BECAUSE WE ARE RCB Last week, as we left the Mokhada fields and watched the grateful farmers and their families wave goodbye, it occurred to me that it was so easy to actually transform their lives; so why could we not do more? Every Rotarian could feel the joy of impacting and improving the life and livelihood...
SEEING IS BELIEVING It was 2 am. Chinchutara chinchutara kept spinning in my head! I could hardly contain the anticipation of actually visiting the communities we had agreed to support a mere five months back. Could the project have been completed so quickly and could we have really made that difference we were hoping for? As we roller-coastered across...
GENESIS OF A THREE-YEAR PLAN Having hunkered down for over 18 months, many of our projects had to be either curtailed or even closed down. When I took over, we faced a kind of transition period, as one by one our projects restarted in phases. This was and is the perfect time to reassess our initiatives, reevaluate...
MISSING YOU! I just have to write about last Tuesday afternoon: what a joyful time we had, meeting and greeting each other after so many months. And as I watched Sabi and Sheila and then Roda walk in, I was filled with nostalgia and the warm feeling of meeting old friends again. Though we may not meet...
IF IT’S TUESDAY, IT MUST BE ROTARY AT THE TAJ With the festivities behind us, we are all looking forward to our first meeting in person at the Taj after a gap of 20 months. What most Rotarians have missed is the unique fellowship of our Tuesday meetings. Every Tuesday, week on week, and year on year, we...
RCB CELEBRATES DIWALI Friday night was very special. All our members were in high spirits (notwithstanding the premium liquor that flowed), joyful at meeting each other after close to two years. It was a lovely, cool night and the bright and cheerful atmosphere added to the bonhomie amongst the members present. Everyone I met said just one thing:...
THE CITY’S GREEN MUSEUM I spent a delightful Sunday morning under the shade of 100-year-old trees and amidst the cool and verdant surroundings of a heritage precinct. We were at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS Museum) which I still like to think of as the Prince of Wales Museum, the last bastion of culture, heritage...
IN SUPPORT OF IWA I’m not sure how many of our members realise or remember that our Club supports a medical clinic right in the centre of town. This is the free clinic serving the underprivileged that was started by a group of generous and caring women from the international community, some years ago. Today, our very...
A LEGACY SOON TO BE LOST A few days ago, we visited the Asiatic Library. Housed in a magnificent heritage building at Horniman Circle, an extraordinary woman now heads this legacy of the British. Vispi Balaporia and her team have spent many years working diligently to keep the library functioning and organising the many activities of the Asiatic...
ROTARY IS ALWAYS AROUND It’s strange how Rotary is always around us! There are signs and symbols of all the good work that is being done around the world. Yesterday in Lyon as I came out of the Notre Dame de Fourviere, and on to the square, there was a magnificent metallic reproduction of the entire city...
UNASKED AND FROM THE HEART “It is well to give when asked but it is better to give unasked, through understanding. Therefore, give now that the season of giving maybe yours and not your inheritors.” So Gibran wrote… and how relevant it is to our Rotarians. Barely have I conceived of an initiative and somehow the money comes...
RCB AND EXPANDING MINDS Last week we had a meeting with the NGO Save The Children, introduced to us by our DGE Sandip Agarwalla. Once again, we are looking at an opportunity to support children in our communities who have remained unschooled and, in many cases, forgotten. We are hopeful that this initiative will be the beginning of...