Gateway 201211.pmd - Rotary Club of Bombay

THE GATEWAYTHE BULLETIN OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAYVol. 53 Issue No. 25 Mumbai December 20 to December 26, 2011 Pages 8 Price Rs. 3/-For Private Circulation OnlyRajnikant Modypasses awaySenior member RajnikantMody, who filled the ClassificationMfg./Mktg.: Tiles when hewas admitted to the Club, passedaway on December 8.President Paul George recalledat the last meeting that Rajnikanthad been admitted to the Club wayback on May 2, 1981.He was a Senior Partner withRaval & Co. and possessed afriendly disposition. Although hehad been unwell for some time, hecontinued to sport his pleasantsmile whenever he attended Clubmeetings.Members observed a minute’ssilence in memory of RajnikantMody.The Club also offered itscondolences to Ramesh Mehta,whose spouse Mira passed awayon December 10. Meera wasextremely active in the InnerWheel movement and hadserved as District Chair someyears ago.ForthcomingmeetingsDecember 20, 2011Lord Dolar Popat, Chief Executiveof the TLC Group whichspecialises in healthcare and hospitality,to address the Club.December 27, 2011Christmas Fellowship at the TajMahal Hotel from 12.30 pm.January 3, 2012New Year Fellowship, also at theTaj Mahal Hotel and also from12.30 pm.And here are the Directors elected for the Rotary term 2012-2014. From leftare new Directors Dr. Percy Chibber and Sunny Pariyaram, RameshNarayan, President-Elect Nowroze Vazifdar, new Director Shernaz Vakil,incoming Hon. Joint Secretary Hiren Kara, new Director MadhusudanDaga and President-Nominee Nirav Shahwww.rotaryclubofbombay.orgNirav Shah will serve as Club President in 2013-14;to be succeeded by Ramesh Narayan in 2014-15The 82nd Annual General Meetingof the Rotary Club of Bombaywas successfully held at the TajMahal Hotel on Tuesday, December13, 2011.All resolutions moved by the chairwere adopted unanimously and theOffice-Bearers for the Rotary year2012-2013 along with four Directorsfor the term 2012-2014 were declaredelected without a contest.Nirav Shah was elected unopposedto serve as President of the RotaryClub of Bombay in 2013-2014.Ramesh Narayan will succeed him asPresident in the Rotary year 2014-2015.With the election of Nirav andRamesh, the line of succession in theClub has been established. When PaulGeorge demits office at the stroke ofmidnight on June 30, 2012, NowrozeVazifdar will succeed him as Presidentand his team will include NiravShah as President-Elect and RameshNarayan as Vice-President.President Paul, who conducted theAGM, handled the proceedings withhis customary aplomb. Among thoseseated on the head table were IPPPradeep Saxena, President-ElectNowroze Vazifdar, Vice-PresidentNirav Shah, Hon. Secretary JagdishMalkani, Hon. Joint SecretaryThey will lead. President Paul George (second from right) snapped with hisdesignated successors elected at the 82nd Annual General Meeting.To his right is President-Elect Nowroze Vazifdar and to his left is President-Nominee Nirav Shah. At extreme left is Ramesh Narayan, chosenunanimously to lead the Club in 2014-2015Sitaram Shah and Hon. TreasurerIshraq Contractor.The agenda included adoption ofthe annual report of the Club and itsaccounts, the accounts of the CharitiesTrust No. 3 and the reappointmentof the auditors, M/s Sudit K.Parekh & Company, for both the Clubas well as the Charities Trust.(Continued on Page 2)President Paul George invitedmembers at the last meeting toenjoy the annual Christmas Fellowshipluncheon along with their spouseson Tuesday, December 27.He said that the Fellowship Committeewas organising the event whichwas being sponsored by a number ofRotarians.The afternoon’s luncheonprogramme, including wine and beer,would begin at 12.30 pm and all memberswere invited to bring theirspouses along to enjoy the ChristmasFellowship.Paul said at the last meeting, whichalso featured the Annual General Meeting,that the Christmas Fellowshipluncheon would be followed by anotherspecial event.That event would be the New YearFellowship lunch which was beingsponsored by PP Nalin Parikh.The New Year Fellowship lunchwould also begin at 12.30 pm and allmembers were invited to bring theirspouses along to enjoy the Club’sfamed Fellowship.

Nirav Shah will serve as Club President in 2013-14;to be succeeded by Ramesh Narayan in 2014-15(Continued from Page 1)PP Arvind Jolly, who later proposedthe annual report of the Clubfor approval, first sought and receivedpermission to make a few comments.He said that the issue of the expenseson the Club’s weekly bulletin,The Gateway, still rankled. It was saidevery year that the bulletin would payfor itself, but every year the lossesappeared to grow.Every member was paying for thebulletin, yet there was a loss on thisaccount. Perhaps it was time to usethe funds for some service activities.riod July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011,was then moved by the chair. It wasproposed for approval by PP ArvindJolly and seconded by PP Dr. AdiDastur. It was adopted unanimously.Next on the agenda was the adoptionof the Rotary Club of Bombay’saccounts for the period July 1, 2010,to June 30, 2011. The proposal to thiseffect was proposed by PP AjayKanoria and seconded by ShivkumarIsrani and carried unanimously.The third resolution, which was forthe adoption of the accounts of theRotary Club of Bombay CharitiesAs times were changing, perhaps it Trust No. 3 for the period July 1, Please enlighten me. PP Arvind Jolly raises a query at the Annual Generalwas time for the Club to keep up with 2010, to June 30, 2011, was proposed Meeting of the Club regarding the losses incurred on the weekly bulletinthe times and not live on past glory. by Vinod Juneja and seconded byThis was a suggestion for future leadersto consider.Responding to his comment, PresidentPaul said that this had indeed beenan area of concern and the Board aswell as the Office-Bearers had discussedit at several meetings. RequestingIPP Pradeep Saxena to give hisviews, Paul offered the mike to him.Pradeep said that a lot of thoughthad gone into making the bulletin selfsustaining.“And I am very happy tosay that this year you will see a differentfigure.”Picking up the thread from there,Paul said that this year the bulletinwould more than cover the costs. Infact, there was even likely to be a surplus.All this was due to the generosityof the members. They had contributedgenerously, not only in advertisementsbut also as donations. Thesituation regarding the bulletin was“always on the table”.Paul pointed out that the bulletinalso served “the purpose of being themouthpiece of this great institution ofwell over 82 years. We felt there is aneed... it goes out to members, tocorporates, to a whole lot of peopleand we are able to talk about ourMehul Sampat. It was also carriedunanimously.The reappointment of auditors wasthe next item on the agenda.PP Rajnikant Reshamwala proposedthe resolution that was movedfor the reappointment of M/s SuditK. Parekh & Co. as auditors of theRotary Club of Bombay for the Rotaryyear 2011-2012. He was secondedby Hariprasad Nevatia. Themotion was carried unanimously.Meera Alreja proposed for approvalthe resolution to reappoint M/s Sudit K. Parekh & Co. as auditors ofthe Rotary Club of Bombay CharitiesTrust No. 3 for the Rotary year 2011-2012. She was seconded by HirenKara. This motion was also carriedunanimously.Paul then turned to the election ofOfficers for the Rotary year 2012-2013 and of four Directors for theRotary year 2012-2014. He announcedthat since only one nominationhad been received for each of thevacancies, those nominated were declaredelected unopposed.Accordingly, Nirav Shah wasnamed President-Elect; RameshNarayan Vice-President and PresidentNominee; Sitaram Shah Hon. Secretary;He’s really the tallest one. Ishraq Contractor (left), who has served severalterms as Hon. Treasurer, with IPP Pradeep Saxena and Dev ThukralHiren Kara Hon. Joint Secretary;programmes, our activities which, inturn, get us money.and Ishraq Contractor Hon. TreasurerSandip’s smile seems to be have been sandwiched. PP Sandip Agarwalla isIn the first six months of this year, for the Rotary year 2012-2013.flanked by Roda Billimoria and Preeti Mehta at the last meeting of the Clubthe Club had been able to collect aboutRs. 6 lakhs for the bulletin. Besides,there were commitments for anotherRs. 2.50 lakhs.“We will make an effort to see thatthis continues, that this will not be aone-off achievement. A conscious effortwill be made by Nowroze and byNirav... Our efforts will be redoubledin getting finances to support the bulletin.”When Arvind suggested greateremphasis on the online version of thebulletin, Paul assured him that it wasbeing done.The resolution for approval of theannual report of the Club for the pe-Paul added that Ishraq had requestedthat he be relieved of the responsibilityof acting as Hon. Treasurer at theend of his next term. He had alreadyserved the Club for more than eightyears and wanted a break.As for the Directors for 2012-2014,the four members declared elected unopposedwere Shernaz Vakil, Dr. PercyChibber, Madhusudan Daga andSunny Pariyaram.With that, the business of the 82ndAnnual General Meeting of the RotaryClub of Bombay was concluded.President Paul offered congratulationsto President-Elect NowrozeVazifdar and his team.You expect me to take to the greens so early in life? Hon. Joint Secretary SitaramShah asks Moy Biswas as reigning golf champion Dev Thukral looks onDecember 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 2

TWO NEW MEMBERS FORMALLY INDUCTEDTwo new Rotarians, Vandan Shahand Dileep Madgavkar, were formallyinducted as members of theRotary Club of Bombay after the conclusionof the Annual General Meetingof the Club on December 13, 2011.While Vandan, who is the son ofthe veteran Sitaram Shah, has beenloaned the Classification “Export ofAluminium Castings”, Dileep will fillthe slot reserved for “Finance: PortfolioManagement”.Hariprasad Nevatia, who did thehonours for Vandan, said it was a joyousoccasion for him because 21 yearsago he had also introduced his fatherto members of the Club. (This statementelicited loud applause.)Vandan was the Managing Directorof Sipra Engineers Pvt. Ltd., whichhad won several awards for its exportperformance. M/s Sipra had fourplants in Nashik and employed about500 people. It supplied castings toTata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra,Piaggio, Mercedes and Land Rover,among others.Hariprasad said Vandan had studiedat La Martiniere, Calcutta; theDoon School, Dehradun; St. Xavier’s,Bombay; and R.V. Engineering College,Bangalore, where he had completedhis B.E.An active member of the CII (Confederationof Indian Industry), he usedto be a debating champion at collegeand was a member of the winningwater polo team at junior college.Interestingly, Hariprasad added,Vandan had a farm near Sula Vineyardsat Nashik, “so we can hope for a Fellowshipprogramme there”.Vandan was married to Ekta andthe couple had two daughters, Suditiand Meha.Hon. Secretary Jagdish Malkaniformally introduced the second newmember, Dileep Madgavkar, an investmentmanagement professional.Since May, 2008, Dileep had beenthe Head of Fund Advisory at GlobalInvestment House India Pvt. Ld., whoAt the last meetingwere investment advisers to the MayurHedge Fund. A member of the Instituteof Chartered Accountants of India,he had a B.Com. from St. Xavier’sCollege, Calcutta.He started his career with Bank ofAmerica as a dealer in foreign exchangeand fixed income. He then went toANZ Grindlays Bank where he servedas Head of Portfolio Management.Moving on to Prudential ICICIAsset Management Company in1998, he served as Chief InvestmentOfficer and was responsible for fundsworth about $3.5 billion across debtand equity products.While at Prudential ICICI, Dileepheaded the Derivatives Committee ofthe Association of Mutual Funds ofIndia and also served on its Debt Valuationand Best Practices Committees.In 2004, he moved to Hong Kongas Investment Director with PrudentialAsset Management, helped overseeequity investments in Asia anddirectly managed the Dragon PeacockFund (an Indo-China fund) and an India-dedicatedfund launched in Japan.Jagdish added that Dileep was marriedto Anu and the couple had twochildren, Devika and Rahul.Following the introductions, PresidentPaul conducted the formal inductionceremony, which included affixinga Rotary pin on the lapels of thenew members and presenting themwith a copy of the new Club Roster,Four-Way Test placards and otherRotary literature.Welcome to the Rotary Club ofBombay, Vandan and Dileep.Welcome to the Rotary Club of Bombay. President Paul George attaches aRotary pin to the lapel of new member Vandan ShahDileep Madgavkar was the second new member to be formally inducted atthe last meeting(Held on December 13, 2011)PRESIDENT Paul Georgecalled the meeting to order andwelcomed members to the 82ndAnnual General Meeting of theRotary Club of Bombay.First Lady Sheila and President Paul George, together withBIRTHDAYSSabira and Ahmedhusein Merchant, Annie and Jacob Abraham,Members celebrating their birthdayduring the week were felicitated.Suresh Goklaney, Lalita and Joseph Koshy, Sandra and Aliakbar Merchant,Meenakshi and George Mathew, Lovey and Sunny Pariyaram,ATTENDANCEMarzena and Marek Dziki, Sheila and PP Gul Kripalani,Members 109 Pineka and Bernd Schneider, Sheila Bulchandani, and Rashna and Soli CooperVisiting Rotarians 3are pleased to invite you and your spouse to a Fellowship Christmas LunchRotaryanns 2on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12.30 pm at the Taj Mahal Hotel, MumbaiTotal 114Svc. box collection Rs. 3,400 Please join in the good cheer and come and enjoy the scrumptious ’XMAS fareDecember 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 3

HAVING SERIOUS FUN, a lThey reached there in groups. But the first thing that guests at the Jatias’ Fellowship in Khandala did was to have fun. The atmosphere was perfect,the mood just right and the company excellent. Ashok Jatia, along with his spouse Vatsala, had made excellent arrangementsMany outdoor games, some of them long forgotten, had been arranged. And members took part in them with great gusto and zeal. As if they were takingpart in an event at the Olympics Games. But even Sachin Tendulkar is said to be very, very serious when he is having funThe music offered by the strummers was just in keeping with the mood of the day (Sunday, December 4). Soft, tuneful and lilting, as if in keeping withthe cool, dry breeze that wafted up from the valley and spread all over the Jatias’ bungalowA sumptuous brunch welcomed the members as they reached Khandala. Some of those who had partaken of it preferred to sit in the shade to digest whatthey had consumed and even egged on those who were participating in the games on the lawnsDecember 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 4

la SACHIN TENDULKARCaptain courageous and the Hon. Sec.! Paul George and Jagdish Malkani take off during one of the events. In the picture at right, Vinod Juneja andArin Master seem to be goading on Bharat Taparia to don a straw hat to protect himself from the sun’s ultraviolet raysWas the umpire acting in a biased manner? Was he cheating? Or, as some wondered, was he indulging in a bit of ‘match fixing’? A question asked in jestand answered with a loud guffaw. Most of the grey heads at the Fellowship showed that they were children at heartPercy, poor Percy! There was Percy Master trying to organise things as the contest for ‘Master Chef’ got underway, and there, at left, was Sitaram Shah,enjoying a glob of mashed ice. But he quickly got down to brass tacks with Percy, Meera Alreja and Ashwin ThakkarTrust Paul to prove the world wrong. People may insist that too many cooks spoil the broth. But when President Paul George is in charge, too many cookswin the prize! Paul led the team that won the ‘Master Chef’ contest. It was, at the end of the day, a terrific FellowshipDecember 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 5

They raised atoast to theRotary Clubof BombayTwo members of the Rotary Clubof Bombay, PP Kalpana Munshiand Naresh Jain, collected uncountedencomiums for the Club in the courseof a 16-day cruise of seven countriesstarting from China and touchingSouth Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong,Thailand, Japan and Singapore.Although it was private visit alongwith their respective families, it wasturned into a Rotary event for sometime when the crew organised a specialRotary meeting over tea for all theRotarians on board hailing from India,the USA, the UK, Scotland, Canada,South America, Japan and Australia.The Rotarians who attended themeeting introduced themselves andspoke about their respective Clubs,Districts and activities. They also expresseda desire to collaborate on aninternational basis and to have jointprojects and Fellowships.One of the Rotarians at the meetingwas District Governor NomineeWith Rotary friends. PP Kalpana Munshi and Naresh Jain, along with their families, went on a seven-nation cruiseof the Far East when the crew arranged a meeting of Rotarians on board. From left are Michael Clark of theRotary Club of Aloha, District 1010; Naresh; DGN Valerie Wafer from Canada; Kalpana; John Davies of theRotary Club of Douglas; Ernie Chambers of Beeston, District 1220 (UK); Juanita Barber of Minnamurra, District9750 (Sydney); and friends. (Right) Naresh and Kalpana with DGN Valerie and JuanitaValerie Wafer from Canada. She spokeabout her District and her country.That prompted Kalpana to mentionthe Canadian Slumber Kit project onwhich Clubs in India had been collaboratingfor several years with theirCanadian counterparts.On learning about suspension of thecollaboration, Valerie said she wouldlook into it and see that it continued.When Kalpana described the structure,composition and working of theRotary Club of Bombay, there weresurprised faces all around.Few could believe that it had amembership of about 330 and that ithad no less than 50 Committees activelyengaged in different service activitiesas prescribed by the Rotarymovement.The fact that the Club had sponsored28 Interact Clubs, five RotaractClubs and 15 Rotary CommunityCorps elicited even more surprise. Informationabout the association withtwo hospitals and the adoption of fourmunicipal schools under theBhavishya-Yaan project left theRotarians speechless.But they regained their composureand, before long, Rotariansfrom different parts of the worldwere raising a toast to the RotaryClub of Bombay.Thank you for bringing us thenews, Kalpana.KICK A BALL TO LIGHT A LAMPStudents of elementary physics over the world (thanks to the shrinkingknow that when an object moves of fossil fuel reserves).with speed from one point to another, Ms Silverman, who is the Cothereis production of kinetic energy. Founder of Uncharted Play Inc., whichThus, when a football is kicked, it is created the special football, said thegiven motion; that motion is converted “sOccket” had been designed as a cutting-edgeinto energy (which is called kinetic energy).energy solution.But can someone kick a football “It’s a mini-generator in the form ofand actually produce sufficient energy a football. The invention was specificallyto light a reading lamp, to work a waterdesigned for use in developing ar-purifier, or to switch on a cell phone eas where electricity is often inaccessiblecharger?or non-existent. During play withWhat was a distinct possibility in the ‘sOccket’, an internal mechanismthe textbooks has now been converted captures and stores the energy frominto a reality.the movement of the ball so that it canAt the meeting of the Rotary Club be used later to power critical accessorieslike a reading lamp, water purifierThat’s how you do it. Ms Julia Silverman explains the working of ‘sOccket’, a of Bombay on November 29, 2011, amini-generator in the form of a football as Mudit Jain and Hiren Kara look young visitor from the USA was led in or cell phone charger.”on in surprise. (Right) Just kick the ball and it generates power. President by Mudit Jain and introduced to PresidentPaul George and others. who jointly invented the “sOccket”She and Ms Jessica O. Matthews,Paul George and Hon. Joint Secretary Sitaram Shah are taken in by thesimplicity of the ‘sOccket’Ms Julia Silverman carried what was, when they were undergraduates atfor all practical purposes, a football but Harvard University, focused on developingwith a hidden aperture into which acountries because football or soc-reading lamp was plugged and... Lo, cer was very much the rage there and itand behold! It lit a lamp!would not require much effort to makeWhen the lamp flickered, it was disconnected,the device acceptable and popular.the aperture closed, the foot-Ms Silverman claimed that the foot-ball dropped to the floor and kicked. A ball would have a life of about three tokick or two later, it was picked up and four years even after the generator insidethe lamp reattached. It gave normal lightit stopped functioning.once again.Uncharted Play was a social enterpriseThe surprised look on the faces ofthat served those in need by manu-Paul and the others said it all. The gap facturing and distributing “sOccket”between science fiction and science fact balls to resource-poor communitieshad been bridged. But that was only around the globe. It hoped to bring thefor a short while, till realisation dawned movement to India and was looking forthat kinetic energy was yet another one funding to achieve the goal. It can beof the several non-conventional sources contacted at info@unchartedplay.comof energy which were being tapped all for more details.December 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 6

December 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 7

ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAYFOUNDED 19 MARCH, 1929Charter No. 3128, Dated 08 May, 192997-B, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point,Mumbai 400 021, INDIATel.: +91-22-2202 4089Fax.: +91-22-2202 4509rotaryclubbombay1@gmail.comOFFICE-BEARERS 2010/11PRESIDENT PAUL GEORGEImm. Past President Pradeep SaxenaPresident-Elect Nowroze VazifdarVice-President Nirav ShahHonorary Secretary Jagdish MalkaniJoint Hon. Secretary Sitaram ShahHon. Treasurer Ishraq ContractorCLUB SERVICE – New MembersDirector in charge Nowroze VazifdarClassifications PP Dr. Adi DasturMembership PP Ashish VaidMember. Dev. & DisCon Nirav ShahInformation PP Dr. Kekoo KavaranaMentoring & Assimilation PP Sandip AgarwallaCLUB SERVICE – Programmes/MeetingsDirector in charge Framroze MehtaFellowship Shernaz VakilCo-Chair Pranay VakilCulinary Delight Ritu Prakash DesaiCo-Chair Renu BasuSportsHiranmay BiswasProgramme Dolly ThakoreCo-Chair Nandan MalusteSergeant-at-Arms Roda BillimoriaCo-Chair Hiren KaraAttendance Arvind AgarwalBulletin & Website Farokh BalsaraCOMMUNITY SERVICE – MedicalDirector in charge Dr. Vandana BulchandaniChairman Emeritus,TalwadaPP Dr. Rahim MuljianiHTEC, Talwada PP Dr. Rumi JehangirADMC, Talwada Dr. Sorab JaveriOral Health Dr. Mala JagtianiControl of TB Prof. Rohini ChowgulePolio & Jaipur Foot Shyyamniwas SomaniCancer Aid Zinia LawyerCo-Chair Farokh BalsaraCOMMUNITY SERVICE – Non-MedicalDirector in charge Shailesh HaribhaktiRCCPP Kalpana MunshiOld Age Homes/Senior Citizens Ratan TankhaHealth & Heart Care Dr. Aashish ContractorDifferently Abled Naresh Kumar JainVOCATIONAL SERVICEDirector in charge Vineet BhatnagarRotary & Public Awards Nelum GidwaniFour-Way Test Suresh JagtianiLegal Case Practice Sameer TapiaArts & Public Relations Priyasri PatodiaINTERNATIONAL SERVICEDirector in charge Ashok MinawalaR.I. Programmes PP Arun SanghiRotary Foundation PP Arvind JollyFund-Raising (Dr.) Sonya MehtaCo-Chair Pradeep ChinaiNEW GENERATIONS – EducationDirector in charge Arin MasterBhavishya Yaan Manojj Kumar PatodiaCo-Chair Manish ReshamwalaSuraksha LoansScholarships Ashok JatiaMerit-cum-MeansScholarships Freyaz ShroffTEAC Junior College Bipin KapadiaManagement Studies Poonam KumarNEW GENERATIONS – YouthDirector in charge Arjun JollyInteractMeera AlrejaRotaractMehul SampatCo-Chair Ravindra FotedarNight Study Centres Bimal MehtaRoad Safety Deepak KapadiaDISTRICT THRUST PROJECTSDirector in charge Suresh GoklaneyWater Conservation/Rural Development Dilnavaz VariavaSolar Energy/Environment Madhusudan DagaDisha/Vocational Trg. Sunny PariyaramSlumber Kits PP Rajnikant ReshamwalaRegd. No. MH/MR/South-109/2009-11; R.N.I. No. 14015/60Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai 400 001, on every Saturday-MondayLord Dolar landed in London withjust ten pounds in his pocketsLord Dolar Popat, a British Asianbusinessman and politician, becamea member of the House of Lordsas a Life Peer in 2010 and is the firstGujarati to represent the ConservativeParty in the House.President of the Harrow EastConservative Association, he is amember of or adviser to variousAsian groups within the ConservativeParty. Now Chief Executive ofthe TLC Group which specialisesin healthcare and hospitality, he willaddress the Club on December 20.Born and brought up in Ugandaas one of eight siblings, Lord Popatemigrated to Britain in 1971 duringthe expulsion of Asians from IdiAmin’s country with only £10 inhis pocket. He financed his studiesat the Kilburn Polytechnic nightschool by taking on various jobs,including working as a dishwasher,waiter and grill chef at Wimpey.He qualified as a Member of theChartered Institute of ManagementAccountants (CIMA) in 1977 andmarried Lady Sandhya Popat in1980 (they have three sons, Rupeen,Paavan and Shivaan).After completing his studies,Lord Popat held a number of positions,including trainee accountantat Abagjan Ltd., UDT Finance (Barclays),Rockware Glass and as personalaccountant to Mr. Peter Parker.Practising as an accountant, hespecialised in business and corporatefinance.Lord Popat diversified into thehealthcare sector in the late 1980sand the hospitality sector in the late1990s and secured a master franchisewith Holiday Inn and Expressby Holiday Inn in the UK.An advocate of community cohesionand reconciling different culturesunder the UK’s central democraticprocess, he has been activelyinvolved with the ConservativeParty since the 1980s, serving twoParty Prime Ministers – Ms MargaretThatcher and Mr. John Major.Happy BirthdayRita DalalDecember 22KhurshedThanawallaDecember 24Dr. Mala JagtianiDecember 25PP Harry Singh AroraDecember 26Zinia LawyerDecember 24Ishraq ContractorDecember 25Sameer TapiaDecember 25Spouses/RotaryannsSheila KripalaniDecember 20One ProfitsKanta GorowaraDecember 22Most Komal Israni WhoDecember 22Serves BestMr. Gautam MehtaDecember 22Lalita JalanDecember 25Dr. Nafisa ContractorDecember 26Dr. Shakuntala LullaDecember 26Editorial Consultant: Anmol Purohit,Sajjan Sons, 203/204 Triveni, MithChowki, Marve Road, Malad (West),Mumbai 400 064. Cell: 09322227026;Landline: 022-28880712E-Mail: anmolsp@gmail.comRegd. No. MH/MR/South-109/2009-11, R.N.I. No. 14015/60Printed, Published by Rtn. PP Arjun Bulchandani on behalf of Rotary Club of Bombay and printed at Nikeda Art Printers Pvt. Ltd., Unit No.H & I,Kanjur Industrial Estate,Quarry Road, Off L.B.S. Marg, Bhandup (West), Mumbai 400 078 and Published at 97/B, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. Editor Arjun BulchandaniDecember 20 to December 26, 2011 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 8