January 2014 part 2

2014 CONVENTION

LET YOUR INNER OLYMPIAN OUT TO

PLAY IN SYDNEY

Fancy a bike ride? A swim or a sauna?

Archery lessons? High tea? Sydney Olympic Park is home to stadiums, pools and gyms, extensive parkland, and even a waterbird refuge — and from 1 to 4 June, it will be the setting of the 2014 RI Convention. Here’s a sampling of what you can do there; find more information on prices, times, and additional programmes at www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au and www.riconvention.org.

NZ STADIUM This stadium, (1) Awhich was the backdrop for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Olympic Games and the Olympic track and field and soccer competitions, will host the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and Rotary Youth Exchange preconvention events, plus some convention breakout sessions.

Book tours that will let you get your picture taken on the Olympic medal 42 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

stand or enjoy the view from the gantry (steel mesh walkway) tucked under the stadium roof; check www.anzstadium. com.au for details.

LLPHONES ARENA This is (2) Awhere you’ll find the plenary

CENTRE Swim in (6) AtheQUATIC 50-meter Olympic pool, relax in the spa or sauna, or play on the river ride or water slide. The complex also features a gym and an outdoor ropes course. You can even take a trapeze class.

sessions and some breakout sessions.

(3)

S YDNEY SHOWGROUND The showground’s exhibit halls and pavilions will host the Billabong House of Friendship, registration, ticketed events and breakout sessions.

CENTRE Learn (4) AtoRCHERY use a bow and arrow in a

CENTRE Rent a court (7) TENNIS or take a lesson.

HE CAULDRON IN CATHY (8) TFREEMAN PARK Splash around the Olympic cauldron, lit by Australian gold-medal sprinter Cathy Freeman and now reimagined as a water play area for families.

90-minute session.

(5)

B ICENTENNIAL PARK Rent a bike and cruise along the 20 miles of cycle paths, which wind through landscaped parklands, wooded areas and wetlands.

ILIES ON THE PARK Take (9) Lhigh tea, complete with an assortment of cakes, finger sandwiches and pastries, at this cafe in Bicentennial Park.

Reproduced from The Rotarian

(4)

(2)

(3) (8)

(5) (1) (6) (9)

11km River Heritage Circuit

(7)

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 43

A

UNDP partnership with the government of Odisha supported by the Australian Agency for International Development is enabling communities in Puri district to adapt to extreme weather events. As a result of efforts to strengthen community water management system, crop yield has increased more than three times despite flooding, villages now have piped water supply and incidences of water-borne diseases are declining.

For people living in the floodplains of the Mahanadi river delta in the Indian state of Odisha, life is one of extremes.

For six months in a year (July– December), miles of paddy fields, roads and homes are flooded with water. Three months later, water is in short supply as villagers combat water scarcity, affecting everyday life and crop yields.

As weather extremes become more apparent, three villages in the Satyabadi Block which is about a 30 minute drive from the popular beachtown of Puri, came together to identify their most pressing vulnerabilities and ways by which they could address the misery brought by an increasingly erratic rainfall.

As a first, the villagers identified the need to improve flood-water drainage from their fields. They renovated the Kharbar canal, a 12 km 44 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

long drainage channel that snakes through the villages of Bambarada and Dokhandapur. Built 30 years ago to irrigate fields, the canal had not been used for a long time. It was cleaned out and reconnected to the river, and its progress was monitored by a committee of farmers. The results have been remarkable.

In an area which receives as much as 1,500 mm of annual rain in just 15 days, water now drains out much faster and rice fields no longer remain water logged for months. In 2012, farmers were able to plant the paddy crop a month earlier than expected because water receded much faster from their

fields. In the summer months when rain is in short supply, the flow can be reversed providing much needed water for irrigating crops.

The Kharbar canal renovation was part of an adaptive water management project supported by UNDP and funded by AusAID that aims to build the resilience of poor women and men to climate change and reduce their vulnerability to disasters.

Lise Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, India says, “This partnership demonstrates that when communities in high risk areas manage their own water resources the

impact can be very significant. Farm productivity increases, children have clean drinking water and women who would ordinarily have to travel a long distance in search of water have easier access.”

“The drainage system has allowed us to start farming earlier in the year.

The possibilities of being able to grow a Rabi crop (summer crop) and easily drain away water has provided us with hope and strength,” says 68 year old Kunja Bihari Sahu from Bambarada.

Close to 2,100 hectares of land was cultivated in 2012, more than three times that of 2011.

In Dokhandapur village, the UNDP-AusAID partnership supported

the village in establishing a rain water harvesting pond. Connected to a small filtration plant, piped water is now supplied to the village in an area where the nearest source of clean drinking water was two kilometres away. Better access to clean drinking water will reduce the high incidence of diarrhoea amongst children caused by excessive water logging in the area.

According to Russel Rollason, First Secretary, AusAID “Changing rainfall patterns are forcing villages to change their farming methods and systems. A more holistic community based approach to adaptive water management will help build climate resilience for poor rural communities.”

In nearby villages, communities are improving the quality of water in the village pond by growing vegetables around the pond to prevent the area being used for open defecation. The two adjacent villages now manage the fish pond and garden and in the first six months of activities, the villages earned Rs.12,000 from the sale of fish and vegetables. The villagers have established a common bank account and the funds are used to buy seed and other necessary inputs to sustain these activities.

Source: UNEWS November 2013 issue

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 45

An outstanding scientist and an accomplished speaker, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, the pioneer in polymer science and engineering is a man of many talents; a man who strongly believes that the future of India lies in IT — Indian Talent when he says that each of the 1.2 billion Indians have a potential and the question lies in realising that potential. Welcome to this series of thought-provoking lectures/articles of Padmabhushan Dr. Mashelkar that is sure to stimulate and kindle the innovative spark in you.

Knowledge societies Let me set the stage by dreaming about our tomorrow. Tomorrow’s societies will be knowledge societies. Tomorrow’s markets will be knowledge markets. Tomorrow’s wars will be fought not by the conventional weapons, guns, missiles and so on, but they will be fought in the knowledge markets with the new thermo-nuclear weapons called information and knowledge. The war on a patent right, which took place between Eastman Kodak and Polaroid, was settled for about one billion dollars recently. This is half of India’s R & D budget! So these wars in the knowledge market will be quite expensive.

The power of knowledge in the knowledge society is there for all of us to see. The paradigm shifts are truly dramatic. For more than a century, the world’s wealthiest human being has been associated with oil, starting with John Rockefeller in the last nineteenth century and ending with the Sultan of Brunei in the late twentieth century.

But today, for the first time in history, 46 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

the world’s wealthiest person is a knowledge worker, his name happens to be Bill Gates!

I want to emphasise that to meet the twin objective of growth with equity, knowledge cannot be the prerogative of a few; everyone in the society must have access to knowledge and become a knowledge worker. Nations which do not create knowledge societies will vanish into the oblivion. But those that do create these knowledge societies will have the potential to lead the world. India has a chance to become a leader provided it sets this process of creating the knowledge society in place with speed and determination.

Knowledge workers If the Indian society has to become a knowledge society, then it is important that every Indian becomes a knowledge worker. We need to recognise the concept of a knowledge worker in the broadest possible sense. It is not scientists and technologists alone, which will be knowledge workers; even a

farmer can be a knowledge worker, provided he understands the soil that he is sowing his seeds in, he understands the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of the micro nutrient and pesticide addition that he makes, he lives in an information village, where he has the benefit of short and medium range weather forecasting to plan his farming activity and so on. If he does so, then he will be a continuous user of knowledge and he will be a knowledge worker.

Let me illustrate this concept further. I had the privilege of witnessing some truly novel models being tested

by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation on creating new knowledge systems in the villages around Pondicherry last week. The knowledge system for sustainable food security in the Pondicherry villages has its goal — the empowerment of rural women, men and children with information relating to ecological agriculture, economic access and utilisation. Such a knowledge system is being managed by local youth at

the Village Knowledge Centre, from where the computer-aided information system is operated. Farmers, who are becoming the knowledge workers, are also being trained to maintain a “Soil Health Card” to monitor the impact of farming systems on the physical, chemical and microbiological components of soil fertility.

If a customer becomes a knowledge worker, he will change the market dynamics. We take great pride in the white revolution that took place in India, with India emerging as the largest milk producer in the world last year. But let us remember those early days when some producers began diluting the milk and customers could not determine its quality before buying it. It was empowering the customers with knowledge, with simple kits to determine the buttermilk content that put emphasis on quality, and led to the qualitative and quantitative growth of milk production.

Enlightened citizens empowered with knowledge will be able to see the crucial link between the 5Es, namely environment, ecology, economics, equity and ethics. They will not be then guided by misinformation fed by vested interest groups. But they will use their knowledge to decide on their own as to what is wrong and what is right. They will not stop projects that lead to economic development, but they will stop those that lead to destruction. India’s economic development will crucially depend on society’s understanding of the new knowledge. After green revolution, we need an evergreen revolution and a nutritional revolution. We will have the gigantic task of producing 350 million tonnes of food grains by the year 2040 to feed 1.5 billion Indians. We will have to produce more food from the same land; only new knowledge can do that. Modern biotechnology involving genetically engineered crops will be a crucial alternative. But lack of understanding in the society can stop the process of this new knowledge

reaching the farm, the signs of which are already seen in India. Empowerment with knowledge at all levels is, therefore, crucial.

In a knowledge society, the knowledge workers will perform different tasks. Some of them will generate knowledge, some will acquire knowledge, some will absorb knowledge and some will communicate knowledge.

Generating knowledge will require an ab initio approach and will build on creativity. India traditionally has been good at this. Acquiring knowledge will involve both development of knowledge indigenously as well as acquiring it from elsewhere in the world, through licensing agreements, foreign investment and so on. Absorbing knowledge will involve ensuring universal basic education, creating opportunities for lifelong learning, supporting tertiary education in science and technology, etc. For building true knowledge societies, extending education to girls and other disadvantaged groups will be crucial. Education will be crucial for development, but education without openness to innovation and knowledge will not lead to economic development. Soviet Union had near hundred percent literacy but severe restriction on innovation in the market place led to an economic decline.

Communicating knowledge will involve, among other things, creative use of modern information and communications technology through competitive environment, but at the same time ensuring that the poor have an access.

Revolution in information technology will galvanise the process of knowledge communication. The cost of transmitting a million bits of information over a kilometre has plummeted in the last twenty years from over twenty dollars to a few cents; and the curve is logarithmic. In 2020, half of the world’s population will be connected by Internet; we will be then talking about ‘netizens’ and not ‘citizens’! Access to information and knowledge will therefore assume a different dimension altogether.

Knowledge industries Increasingly the traditional factors of production — land, labour and capital — have become less important when compared with technology; the economists have termed this as the ‘expansion of the production frontier.’

The source of technology is in science that is rooted in knowledge. It is easy to visualise that tomorrow’s industries will be knowledge industries.

The emphasis will not be on physical or tangible assets, but on intangible knowledge assets. The value of intellectual capital of an industry will determine its rank and competitiveness. In such industries, there will be a major shift from people, who handled information and did routine and unthinking work, to those who will use knowledge at every stage.

For knowledge workers, information and knowledge will be both the raw material of their labour as well as its product.

World’s major growth industries — such as microelectronics, biotechnology, designer-made materials, and telecommunications — are already brainpower industries. These knowledge industries stimulate other industries, in turn, to become knowledge-based. Consider the oil industry. The issue of “bottom of the barrel” is driving the economics of these industries. New knowledge embedded JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 47

in three-dimensional acoustical sounding, horizontal drilling and deep offshore drilling is turning oil business into a knowledge industry.

One might wonder as to why the physical assets such as machinery in a factory, are becoming less important. Plant and machinery are tradable commodities today. Even capital was a scarce commodity until recently and was used as a competitive advantage. But with globalised markets the companies around the world have access to finances at inexpensive rates. So even capital is no longer a scarce commodity.

It is the intangible assets which are knowledge-based, and that are nonreplicable, unique and proprietary, that are providing companies with a competitive edge.

The nature of intangible assets will vary from industry to industry, but they will include several commonalties such as research and development, patents, proprietary technologies, databases, brands and even relationships, people and so on. The dominance of intangible knowledge assets will mean that we will have to make major changes in the management structures. Around the world, the managements are built in the framework of strategy, structure and systems. The top management is always the grand strategist and decides on the allocation of resources, and the lower management merely implements and administrates the strategy. With domination of intangible assets, one will have to create new models. The top management will create only an overarching purpose and an environment in which the people have the freedom to deliver.

This means the emphasis will shift to defining the purpose of the organisation, setting the right process and getting the right people and empowering them to deliver.

The industry will have also to think about things which it never cared for.

For instance, among the intangible assets, customer loyalty which arises 48 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

out of customer satisfaction and the commitment of employees will be the two very important intangible assets.

The investors will not merely focus on tangible assets but start assessing the customer satisfaction index or an employee satisfaction index of a firm.

Such intangible assets may become the heart of the annual reports of the companies. My own CSIR is a knowledgebased organisation. When dealing with our industrial clients, we wish to undertake research as a business and do it in a business-like manner. Last year we set up the process of evaluating the customer satisfaction index and making it as one of the performance indicators that will determine every laboratory’s budget. I expect this process to spread as rapidly as the quality movement in India spread during this decade.

Will the accounting norms for intangible-asset-dominated companies change? Can the intangible assets be valued and formally be a part of the balance sheet of firms? Will the stock markets be willing to recognise intangible assets as something real, particularly when accounting norms do not do so? Will the lenders who lend today against current fixed assets be prepared to consider knowledge assets? One does believe that this paradigm shift will come in the near future and the balance sheets of knowledge-based companies will undergo a formal change.

After all Japan is already accepting intangible assets such as intellectual property as a security against loan and not insisting on fixed assets.

A couple of years ago, CSIR laboratories were allowed to use knowledge as equity in startup companies, and not insist on payment of fees. Such and other formal recognitions will push companies into developing their intangible assets further leading to a better performance.

(Continued…)

CONVENTION

LET’S EAT!

S

ydney serves up fine dining and pub food, barbecue and Asian flavors, as well as local specialties.

Rotarians attending the 2014 RI Convention 1-4 June will even find that Australians share the American taste for pizza, only they put all sorts of seafood on top. We offer a few suggestions to get your mouth watering:.

At Aria, located within easy walking distance of the Opera House, the service is brisk and the food is classic and nuanced.

If you’re going to the opera, Aria will set the stage for an enjoyable evening.

Nick’s Seafood Restaurant at Cockle Bay Wharf is a lively emporium serving all things from the sea.

The sampler plate overflows with lobster, shrimp, octopus, crab, and more. And as we were trying to pack away the last of our dinner, the sky erupted with a grand 15-minute fireworks display.

O Bar and Dining, situated on the 47th floor of an office building, caters to a young crowd. The menu is thoughtful, and if you don’t like the view from your table, wait.

The circular restaurant completes a revolution every hour and forty-five minutes.

At The Woods, in the Four Seasons Hotel, the wait staff is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and the imaginative wine list and locally sourced ingredients enliven the traditional preparations.

Reproduced from The Rotarian Register for the 2014 RI Convention in Sydney at www.riconvention.org.

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JANUARY 2014

ROTARY NEWS 49

ROTARY ACTS

Gallant, full of grace and complete equanimity in thought is what makes a strong and determined champion. RC Delhi Central, RI District 3010 with these virtues is all set to battle it out with physical disability and establish a world capable enough to cope with the adversities of living without a limb.

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he capital city of India, Delhi, also referred to as Dilwalon ka Shehar (City of people with a big heart) is an attribution that stands true for the Rotarians of RC Delhi Central, RI District 3010 — the club with a big heart. Vanquishing physical disability by providing the physically challenged with doorstep replenishment of love and care is the phenomenal strategy exercised by RC Delhi Central. The club is stepping up to the needy society in an omnipresent fashion and state of the art service.

A noteworthy experience of 25 years is what makes the Rotary Viklang Kendra a pioneer in serving the poor and needy. What began as a small service enterprise in 1988 with a limited campus of 100 sq.ft, providing relief to disabled people through the Jaipur foot technology is now a mammoth rehabilitation centre spread over 6,000 sq.ft. Over the years the service centre has provided over a thousand artificial limbs, wheel chairs, tricycles and walking aids to needy individuals and to ensure complete comfort, it also administers comprehensive physiotherapy, occupational and vocational therapy. A monumental development accredited to the constant endeavour of the Rotarians from RC Delhi Central!

The centre also promotes programmes of awareness and recognition of rights of the disabled. Each year over 2,000 patients are provided with complete assistance to overcome their impairments. On request, aid is 50 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

PRIP Kalyan Banerjee inaugurating the Mobile Limb workshop.

provided not just to individuals but to organisations as well. The club has also lit the lamp of sight for the blind, courtesy Rotary Delhi Central Eye Bank at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital that helps blind patients to regain vision.

Over 100 keratoplastic surgeries are

performed each year for the economically weak class with the club bearing all the expenses. The club endorses eye donation and hosts programmes to promote and encourage the noble cause.

A look at the Rotary Viklang Kendra website would furnish details

of world class service to the poor community. An ISO certified centre that provides various services has lived up to the expectation of its visionaries.

Appreciation and encouragement from national leaders and senior Rotary leaders has also found a suitable space in the website. A project of the Rotary Delhi Central Charitable Trust, sponsored by RC Delhi Central, the Rotary Viklang Kendra is today a source of healing for many distressed hearts.

The Rotary Viklang Kendra on its 25th anniversary acquainted the Mobile Limbs Workshop on Wheels in pursuance of its combat against disability under the guidance and support of Rtn. Dr. Subramanian, Rtn. Pankaj Malik and Rtn. JML Tambi. Inaugurated at the hands of PRIP Kalyan Banerjee the mobile limbs and rehabilitation service vehicle drives through the Jukhi Jhopdi region in East Delhi and attends to patients suffering from disabilities.

The vehicle on the go carries material and staff, proficient enough to take measurement and synthesise artificial limbs instantly.

The mobile unit of the Rotary Viklang Kendra is a provider of relief to the underprivileged at their door step, hopeful to reach as many needy people by widening its horizon. The disabled burdened with economic hardship have a reason to smile. With the adaptation and implementation of modern technology RC Delhi Central would be able to assist more needy people. The mobile limb service vehicle is a sophisticated addition to the Rotary Viklang Kendra and a turning point in the direction of service above self.

The trumpets have been blown to announce the arrival of RC Delhi Central who is on a quest to expansion of its land free from the plague of disability. History has witnessed

25 years of its prosperous reign and is hopeful that the showers of blessings will continue to rain in for years and years to come.

Kiran Zehra with inputs from Rtn. Pankaj Malik RC Delhi Central, RI District 3010

Rtn. Major Donor

J Jesiah Villavarayar

@YERCAUD

(A s ceni c

District Governor-3212

u) ilnad hill station in Salem, Tam

January 31, February 1 & 2- 2014

Boys & Girls Age group 17 - 23 yrs Registration Fee `3500/-

Includes Kit, Cottage stay, Nice Veg/Non Veg food &Training by Professionals

max participants

50

Program Objectives Fundamentals of leadership Ethics of positive leadership

sorts

Re Golden Nest

Importance of communication skills

Elements of community and global citizenship What Rotary is and what it does for the community

Organized by

Rotary Club of Tinnevelly RI District 3212 Zone VIII

Come Explore Sheveroy Hills

For Registration Contact:

New Generations Director:

Rtn PP PHF K Girish Ph:9443507213 Rtn PHF. P Sankarasubbu President - 98942 44403

Email: iamgirishk@gmail.com RYLA Chairman:

Supported by

Rtn. Dr.K Manovaraja, Fraghen Academy Secretary: Rtn A P V Shriram

Facebook/rctinnevelly/greenryla2014.

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 51

ROTARY ACTS

RC Pondicherry Beach Town, RI District 2980, celebrated the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ in October 2013 which brought out joy and cheerfulness in the lives of many people who were otherwise helpless and downtrodden.

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he ‘Joy of Giving Week’ is a festival of philanthropy that aims to become a part of the Indian ethos, with an entire week including Gandhi Jayanti, being celebrated every year, engaging people through ‘acts of giving’ — money, time, resources and skills.

Sir Winston Churchill wisely said, “We make a living by what we get.

We make a life by what we give.”

The kind natured Rotarians who give themselves for the cause of service are always there to help the underprivileged people in their society, as the mission of Rotary is to provide service to others, promote integrity, goodwill and peace through fellowship of business, professional and community leaders.

Rotary club members tend to be knowledgeable about the local needs, priorities, customs and resources that contribute to effective service projects. Effective projects, however, require more than an understanding of the community. They also depend on the club’s ability to effectively evaluate the community’s needs, plan relevant projects and manage project resources. One such club was RC Pondicherry Beach Town, RI District 52 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

2980 which celebrated ‘Joy of Giving Week’ during the period 2nd to 8th October. During the week, a series of events were organised by the club members and this was widely appreciated by the locals.

The club organised ‘Kids Karnival’ in aid of Satya Special School at Lycee Française on October 6, 2013. Satya Special School in Pondicherry works towards eradicating the stigma associated with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities and empowering the children thereby making them confident and self-reliant. They are also involved in improving the quality of life through better health care and individualised rehabilitation programmes.

Numerous games and a fashion show were arranged. All the children enjoyed the games and the assortment of food and ice-creams was a great treat for their taste-buds. While the magic show enthralled them, the life-sized cartoon characters walking amidst them left them with a feeling of awe.

The club collected Rs.3,50,000 through sponsors and through sale of tickets, out of which around Rs.2,50,000 was donated to the Satya Special School. Balance amount was

used for the programme’s expenses.

Honourable Welfare and Tourism Minister P. Rajavelu graced the occasion and appreciated Rotary’s efforts for this noble cause. This carnival not only made the lives of many children happy and joyful but also brought hope and confidence in them. This mega event was one of its

Anticlockwise: A boy enjoying his food at the Annadhaanam; Organisers with the children and life size cartoon characters in Kids Karnival; Children playing with their gifts.

kind which won laurels for Rotary among the townspeople.

‘Annadhaanam’ meaning ‘free food’ in Tamil was arranged for more than 700 people at different institutions at Pondicherry and it was widely appreciated by many people. It was an event conceptualised and implemented by the Rotarians

of RC Pondicherry Beach Town along with PDG L. Balachandran’s son, Mr. Srinath Balachandran, a chocolate entrepreneur who owns ZÜKÀ, an exclusive chocolate store at Pondicherry. This again formed a part of the ‘Joy of Giving Week.’

A visit to the cancer ward at JIPMER Hospital invoked the compassionate nerve in the Rotarians who were moved by the pain and suffering of the terminally ill cancer affected children undergoing treatment there. A wave of thought to bring smiles to the forlorn faces of these children by making their most cherished wishes come true brought on the ‘fulfilling of the Wish List’ of these kids. The kids saw the mythical Santa in each of the Rotarians as they went about fulfilling the wishes of these adorable kids. Toys, chocolate bars,

Barbie dolls, new dresses — all these and much more were nicely wrapped in bright gift wrappers and delivered to the excited children. This kind gesture by the Rotarians was acknowledged by many, thereby inspiring the club members to do it regularly for years to come.

The next day the Rotarians ‘gave’ the ‘gift of safe riding’ to the twowheeler riders of Pondicherry; a helmet awareness campaign was organised in association with Traffic Police Department and people wearing helmet were felicitated uniquely with a tag and two chocolates. People were taught about the safety of using helmets.

‘Joy Fest’ was organised at Paavendhar Bharathidasan Government Primary School in Koonichampet at Tirukanur. Many interesting programmes and activities for the children were organised for three days.

All the 250 children in that school were given gifts on the final day of the festival. This particular event was solely organised by Rtn. Selvam Iyan who is regularly doing such activities in this school.

All these events highlight the club’s engagement in service projects that benefit the society. Mother Teresa quotes, “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” This stands true in the case of the Rotarians of RC Pondicherry Beach Town who wholeheartedly and lovingly give their time and money for the deprived people and bring smile and hope in their faces.

S. Selvi JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 53

ROTARY ACTS

While Chennai witnessed a frenzy of activity surrounding the auto-rickshaws with the state government enforcing the compulsory calibration of auto-meters, the Rotarians were busy ringing in better oral hygiene for the auto drivers through a comprehensive dental camp organised in the city.

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ext to its aromatic filter coffee, Chennai is well known for its auto-rickshaws. If at all there is one significant complaint a visitor to this metro has to speak out, apart from the 10 long months of sweltering heat, he would go on and on passionately about the notorious fleecing by the tuk-tuk drivers, who are a law unto themselves, when it comes to charging exorbitant rates in unison. Charging by

the meter is just unheard of for them!

However, some action seems to be taking place in this front with the Tamil Nadu state government announcing a revised fare system and trying to impose recaliberated metered charges to be collected from passengers.

Not all is bad with these enterprising men who ply the yellow and black three-wheelers through narrow lanes and by-lanes and dodge through busy

traffic, and the rider has to just keep his eyes shut while clinging hard to his seat for life; the driving prowess of these men are just unbeatable! Chennai has about 70,000 auto-rickshaws and these vehicles are the lifeline for Chennaites to take them quickly to their destination, no matter how thick the traffic might be. Some of these auto drivers are tech-savvy too. There is one who has a website to help him connect with his

Rotaractors campaigning about the camp among auto drivers.

54 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

‘customers’ and another auto driver is proud to be the owner of a hi-fi autorickshaw fitted with wi-fi connectivity and all kinds of magazines to keep the passenger entertained.

The first week of October had the Rotarians of RC Madras Downtown and RC Esplanade, RI District 3230, train their focus on the auto-rickshaw drivers; an exclusive oral health camp was organised for them at the Indian Red Cross Society campus at Chennai.

This community outreach programme saw a partnership of Rotary with Indian Red Cross Society, Sri Ramachandra Dental College and Indian Dental Association.

Several Rotaractors also volunteered at the camp. Their role in publicising the occurrence of the dental camp among the auto drivers through direct word of mouth at the auto stands and through posters, stickers and pamphlets helped in bringing several footfalls to the camp-site on the D-day, the day being October 2nd, the birth anniversary of the epitome of humanitarian service, Mahatma Gandhi. Rotaractors were also actively involved in organising the crowd of beneficiaries, aiding them with their queries.

The dental camp was a comprehensive one, subjecting the registrants to screening for mouth ulcer and oral cancer apart from addressing the regular dental ailments such as dental caries, cavities and gum problems. A van fitted with relevant dental equipment was in place at the camp site to treat patients with basic dental ailments.

Blood screening was also done by the Red Cross Society.

The camp focused on early detection to mitigate the spread of oral cancer. Oral cancer is a serious and deadly disease affecting millions of people.

Studies reveal a gloomy number of over 3,50,000 new cases of oral cancer being diagnosed in India every year.

This serious dental disease, which pertains to the mouth, lips or throat, is often highly curable if diagnosed and treated in the early stages. But

An auto driver being treated inside the dental van.

unfortunately, despite the availability of advanced medical facilities, the disease is detected only in the advanced stages due to negligence on the part of the patient, thereby limiting survival and disability to a great extent.

Why Rotarians targeted the auto rickshaw drivers? This segment of the society is the most vulnerable lot and as admitted by the rickshaw-men themselves, they are on the driver’s seat most part of the day every day, busy earning for the welfare of their families and dependents that they just ignore their life to an extent that it becomes too late when such major ailment is detected in them. Most of these men acquire the habit of chewing

paan/tobacco which is the major culprit that causes oral cancer.

The Rotarians were pained to know that the medical experts at the camp detected three cancer patients out of 25 visitors during the first one hour of the camp. And what was worse was that these people were blissfully unaware of the deadly ailment that was eating their life-span up. In all, at the end of the day, 18 auto drivers were detected with oral cancer out of the 118 registrants and seven of these people were suffering from full-blown cancer cells. A team of 20 dentists and paramedics headed

by Dr. S. Ram Kumar, Oral Surgeon and Professor, Sri Ramachandra University provided the necessary medical JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 55

Above: The dental camp team with DG A.P. Kanna (third from right).

Right: A patient being examined at the camp by dentists.

support with dedication. Those in need of further treatment were referred to Sri Ramachandra Hospital where they will be treated free of cost; the Rotary clubs bearing the expenses of hospitalisation.

The responses to a questionnaire on dental awareness revealed that most of the registrants did not follow the habit of brushing their teeth even once a day, if not twice that is supposed to be the norm! They were just not aware of the need for dental hygiene, per se.

Each registrant at the camp was provided with a tooth brush and toothpaste and the dentists counselled them on the importance of maintaining oral hygiene for better overall health.

Speaking at the brief inaugural ceremony at the venue, District Governor A.P. Kanna said that he was immensely pleased that the Rotarians are providing such quality healthcare service to the truly underprivileged sector, particularly for the auto drivers who otherwise do not take time out to concentrate on their health issues. Dr. Ram Kumar stressed on the significance of the dental camp stating that this camp 56 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

would serve as a beginning for people who neglect oral care, to pay attention to dental hygiene. Rtn. Mythili Muralidharan, Director - Community Services Health (city), RI District 3230, updated the fact that District 3230 had organised 290 medical camps in the three months ending September 2013 and urged that all Rotary clubs adopt health camps as a regular feature on a fixed day every month as it would provide sustained care for the economically deprived. Rtn. M. Krishnaraj, President, RC Madras Downtown and Rtn. Atul Davey, President, RC Esplanade shared

the sentiments that the camp acts as the effective catalyst to awaken the community to the risks of neglecting health and that they were happy to provide the right platform to enable treatment at the right time.

Meters and price-haggling apart, at the end of the day, the Rotarians and the volunteers would most certainly have had a peaceful sleep, satisfied that they could bring about a huge enlightenment concerning health for those men who drive us to our destination, any time, dawn or dusk.

Jaishree

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

5 5 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

2980 3000 3010 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

153 88 132 65 85 94 64 62 50 79 113 83 75 89 112 68 102 71 132 93 56 127 133 88 125 98 124 81 61 124 72 88 72 68 74 86 122 81 142 86 3,718

6,234 4,081 5,409 3,061 4,449 2,096 2,523 3,168 1,802 3,433 3,281 3,262 1,995 1,996 3,469 2,487 4,319 3,070 6,969 3,450 2,046 4,823 5,352 3,597 4,734 3,759 3,806 3,527 1,704 5,897 2,566 3,136 2,200 2,504 1,341 1,827 3,657 2,261 4,051 2,723 1,36,065

106 283 566 174 427 212 174 410 144 236 254 160 80 93 171 153 560 237 876 261 74 224 206 247 259 180 160 114 191 351 233 340 152 195 163 260 357 153 559 288 10,283

54 105 47 26 36 15 31 15 9 25 36 38 10 6 40 18 38 25 88 50 4 22 33 38 47 39 4 4 55 88 34 27 10 17 26 11 139 109 35 87 1,541

250 228 164 171 169 79 115 119 28 96 105 137 27 79 37 30 153 81 333 149 37 250 347 99 75 330 55 122 180 324 106 102 95 57 15 34 42 17 92 83 5,012

RCC

183 67 80 258 120 131 328 115 89 98 55 95 122 146 59 48 62 52 133 107 80 153 139 41 43 36 111 115 93 268 107 158 40 63 13 31 89 36 504 82 4,550

As on December 2, 2013 Source: RI South Asia Office

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Leading by example January is Rotary Awareness Month — a time to learn more about our organisation. The more we’re known for our good work, the more good work we’ll be able to do.

Because of The Rotary Foundation, people around the world know that they can depend on Rotary in their time of need.

And as Rotarians, it is our responsibility to understand and promote our Foundation and help keep it strong.

The most important responsibility we have is also the simplest: It is leading by example. We cannot ask Rotarians to make our Foundation a priority if we have not made it a priority ourselves, by making our own donation.

This was the thinking behind President Ron’s idea of the “First Class”: In this Rotary year, every District Governor has made a contribution, in his or her own name, to The Rotary Foundation. I believe that every Rotary leader should do the same. We cannot ask others to do what we are not willing to do ourselves.

Our goal in The Rotary Foundation has always been Doing Good in the World, and we have an organisation of people with the right skills and connections to get the job done. We have earned the confidence of our communities and the world. We take our responsibilities very seriously.

We work hard to make sure that every dollar that is given to our Foundation is making a difference. How much good we can do is limited only by our imagination, our ambition, and our own willingness to keep our Foundation strong.

I know that you have the ambition and the imagination. So I ask you all to act on them: to support our Foundation yourselves, and to encourage others to do the same — so that all of us can do more good in a world that needs our help so much.

Dong Kurn (D.K.) Lee Foundation Trustee Chair JANUARY 2014

ROTARY NEWS 57

ROTARY ACTS

The 12-day Rotary Intercontinental India-Ethiopia Medical Mission cum Vocational Training programme undertaken by Indian Rotary clubs at Ethiopia not only brought medical relief to the ailing patients in the African country but also provided hands-on training to the local doctors and paramedics on the use of the latest surgical techniques and procedures.

E

thiopia, a country in the sub-Saharan Africa with a population of about 83 million people is the second mostpopulous nation in the continent. Most of Ethiopia is on a plateau at a height of about 7,000 feet. Contrary to general belief, it is a green paradise with temperatures ranging between 5 to 25 degree Celsius throughout the year; they call it the country with 13 months of sunshine; and you lose 7 years when you land in Ethiopia as they follow a different calendar. The Ethiopians are proud of the fact that the country has never been colonised. Indians are well respected as most persons in the age group above 40 were taught by teachers from India; they have since trained locals as school teachers but there are 58 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

still 2,500+ professors from India in the universities.

The country experiences a heavy burden of diseases mainly attributed to the communicable infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies.

However, encouraging improvements are being felt with the implementation of the Health Sector Development Plan (HSDP) that is being carried out across the nation in four phases. Shortage and high turnover of human resources, inadequacy of essential drugs and supplies, lack of technical know-how of the advanced medical techniques plague the nation’s health sector. The country faces a shortage of qualified and trained medical personnel. Therefore there is a huge backlog of patients in need of treatment.

To bring about a positive development in the field of public health, a dialogue was initiated by the then DGE Geeta Manek, RI District 9200 (now District 9212) with Past RI President Rajendra K. Saboo at the 2012 International Assembly in San Diego on the request of Rotarians from Ethiopia for a medical mission to address the training needs and simultaneously to attend to the huge backlog of patients awaiting surgery. PDG Dr. R.S. Parmar, RI District 3080 and I visited Ethiopia in February 2013 to assess the requirements there. Accompanied by the Ethiopian Rotarians, we had detailed discussions with the health authorities, medical directors and staff of various hospitals to assess the facilities at the hospitals and the needs of the community. We understood that several

Team Ethiopia Medical Mission.

doctors who underwent training abroad including India, in laparoscopy, endoscopy and plastic surgery have not been able to use their know-how due to non-availability of equipment in Ethiopia. Consequently, a number of equipment and instruments were included in the project for donation to the hospitals and training of local doctors as required.

After hospital visits and in consultation with Ms. Fantu Ysegaye, Head of the Addis Ababa Health Bureau and other officials, it was agreed that the visiting team will take up pending surgical cases alongside local doctors and paramedics with the objective of providing them training on latest techniques and procedures. The visiting team was encouraged by the health officials to expand the scope of mission

to include an outreach cataract surgical camp at Debre Birhan, 130 km away from the capital, Addis Ababa.

The Team A 33 member team with mentor and guide PRIP Rajendra K. Saboo, RI District 3080, team leader DG Rakesh Aggarawal, District 3080, Medical Director PDG Girish Gune, RI District 3131 and myself as the Project Chair and Coordinator was put together with 24 Indian doctors from Districts 3080 and 3131 which included five general and laparoscopic surgeons, one urologist, two gynaecologists, two ENT surgeons, two plastic surgeons, four anaesthesiologists, two dental surgeons and six eye surgeons besides nine Rotarian volunteers to assist with logistics.

The team left Delhi airport on 28 September, 2013 with a baggage of approximately 1,600 kg of medical equipment and supplies, neatly packed and labeled in 112 boxes along with the personal baggage of each member. The Ethiopian Airlines allowed us to carry the supplies free of charge.

We were received at Addis Ababa by a contingent of local Rotarians of RI District 9212 led by President Hebte Sebany of RC Addis Ababa, Project Coordinator in Ethiopia, PDG Dr. Tadesse, Project Contact, PDG Nahu, core team members Rtn. Rajeev Sharma, Rtn. Mohammed Idris, Rtn. Nasru and others.

Later that evening we were given a ceremonial reception which was graced by Shri. B.S. Bishnoi, Ambassador of India to Ethiopia and also JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 59

Ambassadors of France and Romania besides the first lady of the country, Ms. Roman Tesfaye. The Director General, Ministry of Health, Dr. Addis Woldemariam was also present, which was a blessing, in retrospect, as he later intervened to resolve difficulties with customs clearance in Ethiopia.

The Medical Mission The next day the team doctors visited the three hospitals they were assigned to and evaluated the facilities. The day would start early at 8 a.m. with the doctors first meeting with the hospital medical team and residents in the conference room where training sessions with audio-video demonstrations were held and case history and preoperation/post-operation requirements were explained.

The main centre of the mission was Zewditu II Hospital for laparoscopy, plastic surgery, urology and gynaecology cases, at Yekatit 12 Hospital for general surgery and ENT teams and at Milinik Hospital where the eye and dental treatment teams were stationed.

Besides these, a five member team of ophthalmic surgeons along with Rtn. Tarun Bhatia, a volunteer, were assigned for the outreach cataract surgery camp at the Debre Birhan Referral Hospital where they conducted nearly 451 surgeries including cataract and squint cases successfully.

As Ethiopia has a shortage of trained medical doctors and limited facilities, the team was faced with a long list of patients awaiting surgery, and each day stretched to 10 to 12 hours of work. Were it not for the shortage of beds, a larger number of patients could have benefitted with the services of the experts from India.

The thrust of the mission was training of the local doctors and paramedic staff in new techniques and procedures From top: The medical supplies and equipment at Addis Ababa airport; Laparoscopic surgery being performed; Training in progress.

60 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

OUTCOME Total number of surgeons and paramedics trained: 20+ Doctors, 40+ Resident Doctors, 20+ Anaesthesiologists, 25+ Paramedics Total No. of Patients examined Eyes: PHACO surgery Eyes: Cataract surgeries

1,500+ 88 421

Laparoscopic surgery

45

General surgery

27

Urology Endoscopy

28

Gynaecology

19

ENT

22

Plastic surgery

75

Dental Procedures Total surgeries/procedures

305 1,030

as also use of the equipment and instruments brought by the team from India for donation to the cooperating hospitals as a part of the project. Besides instrument sets for general surgery, plastic surgery, gynaecology, urology, ENT, a complete set for laparoscopic surgery, urology endoscopy operating suite and a nasal endoscopy set were carried by the team for donation on which the doctors in the cooperating hospitals were trained and these sets were donated to the hospitals on completion of the visit.

Furthermore, for the outreach cataract surgery camp at Debre Birhan and continued treatment of patients, complete requirements for 1,000 IOL cataract surgeries were arranged; the incidence of cataract being very high because of nutritional factors and the high UV rays as the country is at a plateau of 6,000–7,500 feet high and near the equator. An A-scan and kerometer were donated to the Debre Birhan Referral Hospital which would help the ophthalmologist to check and use the proper size of lens, possibly avoiding the need of corrective glasses after cataract surgery.

As the focus was on training, after the audio-video presentations and initial 2–3 surgeries, the local doctors first assisted and then conducted surgeries independently under the supervision of the visiting doctors. The ‘Gift of Vision’ to over 500 persons brought sheer joy on the faces of the beneficiaries who could now see their families and loved ones after years of darkness.

The scarless endoscopic removal of a potentially malignant tumour with endoscope through the nose helped in avoiding any facial scar and morbidity of open operation. The patient who was not able to breathe through the nose for months together started breathing through the nose on the same evening. This was another first in Ethiopia. The five women treated for infertility through laparoscopy who could possibly have children in the near future gave them hope for a family life with the joy of being able to bear children. The dental treatment to treat cysts, root canal, acrylic crowns to repair deformities helped restore confidence besides pain relief in 305 patients. Again the local dentists learned newer techniques and procedures through lectures, AV presentations and hands-on training. The miracles of plastic surgery had to be seen to be believed, these people would now be able to step out with their head held high and lead normal lives, be it a deformity corrected, burn wounds corrected, a cleft lip or palate corrected or a hand rebuilt amongst the 75 surgeries undertaken.

Over 200 surgeries in the disciplines of general surgery, laparoscopy, plastic surgery, ENT, urology and gynaecology for various problems like prostrate, hernia, nasal/ear problems, tumours and plastic surgery helped many patients, some who could never have been able to avail of the services of the doctors or afford the treatment. For the first time besides use of laparoscopic equipment for general surgical procedures, diagnostic laparoscopy/HSG, laparoscopic tuboplasty,

laparoscopic colpotomy, endoscopic cystoscopy, laparoscopic adhesiolysis, endoscopy for urology and ENT, plastic surgery techniques were demonstrated and hands-on training imparted.

During the 10 days of the mission, over 1,000 surgeries and procedures as also training of the doctors and paramedics was undertaken in the four hospitals, bringing immense relief from pain and misery for the patients and ensuring a healthier future for them and their families.

Project Funding The total project cost exceeding US $110,000 was funded with DDF from RI District 3520 Taiwan, District 2090, Italy, District 7490, USA, besides from the Indian Districts 3080 and 3131, the host District 9200 in Ethiopia and The Rotary Foundation through Global Grant and support from District 6200, USA. The entire team is indebted to PRID Elio Cerini and Governor Maurio Bigami of District 2090, PRID Jackson Hseih, DG Henry Chang, District 1213 and PDG Pauline Leung of District 3520, PDG Suraj Bhatia District 7490 and PDG Richard “Big Rich” Churchman District 6200 for their support without which a project of this magnitude would not have been possible; and to PRIP Rajendra K. Saboo and Usha Saboo who are passionate in their dedication to the medical missions. At the end of the 12 day camp that wound up on October 10, 2013, the medical mission team called on the President of Ethiopia who applauded the Rotarians for their dedicated selfless service.

Besides serving the needy, this visit positively helped further build on the friendly relations between the countries, and highlight the humanitarian activities of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

PDG Madhukar Malhotra RI District 3080 Project Contact & Coordinator JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 61

To Bring Up INDIA Bring Up Its VILLAGES

T

he advice usually given is: “If you want to bring up India, you must bring up its villages!” All villages are not the same. Many villages are backward, with the villagers still leading a hand-to-mouth existence.

What they really lack is “leadership.”

That spark which a leader can give is just not there! They have neither born leaders amongst them nor institutions that can provide leadership education to spark development.

Some lucky villages have born leaders among them Ralegaon Siddhi (80 km from Pune) was a poor village in Maharashtra with uncertain and low rainfall until Anna Hazare worked miracles by showing them the benefits of water harvesting and groundwater recharge. The farmers there have turned the village into a mango and other crop orchard, changing their lifestyle and having the wherewithal to do more for themselves.

Vansda in Gujarat is another example. Dr. Kirtibhai Vaidya, a medical practitioner from Mumbai gave up his practice and settled in Vansda to help the villagers. He helped not only with water harvesting but also with other activities including his medical services. He also got toilets and Gobar gas plants installed with government subsidies and helped to bring biogas into their homes, making cooking more comfortable. The womenfolk also found more time for other activities. His health centres are credited with many improvements. Education, social activities and small businesses have taken root.

Surely there are more such villages, where born leaders have provided much needed leadership to change things for the better. The local people’s work 62 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

and income potential has changed, and their lifestyles have improved, providing outlets for their young people and incidentally reducing migration to the cities. If we can only provide such a spark in more villages, India will be a different country.

Can we have “institutional” leadership to spark development in villages?

A possibility occurs to us that like what the natural born ‘leaders’ are doing in their own villages, we can do in many of the other villages by establishing an “institution” to provide the same kind of development. For want of a better name we may call these institutions ‘Common Services Units (CSUs).’ The role of the CSUs is to do what the natural born “leaders” would have done in their own villages — namely, provide leadership and take the initiative for development.

Our experience comes from Rotary club projects where success has been met with. We now want to extend this experience countrywide through more organisations and business houses.

Who is to sponsor the CSUs? The organisations who would qualify for this role include: Business houses and industries wanting to undertake such work as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Vo l u n t a r y groups and individuals NGOs, Service clubs such as Rotary, Lions, etc., Each CSU would serve a selected group of villages in its surrounding vicinity. The CSUs would play a ‘leadership’ role by stimulating their local communities to improve their lifestyle through water, electricity, sanitation, education and health care. A Sarpanch or a group of Sarpanches, or others, could form a core group to operate the CSU. Such CSUs are needed since the villagers are often unable to decide on their programme of work and have to be taught to handle all the proposed developmental activities and the related shop-keeping, accounting, finances and paperwork in a business-like manner.

Typical activities of CSUs Basic activities would include training the local people in water harvesting and groundwater recharge methods suitable for their area, selecting suitable sites for erecting earthen bunds or check dams across small seasonal rivulets so as to force rainwater run-off to slow down and penetrate into the soil and replenish their aquifers so that more ground water would be available and for longer duration in the year. The local farmers could then grow two or more crops, fruits, vegetables and cash crops, and earn more money.

Portable solar PV lights (like the TERI lamps) can be provided in unelectrified villages. To increase their utility, the batteries should also be capable of operating a small radio or TV unit, a mobile phone recharger, a bottle cooler and other small appliances. The lights would enable education and study for longer hours and the other facilities would give some entertainment possibilities for the family.

Yet another basic activity would depend on using available subsidies from government to provide and operate Gobar gas plants fed by toilets and dung from village cows, distributing bio-gas and manure to users in surrounding villages upon nominal payment. (The State Bank has recently lent Rs 17 crores for similar purposes).

More advanced activities could be embarked upon step by step as per local peoples’ desire, when funding becomes available. The original sponsoring bodies may then have to play only an advisory role and keep a fatherly eye on developments. They could even gradually withdraw from this activity altogether if desired.

Typical Advanced Activities Set up banking facilities and operate a bank’s ATM using electricity through renewable sources if a

regular grid is not available at site. The bank’s presence would support micro-financing activities mentioned below: Help set up solar-energy-assisted school for village children’s education and development.

Set up and operate a micro-financing facility to stimulate small-scale business activities, especially for encouraging women.

Set up and operate a health care unit with tele-medicine facility, with local Government help, to enable medical doctors in nearby hospitals to be contacted by the villagers on the internet or telephone for advice.

Teach local villagers to grow oil-bearing plants (for example, ‘Jatropha’) on waste land, using wastewater as may be available locally. Set up and operate a centralised “Biofuel extraction facility” for oil extraction from plants cultivated locally in the surrounding villages. The oil would be sold as an additive for petrol or substitute for diesel for use in local tractors, trucks, water pumps, etc, at the local level. Biofuel cultivation would benefit local farmers, increase employment opportunities and save the country some foreign exchange.

may be set up either on a cooperative basis, or through an NGO, service club or a private agency (industry or corporate body) willing to provide the initial capital and expertise for setting up the CSU and operating it for some time until a business model is developed and the locals are ready to take over.

For the subsequent advanced activities, the possible sources of funding are several governmentaided or government-subsidised schemes available to assist villages for developing specific activities such as agriculture, forestry, check dams, drinking water, waste water drainage, Gobar gas plants for generating biogas. All these programmes usually entail some paperwork which discourages local people. The CSU would have to undertake such work gladly.

Gradually, more and more advanced activities could also be taken up, often from specific public sector schemes, private organisations, trusts, banks, etc for producing certain products of commercial or social value. Micro-finance is available from banks for various village-level activities, women’s activities and school development.

New agricultural activities could be considered.

Many more such activities can be envisaged for gradual implementation.

For example, one could set up and operate a cold storage facility (based on renewable energy sources) only if the area and soil permit growth of fruits, vegetables and other crops which would benefit from cold storage.

Ideal opportunity for business houses and industries It is hoped that business houses and industries will see a great opportunity for themselves to meet their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR), whether mandated or not, and at the same time to bring up India by bringing up its villages. Service clubs such as Rotary and other NGOs will also see for themselves a catalytic role to play in promoting India’s villages. If their quality of life improves, migration to cities will not be sought.

Rtn. Prof. Soli Arceivala RC Bombay Hills South RI District 3140

Funding the CSU and its activities Funding would be needed firstly for setting up the CSU and then for undertaking various basic and advanced activities depending on their location, their natural resources and the peoples’ desires. Funding needs have to be estimated carefully. A CSU

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 63

ANKLESHWAR UDHAMPUR SAHARANPUR GREATER RAJPURA GREATER MORADABAD MIDTOWN SHAHJAHANPUR VARANASI CENTRAL PANVEL MIDTOWN SOLAPUR NORTH KAMAREDDY ANANTAPUR CENTRAL PANAJI RIVIERA SHIMOGA RIVERSIDE KOTHAMANGALAM TIRUPUR METROPOLIS KOTTAYAM CENTRAL VALLIYOOR CENTRAL MADRAS SOUTH RANIGANJ KODERMA BHUBANESWAR NEW HORIZON CALCUTTA RIDGE KATHMANDU MIDTOWN CHIDAMBARAM MIDTOWN JAMBUKESHWARAM CHANDRAPUR JODHPUR VAPI RIVERSIDE AMRITSAR EAST MOHALI AGRA WEST AHMEDNAGAR PRIYADARSHINI MUMBAI NORTH ISLAND GUNTAKAL QUILON CASHEW CITY MARTHANDAM MARAIMALAI NAGAR KUMBAKONAM SHAKTHI DINDIGUL VIZAG METRO AKOLA GODHRA JANUARY 2014 MIDTOWN NOKHA BARODA JALANDAR SOUTH ROOPNAGAR RAJPURA GREATER MORADABAD CIVIL LINES HALDWANI VARANASI SUNRISE PUNE SPORTS CITY LONAND DOMBIVLI WEST KAMAREDDY DHONE ANKOLA RURAL KUNDAPURA MIDTOWN COCHIN AIRPORT TIRUPUR Su JAMSHEDPUR Mo Tu We Fr COSMOPOLITAN Sa COTTON CITY QUILON LOTUS RAJAPALAYAM CENTRAL VELLORE SOUTH DURGAPUR WESTTh RAIPUR CALCUTTA UPTOWN BUTWAL SALEM COSMOS THURAIYUR PERUMALMALAI VIJAYAWADA VISIONARY COUPLES NAGPUR SOUTH EAST VISNAGAR GANDEVI RAJOURI FATEHABAD GREATER GANGA BIJNOR BAREILLY SOUTH PUNE KOTHRUD SOLAPUR NORTH POWAI 1 2 MIDTOWN 3 4 GWALIOR WARANGAL RASIPURAM TIRUCHIRAPALLI REWARI MAIN ANAKAPALLE JALGAON INDORE MEGHDOOT AHMEDABAD VEERANGANA VAPI RIVERSIDE JULLUNDUR DEHRADUN WEST RAJPURA GANGA BIJNOR AGRA HERITAGE VARANASI CENTRAL POONA MIDTOWN MADHA THANE HILLS WARANGAL TADPATRI PANA JI RIVIERA MANGALORE SOUTH BANGALORE SADASHIVANAGAR 5 6 CENTRAL 7 8 9 BURDWAN 10 11 GREATER KOTHAMANGALAM TIRUPUR GANDHINAGAR QUILON NORTH NAGERCOIL CENTRAL MADRAS AADITHYA GAYA CENTRAL INFOCITY BHUBANESWAR CENTRAL CALCUTTA DHULIKHEL SALEM TEXCITY DINDIGUL VIJAYAWADA CHANDRAPUR CAMBAY LUDHIANA GREATER KARNAL MIDTOWN NABHA BAREILLY CENTRAL BAGALKOT BUTWAL KOMARAPALAYAM PERAMBALUR 13 14 15 KHURJA 16 17BAREILLY 18 METRO VUYYURU CHANDRAPUR BIKANER BHAVNAGAR UDHAMPUR BHAKRA NANGAL 12 SRI GANGANAGAR BAHRAICH PUNE TILAK ROAD WAI BOMBAY JUHU BEACH SATTENAPALLI RAICHUR KARW AR BELUR CHANNAPATTANA COCHIN VYPIN ISLANDS TIRUPUR WEST QUILON LOTUS TINNEVELLY VANDAVASI GREATER TEZPUR RANCHI SAMBALPUR WEST CALCUTTA 20 MARUDHARA 21 22 23SURAT 24EAST 25 LUDHIANA MID SOUTH BUTWAL HOSUR PERIYAKULAM RAJAHMUNDRY RIVER CITY AKOLA 19 BIKANER CITY ROORKEE RAJPURA PUNE SHIVAJINAGAR MUMBAI GHATKOPAR WARANGAL GUNTAKAL SANGLI KOMARAPALAYAM KARUR ANGELS SONEPAT UPTOWN ICHAPURAM JALGAON GOLD CITY INDORE MEGHDOOT PALANPUR CITY JAIPUR GWALIOR VEERANGANA 26 27BAHRAICH 28 29PUNE 30 EAST 31 JALNA CENTRAL SHINDKHEDA UDHAMPUR ROOPNAGAR RAJPURA MORADABAD CIVIL LINES HALDWANI BOMBAY MID CITY WARANGAL TADIPATRI HONAVAR SHIRVA PUNGANUR CENTRAL COCHIN VYPIN ISLAND SAKTHINAGAR ALLEPPEY EAST GOLDEN RAMNAD GUWAHATI DAMODAR VALLEY KORBA BHUBANESWAR FRIENDS SALT LAKE METROPOLITAN BUTWAL PONDICHERRY BEACH TOWN PUDUKKOTTAI PALACE CITY BHUSAWAL LUDHIANA NORTH FARIDABAD CENTRAL MATHURA CENTRAL SANGOLA ULHASNAGAR MIDTOWN SALT LAKE CITY AARCH CITY MADRAS MANNARGUDI MADURAI NORTHWEST FARIDABAD MIDTOWN

ick P OF THE MONTH

RC KOTHAMANGALAM RI District 3201 The club in association with We Serve Foundation Inc., USA launched the ‘Kiran Library’ project under which 21,000 books from the USA that have been shipped to India will be distributed to 68 schools that educate the poor in the region.

RC TIRUPUR GANDHINAGAR RI District 3202 In order to provide the Chandrakavi Corporation Middle School, Tirupur with clean drinking water the club built a water tank with a purifying instrument at a cost of Rs.12,000 within the campus.

RC KANHANGAD RI District 3211 The club in order to house poor people of the Monacha region constructed houses under its project, Swapnaveedu. The construction cost of each house was Rs.4,00,000.

64 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

TRAL GALAM NEW VAPI EW HA UNE UPUR ITAN AST OWAI IOR TRAL AGAR ER APUR BALUR TRO CHIN TTA ANA UR NGANA TRAL EPPEY WAL TRAL OWN

RC DHALAIVAIPURAM RI District 3212 A computer training centre, ‘Rotary Hall Computer Centre’ was opened by the club to train and encourage poor students in the region and provide them with basic computer knowledge.

RC CHENNAI PORT CITY RI District 3230 Senior citizens and poor children were provided with new clothes, sweets and crackers by the club. The event was graced by the Minister for Shipping, Government of India Mr. G.K. Vasan who distributed the articles.

RC RANIGANJ RI District 3240 An eight-week Entrepreneurship Development Programme was conducted in association with District Industries Centre, Government of West Bengal and Raniganj Chamber of Commerce.

RC PATALIPUTRA RI District 3250 The club organised its 34th Inter School Folk Song and Dance competition for its Interactors and Rotaractors. The event provided ample opportunity for youngsters to showcase their talents.

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 65

RC JABALPUR EXCELLENCE RI District 3261 A water cooler was donated to Rajkumari Bai Bal Niketan which is home to small orphan girls. This will provide the girls with clean drinking water.

RC PURI RI District 3262 Flood relief material was distributed in the club’s adopted village Shandhapur and Barakera village which were hit by the cyclone Phailin in Odisha.

Medical aid was also provided for the needy.

RC CALCUTTA VISIONARIES RI District 3291 Lending a helping hand to the Uttarakhand flood victims, the club distributed 215 shelter kits along with the ration for a month to 215 families in various villages.

RC BUTWAL RI District 3292 The meritorious students at Durga Bhawani Higher Secondary School received scholarships and study tables from the Rotarians. This service enhances interest in education in the community.

66 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

RC THANJAVUR BIG TEMPLE RI District 2980 An ENT camp was conducted by the club in association with Royal Pearl Hospital, Trichy at a village, Kasavalanadu Pudhur. More than 125 people benefitted from the camp.

RC PUDUKOTTAI RI District 3000 Guide Uniforms were distributed to the girl guides studying at Sandai Pettai Government Girls Higher Secondary School. This would encourage the guides and refresh their looks.

RC SATANA BAGLAN RI District 3030 Physically challenged people were given tricycles by the club. This will assist them in their mobility and help them to move around on their own.

RC NEEMUCH CANTT RI District 3040 Dandiya competition was organised by the club for school and college students. The wining team was given a cash award of Rs.25,000.

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 67

RC BHAVNAGAR RI District 3060 The club organised a camp for housewives on the usage and application of the internet. The duration of the course was 15 days and it helped the participants gain knowledge about the internet.

RC AMRITSAR EAST RI District 3070 Notebooks, shoes and socks were distributed amongst the students of the Government Middle School, Chowk Phawara. These gifts would give the children a dignified learning experience.

RC DEHRADUN WEST RI District 3080 Sweaters and stationeries were distributed amongst 150 students of the Arya Samaj School. The sweater will take care of the children in extremely cold conditions.

RC BHIWANI RI District 3090 Dental check-up was organised at Mahamati Prannath Vidyaniketan. Tooth brushes and tooth pastes were distributed to 400 students at this school.

68 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

RC HASNAPUR RI District 3100 In order to enhance general knowledge of youngsters in rural areas of the region the club conducted a GK awareness and Quiz programme that witnessed 700 participants. Prizes were given out to the best performers.

RC BAREILLY METRO RI District 3110 A medical camp was held at Mudia Ahmad Nagar.

Free Medicines and assistance for further cure was also provided for the needy economically weak villagers.

RC PUNE DOWNTOWN RI District 3131 A walkathon to promote eye donation that witnessed 500 participants was organised by the club in association with RC Deccan Gymkhana, Pune Opthalmologists Association and IMA.

RC BEED RI District 3132 Towards promotion of literacy among the poor, new clothes along with school bags and note books were distributed to the 80 students at Jijau Matimand Vidyalaya. Total project cost was Rs.36,000.

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 69

CULTURE

Mahabodhi temple, Bodh Gaya.

Facing Page: The Bodhi tree.

70 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

LAND OF ENLIGHTENMENT

“We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost,” opined American fiction writer, Ray Bradbury.

A pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya in Bihar would certainly make us lose ourselves, and next, find ourselves. Welcome to this holy city which would not only open our eyes but also our hearts, for, this is the sacred land of the Mahabodhi temple where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment.

W

ho cannot be inspired and transformed by the thoughtful golden words delivered right from the heart of Gautama Buddha: “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned,” he said. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly,” he preached. Albert Einstein has this to say of the religion: “If there is any religion that could respond to the needs of modern science, it would be Buddhism.” That is Buddhism founded by the noble spiritual guru, Gautama Buddha who was a Kshatriya prince by birth, in the sixth century B.C. in this very nation, India and today the religion has grown and branched out as a world religion.

Gautama Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama in 563 B.C. on the Baisakhi Purnima day at Lumbini in the modern-day Nepal to Queen Maya Devi and King Suddhodana, the ruler of the Sakya people on the foothills of the Himalayas. Siddhartha led an extravagant princely life during his early ages. He got married to Yasodhara JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 71

From left: The Buddha in the prayer hall; Offerings at the altar.

at 16 years of age and had a son named Rahul. Although his father had ordered him to lead a life of total seclusion fearing an astrologer’s predictions that Siddhartha would one day renounce the world, he ventured out one day into the world outside his palace. He was confronted with the reality of the suffering of human life that was inevitable. After much deliberation, at 29 years of age, Siddhartha renounced the world, leaving behind his kingdom, wife and son, to lead an ascetic life and search for the way to relieve universal suffering.

Siddhartha reached Uruwela (modern day Gaya) and practiced asceticism 72 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

rigorously for six years, following different forms of meditation with various religious teachers. He sat under a peepul tree in meditation on the sylvan banks of River Phalgu. He purified his mind of all defilements and after six days of intense meditation, Siddhartha realised that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation.

He attained enlightenment at the age of 35, and came to be revered as ‘the Buddha’ meaning ‘the Enlightened One,’ and the tree thus came to be known as the ‘Bodhi tree.’ From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism.

He called this the ‘Middle Way.’ For

the remainder of his eighty years, the Buddha preached the Dharma to help other sentient beings reach enlightenment, thus laying the foundation of a religion called Buddhism which is now practiced in parts of Asia such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Mongolia, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bhutan and it is the fastest growing religion in the west too.

Lord Buddha preached the concept of non-violence and deprecated animal sacrifice on the plea of Vedic sacrifice, that was unrestrictedly prevalent then.

He stressed the adverse psychological effects of animal killing. Hindu religious texts also consider the

Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

To this day, Buddhists consider four places as the most sacred pilgrim sites — Lumbini, the place of birth of the Buddha, Bodh Gaya, the place where he attained Enlightenment, Sarnath near Varanasi, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon after receiving Enlightenment and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, the place where Gautama Buddha left his mortal remains on earth (Mahaparinirvana).

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya also referred to as Buddha Gaya was known as Uruwela,

Sambodhi, or Vajrasana until the 18 th century. The area was at the heart of Buddhist civilisation for centuries, until it was conquered by the Turks in the 13th century. Major events of Gautama Buddha’s life — enlightenment, first sermon and his death — seemed to have occurred in Bihar; Buddhism as a religion was born in Bihar. Significantly, the state got its name from ‘Vihara’ meaning the numerous monasteries that abound the state.

Bodh Gaya is located 13 km from Gaya, an ancient city considered sacred for the Hindus to perform the Sraddha ceremonies and offer pinda

(funeral cakes) for their ancestors.

Buddhists from all over the world have built temples for the Buddha at Bodh Gaya. With prayer flags of different colours and sizes fluttering across the area, the place gives an impression of a Buddhist worship centre surrounded by a host of tourist paraphernalia and souvenir stalls, besides farmlands and rural villages. The Dalai Lama (title that refers to the patron saint of Tibetan Buddhists) often spends most of his time here and the Tibetan monks come here from Dharamshala during the winter months. The Mahabodhi temple which is the main monastery is located at Bodh Gaya and it is the JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 73

exact place where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment.

Mahabodhi Temple Several centuries after the Buddha’s passing, Ashoka the Mauryan emperor, contributed tremendously to the revival, consolidation and spread of the religion. He built several monasteries for the Buddhist monks and pillars known as ‘Ashoka Pillar’ to commemorate the innumerable historical sites associated with the Buddha’s life and this has helped scholars and pilgrims alike to trace the life events and preaching of the spiritual guru. Emperor Ashoka is said to have commissioned the construction of the magnificent Mahabodhi temple, after which it was later rebuilt during the Gupta period. Remorse with his bloody campaign and conquest of Kalinga, King Ashoka embraced Buddhism; non-violence, compassion and peaceful co-existence became the cornerstones of his administration.

However, with the decline of Buddhism in India, the temple was abandoned and forgotten, buried

74 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

deep under layers of sand. The present temple was restored around 1880, after the British archeologists painstakingly excavated the site, restoring the temple to its former glory. Parts of the original temple were destroyed by the Mughals in the 11th century.

The existing structure, occupying an area of 5.5 acres, is among the oldest brick Buddhist temples in India. The temple, the Bodhi tree and six other sacred spots, totaling 12 acres, together constitute the core heritage zone. The UNESCO declared the Mahabodhi temple as a World Heritage monument in the year 2002 in recognition of its archeological and cultural significance.

Layout The Mahabodhi temple boasts of an architectural amalgamation of several centuries, cultures and heritages.

With a distinct stamp of the Gupta era, it also has later age inscriptions describing visits of pilgrims from Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka and China between the 7th and 10th century,

including that of the famous Chinese travellers, Fahien and Hieun Tsang.

The striking feature of the Mahabodhi temple is its towering elongated spire rising to a height of 170 feet, crowned by a miniature stupa and a chhatras on a platform to symbolise sovereignty of religion.

Numerous miniature images of the Buddha adorn the niches around the spire. Four towers rise gracefully from the four corners.

As one enters the main sanctum, he is sure to be spell-bound by the colossal image of the Buddha in sitting posture at the large prayer hall.

The statue is made of black stone but is gilded in gold. The entire sanctum is rich and colourful and is bathed in a golden glow. There is a Shiva linga in the centre of the temple.

The entire courtyard of the temple is studded with stupas of all sizes built over 2,500 years ago. The famed Bodhi tree to the west of the sanctum is said to be the descendent of the tree under which Siddhartha attained the supreme awakening. It is believed

Chinese Buddhist temple at Bodh Gaya.

that a sapling of the original Bodhi tree that the Buddha sat under was carried by Emperor Ashoka’s daughter, Sangamitra to Sri Lanka. That tree is at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. A cutting from that tree was planted here at Bodh Gaya when the original tree died. Under the tree is a red sandstone slab, which is said to be the Vajrasana, the diamond throne, on which the Buddha sat and attained nirvana. This 80 feet tree is almost 120 years old now.

The Buddha spent seven weeks in the area around the Bodhi tree after attaining enlightenment, after which he travelled to Sarnath to begin teaching Buddhism to five brahmins. He spent the first week under the Bodhi tree. The second week he spent looking at the tree from the Animeshlochana Stupa, a spot now marked by a small white temple to the right as you enter through the temple gate. Animeshlochana means the place of ‘unwinking gaze.’

The Jewel Walk or the Chankramana Chaitya is a raised platform, 3 feet high and 60 feet long, where the Buddha walked up and down in meditation

during the third week. Stone lotuses are embedded to mark the spots where he placed his feet. The Ratanagraha Chaitya is where he spent his fourth week in basic contemplation. It is said that white, red, blue, orange and yellow rays emanated from his body, when he meditated on the Patthana, or the casual law.

The Buddha is believed to have spent the fifth week under the Ajapala Nigrodha tree. By the northern wall of the temple is the Lotus Pond, called the Mucalinda Lake (abode of the snake king) filled with lotus flowers. The Buddha is said to have spent the sixth week in meditation here. A cobra is said to have saved him from drowning while he was in deep meditation. A life size image of the Buddha covered by the hood a snake marks the event. The seventh week was spent beneath a tree, Rajayatana. The exact location of the tree is not known but a spot has been marked for the incident.

Other Monasteries Besides these significant spots, several monasteries built by international Buddhist communities from various countries — Burmese, Thai, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Japanese, Sinhalese and Vietnamese — are peppered around the Mahabodhi temple and they provide ample opportunities for the monks to study, meditate and soak in the

ambience of a serene environment. Each of these monasteries is distinctively interesting and reflects the architectural style, exterior and interior designs of their respective countries. Japan’s Indosan Nippon temple (the Buddhist monastery) is pagoda-shaped. The Burmese temple is also pagoda-shaped and reminds of the Buddhist temples of Bagan in Burma. The Buddha’s statue installed in the Chinese temple is believed to be 200 years old and has been brought from China. The Thai monastery has sloping roof, curved at the ends and has golden tiles. A massive bronze Buddha adorns the monastery’s worship hall.

The Tibetan Mahayana Monastery was built in 1938. A large Dharma Chakra or Wheel of Law which is a 10 metre high metal drum painted in red and gold is present here. It is believed that one will be freed of sins if the wheel is spun three times left to right.

The Mohanta’s Monastery situated next to the Mahabodhi temple is a Saivite monastery and it is said that the Hindu guru, Adi Shankaracharya, spent some days here while engaged in a heated debate with Buddhist philosophers.

Gaya is fed by River Niranjana also called Lilanjan. The Buddha is believed to have bathed in this river after attaining enlightenment. It is said that he sent his begging bowl upstream in this river.

Thai monks during the initiation ceremony at Mahabodhi temple.

(Photo Courtesy: World Pictures Photoshot.)

JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 75

Colossal image of the Buddha installed opposite the Sakyapa monastery.

He made a solemn declaration that the bowl would float upstream if he was to become the Buddha and it did, as he desired.

There is a 25 metre tall Buddha statue opposite the Sakyapa Tibetan Monastery that was unveiled by the Dalai Lama in 1989.

Festivals Bodh Gaya and its surrounding sacred spots transforms into a sea of maroon, saffron, yellow or black robes with several thousands of Buddhist monks descending over the region from all parts of the world to take part in various important festivals associated with the 76 ROTARY NEWS JANUARY 2014

Buddha. Buddhist monks are referred to as bhikkhu in Pali or bhikshu in Sanskrit.

The feminine form is bhikkhuni or bhikshuni. A sangha is the monastic assembly or community of ordained Buddhist monks or nuns.

Buddha Jayanthi in May celebrates the appearance day of the Buddha. It is the biggest festival here.

The Tipitaka chanting ceremony is an annual event organised in the month of December. Tipitaka, or Pali canon, is a collection of primary texts in Pali language which is the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. It is considered the holy text of Buddhism and it contains a compendium of the

Buddha’s sermons at various places including Sarnath, Rajgir, Vaishali and Kushinagar. Buddhist monks and followers from different countries attend this event. It has a colourful opening ceremony in a specially-erected massive tent before the procession starts from the Mahabodhi temple with the participants in their national costume.

After the opening ceremony, the gathering will chant from the Pali canon, reciting the teachings of the Buddha in a traditional manner. ‘Dharma Talks’ will be delivered every evening from under the Bodhi tree by senior teachers of various countries, followed by nightlong meditation in the temple complex.

different countries assemble during the first month of the Tibetan calendar to recite a liturgy of the Monlam sections compiled by the Karmapa. These prayers are recited with the intention for all beings to reach happiness, accumulate merit, liberate from mundane suffering and remove all obstacles and disturbing circumstances spoiling global harmony.

The carnival time would round of with Bodh Mahotsav that celebrates the Buddha’s Enlightenment. The entire city comes alive for three days with colourful processions, handicrafts, cuisine, fairs, fireworks and an array of cultural performances from other Indian states and neighbouring countries.

Monks who can recite all the teachings of the Buddha from memory are called Tipikadharas.

This gathering of the international sanghas at the place of enlightenment is of great importance, as they come together under one umbrella, the umbrella being the Bodhi tree.

The International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony has a unique place in the Buddhist calendar and it sends an important message of peace and harmony to the world.

The Kagyu Monlan ceremony initiated by the Tibetan Buddhists 500 years ago is observed at Bodh Gaya too.

Congregations of Buddhist monks from

Other interesting places The entire region surrounding Bodh Gaya is soaked with Buddhist traditions and each of these places seems to be connected with the Buddha one way or other. The result being once you step out of the pilgrimage, it leaves you with a feeling of having visited a divine land and a sense of sanctity. Some such places are: Dungeshwari, 12 km from Bodh Gaya where there is a cave where the Buddha is said to have meditated and come to a conclusion that knowledge cannot be gained by mortification of the flesh.

Rajgir, about 92 km from Bodh Gaya hosted the first Buddhist Council at Saptaparni cave, six months after the death of the Buddha, when they put down his teachings in writing for the first time. He is supposed to have stayed here for 12 years, delivering sermons at the Griddhakuta Hills (Hill of the Vultures). He also stayed for a while at the nearby Venuvana (bamboo grove).

A monastery is present at Venuvana and it was built by King Bimbisara for the Buddha. Another interesting temple atop a hill is the Vishwa Shanthi Stupa built by a Japanese monk.

Rajgir was once the capital of Magadha and was under the rule of King Jarasandha who was killed by

Bhima after having fought a valiant battle for 28 days. Rajgir is also sacred for the Jains as it was the place where Mahavira studied and meditated.

Vaishali is the place where the Buddha delivered his last sermon and announced his coming parinirvana.

Two ancient stupas are present here and they are said to contain the Buddha’s ashes. Ramkund (Monkey Tank) is said to have been dug by monkeys who offered the Buddha a bowl of honey.

Emperor Ashoka had erected one of his famous pillars here. Gautama Buddha is believed to have visited Vaishali thrice in his lifetime. The place is sacred for the Jains too as it is the birthplace of Mahavira.

Nalanda is well known for its world-renowned Buddhist University that dates back to the 5th century.

Unfortunately, today the remarkable centre of learning has been reduced to ruins. The university had several valuable Buddhist and Brahminical scriptures which were destroyed by the Mughals when they ransacked the centre during the 12th century.

The Nalanda Archeological Museum is a storehouse of information of the bygone era with its varied collection of Buddhist sculptures, terracottas and coins that throw light on the Gupta and Pala periods.

On deeper thought, a Rotarian would understand that Rotary reflects the principles of Buddhism to a great extent. The main tenet of Buddhism states: ‘May all sentient beings be free from suffering’ and ‘May I purify all defilements and attain Awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings.’

Rotary inspires Rotarians to have this selfless thought in mind and act accordingly. Generating good wishes in our mind and expressing them in the form of prayers always bring good results.

Putting them into action with an altruistic attitude and a sense of responsibility and compassion for all sentient beings is what brings about transcendental peace and harmony across the world.

Jaishree JANUARY 2014 ROTARY NEWS 77

EXCUSES BUSTED

E

veryone knows the importance of getting at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Perhaps you are still not convinced?

Use the excuse-buster list below when you find yourself reasoning your way out of reaching for the good stuff. Excuses are easy to make, but with a little exploration you’ll find that you can reach your healthy-habit goals quicker.

st

1

EXCUSE: Buying fruits and vegetables can be costly and they spoil too quickly.

EXCUSE-BUSTERS: • Buy them in-season and fresh. They will be cheaper and the flavour will be at its best. They are certainly better buys than chips, cookies and soda which we normally buy regardless of how much they cost.

• Buy both ripe and unripe fruits (for example: yellow and green bananas). That way you can eat some immediately and leave the rest to ripen.

• Keep fruits and vegetables on the top shelf of the fridge, on the kitchen counter or table. If you see them several times in a day, you will be more likely to eat them before they spoil.

2

nd

EXCUSE: Veggies take too long to prepare.

EXCUSE-BUSTERS: • Take advantage of your neighbourhood grocery store which will probably provide you with already sliced fruits and veggies. Eat them in a snack or salad form, with less prep time.

• Stock up on frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. These are simple to prepare in the microwave and offer similar nutritional value to the fresh variety.

• Wash and dice ahead of time. Store in containers which you can see and reach on a daily basis, for immediate use.

3

rd

EXCUSE: Fresh fruits and vegetables contain harmful pesticides.

EXCUSE-BUSTERS: • Debate still continues on the presence of dangerous pesticides in our food. Most health authorities report that the health benefits that come from eating fruits and vegetables outweigh the concerns of pesticides in them.

Still sceptical?

• You might consider buying “organically grown” varieties of vegetables and fruits which won’t contain any harmful pesticides. They are a bit more expensive but are worth the buy.

• Wash fruits and vegetables with warm water.

Don’t use any soaps. Scrub well. This is important especially if you are eating the outer skin of foods such as apples, cucumbers or potatoes.

• Discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables that tend to be dirty, such as lettuce and cabbage.

th

4

EXCUSE: Vitamins are easily lost when you cook fruits and vegetables.

EXCUSE-BUSTERS: • Cook only until crisp and tender, as crisper food will retain more nutrients than mushy food.

A good way to achieve this is through steaming rather than boiling your food.

• Use as little water as possible while cooking. This reduces the dissolving action of vitamins.

Cover your pots while cooking to contain steam and heat. This helps reduce cooking time and therefore saves nutrients.

• The water you’ve used for cooking vegetables can be reused in soups, sauces, stews or vegetable juices. This is a good way to get the benefits of residual vitamins.

Source: The Indian Vegetarian Congress Quarterly

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RECOMMENDED READING

Flying through Sikkim Sikkim - A Guide and Handbook Mr. Rajesh Verma Department Of Information Technology Government of Sikkim Top Floor, Annexe – 1, Secretariat Sonam Tshering Marg, Gangtok – 737101 Email Id: vermar@nic.in Phone: 09434186291 Price: Rs.190

P

ush back and fasten your seat belt because you are about to take a ride through one of the most exotic locations in India. From cold glaciers to hot deserts, mountains and valleys, forests and villages, Sikkim has it all.

So get atop the flying carpet, Sikkim A Guide and Handbook for a ride that will blow your mind. So well classified and conceptualised, this book has enough power to visually place you in the serene locales of Sikkim. Page after page the author, Mr Rajesh Verma incorporates all essential ingredients to cook up a recipe to excite the mind of an adventure seeking traveller and nature lover. This book is not just about mountain peaks, tourist spots and travel plans; it is an insight into every proud aspect of the north-eastern state of India. The book showcases the metamorphosis of Sikkim in the facets of development, both intellectual and technological. The state now holds enough enterprise to place itself in the almanac of international tourism.

The book is a walking talking encyclopedia and why be it not, as it comes from an author who has travelled around Sikkim to expedite a masterpiece about his state. Sikkim is where Mr. Rajesh Verma’s heart belongs and so he has quenched the

thirst of his heart by way of praising his love. Principal Director, Information Technology, Government of Sikkim, he has written books on Ham Radio and computers. ABC of Amateur Radio and Citizen Band was first published in 1987. Spouse of Rtn. Sunila Verma who belongs to RC Gangtok South, RI District 3240, the author is a splendid photographer.

A land of diversity very well summed up in the pages of a book is not just a traveller’s guide; it is for everyone by far who knows how to admire nature. Its landscape— passes, rivers, highest peaks, waterfalls, glaciers are elaborated in a spell binding fashion. An insight into the history of the state’s politics and economics is enlightening. The culture and tradition of the people, the tribes, cuisine, festivals, monasteries, holy signs and deities would leave the reader in admiration.

Descriptions of the famed Nathula Pass, the Phodong Monastery or the Temi tea garden by the author reflect the shades of antiquity in Sikkim.

The rich anatomy of Sikkim too is a brilliant illustration by the author.

NGO’s and other organisations associated with the government have also found a mention in the book.

For those who are visiting Sikkim for a holiday or adventure tourism, the book holds locations to key your adrenal rush. Travelling inside Sikkim, visiting important tourist locations, trekking or mountaineering, you can literally be at every place per se you follow the time table prescribed in the book. For avid shoppers the book holds delight. Go rafting, mountain biking and paragliding — go breathless and be a part of the new definition of adventure in Sikkim. Maps, checklists, important phone numbers, list of hotels, commonly used words and tips to assist tourists form the most important part of this paper chaperon.

This book is a tale of the natural heritage bestowed on the land of distinctiveness. Not just providing joy of perception, this book fabricates a desire to be there, to see and experience the sequence lined up in the book. Calling it a ‘guide’ will be an underestimation of the convivial the pages have in store for its reader. When you want to feel the bliss of being in Sikkim or if you are about to visit this dazzling land, get your copy of the virtual express called Sikkim - A Guide and Handbook.

Kiran Zehra

Start with Rotary and good things happen.

JANUARY 2014

ROTARY NEWS 81

ANNOUNCEMENT With effect from January 1, 2014 the revised RI exchange rate is

US $1 = INR 62.00 Source: RI South Asia Office

Adv_ Ear Aids_United Sports.indd82 82

02-01-2014 12:00:31

RC Madras Northwest, RI District 3230, have built “Rotary Northwest Silver Jubilee Block� at a cost of Rs.50,00,000 at the Cancer Institute (W.I.A), Adyar that treats cancer patients. The edifice was dedicated by His Excellency, the Governor of Tamil Nadu Dr. K. Rosaiah.

RC Thane Hills, RI District 3140, organised Dr. Verghese Kurien Memorial Oration on August 30, 2013.

Dr. Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was the keynote speaker at the function.

Rtn. Gopal Nihalani (second from left) and his spouse Kavita Nihalani (second from right) of RC Poona North, RI District 3131, have been inducted as Arch Klumph Society members for donating US $250,000 towards Gates Challenge.

JANUARY 2014

ROTARY NEWS 83

PHOTO FINISH

Rotary South Asia Literacy Summit Cultural Programme

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REGISTRATION NO. TN/CCN/360/2012-2014 & WPP NO.68 REGISTERED WITH REGISTRAR OF NEWS PAPERS FOR INDIA 3880/57 ROTARY NEWS PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

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