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from Canada where one family hadtaken on the task of distributing kits.The total number given by that familyhad run into millions.Office-Bearers of both the GeetaNagar Rahivasi Sangh (residents’ association)and the local women’s associationhelped identify 50 needyboys and girls from the school-goingchildren of the area and also helpedmake arrangements for the programme.Manish Reshamwala stood in forhis father, PP Rajnikant Reshamwala,recognised as the “champion” in thefield of Slumber Kits, having overseenthe distribution of hundreds of thousandsof kits all over the District overBhavishya-Yaan project had helpedthem. The parent stated that now she,too, wanted to learn English becauseher son insisted that he would onlyspeak that language. As memberswould be aware, the academic partnerin the programme was the NGO Vidya.Several teachers of the Colaba MunicipalSchool were also felicitatedalong with the volunteers who hadworked hard all through the year toachieve 100% success at the SSC exam.Speaking at a weekly meeting of theClub, Chairman Manish said the Committeehad received approval for fournew Bhavishya-Yaan projects at differentmunicipal schools and that twothe last two decades.of these would start in the next year.With the 'Bigg Boss'. Colaba 'Bhavishya-Yaan' children went to LonavalaNEW GENERATIONS The cost to set up a centre was Rs.with Freyaz Shroff (left) to meet matinee idol Salman Khan– EDUCATION 10 lakhs and the running cost was Rs.DirectorMadhusudan DagaBhavishya-Yaan9 lakhs per year. Rotarians could beinvolved in these centres in their individualcapacities; while some couldallowed to get down to the task ofsketching, drawing or painting.They were asked to recollect theas India came alive with the sound andfury of firecrackers and was lit up withsparkling lights and radiant sparklersManish Reshamwala teach, others could volunteer health happiest moments of their lives and on Diwali, the boys and girls ofMr. V. Ranganathan, former MunicipalCommissioner and ex- tive services.moments on paper. What emerged at deep knowledge of different culturescheck-up camps or even administra-then make an attempt to transfer those Bhavishya-Yaan lit up their lives withChief Secretary of the Maharashtragovernment, said on record that he wasvery happy with the manner in whichthe Bhavishya-Yaan project had shapedup and lauded the Rotary Club ofBombay for the commendable initiativewhich had been replicated in sevenmunicipal schools.He was speaking at a simple butwell-attended programme on July 9when underprivileged students of theBhavishya-Yaan project being conductedat the Colaba Municipal Schoolwere felicitated for their performanceat the SSC examinations.The guest of honour was actressKajal Agarwal who played the femalelead in the film Singham. She wasgreeted with a roar when she made herappearance. Like a concerned eldermember of the family, she told the studentsthat “education is the most importantthing”. Every person, boy orgirl, had a right to follow their heartand their passion, but they wouldachieve very little if they did not buildtheir dreams on the foundation of agood education, she added.Mr. Ranganathan and Ms Agarwaltook turns along with Nowroze andothers in distributing awards to the topscorers. Interestingly, all 44 studentsof the Colaba Bhavishya-Yaan projecthad passed the SSC exam, thus givinga perfect score of 100%. Fourteen hadscored more than 75% marks and fiveover 80%. One of the students scored82% in English; truly an achievementfor the programme.Ms Anjan Malkani, the sponsorof the Colaba Bhavishya-Yaan project,was also present on the occasionto greet the children and presenteddictionaries to them.Two of the students and the parentof one spoke briefly about how theHe recalled that the project tookwing under the stewardship of RameshNarayan in 2009 and had grown tothree schools in a short period of threeyears.It was a skills-enhancement program-meand the aim was to teach computerskills, spoken English, life-skillsand so on free of cost to underprivilegedchildren in municipal schools toensure that they did not drop out andthat they completed their education.Students were chosen on the basisof interviews, monitored and mentoredthrough five years, with the emphasisduring the last year on passing theboard exams and pursuing higher education.Seventeen students had been sponsoredby Club members for their highereducation after they passed their SSCexaminations.“We have noted that the studentsknow very little apart from theirhomes and schools. They are notaware of their surroundings, the placesof interest in the city and so on. Todeal with this, we have decided to havepicnics and outings with them. Theyhave had ‘high tea’ at the office of theSheriff of Bombay, have seen theshooting of television reality showsand watched a live cricket match at theBrabourne Stadium,” Manish added.Rotaryann Aparna Venkat, coordinatorof the Bhavishya-Yaan projectat the N.M. Joshi Marg MunicipalSchool, organised a two-day workshopwhich involved sessions in lateralthinking, creative (essay) writing andthe fine arts of drawing, sketching,painting and so on.The eager participants were studentsof Std. VII and VIII. Interestingly,they were first imparted lessonsin creative writing before they werethe end of the exercise was a set ofbeautiful paintings, some of them inthe shape of greetings cards for Diwaliand the festive season.Many of these pretty works wereon display at the meeting of the RotaryClub of Bombay at the Taj MahalHotel on November 6. Members weresurprised by the artistic excellenceevident in some of the paintings andwondered how such young mindscould come up with such profoundworks. There were eager buyers forsome of the greeting cards on display.At the end of the meeting, PresidentNowroze complimented the youngartists and presented mementoes tothem. They were escorted by Aparna.The Art and Creative thinking workshopwas designed to introduce thechildren of municipal schools participatingin the Bhavishya-Yaan projectto various professions related to creativityand the fine arts, including theatre,journalism, creative writing, productdesigning, architecture and advertising.The programme for the workshopwas designed by Priyasri Patodia underthe guidance of the doyen of theart world, Mr. Akbar Padamsee.Later that month, the students ofsix municipal schools where theBhavishya-Yaan project was beingimplemented displayed their talent andabilities when they participated in atwelve-day-long “Diwali Dhamaka”camp. It culminated in a cracker of aprogramme on December 1 at whichstudents of each of the six schools werecalled upon to represent a country oftheir choice and to present various facetsof its culture, traditions, cuisine,dance forms and so on.In other words, the Bhavishya-Yaanstudents “travelled” far and wide. And,and styles of celebration.From festivals of light to harvestcelebrations, from divine births togrand street carnivals, the studentslearned about different festivals acrossthe globe. Each school having been assigneda country, that particular countrywas researched for its festivals andtheir significance. The students alsogot a peek into that country’s history,geography, prominent personalities,food, culture and traditions.The highlight of the camp was thateach school was trained by Nrityanjaliin an authentic folk dance of that country.The colourful costumes for thedance performance on the final daywere created by the students themselvesunder the guidance of Nrityanjaliteachers.The “Diwali Dhamaka” camp endedin a dance extravaganza at which allthe schools gave an outstanding performanceat the N.M. Joshi MargSchool auditorium, complete with costumes,makeup et al. They also exhibitedthe arts and crafts of those countries.The audience, which includedPresident Nowroze, was left spellboundand fascinated by the effortsand enthusiasm of the city’s youth.A visit to Nehru Planetarium andexperiencing the festival of GuruNanak Jayanti with a typical langarwere among the other activities thattook place. Vidya, the NGO associatedwith Bhavishya-Yaan from thebeginning, was involved in theorganisation of the camp.Here is the complete list of the participatingschools and the countrieschosen by them:Banganga: Sri Lanka; Byculla:Japan; Colaba: Greece; N.M. JoshiMarg: Africa; Vile Parle: Spain; andWorli: Brazil.June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 21