1. on the cover
CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2015
THE EDITORIAL
features
INTERVIEWING RCBC’s ONLY WOMAN ROTARIAN
WELCOMING OUR GUESTS FROM PRINCETON
PULSE POLIO UPDATE
COVERAGE OF IGU AWARD
GLIMPSES OF THE ANNE’S NIGHT
UPCOMING EVENTS
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
Having taken over as Editor of the Banner since
March, this is my first independently edited release of the
Banner. While I am privileged to have this opportunity, it
is accompanied by immense responsibility. Hence, I would
humbly request all of your constructive feedback & tolerant
stand on any shortcomings that you may observe in this
edition.
This edition of the Banner is dedicated to all the
wonderful women of RCBC on occasion of International
Women’s Day celebrations. The theme as signified in the
logo on the cover page highlights the Beijing Declaration on
women’s rights. While certain aims of the declaration have
been fulfilled, gaps still remain.This year, global women’s rights
organisations are advocating with governments around the
globe to commit whatever it takes to create an environment
where women can exercise their choices in all facets of their
lives.
In this spirit, I interview the lone woman rotarian of
our club. Read the interview to know of her Rotary experience
and other facets of her life. Additionally, in the same spirit, we
cover the glimpses of the Anne’s night celebrations. Thanks to
all the shutterbugs who contributed with their photographs.
Join me in extending a warm welcome to the visiting
dignitaries from the Rotary Club of Princeton, USA. Read more
about our guests in the subsequent pages. Also a big thank
you goes out to those Rotarians who are so graciously hosting
them.
Stay tuned to our club events, announcements, and news in
the rest of the Banner. Hope you enjoy reading this edition.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Chinmaya P Chigateri
THE EDITORIAL
2. Q. As we all are aware, you are the only woman rotarian at RCBC. How does it feel ?
When I had joined the club there were 4 lady members, with plans to enrol more. However, over
the last 5 years, this number has dwindled resulting in me being the lone lady member. I do give this a
thought, especially when the Rotarians jokingly bring this up. However, my Rotary experience in college,
the different kind of exposure that the club has given, the bonhomie of the members and the love/affection
of all the anns has made me stay back. Added to this is the fact that Shankar has not shown any interest in
swapping my membership.
Q. Going back to the same topic about being a woman rotarian, whats was the big influencing factor
behind you joining rotary ?
My first exposure to Rotary was as a Rotaract during my graduation days. Subsequently, I also had
theopportunityofparticipatinginoneofthepoliodrives,whiledoingmypostgraduation.Mymembership
withCantonmentClubhappenedbysheercoincidence.About5yearsago,IwaskeentojointheIndiranagar
club due to their proximity to my office. I made 2 visits to their office and could neither obtain adequate
details nor get to speak to someone concerned. During this period, on one day, I happened to pass by the
Cantonment club. I walked in and was met by Dinesh Nehete and soon the enrolment followed.
Q. Although the number of woman rotarians are increasing, we are not where we need to be on this.
What do you think we as a club should do to increase enrollments among women into rotary.
As we celebrate the“Women’s International Day”, my suggestions to get more women to join Rotary would
be as follows- My experience shows that the best way to get more women to join rotary would be by
creating awareness at an early stage, at the school/college level itself. While we do have Interact/Rotaract
clubs, we would have to go beyond that.We would have to reach out to the larger audience ie. students by
participating in their seminars/ guest lectures, writing in their in-house magazines etc. We could get them
to participate in some of Rotary’s large scale initiatives such as the recently conducted Swach Abhiyan
campaign. These will go a long way in influencing them to join the rotary, some day. In our own backyard,
I sometimes wonder if our own Annets know about Rotary or what we do and whether we have created
adequate opportunities to enhance their awareness. Do we see them as carrying the legacy of the current
Rotarians? Perhaps we could start here.
INTERVIEWING RCBC’s ONLY
WOMAN ROTARIAN
Q.HelloSumanandthanksforyourtime.Tellusalittlebitmoreabout
your professional avatar and your family.
I was born and brought up in Trichy, a small district in Tamil Nadu.
Myfather,ametallurgist,whohadspenthisinitialprofessionallifeworking
in steel companies in East of India, had decided to relocate to BHEL,Trichy.
I did my schooling and graduation (in B.Com) from Trichy. Thereafter, I
completed my MBA from IMT- Ghaziabad. I joined A.F.Ferguson & Co, a
management consulting firm from campus and since then i.e. the last 18 years, have been in consulting,
startingwithA.F.Ferguson&CoandthenmovingontoHRConsultingin Ernst&YoungandnowinCerebrus
Consultants. Soon after my MBA, I got married to Shankar, who is a practicing accountant. I have a 12 year
old son, Anmol, who is studying in Class VII.
3.
Rotary Club of Princeton is represented by,
Mrs. and Mr. C.Ravindranath is a Masters in Industrial Engineering from Lehtigh Universityy,
USA. Subsequent to that, he worked from many years with Johnson & Johnson, USA. Presently he is an
investment advisor. He is married to Mrs. Margaret who is an educationist.
Rotary positions held - President, Rotary Club of Princeton, Assistant Governor of his Rotary District.
Janet Lynn Gurvitch is an Advisor Associate for a Financial Advisor, whose practice includes financial
planning, investment and savings strategies and insurance risk management.
Years with Rotary - 12 years.
Rotary positions held – Sergeant at Arms, Chair of community services committee, District Conference
registrar.
As a volunteer I work with an organization that assists women by providing teens
with educational opportunities, women with legal assistance both in the work place
and at home, day care for the children of working women. I would like to meet
professionals who address those same needs for women and their families
Steven Erik Portrude is a 2nd generation business owner in the area of printing and designing
catering to clients in the Business to Business market.
Years with Rotary - 19 years.
Rotary positions held –President - Rotary Club of Princeton, Deputy District Governor
Would love to see way of life in India, see wild life and natural land scape
WELCOMING OUR
GUESTS FROM
PRINCETON
Dear Rotarians,
Lets all join together in welcoming the representatives of the Rotary Club of Princeton, New Jersey,
USA, as part of the family exchange program. On this occassion, we would like to acknowledge their
benevolent contributions made for the Lingarajapuram School Project, which is one of our flagship social
impact program. Additionally, lets acknowledge their assistance to the Rotary Eye hospital (Rotary North)
and the Paediatric Chemo Therapy Unit (Rotary South West), in Dist. 3190.
4. PULSE POLIO UPDATE
Rotary Celebrated 110th Birthday on 23rd February. The day also marked 30 years of making
history through the Polio Plus program!
HISTORIC MOMENTS: POLIOPLUS TURNS 30
Dr.P.Narayana
Vice-Chairman,
Rotary’s India National Polio Plus Committee
In a 1993 interview, Bomar recalled how the brother of one of the children he’d immunized tugged
on his pant leg to get his attention and said,“Thank you, thank you, Rotary.”The success of this project set
the stage for Rotary’s top priority to rid the world of polio. Since Rotary introduced its PolioPlus campaign,
the number of polio cases worldwide has dropped 99 percent, and the virus remains endemic in just three
countries -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
This year marks 30 years since Rotary launched PolioPlus, its campaign to rid the world of polio.
Beginning on Rotary’s anniversary, 23 February, Rotary members worldwide will be holding events to
celebrate three decades of polio eradication progress. Since 1985 Rotary and its partners have helped
reduce the number of cases from 350,000 annually to fewer than 400 in 2014, and they remain committed
until the disease is eradicated. Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours
to protect more than 2 billion children worldwide. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role
in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $10 billion to the effort. Before the global scope of
PolioPlus, individual clubs with Rotary funding were attacking the disease closer to home.
In 1979 Rotary members and delegates of the Philippine Ministry of Health looked on as volunteers
administered drops of the oral polio vaccine to children in the Manila barrio of Guadalupe Viejo. When
James L. Bomar Jr., then Rotary president, put the first drops of vaccine into a child’s mouth, he ceremonially
launched the Philippine poliomyelitis immunization effort. Bomar joined Enrique M. Garcia, the country’s
minister of health, in signing the contract committing Rotary International and the government of the
Philippines to a joint five-year effort to immunize around 6 million children against polio at a cost of about
$760,000.
5. COVERAGE OF IGU AWARD
Rotary Bangalore Cantonment recently conferred the
‘International Goodwill and Understanding Award 2014-
15’ on the ‘The Needy Heart Foundation’, a philanthropic
organisation that has intervened, medically, socially
and financially, to provide cardiac treatment, including
surgery to underprivileged persons from Asian and
African countries. The award ceremony saw the members
of Rotary Bangalore Cantonment and representatives of
the Foundation present in full strength. ‘The Needy Heart
Foundation’ was conceived and set up in 2002 by a group
of cardiac surgeons who identified that lack of awareness,
lack of funds and lack of access to medical treatment, has
been a lethal combination that results in many tragic and avoidable cardiac-related deaths. By establishing
tie-ups with hospitals and donors, and backed by the founders’own cardiac expertise, the Foundation has
performed hundreds of free heart surgeries for those from underprivileged sections of society.
The Foundation has till date treated 30 plus patients from Pakistan, 38 from Indonesia and about 30 from
Bangladesh. OP Khanna, Chairman, The Needy Heart Foundation says,“The Foundation has brought these
nations closer together and helped developed peace and understanding among these nations. We are
not working for money and most of our donations come from individuals committed to the cause of the
underprivileged,” explains Khanna. He adds that the Foundation has a lot of children coming to them.
“Most children who come to us have heart-related complications and we do our bit to rope in the best
doctors to treat them,”he adds.
Dr Devananda NS, Chairman and Head of Department, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Manipal
Hospital informs that the Foundation works hand-in-hand with a lot of hospital across the City to assist the
underprivileged in heart-related treatments.
“Rotary’s award is a recognition of the contribution of the Foundation and this is sure to inspire us to work
harder to reach out to as many people as we can,”he says.
Rotarian Shailendra Gupta, past president of the Rotary Club, says that they have been fortunate to
recognise eminent organisations and individuals for the last 12 years with this prestigious award.
“This award is particularly for those who have worked tirelessly, in their chosen field, to help bring
communities closer and also enhance the lives of people in need, in more ways than one,”says Shailendra.
He adds, “Our projects cover a wide spectrum including health, hunger and humanity. Also, empowering
women to make them self-sufficient has been the other focus of our club.”
After handing over the award, Rotarian Arvind Gokhale, Director of Rotary Foundation informs that Rotary
International lays great emphasis on building goodwill, understanding and promoting peace among
International communities.
“The Rotary Club of Cantonment, through its many endeavours, have been fulfilling this through
International matching grants for community and social projects, organising youth and family exchanges
between other countries, and also promoting and actively working in the pulse-polio programme,”informs
Arvind Gokhale.
Credit : Deccan Herald News Service, Bengaluru, Mar 28, 2015
7. CONGRATULATIONS
Damodaran Nair Jasbir Dhody Ramdas Pai
Vinay Pai Samir Gupta
Lets all put our hands together in congratulating our Past President Rtn Sudhakar on being selected as
the Assistant Governer for the year 2015-16. This photograph is taken at the training program held
at Wonderla resorts.
2nd April- Visit from the Rotary Club of Princeton, USA.
9th April - Shifted to 11th April - Joint meeting with Jeevanbheema Nagar
16th April - Vocational visit to Yogakshema
23rd April - Amnesty International Talk
30th April - Vocational Awards
Upcoming Events for the Month
