping in mind the grim drought conditions in several areas of Maharashtra that were leading to farmers’ suicides, he urged Rotarians to implement water projects and also create awareness on “water conservation and water literacy. This, I believe, is very necessary to maintain peace in the world, as it is often said that the next world war will be fought over water,” Pophale added.

PDG Shashi Varvandkar, D 3261, participated in the conference as the RI President’s representative and sessions were held on involving youth, teachers and others in this noble cause.

A Ruturang festival was organised on the occasion in collaboration with the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Maharashtra.

Pictures by Rasheeda Bhagat

District Wise TRF Contributions as on March 31, 2016 (in US Dollars)

District Number

APF

2981 2982 3000 3011 3012 3020 3030 3040 3051 3052 3053 3060 3070 3080 3090 3100 3110 3120 3131 3132 3140 3150 3160 3170 3180 3190 3201 3202 3211 3212 3230 3240 3250 3261 3262 3291 India Total

56,475 51,912 46,119 41,013 1,79,435 1,09,031 21,920 14,383 19,275 1,595 9,537 2,26,871 18,256 69,522 44,611 42,388 86,530 73,850 1,67,851 52,847 6,22,942 12,205 22,054 42,931 1,86,863 6,16,254 1,53,274 60,549 67,805 69,220 2,86,162 86,759 56,511 9,899 1,14,392 17,884 37,59,127

3220

1,19,129

3271 3272

17,945 10,340

3281 3282

69,343 61,738

3292 South Asia Total World Total

2,16,288 42,53,910 8,20,58,164

PolioPlus*

Other Restricted

India 16,269 0 15,024 0 525 0 4,823 9,930 9,163 1,04,582 69,108 105 122 56,683 979 38,093 227 0 0 75,195 0 0 2,188 19,383 397 406 30,451 25,179 0 0 0 14,166 12,302 13,230 156 0 8,647 54,461 3,944 0 51,841 58,663 4,000 27,001 0 0 1,315 25,534 2,204 3,123 9,379 1,79,607 62,306 100 3,148 525 1,000 0 2,269 0 26,213 2,90,310 406 100 1,300 16,576 0 0 1,225 12,028 0 99,134 3,40,930 11,24,114 Sri Lanka 26,526 49,883 Pakistan 25,015 989 11,098 (200) Bangladesh 50 43,162 25 0 Nepal 4,319 6,08,480 4,07,963 18,26,427 1,74,07,255 1,00,08,411

Total Endowment Contributions Fund 197 0 0 13,324 0 1,92,878 0 0 0 0 0 22,000 0 17,758 0 2,000 0 0 9,811 37,500 1,89,699 40,010 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 692 17,219 0 5,000 0 39,000 0 5,88,089

72,941 66,936 46,644 69,091 2,93,179 3,71,121 78,725 53,455 19,502 76,790 9,537 2,70,441 19,059 1,42,910 44,611 58,553 1,12,062 74,006 2,40,770 94,292 9,23,145 83,216 22,054 69,781 1,92,190 8,05,240 2,15,680 64,223 69,805 72,182 6,19,904 87,265 79,386 9,899 1,66,645 1,17,018 58,12,259

7,583

2,03,121

0 0

43,949 21,238

10,900 3,000

1,23,455 64,763

0 6,09,572 1,23,49,146

8,29,087 70,97,872 12,18,22,976

* Excludes Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

* Does not include contribution of Mrs Rajashree Birla ($1,000,000)

Source: RI South Asia Office

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PRID Shekhar Mehta Chairman, Rotary India Literacy Mission

R

LITERACY FOCUS

otary India Literacy Mission (RILM) programme aims to achieve ‘Total Literacy and Quality Education’ in India. Towards this end, RILM has entered into an understanding with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Government of India, to educate 2,00,000 adults across India this year. Till now, the Government has worked to arrest adult illiteracy under its ‘Saakshar Bharat’ mission.

RILM’s ‘Swabhiman’ campaign will complement this mission. These learners will be certified as literate by the Government on successfully clearing the examination.

Where India stands in Adult Literacy?

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation report on ‘Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2013–14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All’ states India has the highest population of non-literate adults at 287 million, accounting for 37 percent of the world’s non-literate population. RILM joining hands with the Centre will focus on curbing this high percentage of non-literates.

Amongst its set targets, RILM is going to launch its ‘Swabhiman’ campaign under its ‘Adult Literacy’ component of ‘T-E-A-C-H’ programme with the Government

of India this summer to educate non-literates above the age of 15 years.

The ‘Swabhiman’ campaign, riding on ‘Each One, Reach One, Teach One’ slogan, aims to make an adult literate at a cost of Rs 100 only. The Rotary Club concerned needs to mobilise another Rs 40 for each adult learner to enable him/ her to take the examination and be certified as literate.

The adult learner has to successfully take the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) examination held either in March or August to be certified as literate by the Government of India, under its ‘Saakshar Bharat’ movement.

A student volunteer teaches an adult learner at Ganipur High School in RI District 3291.

52 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Rotary Global Rewards

T

he Rotary Global Rewards (RGR) is our way of giving back to those who give so much,� says RI President K R Ravindran.

The programme developed by him and the Board of Directors is designed to make membership even more rewarding for Rotarians and to thank them for their service and support of TRF. It offers Rotarians and Rotaractors discounts on products and services such as travel, entertainment, car rentals, hotels and dining. More products and services from companies around the world are being added every week.

Over 11,000 Rotary members worldwide have availed benefits from RGR, but with just 6 per cent, it is yet to take off in India, says Naish Shah, the Member Benefits Programme Manager at RI.

How it works To redeem or create offers, it is mandatory for Rotarians and Rotaractors to have a My Rotary account and access it from the Member Center. It works on smartphones, computers and tablets, and is easy to navigate.

Offers from participating companies are listed in www.rotary.org/ globalrewards. Search for offers by location after signing into My Rotary and clicking on Explore Rewards.

Select the Map tab to display nearby offers on the map. They are highlighted in red markers. Alternatively, offers can be chosen from the List tab too. Tap the Claim Offer to redeem it.

The Details tab gives more information on the deal and how to use it.

Rotarians/Rotaractors can also add offers for discounts on products and services from their businesses. Select

the Create a New Offer tab after signing into your My Rotary account. Fill in the details such as the company name, logo, description of the offer, promotion code to redeem it. Once you tap Save, the offers will be activated in 10-15 business days.

RGR in India Some of the companies participating in the Rewards programme include Accor Hotels, Expedia India, Qatar

Airways and Park Plaza. PDGs J B Kamdar, Vinay Kulkarni and Vinod Bansal are the Indian ambassadors to promote the programme.

A special booth for Rotary Global Rewards is set up at the Seoul Convention and it is being promoted in all District events such as the PETS, DTTS and District Conference etc.

For further clarifications, contact RotaryGlobalRewards@rotary.org MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 53

Reaching out to the Gonds Jaishree RC Jabalpur ushers in better living conditions for the Gonds of Bishanpura.

Children enjoying the new swing at the school.

T

he dusty 89 km-road from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh leads to Bishanpura village, home for over 600 people of the Gond tribe. RC Jabalpur, D 3261, has adopted the village, providing them with basic amenities. “When we first visited the village last year, we were shocked to find it pathetic in every aspect — no electricity or water connectivity nor any pucca house, even though a youngster, Bhupendra Singh Paraste from the village is posted in the neighbouring Guna district as the

54 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

sub-divisional magistrate,” says Club President Puneet Handa.

The basics Providing electricity was the first priority that was addressed. “About 190 households are here, but the village remains plunged in darkness,” says Handa. The club installed solar panels to provide lighting around the village school and at the common area. They have also installed a television and a submersible pump to draw water from the lone bore well, all of which will

be powered by the solar panel. Handa says that Paraste has also promised to bring in the State government’s scheme, Nal Jal Yojana, that will provide one tap per household, to address water shortage in the village.

The village has no medical facility in the vicinity. “People have to trudge 30 km even for the daily kirana; there is not even a tea stall,” he says. The next action plan was a comprehensive health check-up and cataract treatment camps which were organised at various hospitals in Jabalpur.

People have to trudge 30 km even for the daily kirana; there is not even a tea stall.

The Rotarians provided benches and desks, installed play equipments, a water purifier, solar cooker to prepare mid-day meals, library and toilet block for the 56 children of the Government primary school. They also distributed uniforms and books.

An adult literacy centre was launched where 20 villagers enrolled for basic literacy classes. “We have promised to present each of them Rs 500 if they successfully spell their name and count to ten. The teacher will get Rs 1,000,” says Handa.

Children look at the solar cooker with curiosity.

Farming Most of the villagers have small landholdings, but their cultivation is very poor. The Rotarians organised a seminar to teach them modern farming techniques and use of hybrid seeds.

A veterinary camp was also organised for their cattle.

A community centre will be set up and tailoring classes will be held for women to help them earn their livelihood. Project Bishanpura costs about Rs 15 lakh and “we believe it will raise the standard of living of the tribal community,” says the president of this 77-year-old club.

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ROTARY NEWS 55

Let wellness too drive Profits G B Prabhat Long-term employee wellness must become a part of the corporate dashboard and the next rung in the ladder of a business corporation.

M

anagers of manufacturing companies are familiar with three popular modes for maintaining their plant and machinery: z Breakdown

maintenance — attending to a machine when it stops performing due to a failure. z Planned maintenance — carried out at scheduled intervals, whether a machine has failed or not. Annual maintenance of plants under

5566 RRO ROTARY ROT OTARY OT AR A RYY NE R NEW NEWS WSS MAY MA M AY 2016 AY 2016 20 16

shutdown is a maintenance activity under this category. z Predictive maintenance — taking pre-emptive action to prevent catastrophic events when the behaviour of a machine suggests it may breakdown or face trouble in the near future.

Nobody questions a manufacturing company for incurring expenditure towards maintaining its machines. It is

a no-brainer that the assets from which the products of the company arise have to be in top condition. The maintenance expenses are returned many times over in the profits of the company.

The new assets Cut to the present. While conventional capital assets like plant and machinery are essential to business, they no longer determine competitive advantage. In

the knowledge economy, competitive advantage derives from ideas whose source is people. Pharmaceutical companies depend on their research scientists to discover the next blockbuster drug, the fortune of chip-making companies is determined by innovative designs and the human race depends for its long-term wellness on geneticists who studiously map intricate gene mutations to diseases. Even in that most hallowed of all asset-intensive industries — manufacturing — with the advent of technologies like 3D printing, advantage has moved from manufacturing assets to design ideas. Any object that can be imagined can be manufactured with the same finish anywhere in the world.

High quality manufacturing is not the exclusive preserve of a few who have access to sophisticated plants and machinery. The key to supremacy even in the manufacturing business is superior imagination. Without doubt, employees have become the productive assets of practically all kinds of businesses.

However, the upkeep of people as assets sadly lags behind the aforementioned sophisticated methods of maintaining plant and machinery.

Of the three kinds of maintenance applicable to machines, most companies practise breakdown maintenance for people: provide them with health insurance covers so if they are struck down by disease, the costs of repair (medical treatment) that will restore them to working condition are met without financial distress to the employees. Some companies practise limited forms of planned maintenance,

In the knowledge economy, competitive advantage derives from ideas whose source is people.

say, in the form of an annual health check-up with recommendations of follow-up action. Very few companies practise predictive maintenance, which is knowing which employee groups are at what risks and taking pre-emptive action to prevent forthcoming disasters.

Like every manufacturing company needs a plant and machinery maintenance programme, so does every business need a wellness programme for its employees. A wellness programme simply is the institutional means by which every business invests in the long-term wellness of its employees. Competitive advantage will arise in significant part from the superiority of the wellness programme of a company over that of other companies.

A classic example is Google whose investments in the wellness of its people are legendary: from free food to physicians on campus and gymnasia.

The returns it harvests by way of the superior products of various groups would be a gargantuan multiple of the investments it makes in its employees.

Enlightened self-interest is sufficient reason for a company to embark upon a wellness programme. A wellness programme addresses both the mental and the physical well-being of the employees through a comprehensive and structured intervention. The contents of the programme would be driven both by the strategic context of the company as also the current state of health of its employees. An effective wellness programme would soon become part of the indispensable genetic material of the successful corporation.

High-mindedness and profits are not irreconcilables The pursuit of profits need not be the only driver of wellness programmes.

The betterment of humankind has always been enabled by the economic enterprise. Our progress over the ages is a result of productive employment.

Like every manufacturing company needs a plant and machinery maintenance programme, every business needs a wellness programme for its employees.

Directly and indirectly, the profits earned by companies have led to the creation of institutions that have helped improve the quality of life.

The noblesse oblige that accumulation of outsized profits creates, should prompt companies to reinvest a portion of the money in the wellness of their employees, particularly at a time when mental and physical well-being are under threat. Wellness management represents the next rung in the ladder of evolution of the business corporation. Long-term employee wellness must become a part of the corporate dashboard.

The promotion of employee wellness cannot be undertaken purposefully without a concerted wellness programme. Employee welfare improvement initiatives of yesteryear are inadequate to meet the requirements of the wellness programmes of tomorrow. Sundry efforts should be replaced by their orderly integration into holistic wellness programmes. The definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be expanded to include wellness programmes which indeed discharge the important social responsibility of building healthy employee communities.

Extending Adam Smith’s principles of economics, if every company ensured the wellness of its employees, the wellness of a significant part of society would be taken care of!

To be continued ...

(The writer is Founder, Anantara Solutions Pvt Limited.

Email: gbprabhat@gmail.com) MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 57

A dream village school Jaishree

One man’s dream provides quality education to children of several villages.

I

n a quiet picturesque village near Theni in Tamil Nadu, the sight of little children alighting from their school bus, and marching to their classrooms in a queue, with each child’s arm on the shoulder of the one before her, made an enchanting scene to take in.

Set amidst a serene locale surrounded by sugarcane farms and coconut grooves, away from noise and pollution, is the Sri Valli Varadaraj Matriculation School in a village close to the Vaigai Dam in Tamil Nadu. The township, Varadaraj Nagar, is named after the Coimbatore-based industrialist, educationist and PDG of D 3201, G Varadaraj, from the PSG family. GV, as he was affectionately known, was also a Rajya Sabha MP. The genesis When GV requested former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, a close friend, to approve the setting up of a medical college in Coimbatore, MGR suggested that GV build a sugar factory near his constituency, Andipatti, a sugarcane belt. Thus was born Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals in what was otherwise a barren land with little employment opportunities.

Today the factory is a source of income for several thousands of villagers

58 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Karishma delivering the speech.

PDG S Krishnaswami with Dr K Sudhakar, a committee member.

and sugarcane farmers directly and indirectly. Rajshree Pathy, GV’s daughter, is its managing director.

Having ushered in substantial economic development around the area, GV wanted to construct a school for the children in the region, but passed away before this could be done.

Rajshree turned her father’s dream into a reality in 2007 by setting up the school on an 18-acre plot near the factory.

The present The school today is much soughtafter by people from the surrounding villages and children from as far as 30 km study here. Most of them are firstgeneration learners from poor families; most parents are farm labourers.

A fleet of eight school buses are available to the students and staff.

I visit the school accompanied by its advisor, and a trusted friend of GV, PDG S Krishnaswami of D 3230. We enter a classroom to find the children

engaged in art work … drawing and colouring tigers and the squirrels.

On the prodding of their teacher Rajeshwari, S Karishma (6) entertains us with her Republic Day speech with surprising élan and in fluent English.

It is difficult to say that she comes from such a disadvantaged family background. “We train them in various disciplines tapping their inherent talent,” says Rajeshwari.

“For us illiterate parents, it is a great joy and pride to hear our daughter speak in English,” says Chellamuthu, a student’s father. The teachers say they are respected and given freedom by the management to decide on their own teaching style.

Principal Tolly John says that they receive 300 to 400 applications every year for admission for 96 seats in the LKG. A fee of Rs 6,000, payable in three installments, is charged for LKG students and the amount reduces as they go up the higher classes. Everything ranging from bags,

uniforms, books, stationery, etc is provided by the school.

The curriculum includes Hindi as a compulsory alternate language, yoga, art, craft and computer. Three students have made it to the State volleyball team and are district champions in beach volleyball, kabbadi, kho-kho and yoga. The students are coached for the IIT examinations too. “Our students won the District championship in the Science quiz conducted by FIITJEE last year,” says John. There is an Interact club too.

Well-equipped laboratories and well-maintained toilet blocks and wash stations for boys and girls complete the picture. Three medical examinations — skin, eye and dental — and education on menstrual hygiene for the adolescent girl students and career guidance seminars are conducted every year.

“Their families cannot afford the extra cost and are happy that their children are taken care of,” says Krishnaswami.

“I particularly like the ambience of my school and my sessions as a Girl Guide,” says Sharanya of Class 7.

As most of the parents are illiterate, the older children are given extra coaching after school hours, and they along with the teachers are dropped home in the school buses. “This facility is most helpful for the students as some of the houses are in remote places where they do not have electricity and the parents return home from work late in the evening,” says John.

“I am confident I will score more than Shakthi Prabha,” says Gopinath,

As for their aspirations, most of the students want to join the Army or the Navy.

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ROTARY NEWS 59

referring to the student who was a District topper with a score of 496/500 in the last year’s Class X Boards.

The school holds a consistent record for over three years now, beams the Principal.

“As these are backward areas, it is important that the parents don’t pull out their children from school, especially the girl children. So we counsel them against it every year,” says Krishnaswami. The teachers also undergo training annually. Last year RC Coimbatore along with RC Wynum and Manly, D 9630, Australia, organised a training programme for them under a global grant.

Craze for the Armed Forces As I quiz the children on what they aspire to be, it is surprising to find that most of them want to join the Army or the Navy. The Principal enlightens me saying that the region is inhabited 60 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

Their families cannot afford the extra cost and are happy that their children are taken care of.

by people of the Kallar community known for their bravery and patriotism. Hence most of the youngsters serve in the Armed Forces. These children are inspired by the young men’s uniforms when they visit their homeland on holiday. There are other dreams too … while Srimathy, Raghav and Karthikeyan of class XI want to become cardiologists, Sharanya wants to be a journalist and Nivetha, a dermatologist.

Krishnaswami visits the school every month along with Manoharan, one of the Directors “instrumental in the development of the school,” and they keep the school going like a welloiled machine. Whenever Rajshree visits the school, “there is a crackle in the air and we all get very excited; she exudes such a positive vibe, pepping us up and never making us feel that we are from a small town,” says Varsha, a teacher.

“My ambition is to put up a teachers’ training college here,” says Krishnaswami, who also runs scholarships for achievers in the name of his family members. As we wind up, Krishnaswami and John were discussing ways to raise Rs 25 lakh to construct a compound wall around the campus.

Pictures by Jaishree Designed by S Krishnapratheesh

Club Corner RC Allahabad Midtown D

3120

The club has adopted the Prathmik Vidyalaya in Bakshikala, Daraganj district, to convert it into a Happy School. The Rotarians provided better flooring and classroom furniture, painted the school, constructed toilet blocks and wash stations, provided drinking water facilities, play equipment, books for the library and electrical fittings and uniforms and books.

RC Navanandi-Nandyal

D 3160

The Rotarians provided students of various schools in and around Nandyal with stationery, before their exams. They have also given dustbins and first-aid kits for several schools. Dental check-up camps were organised and dental kits were distributed to the students.

RC Coimbatore

D 3201

The club hosted the World’s Greatest Meal (WGM), a fund raiser for polio eradication, and contributed $19,030 for the Polio Fund, handing over the cheque to the WGM Coordinator, Susanne Rea of RC Cairns Sunrise, who lauded the endeavour.

RC Sidhpur

D 3051

The club, along with the Rotaract and Innerwheel clubs, is organising awareness programmes to educate school children about the importance of handwashing, as part of their WinS project and ushering in behavioural change in 600 girls. The clubs plan to take this important message to 50 government schools in Sidhpur.

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The Myth of Mind-Body connection Sheela Nambiar

T

he new buzzword in the fitness industry is ‘mind-body’ exercise. This primarily includes yoga, pilates, tai chi, quigong, etc where the mind-body connection is unmistakable. The instructions are directed to the breath and a very deliberate association is made between the breath and the movement.

This false differentiation however makes it appear as if all other forms of fitness (like running, aerobic dance, strength training) somehow do not involve the mind!

It is my belief that every single form of exercise needs to be a mindbody activity. It cannot and should not be any other way.

A major part of fitness is about the mind. Determination, cognition, perseverance and dedication — qualities without which one cannot hope to persist with one’s fitness routine day after day. It may seem as if physical fitness is just that — a “physical” intervention. But it is not really completely physical, is it? There

I often see the gym rat glowing blue in the face as he tries to force a movement holding the breath and paying no attention to what his body is telling him.

62 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

are times when the body is reluctant to complete that last mile, pick up the weights or go through a yoga routine.

It is one’s mind that is then responsible for following through.

Weight training - Strength training, for instance, cannot be a mindless activity one participates in while having an animated conversation with a buddy in the gym. There has to be total focus on the weight being used, the rhythm and pattern of breathing that has to follow the movement (exhaling during the effort for instance), the muscles being worked, the accessory muscles being worked, the correct ‘form’ of the exercise and so on. How can it not be a mind-body exercise then? If one is not mindful while training with weights, the chances of injury are extremely high.

The breath, while exercising, is the essence of life, obviously, but I often see the gym rat glowing blue in the face as he/she tries to force a movement while simultaneously holding the breath and paying no attention to what his body is telling him. Catastrophic! Even experienced exercisers and trainers seem to constantly need reminding of their breathing pattern while training with weights. So the next time, instead of watching to see if your neighbour in the gym is watching you perform a seemingly herculean dead lift, focus on your own breath and form of exercise instead.

Focus on which muscles in your body are working to lift the weight. Focus on keeping your core stable, spine aligned and your body weight balanced evenly between your feet. Focus on what you

are pushing your body to do. Listen to what it is telling you in response.

While building muscle, finishing those last few reps when your muscles are begging you to stop is possible only with the right mental attitude.

Cardio - Although some people enjoy their cardio, many find it extremely dreary and/or difficult. You can trick your mind into enjoying it by adding fun to the activity. If you absolutely cannot go for a run or use the cross trainer, why not try one of the new cardio classes with music, some entertainment, and other exercisers that add to the thrill making one forget (to some extent at least), the actual work done.

Some people need that distraction while others are able to stoically go through their daily workout without external motivation. These are just personality types. Some people are self-motivated while others are not.

Identify your personality type and figure out what works best for you, the prime objective being to help you stay with your exercise routine by using the mind.

The mind is very clearly called upon to focus, learn and commit to memory when you are taken through a complicated aerobic/step/kick-boxing class with choreography and music.

Yes, your mind is working. There is no question about it. There are students who will swear they have two left feet, they are tone deaf and have no clue about music. Somehow, with practice, their body learns to adapt to a new kind of movement. It learns to listen to and

There are times when the body is reluctant to complete that last mile. It is one’s mind that is then responsible for following through.

understand rhythm. All this is possible when the mind is alert.

Researchers (Kramer, Erickson and Colcombe, 2006, and Hillman and Van Prag, 2008) found that regular exercise creates new pathways, new cells (neurogenesis) and improved blood flow (vascularity) in the brain thereby improving cognition, working memory, multitasking even dealing with ambiguity. These are the very functions that normally decline with age. Regular exercise therefore could prevent this decline paving the way for a better quality of life.

It works both ways. The mind is used to exercise effectively and exercise in turn improves brain function. All fitness activities have a mind-body connection. This is more palpable when one focuses on the activity at hand — when one is open to learning and understanding; when one is conscious and mindful.

(The writer is a fitness and lifestyle consultant.

E-mail: Sheela.nambiar@gmail.com)

MA MAY M AY 20 AY 22016 01166 ROT ROTARY R RO OT OTA OTA AR ARY RY N RY NE NEWS EW WSS 63 63

Simple Economics

The futile GDP debate F

ew countries in the world indulge in as much futile debates as India does. For example, for more than a year now, economists have been wrangling about how well, or badly, the Indian economy is doing. The government’s chief statistician says it has been doing very well indeed and growing at well over 7 per cent. No, say dozens of economists, including from the Finance ministry and the RBI, it doesn’t ‘feel’ like that and there is something ‘wrong’ somewhere.

So what’s going on? Is the Indian economy doing well or not? Is it really growing at 7.3 per cent or is it growing only at about 5 per cent?

There are two ways of answering this question. One is to ignore it

64 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

because it doesn’t affect your life.

Most sensible citizens all over the world do just this when economists and econometricians start arguing about growth rates. It is not a bad approach to adopt.

The other method is to treat it as an intellectual puzzle worth solving.

This involves a little bit of mental pain because you have to deal with some very complex ideas inherent in the “measurement of the level of the rate of growth,” an obsession that started after 1945.

In physics, a rate of increase in speed is called acceleration and it is easy to measure because the mathematics for it exists in the form of differential calculus.

But in economics it is very hard indeed because, basically, you are trying to do

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

something that cannot be done accurately. As the more sensible economists point out, it is all an estimate, not something precise like, say, acceleration. So why quibble over what is, at the end of the day, just guesswork?

As usual, the problem lies with definitions. In economics GDP (gross domestic product) can be measured in two ways — at factor cost or market prices. At factors cost, it excludes taxes; at market prices taxes are included. If you think this is complex, try this: GDP at market prices excludes subsidies, which means it is net government revenue that you are concerned with.

The more rapidly this revenue grows, the faster will GDP grow. This is what has happened after 2011 when the

government started raising the indirect tax rates back to the pre-2009 level. The new method — GDP at market prices — has merely captured that increase.

But wait, that’s not all. GDP growth rates also measure the changes in value addition in production of manufacturing and services. Value addition is the difference between the cost of inputs and the price of the output. If you spent Rs 100 on inputs and sold the output at Rs 120, value addition is Rs 20. If the next year, you spent only Rs 95 and sold at the same price, the growth rate will go up.

And here lies a paradox: if global prices start rising, say of oil, India’s GDP

growth rate will come down! It is high now because global prices of all commodities are low.

If this isn’t sufficiently confusing, here’s another puzzle: can an economy that produces no goods or services but is nevertheless taxed by the government, grow? The answer is yes, it can.

Consider this simple example. Suppose you go into a restaurant to eat but before entering you have to pay an entry tax levied by the government. However, you find that the restaurant has run out of food which means no output has been produced and you come out having spent nothing. Yet, the government has

collected Rs 100. Now if it raises the tax to Rs 110 the next year and the same thing happened — no food, no bill — the economy would have grown at 10 per cent without producing anything at all!

By now it must be clear that it is not worth bothering too much about precise growth rates such as 7.3 per cent or 6.9 per cent. These are merely indicative numbers. We should bother more about how much more, or less, we are earning this year over the previous one. The rest is best left to the idle but argumentative minds of economists who’re trying to score points over one another.

Empowering Women at Him Jyoti Team Rotary News The newly inaugurated Him Jyoti Vocational Institute will provide world-class training to 100 young women, in every batch, leading to employment, careers and thus empowerment.

R

I President K R Ravindran inaugurated the Him Jyoti Vocational Institute at Dehradun in Uttarakhand State, in the presence of PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, RID Manoj Desai, DG David Hilton and PRID Sudarshan Agarwal.

Speaking on the occasion, Ravindran said that at the Institute the girls are given an opportunity to compete with the best in the world. He was impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities and complimented the efforts of the former Uttarakhand Governor Sudarshan Agarwal and other Rotarians of District 3080. The programme was attended by the parents of the girls from underprivileged families, the elite of the city and a large number of Rotarians and past district governors.

After starting a residential school — Him Jyoti — for meritorious students hailing from the economically weaker sections of the society, this vocational training institute has been set-up, the sessions of which will begin in July.

RI President K R Ravindran inaugurating the Him Jyoti Vocational Institute in the presence of (from left) PRIP Rajendra K Saboo, Rtn K N Memani and PRID Sudarshan Agarwal.

The courses are designed for girl students to pursue vocational training after Class 12 to help them become economically independent.

The Institute will begin with the enrolment of 100 girl students, five courses with twenty trainees each, for a two-year programme. There are five different vocational courses which

includes training in the apparel sector (fashion technology/dress making), architectural draughtsmanship, computer operations and programming, hotel management and travel and tourism. The project will be supported by the Government, socially conscious individuals and public and private sector companies.

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Retain that

smile Dr Vijayalaskhmi Acharya

E

ven today, in several parts of the world, when teeth are lost or missing, small removable inserts called dentures are placed in the missing spaces. Dentures are made of an acrylic base with embedded teeth made of acrylic. In some instances, clasps or wires hold on to the existing teeth for stability. Simple and easy, but here is the problem. The denture sits loosely in the mouth, resting on the gums and ridges. They move slightly during speech or during biting or chewing food. Apart from being an inefficient chewing tool, food collects under the denture and hence they need frequent cleaning and washing.

There are thousands of frustrated people trying to make the best out of this situation and mostly failing.

Dentistry today is an advanced science that is a unique combination

of skill, artistry and technology. The dental implant has radically changed the way dentistry is practised by providing anchored teeth that look and function like your own.

So what exactly is a dental implant?

It is essentially an artificial root which supports an artificial tooth. The tooth, as we all know, comprises a root and a crown. The root is embedded in the jawbone. The implant, made of titanium, serves as the artificial root and

Dental implants provide anchored teeth that look and function like your own.

gets attached into the bone in a few months to provide the support for the future fixed tooth.

The concept is ingenious. The technology behind it has advanced tremendously, since 75 years or so, when the first dental implant was successfully placed. Teeth, affected by disease, ageing and accidents, can be lost. The gaps left in dentition cause speech problems, aesthetic issues and eating difficulties. Implants are a long-term fixed solution.

If you need an implant, the dentist first has to perform a background health-check, which is followed by careful treatment planning with casts and x-rays. The procedure is done using local anaesthesia. Once healing and fixation of the implants take place, impressions are made for fixing the teeth over them.

The drawbacks?

If you were to call it that — are the time you have to spend at the dentist’s and the costs.

Depending on the location in the jaw where the implant is required, and the availability of the bone, the process could take 3–9 months during which temporary alternatives are provided.

The costs

Before: Dental implants embedded in the jawbone.

66 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

In India, the cost of implants work to about one-fourth of what is charged internationally. Yes it is expensive for

unfolds over time — the comfort, confidence and the natural feeling.

The fear of pain and the unknown are matters that can be overcome after talking to your dentist. Sedation is also offered for performing the initial surgery. Opting for implants go a long way in providing that long lasting result, to keep you smiling all the way.

Ask your dentist about dental implants today.

After: Anchored teeth.

the average Indian. Yet, the average Indian is going places today, he is upwardly mobile and he has his sights set on improving his lot and he now

chooses fixed teeth over removable dentures even though it costs more.

The costs will long be forgotten once the value of this treatment

(The author is a specialist in implant and cosmetic dentistry and an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry.

Email: acharya@acharyadental.in)

Korea ... here we come Rakesh Bhatia

I

was invited along with my family to Seoul, by my 15-yearsplus business associate CAS Corporation, in March. We loved and enjoyed every moment there. More so, since our convention is around the corner.

Seoul is a beautiful place with warm citizens. We were welcomed wherever we went. Seoul has many bridges, each with different colour and design — marvellous engineering. Koreans are one of the best cosmetic manufacturers, and it is the best buy there. Shilla IPark is a duty-free mall in Seoul and the best part is that all your purchases are delivered to you free of cost at the airport on your departure date.

The must try for vegetarians is the ‘fried banana.’ Delicious Indian food too is available in restaurants such as Namaste at Gangnam-gu. The currency is called ‘won.’ US $1 equals 1,152 won (approx.), surprisingly you will be feeling rich counting the local currency in thousands and lacs.

Visiting the Seoul Tower by cable car is an experience. Do carry a lock with a wish to Seoul Tower — they say it works. The Gyeongbokgung Palace is known for its scenic beauty. A cruise on the Han River and feeding the seagulls is not to be missed. A visit to the wholesale fish market can also be kept in mind to see varieties.

I would also advice you take The Incheon Bridge, on the way back to the airport. It is about 22 km long — the world's seventh longest, you will never forget this drive. Korea here we come....

(The writer is a member of RC Belur - D 3291.)

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A young Pandit couple with their child.

Memories … of Kasheer Somnath Sapru Prologue: When armed terrorists enter your house at dead of night or in broad daylight, as it happened in Kashmir in 1989–90, what do you do? Who will you ask for help? Police or the Government or the neighbours? None 68 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

of them comes to help you and those whom you know, advise you to leave to save your life.

The terrorists give you a deadline.

Leave by this time. If you don’t, we will kill you and kidnap your women folk and children. You look around

helpless and wonder what happened.

You look at the walls, the house where you have lived for generations, full of memories and yet you know you have to leave.

You are not allowed to leave with your belongings. So you decide that

saving your life and that of your family and honour is more important.

You leave with nothing, except kith and kin. But you do take something with you: Memories. And till today, your mind, like the computer, retrieves them, in bits and pieces.

And that is what this narrative is all about.

“The further you look back into the past, the farther you can look forward into the future.”

The moment a child is born and his or her mother hears the first cry, it is the beginning of a long journey in which he accumulates experiences that effectively become his past.

If there was no past what would we talk about? It is the past, which when mixed with the present, eventually points to the future. And in the case of Kashmiri Pandits, an endangered species, they are in danger of losing their past after they have lost their moorings in the Kashmir Valley.

Many might question the motives for writing this. The past, cumulatively put, becomes an inheritance, a heritage that the younger generation should cherish. And it is that which gives a community a distinct identity and a link with its past.

Pandits have more than five thousand years of recorded history. They were the original inhabitants who lived in the Valley. Their way of life was distinct, and as their numbers dwindled due to Muslim invasions, killing, persecution, conversion and the unsettled nature of succeeding kingdoms, this provoked a fierce onslaught on their life, culture, religion, safety and freedom of the community.

Kasheer — the glorious Kasheer Home of Kashyap’s progeny for centuries Of all places home is the best.

Pandits nourished it with zeal and zest By their amazing contributions In the fields of sculpture, architecture Philosophy, fine arts, literature Religion, astronomy, healthcare Pandits left a deep impress On Kashmir’s composite culture.

By dint of their hard labour They helped Kashmir to prosper.

Once before this, once before Zain-ul-abidin Badshah Moved by justice and equity Softened by pleadings of Sri Butt Called Pandits back To the forsaken Valley Wherefrom, because of persecution Almost the entire community To preserve their way of life Their age-old traditions And the honour of their women Had fled in different directions.

Mohan Kishan Tickoo

At one time, only 11 Pandit families were left to carry on the

T

here is hardly an instance where a group of people have been consistently targeted for religious persecution by a succession of Muslim rulers

line during the Afghan rule.

spanning nearly 600 years. From the 14th to the 19th century, barring the reign of Badshah Zain-ul-Abidin, which provided a respite of over 50 years, all the rest were bent on wiping out the community, so much so that only 11 Pandit families were left to carry on the line at one time during the Afghan rule.

Our story here is not about history, but ourselves. Thereby of course, hangs a tale. During the first persecution in the 14th to 15th century, the choice was simple. Either convert to MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 69

The Cashmere shawl

T

he Webster Dictionary defines Cashmere as “Shawl, soft fabric of goats’ hair.” Only after that does it give the name and spelling as “Kashmir.”

Because of the Kashmiri Shawl connection with France the soft wool was identified as “Cashmere” and for some time the word was spelt so in writing by newspapers, journals and books. As late as the early 20th century, newspapers like Times of India, Statesman and

Each one of us knows what we have left behind in our native

The Pioneer spelt it so. However Kashmiris themselves pronounce it as Kushmir, and in Kashmiri the word is Kashir/Kasheer.

The Kashmiri shawl was much prized in Europe, and Queen Victoria made it mandatory to present a Kashmiri shawl as a wedding gift to royalty, and it became popular in England. But its chief market was France and French traders would directly source it from Kashmir. The defeat of France in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian

war spelt ruin of this industry in Kashmir.

Says one of the books on Kashmiri Pandits: “The deputation of the French agents to Kashmir brought the Kashmiri Pandits face-to-face with European culture and literature.

Hitherto, their literary pursuits were limited to knowledge of Persian and Sanskrit, but now with fresh opportunities they began to study French and other European languages.”

Islam or die. The only other choice available was to physically run away.

Which is what the first wave of Kashmiri Pandits did.

But during Badshah’s reign, peace prevailed and a few Pandits returned to the Valley.

original inhabitants with only 50 years of peace in between.

It was only after the coming of Dogra rule from 1846 to 1947, a period of 101 years, that a state of peace and tranquillity prevailed, during which Jammu & Kashmir emerged into the modern age. It was the catalyst called Tyndale Biscoe, teacher and missionary, who strode like a colossus and pitchforked Kashmir into the 20th century.

The last migration took place and degenerated into an exodus in the winter of 1989–90.

Wherever we are scattered around India and abroad in various countries, each one of us carries his heritage, culture and identity with him. Today, our surnames and our faces identify us from a distance. But each one of

land, the land of rivers and mountains, the land of chinars, and deodars, poplars and mulberry.

70 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

J

ust after 50 years of peace during the reign of Badshah, the persecution returned with a vengeance from Aurangzeb’s time and thereafter worsened during the Afghan rule of nearly 70 years between the 17th and 18th centuries. That triggered the second wave of migration from the Valley. In the entire history of Kashmir, from 14th to 19th century, a relentless campaign of persecution continued against the

us knows what we have left behind in our native land, the land of rivers and mountains, the land of chinars, and deodars, poplars and mulberry, the numerous kinds of flowers, the rivers, lakes and the tiny brooks and streams and “the ashes of our fathers and the temples of our Gods.”

The Pandit community can proudly boast of writers, historians, poets, journalists and other intellectuals. But sadly, very few books have been written

by Pandits about the community.

When you lose something, which is material, which you can see, which you can taste, and which has through generations become a part of you, all that you can take with you are the memories. Can’t we at least have them, savour them, and recall them with nostalgia? We can be allowed to do that because these memories are now a part of our heritage.

T

he Pandit community can proudly boast of writers, historians, poets and generally men of letters, intellectuals and journalists. But sadly we have only three history books written by Pandits about their own community, although many books on Kashmir, its politics, its geography and general history, have been written by Kashmiri

Pandit authors. The first is by Wali, IK, and Wali, MK: Kashmiri Pandits — A Social Survey, Lahore, 1917. This was perhaps the first written record of the community. After this, came Pandit Anand Kaul who wrote the book The Kashmiri Pandit in 1924, which was followed by another book titled History of Kashmiri Pandits by Justice Jia Lal Kilam in 1955. All three were results of individual and private enterprise.

Post-independence, several books on Kashmiri Pandits have been written, but I have only consulted Dr Kusum Pant’s doctoral thesis in Australia.

However, she has mainly discussed the plight of those who were driven out in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and who settled down in various parts of North India and strove to retain their identity. It may be noted that the Nehrus, Saprus, Kunzrus and Kauls

A gathering of Pandits.

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A Family group photo. Note how older women are dressed in traditional pherans and the younger ones are different. The boy on the left is having a kangri under his gown (pheran); hence the bulge. (A clay bowl in a wicker container with live charcoal is carried inside the pheran during winter.)

of Allahabad belong to this category of refugees in their own land.

What will happen on the ground in the future, we do not know. But at least for those children born after 1989 and later, we do have to hold on to those past memories to tell them who their people were, what was their identity, location and culture. A key to the past, a glimpse of the old panorama, and a window through which to recognise our identity.

And so, here we are, looking at Cashmere of yore, (Kasheer, that is) and a narrative about the life and times of Kashmiri Pandits through the eyes of one who saw it all and through others who experienced it from time to time, natives and visitors, rulers and the ruled.

In short, a community which was at home for centuries and is now in exile, refugees in their own country.

A mother with her child.

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Pictures from the author’s collection.

Designed by N Krishnamurthy

Where children love to go to school Kiran Zehra

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b school jana accha lagta hai (I like the school now),” says Sagar Kathari who likes his mid-day meal and plays cricket in the school veranda “because it’s not rough or uneven anymore.” Ask Rupa Pardhi another student when vacations begin and she quickly replies “Nahi nahi, abhi chhutti nahi hai. Abhi toh school khula hai! (There is no vacation now.

The school has just started).” Both study at the Damole Tribal School near Khargar that has been adopted by RC Navi Mumbai Hill Side, D 3140.

Rotary India has pledged to send one lakh children back to school.

“But what if the school is not in good shape? Rotary has a bigger responsibility than merely identifying dropouts or underprivileged children and sending them back to any school,” says the Club President Dr Keshav Chander Sharma. He recalled PRID Shekar Mehta’s message at the March 2016 Presidential Conference in Kolkata; “He (Mehta) made it clear to us that RILM is about setting up proper learning environments for these children.”

He adds that the conditions of the Damole School were pitiful! “The children had to defecate in the open and use newspapers or mud to clean themselves, leaving them vulnerable to infections.” According to the report ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality’ by the UNICEF, India accounts for two-thirds of under-five deaths in Southern Asia and has the highest number (1.3 million) of under-five deaths in the world in a year. Infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria are the leading causes of death of these children. For those who find it funny that “Rotary toilet banata hai (Rotary builds toilets), fail to see that this is a social reform we are trying to usher in and save our children,” he adds.

Rohidas Goiji, a senior teacher of the school, recalls how he had to walk to each hut in the village and ask the children to come to school. They wouldn’t come because the classrooms were in a bad shape, there was no way food could be prepared in the school kitchen as rats ate the grains because of lack of storage facilities, no water to drink and the toilets were practically nonexistent. “But Rotary transformed our school from an

adivasiwadi to a beautiful school. Everybody loves the new school,” he says.

The village’s bore well, its main water source, was filled with stones, dust and rubble, and had to be reconstructed. Not only was the school renovated, old furniture replaced and toilets reconstructed, Rotarians also installed a water tank that runs on an electric motor and an RO drinking water plant was fitted in the campus.

There are 50 students who study here today and Goiji does not have to pull any of them out of their homes “woh khud hi aatey hai (They come by themselves).” The Rotarians have implemented the WinS programme and provide the students with a healthy mid-day meal that is cooked in the school’s new kitchen. “Now rats don’t eat up the grains as they are stored in aluminium containers provided by the Rotarians,” he says.

Sharma now wants to ensure smooth functioning of the school in future. He explains, “If we decide who is to take care of the functioning, then the incoming club president can add value to what has already been done. This helps in the sustainability of the project.”

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 73

RC Attur Midtown RI District 2982 The club distributed sports kits to Gandhi Nagar Municipal School.

wash units and reconstructed 12 toilet blocks at the Kendra Vidhyalaya Tagore Garden School.

RC Vaiyampatti

RC Eluru

RI District 3000 A seminar on anatomic therapy was organised for 500 participants.

RI District 3020 Old desks and benches were replaced at ARDGK High School.

RC Akola RC Delhi Rajdhani RI District 3011 As part of implementing the WinS initiative the club set up 20 hand 74 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

RI District 3030 Sports equipment were donated to Savitribai Fule School for girls from underprivileged families.

RC Sonkutch RI District 3040 The club partnered with RC Cleveland, D 6630, Ohio, RC Milano Sierra, D2042, Italy and TRF to install water tanks, RO plants and new furniture in five village schools.

RC Shrimadhopur Sunrise RI District 3052 Sweaters were distributed to underprivileged students

at government schools in the region.

RC Imperial Gwalior RI District 3053 The club conducted an open bus ride for the differently-abled and visually challenged students.

RC Rajkot Greater RI District 3060 Ten dialysis machines were installed at BT Savani Kidney Hospital.

RC Jammu Aastha

RC Bareilly Metro

RI District 3070 A health camp at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon examined 635 patients suffering from various health issues.

RI District 3110 Medicines were distributed and patients were referred to hospitals for further treatment at the club’s monthly medical camp.

RC Shahabad Markanda

RC Lucknow

RI District 3080 Close to 250 women were examined at a cancer detection camp at Sidharth Hospital.

RI District 3120 Registration for underprivileged children to enrol in the RILM’s literacy project was conducted.

MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 75

RC Poona Midtown RI District 3131 The club conducts breast health screening camp along with RC Pune Central and Lions Club Sahakar Nagar. So far 5,200 women have been screened.

RC Ahmednagar Priyadarshini RI District 3132 RYLA to create awareness on cyber law was conducted for 5,000 students.

RC Bombay Midcity RI District 3140 Over 10 rooms were set up for family members of cancer affected children at the St Jude Childcare Centre.

RC Nizamabad RI District 3150 Around 800 students and walkers participated in a 3 km Rotathon to create awareness for literate India.

RC Guntakal RI District 3160 Sports kits were distributed at Rajendra Prasad Primary School.

RC Surathkal RI District 3180 Rotarians felicitated eight

RC Guntakal RI District 3160 auto-rickshaw drivers for their effort to save lives of accident victims.

RC Irinjalakuda RI District 3201 The club conducted a hair donation camp to provide artificial hair for cancer patients.

RC Perinthalmanna RI District 3202 An RO plant was installed at the Technical Higher Secondary School.

RC Venjaramoodu RI District 3211 A swimming camp to train the students of its adopted school was undertaken by the club.

RC Madras RI District 3230 The club constructed 107 toilets at Keemalur village at a cost of Rs 20 lakh.

RC Hailakandi RI District 3240 An eye camp screened and treated rural patients for cataract and other eye related defects.

RC Dhamtari RI District 3261 Over 300 patients were examined at a multi-specialty health check up camp in Dhamtari.

RC Temple City RI District 3262 The club conducted a cleanliness drive in Bhubaneswar.

RC Calcutta South City RI District 3291 Under its ongoing project the club distributed bicycles to tribal girl students to help them attend school regularly.

RC Madyapur

RC Sonkutch RI District 3040 76 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

RI District 3292 A district-level RYLA was conducted for Rotaractors to promote youth sustainable development.

Membership in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives As on April 1, 2016 RI RI Rotary No. of Women Rotaract Interact Zone District Clubs Rotarians Rotarians

Rotary at a glance Rotarians

: 12,34,363*

Clubs

: 35,242*

Districts

: 535*

Rotaractors

: 2,01,342

Clubs

: 8,754

Interactors

: 4,41,278

Clubs

: 19,186

RCC members : 1,99,732 RCC

: 8,684

*As of April 1, 2016 As of December 31, 2015

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

2981 2982 3000 3011 3012 3020 3030 3040 3051 3052 3053 3060 3070 3080 3090 3100 3110 3120 3131 3132 3140 3150 3160 3170 3180 3190 3201 3202 3211 3212 3220 3230 3240 3250 3261 3262 3271 3272 3281 3282 3291 3292 Total

104 63 111 67 73 80 94 93 63 68 58 96 111 75 81 87 109 72 124 84 146 96 64 125 143 115 136 132 134 93 76 146 80 99 73 78 59 107 186 125 153 97 4,176

4,354 2,974 4,815 2,847 3,140 4,110 5,273 2,187 2,552 3,441 2,263 4,011 3,169 3,211 2,134 2,057 3,756 2,997 5,532 3,629 7,893 3,444 2,269 5,339 5,997 5,209 5,205 4,995 4,212 3,824 2,084 6,201 2,888 3,747 2,426 2,977 1,107 1,860 5,515 3,351 4,008 3,486 1,56,489

188 119 379 402 482 241 599 271 202 524 252 372 279 188 86 114 189 277 1,059 368 1,205 300 111 320 302 551 281 264 224 195 258 511 355 579 242 344 167 327 754 273 676 450 15,280

49 39 185 37 51 95 67 44 43 34 15 47 56 53 30 10 48 34 68 53 133 72 12 41 50 106 76 78 10 83 70 155 51 41 15 39 37 28 203 116 54 98 2,626

210 103 369 90 99 415 227 104 142 128 30 101 144 173 36 85 49 48 211 125 370 172 40 262 421 289 105 384 68 222 187 418 132 189 99 65 13 35 79 22 110 99 6,670

RCC

166 37 111 28 54 349 139 135 332 126 91 119 54 98 122 146 71 49 70 100 142 109 81 157 149 46 46 39 119 120 77 301 129 171 42 70 13 35 181 38 553 92 5,107

Source: RI South Asia Office

Farm to Table Sharmila Chand ‘Think global and source local’ is the buzzword these days in the culinary world.

Farm Dining at JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa.

F

arm-to-table’ or ‘farm-to-fork’ is the philosophy that embraces a sustainable approach to agriculture and dining. The concept is simple: there is value in consuming local, high quality, organic produce and seasonal products than opting for expensive imports.

A conscientious individual termed as a ‘locavore’ makes a conscious effort to prepare/eat food produced locally. He follows a 40-mile approach, wherein fresh vegetables and fruits grown within the vicinity are used to create rich and flavourful dishes. Meats and seafood are also freshly utilised, available from nearby farms or the sea shore. More important, this approach is used to retain the natural character and freshness of the ingredients to be in harmony with nature.

The main advantage is that the products are bereft of any chemicals needed for long-term storage. Here 78 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

the products are harvested just before sale and preferably sold directly by the farmers in the market.

Farm-to-table restaurants take on the ‘locavore’s philosophy’ as their guiding principle. These establishments partner with nearby farms and local food producers to offer diners a seasonal menu with a strong local community and sustainability connection.

“Eating locally means eating seasonally,” says Anurudh Khanna, Executive Chef, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. He adds, “We started with the concept of 'farm-to-table' at The Westin Pune last year by collaborating with farmers near our hotel.”

They tied up with a couple of farmers around Pune; one being Utkarsh Farms, around 25 km away. Working along with the farmers on their requirements, he managed to get the farm to grow exotic vegetables that

were earlier imported by him. “Often, these experiments were not a success because of the weather and soil composition but we kept trying and were able to achieve good results,” he says.

“For example, we tried growing green asparagus, Romenseco broccoli, fresh artichokes, Israeli artichokes, fresh edamame beans and multiple varieties of tomatoes. This also inspired us to create seasonal menus at our restaurants, changing the menu every 3–4 months.”

S

oleil by La Plage is a Sula Vineyards’ french restaurant that specialises in 'farm-to-fork' dining, and is a union of Sula with La Plage that offers 'farm-to fork' dining experience at the vineyards. The Soleil’s menu includes the popular La Plage classics, along

with Chef Morgan’s take on some of the more timeless Indian dishes. One of the most defining concepts of Soleil is the generous use of the farm’s own organic ingredients and produce like asparagus, goat’s cheese, free-range chicken, etc in its dishes.

From the Western Ghats to Himalayas, this concept connects guests and locals and is seen as an excellent way to support the local community.

Executive Chef Sunil Kumar at the JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa says he offers a unique experience to his guests, “at our farm overlooking the Himalayas. We are the caretakers of a rustic farm adjacent to our resort where we grow vegetables and herbs for our kitchen and offer an organic meal to our guests in the scenic ambience of the Himalayas.

Besides sourcing vegetable and herbs directly from the farm, we also get our produce from the locals of Mussoorie.”

The resort gets walnuts from the nearby villages of Bhatoli and Bungalow ki Kandi and the fruits placed in the guests’ rooms are grown and sourced locally. With the farm-to-table philosophy the hotel strives to help the communities where it operates.

Executive Chef Anurudh Khanna handpicking fresh produce at Utkarsh Farm.

A

The products are bereft of any chemicals needed for long-term storage as they are harvested just before sale and preferably sold directly by the farmers

Yellow cherry tomatoes.

in the market.

nupam Gulati, Executive Chef, Goa Marriott Resort and Spa follows a simple food philosophy when it comes to designing the menu, ‘Go Global Cook Local.’ On alternate days, the chefs and the hotel purchase team go and pick fresh vegetables from the local kitchen gardens across the city, which are then subjected to rigorous washing and cleaning before they reach that cutting board. “All our menus are revamped every four months in order to make the best of local produce; we even have separate sections supporting local produce via local cuisine. Buffets make the most of this daily receiving, as also the dish of the day,” he says.

Sourcing products from local purveyors is not exactly new. It has been there for sometime but the movement is definitely catching up now with chefs personally taking interest in promoting the philosophy.

Chef Gulati reminiscences, “When I was young my grandma used to have a small kitchen garden where she would grow the choicest of vegetables and fruits, nurture them and educate us on what is what. Then we plucked them every day as and when required.

Though that didn’t make much sense then, now it does.”

Designed by N Krishnamurthy MAY 2016

ROTARY NEWS 79

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RI President K R Ravindran and Sir Emeka Offor try their hands at the drums during the Home Hospitality event at the Medicare Mission at Rwanda.

TRF Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith inaugurated a toilet block and wash station provided by D 3140 in a girls’ school in Wada near Mumbai.

The District has constructed 500-plus toilet blocks and wash stations in schools around Mumbai under the WinS programme.

RIPN Ian Riseley being presented a Taj Mahal replica

by Sharat Chandra, DG of District 3110, while on a private visit to Agra. Also seen (from left) PRID Yash Pal Das, Chief District Secretary Rajesh Bhagra and AG Digambar Dhakre.

PDG Utpal Majumdar (extreme right), D 3291, was honoured with RI’s Service Above Self Award at the District Conference in Kolkata.

82 ROTARY NEWS MAY 2016

A chapel of bones

I

magine a place of worship where chandeliers are made of human skulls and bones. On a recent visit to Prague, we came across a quaint Roman Catholic chapel called Sedlec Ossuary, which has bones from an estimated 40,000–70,000 people. It is about 85 km from Prague, and located beneath the Cemetery Church of all Saints.

The skulls and bones are artistically arranged in chandeliers, frescos, etc, so the place doesn’t spook you.

A popular tourist

destination, this is one of the twelve World Heritage sites in the Czech Republic.

In 1278, an abbot brought some holy soil from Jerusalem and sprinkled it here. So people wanted to be buried here.

After the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in this abbey. Small wonder that this abbey features in films such as Blood & Chocolate and Dungeons & Dragons!

Text and picture by Rasheeda Bhagat

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