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In December, Ms Pushpa, the VidyaCoordinator at the Colaba Bhavishya-Yaan School, and Freyaz Shroff, theRotary Club of Bombay’s Coordinatorfor the same school, took a groupof seven boys from Std. IX to visit the“Manoranjan Mela” at Charni Road,the annual event sponsored by theRotaract Club of H.R. College.This annual programme was arrangedfor the benefit of mentally andphysically challenged children from thelower income families. The childrenhad a rollicking time once they reachedthe venue where several games, rides,amusements and snacks and other facilitieswere available.ism which organised every aspect ofthe visit.The children were accompanied byFreyaz; Ms Tasneem, the Englishteacher from the NGO Vidya; MsYogeeta, a representative of BollywoodTourism; and Ms Pooja from the Colors’Marketing team.According to Freyaz, the childrenwere treated like celebrities all the way.Once they boarded the bus, they wereoffered breakfast, snacks, juices andpopular music for non-stop entertainment.They played “Antakshari” andother games which helped reduce thedistance between Bombay and Lonavalato what seemed a few minutes.Normally, about 700 to 800 people One of the games they played for'Bhavishya-Yaan' children from the G.K. Marg Municipal School had aturned up for the “Manoranjan Mela”, the first time was called “I Spy withgreat time at the Bombay Museum. Rajesh Shah escorted themwith almost all children accompanied my Little Eye” with the focus on keeneither by their parents, teachers orschool staff. The boys accompanyingFreyaz and Ms Pushpa were assignedvolunteer duties at some of the boothsat the venue.The lesson they took away fromthis assignment was that it didn’t matterwhether one was well off or not, itwas always possible to grab the opportunityto give back something tosociety and to others.Hesitant at first, the boys seemedto prefer to enjoy the games, rides andamusements on offer. But soon theygot into their respective roles at thebooths assigned to them and startedinteracting with less privileged andchallenged children.When it was time for them to leave,they were reluctant to go, requestingthat they be allowed to spend somemore time at the booths so that theycould interact with the children enjoyingthe “Manoranjan Mela”.Freyaz acquitted herself admirablywell, shepherding the boys of theBhavishya-Yaan and opening their eyesto some of the realities of life.But Freyaz was not done yet. Soonafter this programme, she escorted 18students of Std. VIII and IX from theColaba Municipal School to enjoy arare privilege – to get themselves photographedwith Salman Khan, one ofobservation, thinking, spelling andother skills. The children had great funplaying this game.At the studio in Lonavala they wereasked to occupy the first rows so thatthey could get a really close look at themanner in which the shooting tookplace. Salman Khan, the show’s host,was expected to arrive very shortly.But imagine the children’s surprisewhen they saw Kareena Kapoor walkinto the studio. As one of the organisersput it, it was indeed the children’slucky day that Kareena was shootingfor the same serial at Lonavala. Shewaved to the children and said hellobefore going backstage to prepare forthe shooting.Once the day’s schedule wasthrough, the children were taken on aguided tour of the production departments.They saw hundreds of camerasset up all over the Bigg Boss premisesto keep an eye on every actionand movement of the participants.They saw how the voice-overs werecaptured and how two hours’ shootingwas edited into a one-hour episodefit for broadcasting.After being treated to lunch, the childrengot an opportunity to sit in thehigh chair normally occupied by theBigg Boss and to have themselvesphotographed. The all-too-brief photopresentations in class in an effort “tomarry enjoyment with education”.If the children from Colaba werebusy at Lonavala, those from the G.K.Marg Municipal School had an equallydelightful time when they visitedBombay’s favourite tourist spot, theChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj VastuSangrahalaya (CSMVS), earlier calledthe Prince of Wales Museum of WesternIndia.The children were delighted to notethat the museum provided an “audiotour” in six languages to its visitors. Aheadphone symbol at the foot of someimages indicated that the artefact waspart of the “audio tour”.Finally, thanks to the good officesof PP Gul Kripalani and PrafullaMogre, a Belgian gentleman who manufacturedfood products offered severaljars of chocolate spread to the RotaryClub of Bombay.President Nowroze felt that thesewere best distributed in the municipalschools where about 500 children wereenrolled under the Club’s Bhavishya-Yaan programme; and so the jars weregiven to over 200 children. Amongthose present at the distribution wereNowroze, Manish, Prafulla andRajesh Shah, the Club Coordinator atthe G.K. Marg Municipal School.Scholarships & LoansThe Committee for PolioPlus andfor the Differently Abled headed byShyyamniwas Somani had then contributedRs. 50,000; thanks to this,the Club would be able to provide agrant to all the 95 blind applicants.The budget for loans, on the otherhand, was Rs. 11 lakhs for which theClub had tied up with the Union Bankof India to devise a scheme under whichthe Club could sanction a maximumloan amount of Rs. 50,000 per candidate.The loan would be for a period oftwo years at a concessional rate of interestof 4% per year. However, if theloan was guaranteed by a Rotarian, thenthe interest rate would come down toa paltry 2% per year.“We have already circulated thisscheme to a few Vocational Trainingcentres and an appeal has appeared inThe Gateway. You are requested toforward the applications that maycome your way,” Manojj added.The Committee had decided to offerfinancial assistance to needy studentsbased solely on their merit. Ithad set out a few simple requirementsfor the grant of scholarships.First, the Merit-cum-Means Scholarshipswould be available to juniorcollege and graduate degree studentsonly. Second, these would be grantedthe leading stars of Bollywood. Not session with Salman Khan would probablyremain etched in their minds for aking a brief presentation at a merit. Third, the minimum percentageManojj Kumar Patodia to needy students based entirely onMonly that, they also had the opportunityto see another leading star, Kareena the rest of their lives.Club meeting, Manojj explained required for eligibility at the SSC examinationKapoor, who waved and said hello tothem.No, it was not that these stars travelledto Colaba to interact with thechildren. It was the other way round.Thanks to the good offices of RameshNarayan, the children were taken ona guided trip to the sets of a populartelevision reality show called BiggBoss which had been erected atLonavala.Ramesh received unstinted supportfrom Mr. Raj Nayak, the CEO of Colorstelevision channel which hostedthe show, and from Bollywood Tour-As the day came to an end and itwas time to leave for Bombay, the representativesof Colors and BollywoodTourism presented every child withan individually framed photograph ofthem seated on the Bigg Boss chair.The ride back home was equallymemorable, what with music blaringand the more enterprising taking to the(bus) floor to display their dance movements.Once home, they could not hidetheir excitement at having enjoyed aunique experience.In the days since the trip, they wroteessays about their experience and madethe working of his Committee. He saidthe Committee was formed after mergingthe Committees for Merit-cum-Means Scholarships and Rotary SurakshaLoans.The new Committee was workingto disburse grants totalling Rs. 5 lakhsand loans up to Rs. 11 lakhs this year.As far as the grants were concerned,the Club had received 296 applicationswhich had been evaluated and grantstotalling Rs. 5.5 lakhs would be disbursedto 210 underprivileged and deservingchildren. Of the 210 chosen,95 were blind students.would be 75. Fourth, thefamily income of the student could notexceed Rs. 2 lakh per annum.It was clarified that the scholarshipwould be given only for college tuitionfees and/or examination fees and booksand not for extra coaching classes orother purposes. All applicants wouldhave to declare any scholarships thatthey had received from any othersource.It would be mandatory for the studentsto submit duly certified true copiesof certificates, testimonials and salaryproof of their family members.June 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 22
Apart from the above, the Committeealso tied up with Union Bank ofIndia for “Rotary loans” to be disbursedby the Bank to needy students wishingto undertake a Vocational TrainingCourse to enhance their career prospects.Among the courses would bethose for operating computers orlearning trades such as electricians,plumbers, machine lathe operators andso on.Application forms were made availableat the Rotary office and memberswanting to help needy and deservingstudents were requested to contactAshok Jatia.The Rotary Club of Bombaychanged his lifeMr. Shanmugam completed his engineeringfrom one of the leadingcolleges of Bombay and was employedby a leading MNC, which hecalled “one of the finest organisationsin the world”, and earned a salary ofover Rs. 13 lakhs per annum.And all this was thanks to the RotaryClub of Bombay and its Scholarshipsand Loans programme.A decade back, when he passed hisH.S.C. exam with 95.33% marks inphysics, chemistry and maths (thebasic requirement for getting into apremier engineering college), he obtainedadmission in more than one engineeringcollege. But, he had no moneyto pay the fees.That was when the Rotary Club ofBombay’s Scholarships and Loansprogramme came to his rescue. Somebodyput him in touch with JosephKoshy who was a member of theCommittee at that time. Seeing the keenenthusiasm of the youngster, Josephinquired about his background. Thestory that emerged left him totally astounded.The young man hailed from a familyin which no one had ever receivedformal education. He never got anyacademic or career advice from any ofhis family members. His father hadpassed away when he was just five.The responsibility of supporting thefamily fell on his mother’s shoulders.The family had a small shop which itrented out to ensure a regular income.But the rent was paltry. So both hismother and his grandmother took tomaking idlis and selling them from outsidetheir home.The young Shanmugam managed toget a part-time job which helped himpay for his high school education.Then he passed his H.S.C. with 95.33%marks.A Rotary service camp near ShivajiNagar in the Chembur-Mankhurd area,where he lived, put him in touch withJoseph Koshy. The young man unburdenedhimself. Joseph immediatelygot into the act and motivated theyoungster to apply for a Rotary loan.To cut a long story short, Shanmugamreceived a scholarship in just afew days and went on to obtain hisengineering degree and land a well-payingjob with an MNC. One of the firstthings he did after he started earningwas to repay the loan that Rotary hadgiven him to complete his studies.Today, he was a very happy man,but not happier than Joseph Koshyand other members of the Rotary Clubof Bombay.Management StudiesPoonam KumarThe Narsee Monjee Institute ofManagement Studies, representedby Suprav Sarang, Prakash Nishtalaand Gurupdesh Singh, made an outstandingpresentation on “India’s SkillDevelopment Challenge: Devising aPPP Model” to win the fifth annualRotary Club of Bombay and MegaAce Consultancy Rolling TrophyCompetition for Management Studies.A cash award of Rs. 25,000, a certificateand the rolling trophy wereawarded at the competition held in theWalchand Hirachand Hall of the IndianMerchants’ Chamber.The programme was designed, organisedand managed by Mega AceConsultancy under Chairperson PoonamKumar. The members of the jurywere PP Pradeep Saxena, Roda Billimoria,Tarjani Vakil and Poonam herself.While the Sydenham Institute ofManagement Studies won the secondprize, the third went to the Institutefor Technology and Management.The annual programme, called “NextGeneration Business Leaders: AnnualRolling Trophy Competition”, waslaunched by Mega Ace Consultancyalong with the Rotary Club of Bombayin 2008. It had received overwhelmingresponse from various B-Schools inthe Bombay and Pune regions.The competition aimed at providingexposure and enhancing the skillsof management students, providingthem with practical and theoreticalknowledge and experience of businessthinking and processes. It intended toinstil confidence among students toface modern-day corporate realities andto imbibe decision-making processes.A formal awards presentation ceremonytook place at one of the regularmeetings of the Club, when PresidentNowroze and Poonam presented thetrophies.NEW GENERATIONS– YOUTHDirectorArjun JollyInteractMeera Alrejabeginning of the new RotarySchool was scheduled to hold its installationmeeting in the school premiseson July 20. Three days later, onJuly 23, not one but half a dozen InteractClubs were slated to see theirnew teams being installed.Stealing a march, the Rotaract Clubof Jai Hind College organised aprogramme styled “The Revival” atwhich the installation ceremony forsix different Interact Clubs was held atone go at Bharda New High School.Not only was the new Interact teamof that school installed, but those fromfive other schools were also given theirrespective charges. These were:Alexandra Girls’ High School, YoungLadies’ High School, H.P. ThackerseySchool, St. Mary’s School and St.Anne’s School, Dabul.The idea behind “The Revival” wasto get schools together to create a senseof bonding between them, to motivatethem to be active throughout the yearand to take up as many joint projectsas possible emphasising CommunityService.President Nowroze, accompaniedby Sitaram, Interact Chair Meera Alrejaand Rotaract Chair Ravi Fotedar attendedthe programme. Also presentwas a team from District 3140 consistingof the Chairpersons for Interactand Alumni Relations, viz., TvishaLuthria, Aditya Garg, Kinjal Sanchaniaand Farida Officewala.Earlier, on July 15 the Rotaractorshad arranged a training session“Udaan” to inspire and motivate studentsto become successful leaders.Here is a round-up of some of theactivities of the Interact Clubs sponsoredby the Rotary Club of Bombay.Gopi Birla Memorial SchoolTwo days. Two venues. Twentyfour events. Three thousand studentsfrom twenty three schools. Andthe prize? A much-coveted trophy –the We Are The World trophyawarded at the conclusion of the 12thannual inter-school international culturalextravaganza.Organised by the Rotaract Club ofH.R. College on October 6 and 7, thetrophy was bagged by a jubilant InteractClub of Gopi Birla MemorialSchool. The runners-up wereChristchurch School and the DhirubhaiAmbani International School.We Are The World has now becomea fiercely-contested annual contestwith an international theme andstudents from schools all over the cityshowcase their talent in the performingarts, the fine arts, literature andother events. They are allowed tochoose a country in advance and makepresentations after a thorough studyof that particular country. The themefor this year was the Olympic Games.The Rotaract Club of H.R. Collegehas been hosting the event for twelveyears as a “legacy” event. Althoughthe office-bearers change every year,the template has been so well-etchedthat successive Presidents and Chairpersonshave to only concentrate onfine-tuning things in keeping with thechanging times.(It would be interesting to see a studentfrom one of the participatingschools one day becoming an officebearerof the Rotaract Club of H.R.College and organising the event!)A total of 3,000 students took partin this year’s extravaganza; but theRotaractors insisted that the totalnumber of “footfalls” exceeded 4,000.The event reached over 39,000 peoplethrough Facebook in just one week.The investiture ceremony of theInteract Club of Gopi Birla MemorialSchool was attended by several membersof the Rotary Club of Bombay.The Interactors started by encouragingthe use of carpools, particularly onthe school’s open day when parentsand children drove up and caused hugetraffic jams. This was an environmentally-friendlyinitiative of the Club.The Rotaract Club of H.R. Collegearranged a symposium for Interactorsat which they described their aims andexplained their functioning.The year saw the Interactors immediatelygetting down to business. The They never shirk their responsibilities. The Interactors of Gopi Birla SchoolInteract Club of Gopi Birla Memorial line up outside their school, spreading the message of Road SafetyJune 25 to July 1, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 23
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 54 Issue No. 52 Mumbai June 25
Page 3 and 4: Wear this Rotary lapel pin every da
Page 5 and 6: Welcome, Ambassador. Ramesh Narayan
Page 7 and 8: for an ambitious project for women
Page 9 and 10: “On a more selfish note,” saidA
Page 11 and 12: new memories were thrust upon themi
Page 13 and 14: Wales Act of 1909 as an autonomousb
Page 15 and 16: COMMUNITY SERVICE- MEDICAL IDirecto
Page 17 and 18: mark in the world of sports. The sc
Page 19 and 20: the mail. It has been simply incred
Page 21: from Canada where one family hadtak
Page 25 and 26: studies. This had proved to be a bi
Page 27 and 28: that could come in handy while deal
Page 29 and 30: lege believed it had made a small c
Page 31 and 32: Peace march on 26/11, the day of in

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