Committee Reports: Fellowship & In-Camera 2020-2021

Director-in-Charge: PE Shernaz Vakil

Chair: Rtn. Rituprakash Desai

Co-Chair: Rtn. Khurshed Poonawalla

Members: Rtn. Anar Shah, Rtn. Mudit Jain, Rtn. Ptn. Avaan Vakharia, Rtn. Ptn. Malti Jain

This year, the Fellowship and In-Camera Committee took on a new role – a reason for club members to connect virtually. An important tool connecting housebound Rotarians! Therefore the aim was to do at least one Fellowship or In-Camera a month in order to bring members closer together.

Members enthusiastically participated in the events and the committee got a lot of positive feedback from them which encouraged us to plan interesting events.

Fellowships: We had six fellowships during the year.

1. July: We enjoyed an evening of foot-tapping old, Hindi favourites sung by Sandeep Damania.
2. August: Parsi Nite – a variety entertainment evening – an informative talk on Parsis by Rtn. Jimmy Pochkhanawala, an Elvis impersonation by Mehmood Curmally, who belted out all-time Elvis favourites and concluded with a Parsi Natak “Pretty Boman” by Silly Point Productions that kept us all in splits.
3. October: A leisurely evening of Hindi and English popular music by Baba Machine.
4. November: Diwali Nite – was another unusual and fun evening when illusionist Chirag Jethwaney mesmerised us all with his prowess and then stand-up comedian Nitin Mirani had us all heartily laughing away at his repartee.
5. December: Xmas Nite – well-known bartender/mixologist Ruturaj demonstrated
   some fabulous cocktails. Then the everpopular singing duo Lindsey and Rina sang Christmas carols and golden oldies by Sinatra, Beatles and Elvis.
6. March: A musical evening was organised on the occasion of Holi. Singer Sandeep Damania entertained us with special Holi songs as well as evergreen Hindi favourites.

In-Camera: We had six In-Camera programmes

The theme for the year was travel-related events so that we could all enjoy some armchair travelling while being housebound and look forward to visiting once things are normal.

1. In July we travelled to Slovenia and Croatia, thanks to a wonderful and picturesque virtual journey by Slovenian
   sisters, Nina and Ana, who were introduced by Holidays@Leisure.
2. In September we enjoyed glimpses of Moscow and St. Petersburg, thanks to Holidays@Leisure, when Prashant and Sheherezad walked us through the wonders of Russia’s most beautiful cities.
3. In December “Second Homes and Alternate Lifestyles” were beautifully showcased by Elsie Nanji.
4. In February to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Holidays @Leisure collaborated with Rare India to introduce members to some gorgeous romantic getaways in India.
5. In April, Rare India and Holidays@Leisure took us on a virtual tour to some stunning destinations across the ength and breadth of our beautiful country. Members can’t wait to explore these places with our Rotary outstation fellowships!
6. In May, noted writer Meher Marfatia shared interesting stories on hidden gems from the city we love, our very own Bombay.