The Lighthouse. Get to Know Your Fellow Rotarian

Transcription

1 Edition No.36 6 Pages Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras Get to Know Your Fellow Rotarian The Rotary meeting on Tuesday saw three dynamic young Rotarians sharing their vocation in My Job Talks. Rtn. Ranjeeth D. Rathod Real Estate Development Rtn. Ranjeeth said that he is into property development, doing projects in Chennai and Bangalore. He mostly caters for the mid-segment ranging between Rs.35 lacs to Rs.100 lacs. At present, he is doing five projects in Chennai. He is also doing small real estate funds and has invested in large companies and joint ventures. He says he can be contacted for anything related to land services. He is also a member of MCC, and young entrepreneur groups. An avid national politics follower, he is also an artist and plays shuttle. He has been doing social service before joining the Rotary, but the RCM has enhanced his network. Rtn. Prashant S Kharche Architect He is heading an architectural practice started by his late father, the former Rtn. Srinivas Kharche, in He has been in the field for 46 years and has successfully commissioned more than 15,000 projects in India. He has associations in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Noida. Karche is into the large scale residential, small retail apartments, commercial complexes, institutions, etc. He contributes to social causes whenever possible, and is a member in of the MCC, the Presidency Club, and plays cricket. He annually completes three homes and says that it gives him personal satisfaction when focusing on the midrange segments. Rtn. Siddharth Ganeriwala Event Mangement His company Aura Integrated Solutions, assists in every aspect of event management, planning and execution. It was started in He believes that the best ideas come from working hard and working together, which has paid off over the years and won for him trophies and worldwide recognition. It s the objective of the event and the understanding of it, that has been at the core of Aura event marketing, he says. He has longstanding relationships with TAFE, Cognizant, etc. He has done many prestigious projects like Nasscom, Hindufest, Tedx, National Handloom Day, Ashok Leyland, PM and Presidential events, exhibition designs and conferences. Currently, he is also in collaboration with the wedding line to meet the requirements of a marriage function. Compelling and exciting visuals were shown about the events executed by Aura. PRESIDENT Rtn. P. N. Mohan Honorary SECRETARY Rtn. Nikhil Raj IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. Dr. N.V. Arulmozhi Varman PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. Ranjit Pratap PRESIDENT NOMINEE Rtn. Dr. Vjaya Bharathi Rangarajan Asst. SECRETARY / BULLETIN EDITOR Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar DIRECTOR CLUB ADMINISTRATION Rtn. R. Rajenderan DIRECTOR YOUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai DIRECTOR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Vikram Chesetty DIRECTOR ROTARY FOUNDATION & INTERNATIONAL SERVICES Rtn. M. Balasubramaniam DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 1 Rtn. Balaji Chinni DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 2 Rtn. Usha Umapathi DIRECTOR VOCATIONAL SERVICE Rtn. S. Ravi TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Hemant P. Chordia TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia TREASURER (SPECIAL PROJECTS) Rtn. Prabha Srinivasan

2 2page MINUTES March 6, 2018 Sgt-at-arms Rtn. Jayant Hemdev collared President Rtn. PN Mohan, who called the 35th meeting of RCM to order. The Rotary invocation song was played. The minutes of the previous meeting was duly confirmed. The President made a sad announcement that our DG Rtn. R Srinivasan s father passed away two days back. A minute s silence was observed by all present in respect for the departed soul. Birthday and wedding anniversary greetings was extended by the President to the respective Rotarians/spouses who celebrate that week and he thanked them for their sunshine. Rtn. Hemant Chordia reported on the Kalpakkam atomic power plant visit. After having a splendid breakfast at Rtn. Jayshree Sridhar s home, and the elaborate explanation by the scientists about the Kalpakkam plant and their CSR activities was very informative and impressive, he said. A sumptuous lunch was provided by our Rtn. Dr Anuradha Ganesan at her college campus and the Kalpakkam visit was organized by Ms. Sangeeta, under Rtn. Anuradha Ganesan s good offices. A special appreciation was made to the Vocational Services team for meticulously organizing the trip. Rtn. Mohan Raman informed that the Holi event was a very happy one and was enjoyed by all. More than 200 people attended including parents, grandparents of Rotarians, and the event was arranged beautifully by Rtn. Hiren Shah, Rtn. Archana Sanjay and Rtn. Suresh Kumar. The evening was lively with good old songs reverberating through the hall and many Rotarians also tried their hand at singing songs. On the whole, the evening was vibrant with all the pleasing colours of Holi. He thanked the committee of hosts who made this happen. Rtn. Archana added that it was heartening to see members and their families in large numbers and thanked Rtn. Manish Kawlra for displaying his leather products and also for generating funds. Rtn. Sesha Sai, Director Youth Service, played a video on the RYLA held Wednesday 21st March at his farm. Around 260 students from 9 schools, 15 Rotaractors and7 Rotarians, made the RYLA for Rotaractors a great one. The students learnt about the soil and agriculture/organic farming. It was amazing to see the connect between the soil and the children, he said. Rtn. Vikram Chesetty, Director, Fund Raising, became a Major Donor by contributing $10,000 to the TRF. He handed over the cheque to President/Rtn. M. Balasubramanian amidst applause. The President said that many other Rotarians have committed to contribute to the TRF (Rtn. Rahul Saraogi, Rtn. R Vasudevan, Rtn. V Sridhar, Rtn. Subramanian). The President thanked members for attending in large numbers (120) for the Dr. Shashi Tharoor meeting, which was a joint meeting with other district clubs. The President was pleased to announce that the global grant for our first project is taking shape (given by PDG JB Kamdar) and Rtn. Rajesh Somasundaram is filing the required documents. Once the RI clearance is over, 335 toilets will be built in two villages in the near future. The President said that the board has discussed and approved the construction of a compound wall at the Boys Town, Gummudipoondi, for safety purpose at the cost of Rs.28 lacs. This special wall was suggested by Rtn. P. Suresh and placed on record for the knowledge of the floor. The President was also glad to announce that Wartsila Corporation has come forward to support the RCM through their CSR activity (Rs. 28 lacs). He thanked Neeraj Sharma for accepting our proposal and taking it forward. Documentation is in progress. This will be helpful for our Boys Town and will substantially reduce RCM s contribution to the ongoing project. Also, Ford is taking up one lake to restore for which the money has already come. Once the PWD formalities are over, the lake will become ready for usage, the President said. The President said that since fund raising is encouraging this year, the board decided to contribute $ 20,000 to the TRF, taking the total to $ 75,000, which will be helpful in getting a global grant to the tune of $ 1,25,000. The President said that Worthtrust organisation is going to set up skill development at Selaiyur (through PE Rtn. Ranjit Pratap) for the disabled and will slowly expand in the days to come. Secretary Rtn. Nikhil Raj said that the District Conference kits are at the Club Secretariat for distribution. Members can contact Sridhar and make arrangements to pick up or have them delivered. The next meeting is a joint meeting with RCM NextGen on the 11th March Sunday evening, 6.30 pm at the Hyatt. He requested members to warn in. The Speaker will be Mr. Akshay Kothari, LinkedIn, in conversation with Atishe Chordia (Rotary Club of Madras Nextgen). Rtn. Gowri Shanker, Chair, Rotary Information, said that today three dynamic Rotarians will share details about their vocation Rtn. Ranjeeth Rathod, Rtn. Prashant S Kharche and Rtn. Siddharth Ganeriwala. Rtn. Ranjeeth (Real Estate-development), Rtn. Prashant (Architect) and Rtn. Siddharth (Event Management) gave brief notes on their profession. Rtn. Indrani Krishnaier thanked the three speakers for opening up and giving us a glimpse into their profession. She wished them all the best. The meeting was then adjourned. Birthday 13th March 19th March 18 13th March Rtn PP Vijay Krishna 16th March Rtn PP Ravi Katari 17th March Rtn GSK Masud 19th March Rtn TV Sai Srujan 13th March Spouse: Jai Subramaniam (Rtn Hemu Ramaiah) 13th March Ann.Anuradha (Rtn Punkaj Sachdev) 17th March Ann.Jyothsna (Rtn Srinivas Garapati) 20th March 26th March 18 20th March Rtn Raghunath Narayanan 21st March Rtn R Vasudevan 23rd March Rtn Ashish Gupta 24th March Rtn K Jayaramakrishnan 24th March Rtn Dr H Krishna Hande 26th March PDG Rtn R Ramakrishnan 22nd March Ann.Kalpana (Rtn Ishwar Achanta) 22nd March Ann.Shantha (Rtn Raghunath Narayanan) 24th March Spouse: Dr Jayanth (Rtn Dr Anisha Ashok) WEDDING 20th March Rtn Nataraj Ramaiah - Ann.Sashi 22nd March PP.Rtn. V. Ganesan - Ann.Jaya 23rd March PP Rtn Rajendran Sabanayagam Ann.Renuka SUNSHINE Rtn Prashanth S Kharche `2000 Rtn Murali `3000 Rtn Asha Mathen `1000 Rtn Dr K Rajan `2000 Rtn.Rajesh Somasundaram `1000 Rtn Sunil Sudhakar Shanker `1000 Rtn Linesh Sanatkumar `1000 Rtn Shankar Jalan `1000 Rtn Girdhar Hemdev `15,000

3 3page Full Club Fellowship V O I C E S Sulochana Sampath Aunt, Rtn. Rajesh Somasundaram Environment-friendly and fun! I am visiting my niece Midhuna Soamsundaram from California. She invited me to the Rotary Holi party at the Hyatt. I was told that it was a party intended for all in the family, especially the parents and other elderly folks. I was touched by my niece s invitation as she had recently lost her mum and she said it would be nice if I could take that place and attend the get-together with her. The party began with much reverence and respect for the attending parents. I was especially emotionally drawn to the effort put on insisting the parents to come forward on to the dais and have their respective children stand behind them and a beautiful photograph was taken to mark the occasion. Truly a keeper! The whole hall was resplendent with eye catching Indian couture, the lip-smacking unique vegetarian affair was sumptuous and the brief gazals sung by the talented Rotarians were indeed entertaining. I take back with me fond memories of this high spirited, light hearted, cultural evening and most of all... the wonderful conversations I had with many lovely ladies of Rotary. I enjoyed all the attention as well with my tattoo! Annette Sachit Kalra, aged 14, Son of Prerna and Rtn. Sumit Kalra. The festival of Holi is about welcoming the spring season with all the new colours it brings to nature, and bonding with people you love. And the Rotary Holi celebrations this year was the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. The moment one stepped into the banquet hall reverberating with energetic drum beats, warm smiling hosts and the showering of flower petals, one felt transported to a place of joy and festivity. The unique feature of this year's celebrations was that parents of Rotarians were invited as well. Acknowledging the parents, calling on them for a group photo and giving them sweets was truly a heartwarming gesture on part of the organising committee. Much thought was put into the menu too. I really enjoyed the delicious Thandai, the authentic chaat with local flavours from all over India and the yummy desserts. The dishes in the main course were delectable despite being made without onions and garlic! The ghazals and old Hindi songs made everyone nostalgic. It was a pleasant surprise to hear members from our Rotary family sing some soulful numbers. All in all it was a colourful and memorable evening. Kudos to the organizing team... the festival of Holi came alive for us thanks to all your efforts!

4 4page When I told my parents that they had also been invited for the RCM s Holi Fellowship, they were pleasantly surprised and readily agreed. What a surprise of an evening it was, the flowers lending a very pleasant and colourful welcome, the drums, the warm of the fellow-rotarians rendered this fellowship a memorable one. - Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar It was indeed a wonderful phoolon ki Holi, that was played with colourful flowers, love and friendship. The Rotarians enjoyed the unique event with thandai, chaat and delicious dinner. - Rtn. Vijay Kumar Kadel

5 WOMAN S DAY BOYS TOWN SOCIETY A day to mark the spirit of the woman RCM GO GREEN PROJECT Organic is their mission 5page RCM celebrated Woman s Day at Gummidipoondi Boys Town along with the visiting team from Wartsila and KPMG. President Mohan in the presence of Rtn. Ravi S and Rtn. Balaji Chinni, distributed tailoring kits to the new batch of women who have joined the tailoring classes. ROTARY NAGAR EYE CAMP FOR WOMEN Marking Women s Day with Service special Eye Screening Camp in association with A Equitas Small Finance Bank was conducted at RCM s Rotary Nagar, by Sight Care Foundation. 172 women participated in the camp and 25 women were given spectacles on the spot. Spectacles were sponsored by Equitas. Rtn. Kareem Sait was at the camp coordinating the activities thus ensuring smooth and successful execution of the activities. Our sincere thanks to Equitas, Sight Care Foundation, Rtn. Shanno and Rtn. Ravi Sundaresan for planning the event and making it happen on this special day for women. STALL AT DISCON Rtn. Ravi Sundaresan, Director Vocational Service Our mission is to provide children with the tools, training and the ongoing support they need to create a culture of conservation and natural resource stewardship within their communities. The boys at our Boys Town Society were trained to use the available space and natural resources to grow various plants. Numerous fruits and vegetable-yielding trees were planted. As part of this wonderful initiative, the boys sowed watermelon seeds in an area of about 1acre. They were involved in the entire lifecycle of the watermelon plantation including watering, treating them with compost, etc until harvesting. The end result... all our Rotarians got to taste those home-grown juicy melons. Thanks to the boys for all the work they did for the produce. It was a great learning process too for them which they enjoyed every bit. What a connect it was between the boys and our own Rotarians. Hope it continues in the years to come. Thanks to Kannan, Arumugam and Mageshwariah for providing guidance and support to the Boys. Display of skill development at District Conference Rotary Nagar tailoring students displayed and sold their products during the Rotary District Conference conducted on 17th & 18th February, 2018 at the Chennai Trade centre.

6 6page Presidential message MARCH 2018 Ian H.S. Riseley RI President This month marks 50 years since the first Rotaract club was chartered, in In this special Rotaract issue, you'll meet some impressive Rotaractors from around the world and see some of the incredible ways they are Making a Difference. In the half-century since Rotaract began, the world has seen profound changes, and young people have felt the greatest impact of those changes: the rise of technology and the information economy, the spread of education, and the tremendous influence of the internet. When Rotaract was founded, it would have been almost unthinkable for a teen or 20-something to have been an entrepreneur or a CEO. Today, young people have an unprecedented capacity to achieve and Rotary needs their ideas and enthusiasm as never before. For many years, Rotary has done Rotaract a disservice by looking at our youth and young adult programs as mere precursors to Rotary membership, and not as valuable and productive programs in their own right. But Rotaractors are truly partners in Rotary service. Today, an estimated quarter of a million Rotaractors serve in over 10,000 clubs, in nearly every country where Rotary clubs exist. The impact of their service is particularly impressive when contrasted with their resources. Rotaractors achieve an amazing amount with far less money at their disposal than the average Rotary club. Their energy and vision bring something wonderful to our Rotary family and to our communities, and we value it very much. Yet only 27 percent of Rotary clubs sponsor a Rotaract club, a figure that has remained fairly stable over time. And far too few Rotaractors ultimately do move on to Rotary membership. As we celebrate this anniversary with Rotaract, I encourage all Rotary clubs to consider sponsoring a Rotaract club or to strengthen their ties with the clubs they already sponsor. Schedule regular joint meetings, run joint service projects, and reach out to Rotaractors not only to ask if you can help, but to find out how you can work together. Know your Rotaract clubs and their members and make sure that every Rotaractor knows that a Rotary club is waiting to welcome them. For half a century, Rotaract has given young people a way to find the same connections with their communities, and the same value in service, that Rotarians find in Rotary. Rotaractors are connecting us to the Rotary of our future, while helping us build the Rotary of today. Source: RI The DG Visit PROJECTS AGENDA MONDAY 19 th MARCH :00 am Visit to Boys Town, Gummidipoondi 07:00 pm Club Assembly at Hyatt Regency TUESDAY 20th MARCH :00 am Selaiyur visit 10:45 am Sembakkam visit 12:15 pm Rotary Nagar visit 07:00 pm District Governor address to RCM, Hyatt Regency Hotel Request all to please attend. Editor: Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar; Advisor: PP Rtn. Ravi Katari EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Rtn. Mohan Raman, Rtn. Sunita Suresh, Rtn. Shaan Katari Libby, Rtn. Biswajit Babu, Rtn. Shakthi Girish, P S Sridharan NEW PROPOSALS The board approved the following proposals for membership of the Rotary Club of Madras Name: Vishal Mehra Classification: Hotels & Hospitality General Management Proposed by: Name: Classification: Proposed by: Rtn. Madhav Sehgal Van De Vreken Mark Diplomatic Services Rtn. Capt Ramasamy Objections, if any, may be sent in writing to the Secretary within 10 days - Secretary Send in your articles, news, write-ups to be considered for publication here on rcmlighthouse@ gmail.com. Be in touch with the Lighthouse, your very own RCM magazine! EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY: Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of Madras, Rayala Towers, 2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai, Chennai - 2, Ph: Contact the editor at: sandhyasridhar@gmail.com. Design: Visit: Contact club secretariat at: office@rotarymadras.in