My Year, My RCB
So whose year is it??!!
When a question such as this is put to you, your mind races into flashback. So many new things RCB has done this year, it is difficult to put it all down.
Some quick ones that come to mind are providing old people valuable two to three hours of pure, unadulterated joy every day at Anand Yaan to opening a Child Care Center at the Sewri Cotton Green, Water Purifier cum Coolers at many places, Solar Project etc.
And many other new and existing projects.
But when I deliberated about all these important initiatives, I felt that this year has been a great year for Bhavishya Yaan (BY). You may feel it is a biased answer considering my association with BY for over six plus years (and still counting!). Not just because of this, but also as countless initiatives that were carried out across all five schools and at each individual school.
Would our children have ever imagined that they would get an opportunity to not just share the stage with a celebrity such as Shankar Mahadevan but also sing along with him on a stage such as NCPA where world renowned artistes have performed. Wow! Many of us have never had this privilege.
This year each of our computer rooms at all five schools have been equipped with new computers, updated software, new furniture and in some cases with complete refurbishment of the computer room. Thanks to our generous Rotarians and donors, it is indeed enjoyable to watch the excitement and happiness on the faces of the BY students.
In the hot and sultry and frightfully humid weather of Mumbai, providing clean, cold water to the students brought satisfaction to them as well as the BMC teachers. So much so that they do not stop thanking me every time they see me.
Oh, pardon me. This is not a running list of things that have been done this year as the space & words may run short to write all. I am therefore restricting to share some unique experiences.
• An 8 weeks STEM program for 6th, 7th & 8th standard students where the children were introduced to the “STEM” concept at such an early age and encouraged to think out of the box.
• The joy on the faces of children & their parents on getting merit scholarships to facilitate their further studies.
• For them, entering and partaking lunch at the iconic Hotel Taj where at best they could hitherto take a selfie outside, was a once in a life time experience. And I felt so touched to witness their happiness in going & eating there, which for them would have so far felt impossible even in their wildest dreams.
This list can go on and on.
I wish to conclude with sharing my humbling experience about the following parents and children:
• A determined mother selling vegetables by the roadside ensuring that her daughter Jenai becomes a CA (who helps her mother in selling vegetables during her free time),
• A Security Guard working hard to get his son Vaibhav become an electronics & telecommunication engineer.
Thank you, President Ramesh, and everyone at RCB. 2017-18 has indeed been a “year for me as well”.