PRESIDENT Rtn. Dr. N.V. Arulmozhi Varman

HoNoRARy SECRETARy Rtn. Dr. R. Chandrasekhar

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. A.S. Venkhat Ramani

PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. P N Mohan

PRESIDENT NoMINEE Rtn. Ranjit Pratap

Asst. SECRETARy / BULLETIN EDIToR Rtn. Mohan Raman

DIRECToR CLUB ADMINISTRATIoN Rtn. R. Rajenderan

DIRECToR yoUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai

DIRECToR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Harish K. Murthi

DIRECToR RoTARy FoUNDATIoN & INTERNATIoNAL SERVICES Rtn. M. Balasubramaniam

DIRECToR SERVICE PRoJECT 1 Rtn. R. Ravishankar

DIRECToR SERVICE PRoJECT 2 Rtn. K.M. Vinod Kumar

DIRECToR VoCATIoNAL SERVICE Rtn. S. Ravi

TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Hemant Chordia

TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia

TREASURER (SPECIAL PRoJECTS) Rtn. Kishor Dandeker

The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras2016-2017 • Edition No.6

August 15, 2016 • 5 Pages

70th Indepedence Day Celebration at Rotary Nagar

The 70th Independence Day was celeberated in gaiety at our Rotary Nagar

Project campus in the midst of enthusiastic children, energetic teachers and an eager community on Monday, the 15th August 2016.

Exactly at 7.30 a.m. our President Rtn. Dr. Arulmohi Varman unfurled our National Flag

in the mast located in front of our Rotary Nagar building. The children of our Rotary Nagar project sang the Tamizh Thai Vazhthu and flag song. When the National Anthem was sung, our First lady Uma Varman, Rtns.Anuradha Ganesan, Sundaresan Ravi, P.N. Mohan, Nikhil Raj and R. Ravishankar also joined the children and then saluted the National Flag.

This was followed by small cultural performance by the children of our Rotary Nagar project. After 6th standard teacher Mohana welcomed the gathering, a student enthusiastically narrated the importance of independence for our nation, then 6 students did a brief dance performance to the Vande Matharam song, and 8 children sang a Bharathiar song. This was followed by an Address by our President Rtn. Dr. Arulmozhi Varman and Chairman of the Rotary Nagar Committee - Rtn. Dr. Anuradha Ganesan. Tailoring teacher Malarvizhi proposed the vote of thanks. Sweets were then distributed by the Rotarians to all the children assembled at the venue.

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • August 15, 20162

Sgt-at-arms of the day Rtn PP NK Gopinath collared President Rtn Dr Arulmozhi Varman, who called the 7th

meeting of RCM to order, followed by a silent invocation.

President welcomed all who have come for the meeting which was held at our RCMBTS, Gummidipoondi.

A special welcome for the Chief Guest Mr HKN Ragavan, CEO, Equitas Microfinance Ltd, who will be partnering in our projects at RCMBTS.

The 70th year independence day was celebrated by President hoisting the flag amidst applause.

President briefed the gathering about RCMBTS history/ activities and how this land was obtained. He thanked PDG Benjamin, PDG JB Kamdar, Rtn BK Rao, Rtn Aditya Agarwal for pitching in with their significant contributions. He acknowledged &thanked all Rotarians for their immense support for the projects and said that future of RCMBTS is still more bright as PHC will be in function, followed by a school coming up in the future.

PDG JB Kamdar expressed that it is a great day for RCM where 5 projects have been inaugurated which will have a remarkable impact on the community. RCMBTS is our flagship project and has been growing every year and appreciated the role played by our Rotarians and happy to see what it is today. NGO & Corporates can do more and wished RCM/Equitas to take it forward.

PDG Benjamin, PE PN Mohan, Rtn BK Rao & Rtn Aditya Agarwal spoke on the occasion and everyone believed that lot of activities will emerge in the days to come to benefit the community.

Panchayat head Mr Dhanraj thanked RCM for bringing in new projects to the area for the boys as well as for the society at large and assured that he will extend what all the help needed from the government.

Panchayat head honoured all our Rotarians by offering a shawl.

There was an excellent display of yoga thru

music by the boys under the supervision of Mr Kalatheeswaran, the yoga teacher who visits every week to coach the boys. Certificates were also distributed for the boys who excelled in recent contest held in Kanchipuram.

Also Mr Srinivasan of Rhapsody made the boys sing a patriotic song differently. Both the above programs were very well received by all.

In home families were given monetary support.

Rtn PP Paul K Jacob mentioned how Equitas was associated in the recent days and wished that it grows in the future.

Chief guest Mr Ragavan applauded the efforts of Rotarians in doing service to the society and appreciated for balancing service & business simultaneously and happy to partner with RCM and do good to

the society. He said that the main focus will be on the rural health, skill development and job creation and happy to collaborate the PHC project with RCM.

President presented a memento and our 80 year history book of our club A Timeless Legacy to Mr Ragavan on behalf of RCM

Secy Rtn Dr R Chandrasekhar thanked all for making this independence day a special one by their presence and enjoyable/meaningful gathering.

The eventful day was then adjourned.

minutes16th AUGUST 2016

Meeting @ RCMBTS, Gummidipoondi

Inauguration of PHC – Rtn PP S Krishnan Memorial block RCM-Equitas Sugam Medical Center PDG R Benjamin Cherian

Inauguration of Arch & Land Donor Name Plaque Rtn Markand Desai

Inauguration of Name board for boys home & industrial school PP Shankar C Mangadu

Ground-breaking ceremony for water & sanitation project PDG JB Kamdar

Mega Tree Planting PP NK Gopinath

Thank Rtn Anand Rengaswamy for the excellent breakfast Thank Rotaractors & Rotary Nagar teachers Thank Equitas staffs

Special appreciation to Director Rtn R Ravishankar & Chairman Rtn S Ravi for their meticulous planning and organizing the programs

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • August 15, 2016315th August 2016 will be

remembered by RCMers not only because of it being our 70th Independence Day, but also for the landmark events, which were held that day at our Rotary Boys Town campus in Gummidipoondi.

16 Rotarians, 15 Rotaractors, and 2 coordinators travelled in air-conditioned comfort in a bus from Hotel Hyatt to our Boys Town. Breakfast, provided by Rtn. Anand Rengaswamy, filled their stomach, as they eagerly awaited to join the activities at the Boys Town. PDG Benjamin Cherian with his wife Mrs.Valsa Cherian, PDG J.B. Kamdar, PP.Mangadu Shankar, PP.Gopinath, PP.George Cherian, PP.Paul Jacob, President-elect Rtn.P.N.Mohan, Hony. Secretary Rtn.Dr.Chandrasekhar and Rotarians

Markand Desai, R. Sivasubramanian, Hemant P. Chordia, Aditya Agarwal, Deepak Chander, Balaji Chinni and his wife Mrs.Vijayalakshmi, Mahinder Jain, Balakrishna Rao, Sundaresan Ravi, Rajesh Somasundaram with his son, and R.Ravishankar , along with 50 Rotaractors from the Jeppiar College of Engineering and 6 teachers from our Rotary Nagar project participated in the various Events.

The First event was the inauguration of Rotary Club of Madras Equitas Sugam Medical Clinic by the CEO of Equitas - Mr. Raghavan. He graciously asked our senior Rotarian Markand Desai to join him in cutting the ribbon. PDG Rtn.Benjamin Cherian unveiled the Donor Name Plaque at the Medical Center and the Name Board “ Rtn.PP.S.Krishnan

Memorial Block “. The Rotarians and staff of Equitas then went around the premises and appreciated the facilities. The Duty Doctor engaged for this Clinic then conducted medical check-up for patients who had come from the nearby villages.

The Second event was unveiling of the Land Donor Name Plaque at the entrance of Rotary Boys Town campus. This Name Plaque was unviled by Rtn.Markand Desai, who was the Donor of 14 Acres out of total extent of 34 Acres.

From the entrance of our Boys Town campus, the children conducted a March-Past up to the Flag mast. They were followed by all the Rotarians, Rotaractors and Guests. Our President Dr. Arulmozhi Varman then unfurled the National Flag, after which the children sang the Flag Song and National Anthem.

The Third event was the unveiling of Main Name Board for the Rotary

Boys Town campus by Chief Guest Mr.Raghavan along with our Rtn. Markand Desai. They uneviled the Name Board - ROTARY CLUB OF MADRAS BOYS TOWN - by cutting the ribbon at the entrance of the building. This was followed by unvieling of the Donor Name Plaque for Industrial School by PP. Rtn.Mangadu Shanker in the presence of Rtn. Aditya Agarwal, whose family had given

the major donation for this Industrial School. This was followed by unvieling of the Donor Name Plaque for Boys Home by Rtn. Balakrishna Rao in the presence of PDG Rtn.Benjamin, his wife Mrs.Valsa Cherian and PP. Rtn.George Cherian, who had given the major donation for this Boys Home building construction.

The next event was inauguration of the Mega Tree Planting under the GO-GREEN project of our Vocational Service. PP. Rtn. Gopinath flaged off the planting

A Day at our Rotary Boys Town to cherish forever - Rtn. R. Ravishankar

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • August 15, 20164of 500 saplings by our Rotarians, Rotaractors and Children of our Boys Home. It was a wonderful sight to see all our Rotarians enthusiastically planting the sapling and pouring water into the pit. Within 60 minutes, all 500 saplings had been planted successfully.

The Ground Breaking Ceremony for our Water and Sanitation Project at Paiyanoor and Periya Puliyur villages was then conducted. PDG Rtn.J.B. Kamdar performed a pooja and the ceremonial laying of 9 bricks in the identified area for digging of one of the 2 wells, as part of this project, was completed. The successful completion of Toilet Construction Projects during previous two Rotary Years, has given our Rotary Club of Madras to embark on this ambitious Project of constructing over 500 toilets and 2 massive wells this Rotary Year.

The formal Weekly Meeting of Rotary

Club of Madras was then held in the Main Hall of Rotary Boys Town. Our President Rtn.Dr.Arulmozhi Varman welcomed the gathering and highlighted the importance of the occassion. PDGs J.B. Kamdar and Benjamin Cherian,

Rtns. Markand Desai, Aditya Agarwal, Balakrishna Rao, P.N.Mohan and the President of Periyapuliyur Panchayat Union spoke on the occassion. Our Boys Home children, trained by Rtn. Anil

Srinivasan’s RHAPSODY music class, sang 2 patriotic songs. The Boys Home children who had won the Prizes at a recent South India Yoga Competitition for School Children, then performed innovative Yoga exercises, to the tune

of a recent hit song from KABALI, which totally enthralled the audience. Our Secretary Rtn. Dr. Chandrasekar proposed a Vote of Thanks.

The function concluded with a tasty

lunch being served to all the Rotarians, Rotaractors and children of Rotary Boys Home. Many Rotarians who attended the events on that day commented that it was truly a memorable occassion in the history of the Rotary Club of Madras.

26th Aug – Rtn Iqbal Sait26th Aug – Rtn Dr Prashant Kekre27th Aug – Rtn Hemant Chordia27th Aug – Rtn Nimish C Toila27th Aug – Rtn Sanjay Parikh29th Aug – Rtn Sumit Kumar Kalra29th Aug – Rtn Usha Umapathi26th Aug – Ann Mahvash (Rtn Iqbal Sait)26th Aug – Ann Padma (Rtn Mohan Raman)26th Aug – Ann Ranjitha (Rtn S Subramaniam)29th Aug – Ann Preeti (Rtn Ranjit Bakshi)

23rd Aug – Rtn Nikhil Raj - Ann.Laura23rd Aug – Rtn Abdul Azeez - Ann.Sameena23rd Aug – Secy Rtn Dr R Chandrasekhar Ann.Dr Priya24th Aug – Rtn Biswajit Babu - Ann.Shalini25th Aug – Rtn Raghunath Narayanan Ann.Shantha27th Aug – Rtn Nalini Radhakrishnan Spouse:S.Radhakrishna Iyer27th Aug – Rtn Nawab Mohammed Abdul

Ali Azimjah Ann.Begum Sayeeda28th Aug – Rtn V Gopalan Ann.Sumitha

Birthday

Wedding

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY: Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of Madras, ‘Rayala Towers’, 2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai, Chennai - 2, Ph: 28591020.Contact the editor at: mohanraman@gmail.com. Design: www.studiodescience.com

Visit: www.rotarymadras.in Contact club secretariat at: office@rotarymadras.in

archivesFrom theRtn. PP. N.K. Gopinath

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • August 15, 20165

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEAdvisors: Rtn. PP N.K. Gopinath,

Rtn. Sunita SureshChairman: Rtn. Mohan Raman

Rtn. Shaan Katari Libby, Rtn. Bhaswar Mukherjee, Rtn. Shakthi Girish,

Rtn. Biswajit Babu, Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar, Rtn. R. Ravishankar, Rtn. Hiren B. Shah,

P.S. Sridharan

The next weekly meeting will on the 23rd August 2016, Tuesday

1.30 pm at Hyatt Regency. Speaker: Ms. Shoshana Treichel. Topic: How the World’s Female

Body Building Champion helped in one of the United States of

America’s most covert Military Operations

ERRATAApologies for spelling of the last week’s speaker

Dr.Srivatsava as Dr.Srinivasan and for a goof up in the picture of Mrs. Noah Owori, the correct picture is this.

Error regretted. - Ed.

How did we become district 3230 ? what was the sequence? We are 250 plus today what was our strength those days?

Check out what our ( Late) Rtn. S.M.Diaz has written.