Mr. Neeraj Roy Two developments over the last few years have caused unbelievable upheaval and disruption in all sectors of the economy. First, the advent of the smartphone has given the common man the computing power of a desktop in the palm of his hand. Second, the flood of applications (or apps) is thumbing its nose...
Mr. Ashwin Sanghi Mr. Ashwin Sanghi, a former member of the Club, spoke at the last meeting on "Thirteen steps to bloody good luck." Apurva Diwanji introduced him as one of India's highest-selling English fiction authors. All his novels (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant, The Krishna Key and Private India, the last a collaboration with James...
Mr. Amish Tripathi Mr. Amish Tripathi, the best-selling author of the popular "Shiva Trilogy," made a cogent case for India taking the lead in spreading the message of religious co-existence in a world increasingly troubled by religious strife. Speaking at the last meeting on "Wisdom and liberalism of ancient India," he said "India is probably the...
Mr. Alex Kuruvilla Mr. Alex Kuruvilla, a veteran of the Indian media and entertainment industry, made an interesting audio-visual presentation on "Media in the digital age" at the last meeting, describing how technology has "disrupted" not just media but the way in which people live, work and play. Mr. Kuruvilla, as Vrinda Rajgarhia said in her...
Aditya Somani How long did it take Dr. Sharad Kale, President of the Asiatic Society, to convince Aditya Somani that he and the Rotary Club of Bombay should get involved in restoring the Asiatic Society? It took no time whatsoever, says a smiling Aditya. "While you're walking up the steps, you get convinced! We pass this...
Mr. Ronnie Screwvala Mr. Ronnie Screwvala, the celebrated actor, adman, entrepreneur and innovator who created a huge multimedia conglomerate called UTV and then sold it to The Walt Disney Company, is now into the second innings of his life – this time as an anchor determined to empower one million people in rural India every five...
Ms Vibha Bakshi Break the conspiracy of silence (regarding rape). Have a conversation with your families; talk about gender biases and then maybe move on to gender violence, because it all starts at home. If together we can break the conspiracy of silence, our job is done. "Come forward and help a survivor so that she...
Mr. Ashish Dhawan Mr. Ashish Dhawan, who in 2014 spearheaded the launch of India’s first liberal arts university, Ashoka University, a philanthropic effort of over forty leaders in education and industry, addressed the Club on July 14 on “A second career in philanthropy”. He was introduced by Programme Chairman Manish Kejriwal who pointed out that he...
Mr. Boman Irani As a little boy, he was surrounded by hordes of women – his mother, three sisters, four maternal aunts, five from his father’s side, five female cousins and sundry other relatives. He never knew how a man looked or behaved, his father having passed away months before he was born. He had a...
Mahesh Dube Each week, members of the Rotary Club of Bombay gather as a group for a meeting (and have been lucky!) to hear from speakers who present a multitude of topics in their speeches. The programme committee has relentlessly strived to get personalities from wide and varied backgrounds to ensure that their lectures are of...
Ajay Gupta The Rotary International Presidential Citation was presented to the Rotary Club of Bombay for its outstanding performance during the Rotary year 2014-15 by District Governor Ajay Gupta. President Shailesh Haribhakti, who accepted the award, also received the ‘Diamond Club’trophy conferred by the Governor of District 3140. It was the last meeting of the Rotary...
Dr. Sonya Mehta Assimilation, consolidation and participation. These are the three areas on which Dr. Sonya Mehta intends to focus during her term as the President of the Rotary Club of Bombay. Of these, Sonya says, she is most keen that her legacy be one of strong Rotarian participation. Her goals and benchmarks are not set...