Rtn. Shailesh Haribhakti was grateful to be the ‘opening batsman’ for the new president; a well chosen analogy, considering that he was the first speaker to inaugurate the new term, and that the inauguration took place at the Cricket Club of India. He was invited to speak about the Goods and Services Tax and give everyone...
On Tuesday 13th June, the weekly meeting began with more excitement than usual. As a group of unassuming, young girls approached the familiar stage, the audience wondered what kind of business these youngsters - who must have been at least a third of their own age - had at one of the most esteemed meetings...
Back in 1972, Kalyan Banerjee began his journey as a Rotarian in Vapi, Gujarat. Forty years hence, he has served as the 101st president of Rotary International, and is, at present, the International Chairperson of TRF. While every senior Rotarian has played a character in the story that sums up this triumphant journey, each one...
India’s nuclear power programme was first initiated in the 1950s by Homi Bhabha, a nuclear physicist and the founding director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Bhabha pioneered the nation’s long-term energy independence, but last week, the Rotary Club of Bombay and Bombay Airport were honoured to meet the man continuing Bhabha’s legacy and...
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” These words were written by Shakespeare for a play well-known as ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ but in life, or the larger play in which we all perform our roles, there are several instances when these lines resonate just...
To see the Taj Ballroom filled to the brim with rotarians was a welcoming sight. As the seats found themselves occupied and the room echoed with excited whispers, a sagely but wide-smiling man took to the stage’s podium. “I feel grateful for the opportunity to meet you all,” he began. “I have come here to learn...
“The world will change,” began Aditya Puri, the current Managing Director of HDFC Bank, after accepting the prestigious Ramkrishna Bajaj Award for Good Governance. As the pioneer of HDFC’s digital banking services, Mr. Puri was of course talking about Digital India and how technology has changed the way our nation’s markets currently function. Before the inception...
Despite Mumbai’s intricate and seemingly wellconnected public transportation, our city is often missing from top 10 international rankings of public transport systems. In fact, studies show that the average Mumbaikar using the suburban railway spends one and a half hours commuting from their homes to work every single day. So, how do we solve this...
How many times have we drowned ourselves in the complexities of our life’s problems and tried to suppress their effects, rather than using them as stepping stones on the path to a better future? In a world where we often hide our dilemmas and troubles, Sameer Dua showed us how to turn our "breakdowns into...
In the digital age, it may seem as if the romance of the written art is slowly disappearing. With the advent of instant messaging and emails, the chitthi letterhas become almost extinct, remembered only for its vintage appeal and the nonchalant way it can flood us with a sense of nostalgia. Though the practice of...
Many of us may have been glued to the screen of our televisions on the morning of the 1st of February. Hoping for the revolution boasted on billboards across the city, you perhaps eagerly watched Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley deliver the much-awaited Annual Budget of 2017. But before one of the most televised events of...
After we extended a warm welcome to Mr. Bhushan Gagrani, the distinguished IAS officer and the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Cidco, we had our very own Rtn. Purnima Advani talk about him to the members at our RCB meeting. She introduced him as an esteemed visionary, and also a successful planner and achiever. His...