Shelu “Naresh” @ RCC – Pre-cursor to the Main Visit

Rtn Kannan V visited our RCC at Shelu and Humgaon to inaugurate 2 water filters installed in the school following which he ensured the complete readiness of our prime event of the month.

RCC aka Rotary Community Corps – Mega Project with launch of Drinking Water Plant, Bicycles distribution, Hygiene kits and much more

WOW! What a day it was to witness. Indeed it was a mega celebration to mark the silver jubilee year of the RCCs in the Karjat area.

On certain occasions, people say that you don’t know what you missed. I would call this to be a day quite similar to that.

The excitement and passion with which our dear Shelu Naresh i.e., Rtn Kannan V operates when it comes to RCC is simply beyond words. He meticulously designed the plaques for the RCCs.

In his own words…the icing on the cake was the presence of our Pitamah – Rtn Kulbhushan Jetly.

The exuberance and joy were visible in the eyes of one and all who were there to witness this from both sides i.e., us as members and the beneficiaries from different villages.

Projects worth nearly Rs 1 Million were executed on this day!

The day began with the inauguration of a water filter at ZP School Gaulwadi.

President Sudhir Mehta and his team from Yaha Water had worked very hard over the previous few months involving numerous visits to the site. All this with an intent to ensure that this mega community UV Water filtration plant provides water in the nooks and corners of the Humgaon village comprising of over 1200 people. The entire design, manufacturing and end to end installation were sponsored by Yaha Water Systems.

President Sudhir had also engaged with his friends overseas and showcased the bicycle project and its impact on the Adivasi children who typically have to walk a long distance to reach their school. Together with the members’ support, the club was able to contribute altogether 30 bicycles to the young children of ZP schools in the temple area of Humgaon RCC.

The Shudh Jal initiative led to the inauguration of water purifiers in 5 schools of RCCs. This was possible because of the active support of the Tandarust Bharat Foundation. In total, 29 schools have already got benefitted from this initiative so far.

10 cartons, full of books, were gifted to 3 RCC schools. The faces of the young children with joy were clearly visible in front of us. Thanks to Rtn Dipti Patankar and Rtn Shivani Bansal for making this happen!

Project RED in sync with the Girls Empowerment objective progressed with the distribution of over 100 Sanitary kits to young girls.

There were 100 Sanitiser bottles that were given to different families from across RCC.  All 100+ attendees were handed over snack boxes.

A donation was given for replacing of water tank for Pali Potalwadi School.

What happened a few days after the RCC event…is quite noteworthy.

Continued Magnanimity of Pitamah – Rtn Kulbhushan Jetly

People inspire people and this has been true since time immemorial.

Our charter member Rtn Kulbhushan Jetly has always inspired Rotarians to keep doing the great work through his time, energy, ideas and money. His journey to support our initiatives has only been going strong after becoming an AKS!

He always leads from the front and this time as well he issued a cheque of Rs.30,000 against his commitment of 3 cycles and the balance to be used for the locks of 30 cycles. Not just this, he pushed it further by contributing another Rs.50,000 to be used for any worthy project.

Rodeos on their Wellness trek

We have seen how our member Rtn Sanjay Mehta has been bringing some of the choicest places in front of us and that too from the city of Mumbai and adjoining areas. He has been kind enough to organize a trek that went to Yeoor Hills.

Members thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the camaraderie surrounding that.

Here are some thoughts that were shared:

Our group of around 15 people, set out for the Yeoor hills trek in the early hours of April 3rd, before the Sun was too harsh. After a pleasant drive that didn’t take too long thanks to the light Sunday morning traffic, we reached the starting point which was just ahead of the famous Tikuji ni wadi in Thane. A bright, sunny morning welcomed us as we started our ascent on the trail, and it took us just short of an hour to reach the top of the hill. The Mumbai skyline offered a pleasant view as we walked and there was tons of laughter and joking around that motivated us all to keep going. Each one of us made it to the top at our own pace (some faster than the others) but we all spent a good hour exploring the hills and enjoying the view. Afterwards, we had a lovely South Indian breakfast at a nearby joint, taking up the entire first floor of the restaurant, and maybe overwhelming the staff 🙂

 The food tasted even better after all the calories we had burnt that morning, and we ended the trip with a classic filter coffee. All in all, the Rotarians and their families had a wonderful time, hoping for more such outings in the future.

Annette Aashna Sharma (Daughter of PP Rtn Prabodh Sharma)

Rotary Club of Deonar prides to have PDG Raju as Vice Chairman of the Council on Legislation (COL)

COL is an event that happens every 3 years in the World of Rotary. For the uninitiated, this may sound like jargon and thus, let me demystify the same for you…

The Council on Legislation is Rotary’s governing body that amends its constitutional documents. Every three years the Council on Legislation meets to debate and vote on proposed enactments. Each district sends one representative to the Council on Legislation, and any club and district may propose enactments.

While this may appear like another event in Rotary however the significance of this is huge. Here’s a video that will give you exposure to what really happened during the event and also some experiences from the stalwarts of the world.

Take time out to listen to Past RI Director Manoj Desai from RID 3060, PDG Sharat Jain from RID 3012 and PDG Mary Berge from RID 7305. They have all been stalwarts and they represented their own districts as participants in this COL.

The above is in addition to our very own PDG Raju Subramanian who led it from the front jointly with Co-Vice Chair Rtn Duane Benton due to a last-minute crisis of the COL Chair – Past Director and Past Trustee Rtn Ken Schuppert being detected with Covid virus.

It is indeed another first in the history of the Rotary Club of Deonar when a member has represented such a coveted position.

Our Senior Member – Rtn P.N.Subramanian popularly known as ‘Mani’ said – Very proud of this moment, salute to Raju!

Dream Rotal 2021-22

Rotal is an event that gets organized every year in the District with a lot of fanfare. It came back with a bang after getting conducted virtually in the last 2 years.

We have been winning recognitions year after year in this area and this year hasn’t been any different.

Here are the noteworthy results of the same right from the Semi-finals to WIN

Semi-finals

• Dipti Patankar – Hindi and Marathi solo events.
• Manju – Marathi solo event.
• Mansi Phadke – Hindi and Marathi solo events.
• Dipti Patankar and Manju – Hindi duet event.

Finals

• Dipti – Marathi and Hindi Solo
• Manju – Marathi Solo!!
• Dipti Patankar & Manju – Hindi duet event.

Results of Dream Rotal:

• Dipti wins the first prize in Marathi Solo
• Dipti and Manju win 2nd prize in Hindi Duet
• Manju wins 3rd prize in the Marathi Solo

Btw, Page 3 disclosed that Rtn Shanmukha Vaidyanathan was one of the strong motivations for both Rtn Dipti and Rtn Manju. Also, the pairing of both of these singers is not new but a very old one. So, we now know…who’s going to lead this in the forthcoming years 😉

Pink Auto continues to spark

Project Pink Auto continues to gain traction and interest amongst Rotary and the community as well.

What started from the club became a district project and the progress for the Central zone is as follows:

Driving training with licences and badges completed for 10 trainees

A lot has been accomplished behind the scene right from identifying people, motivating them, training them, inculcating the required soft skills, their grooming and personality development, and helping them with banking and loan eligibility in addition to enhancing their moral support.

In one of the training programs – you also have PP Rtn Jhankar Gadkari training the would-be lady auto drivers.

The Pink Auto team from the club comprises many support systems. Some of them are:

Project Lead Rtn Alka alongwith Rtn Padma Kapoor, Rtn Sangeeta Shahani, Rtn Jhankar Gadkari, Rtn Rema Nair, Rtn Rajendra Datye and it goes without saying that the Club President Sudhir Mehta and Club Secretary Hema Subramanian continues to extend their heart-warming support on every project.

Club meeting at BPGC | Speaker Session

Ms Saloni Shah was once again invited to conduct a Stress Management & Immunity boosting session for the club members.

Members loved and appreciated the program. Rtn Jiten Bharadwaj has been meticulously inviting such people who add so much value to our lives.

1^st Global Grant – Ongoing progress

Rtn Jaisal Jetsey updated the progress of the 4^th patient under our 1^st Global Grant project – Our fourth patient 5-year-old Madiha Sheikh whose ❤ was touched under Project Touching Little Hearts. She had a large Ventricular Septal Defect at birth. Today she enjoys a normal life in her home after being discharged from Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital

2^nd Global Grant – Application Process Initiated

Rtn Rajashri – Medical Director initiated New Global Grant draft application GG2237777 for TLH – Pediatric. There have been a lot of efforts by President Sudhir Mehta, PP Rtn Padma Kapoor and other team members.

Project Operations Restore achieves 75

NBC led by Rtn Dr Sunil Keswani has completed 75 corrective surgeries to date – on the ongoing Grant.

Participation in District Walk-A-Thon  for Organ Donation Awareness

The Skin, Eye and Organ Donation Awareness team from the District team organised this Walk-A-Thon on Carter Road in the Bandra West area

Dr Sunil Keswani and his team came from NBC in large numbers to drive this initiative. PP Rtn Prabodh Sharma actively promoted this initiative, being a part of the District team. Our club, as co-hosts, participated in large numbers along with Rotarians from other clubs and the Rotaractors.

The day became even more memorable since all the Rodeos gathered at the residence of President Nominee Rtn Sangeeta Shahani for a sumptuous breakfast

DTA Alpha Year

Members in large numbers attended the DTA and brought enriched learnings back to the club. PP Rtn Rajith Menon was one of the Star Speakers of the event.

RISAO Newsletter – Apr ‘22

The recent newsletter showcased our club to be amongst the lead contributor in the CSR corner – Refer to Page 6 of the PDF link.

Here’s just a quick snapshot of how our CSR contribution faired within our District as well:

Project of Yesteryears in Action NOW

One may think what is the project of the past that is in action now. Well, it is the data consolidation project on which Rtn Herzel Isaac is actively working with the support of President Sudhir Mehta, Rtn Padma Kapoor, Rtn Vishnu Kamat, Rtn Sangeeta Shahani, Rtn Kannan V and many others.

This is a much-spoken initiative that has been in discussion for a few years now. Glad that it is progressing.

Board Meeting @ Khandelwals

This month …it was a privilege for my family to host the Board Meeting for our club. Here are a few moments that will bring some smile

Visibility

Rotary News

Our club projects have become a regular in Rotary News and we also actively represent ourselves through varied means on this esteemed platform.

Here are a few snippets:

The Apr ’22 edition has given us coverage on 4 projects. Here are the details:

• Flagship coverage is for Project RED
• Support to Shatabdi hospital
• Water filter donation to Bal Kalyan Nagari Children’s Home. An initiative supported by our Club Sec – Rtn Hema
• Cancer detection camp for the BEST bus drivers and conductors in association with CPAA.

Check out the details for more…

https://rotarynewsonline.org/a-thoughtful-menstrual-hygiene-kit-for-girls/

Blue Ribbon Engagement continues…

Blue Ribbon is an initiative from which we draw inspiration. Taking a cue from this, a series of posts will be initiated and the 1^st one is here for your reference:

Rotaract News

Congratulations to our Youth Director – Herzel and the entire Rotaract team!

Rotaractors’ work on our Project Prayaas got selected for the Quarterly magazine released in Apr ’22.

This became a point for a much bigger coverage of a variety of Rotaract Club of Deonar activities that got showcased in a big way.

Click here to see the detailed news that got published in the issue:

https://rotaractnews.org/a-rotaract-club-plans-activities-across-11-avenues/

Also, click here to see the Rotaract activities by visiting our Rotaract page.

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Celebrations!

Reception of Gaurav & Mitalee

Rtn Nayana Das and family celebrated the reception of the newly wedded couple Gaurav and Mitalee. Rodeos were seen enjoying the grand celebrations.

President Sudhir Mehta in Goa

President Sudhir Mehta and his family enjoyed a gala break in Goa. He shared an early morning pic that brought a lot of joy to the members.

The magic of painting continues

Rtn Jhankar shared another masterpiece – ‘The Kafani‘

Detailing the repository of knowledge, symbolic representation.

Mission Rajbhavan

One fine evening…our WhatsApp channel suddenly started to buzz and this was like a secret mission that got unveiled. Our knowledgeable Rtn Jhankar Gadkari shared pics of the Raj Bhavan that was never identified until a few years back.

Here’s a message that speaks a lot about the significance of the image:

Incidentally, I was in Raj Bhavan …whiles construction of new a new banquet hall L&T chanced upon a huge underground bunker and a parallel establishment below the Raj Bhavan …. It is amazing, to say the least…. Great discovery in 2016.

The bunkers are more than 100 years old .. nobody knew it. The L&T engineers have traced the end till Mahalaxmi  … by some sound equipment.

What you see here is as original as it could be ….There was no electricity… which is provided now … and with some exhibits

The bunker as it is called has remained hidden despite the fact that multiple governors of Maharashtra were actually staying on top of it…. It came to light due to the new construction in 2016 … the interior of the bunker it is said was spotlessly clean with no odour.

Today the Government has lit it up and air-conditioned it …. Presently what I visited was more than a km long Maze.

The noteworthy part is – Rodeos may plan a trip to this place if permission comes through in the months ahead!

Awesome recognition for Dr Sunil Keswani

It is an honour for our Rtn Dr. Sunil Keswani to be chosen for representing Asia as a Speaker on ‘Skin Banking’ by the Commonwealth Tribute to Life Foundation NHS UK as part of their webinar series.

Great opportunity for our Hon. Member – Ms Sunita Bhuyan

Our Honorary Member – Ms. Sunita Bhuyan who’s a Musician – Violinist had the great privilege to perform in the midst of our Prime Minister – Hon. Shri Narendra Modi.

She shared the update with PP Rtn Jhankar Gadkari and it created a lot of happiness amongst all the Rodeos.

Principal Prathibha Patil Dhole

Principal Pratibha Dhole of Aziz Baug CBSE School was awarded the ‘Outstanding Principal Award’.  It is a great moment of pride for us since she was also recognized as the Blue Ribbon Awardee of 2021. We had invited her to the recently concluded 2022 Blue Ribbon award ceremony as well to recognize her achievements in person.

Fun Time – City Exploration Walking

Sanjay Mehta continues with his weekend walks and he shared the following:

Drove down to Kala Godha and walked down DN Road, Flora Fountain, MG Road, Metro, Kalbadevi, Chirabazaar, Girgaum, up to Kotachiwadi, and then back.

Early Sunday morning provided for some beautiful visuals through the route, going past popular haunts, which I had never observed the way I did, over this walking journey!

Birthday of Paul Harris

He’s the man whose name has been etched in the memory of every Rotarian. Here’s a pic that was shared by Rtn Jaisal Jetsey.

What thoughts come to your mind after you have spent some time here?

Are there any projects that you are interested to know more about?

We would be more than happy to have your thoughts and suggestions penned in the comment section below.

It goes without saying that every upcoming month always brings excitement just like the way the season changes and we desire to experience something different.

We have an exciting May ’22 month ahead of us and some remarkable projects and community-led initiatives are on its way.

Let us continue to do our bit and ‘Serve to Change Lives’.

Have you signed on https://my.rotary.org/en (This will open a whole host of information for you to discover and learn more about Rotary)

With Rotary Cheers!

Rtn Vivek Khandelwal
Director – PR 2021-22
Rotary Club of Deonar

YouTube: bit.ly/3coMem0
Website : vivekkhandelwal.in