My stint as the editor of the Lighthouse has come to an end but I want to take you to the very beginning, where it started. Rtn Sandhya Sridhar very creatively put the whole episode in a comic form...

Dear Members,

I was very nervous when I took over but have really enjoyed my work which connected me with so many of RCM'ers. I thank the President for picking me to do the job and the Rotarians in this photo for � irmly standing behind me through the year.

–LordBuddhaItisbettertotravelwellthantoarrive.

Read on and enjoy this issue of the Lighthouse. Stay Home, Wash your hands, Stay Safe!

On behalf of The Lighthouse team, I thank all the Board M e m b e r s f o r s e n d i n g m e relevant and timely information on Projects , Fund Raisers , Fellowships, etc. to be carried in The Lighthouse.

A special thanks to every Member and spouse who have contributed articles and pictures to The Lighthouse, making the weekly newsletter enjoyable.

I couldn't have done this without my Team - PN Rtn Mohan Raman, Rtn Shanno Ravi, Rtn Niloufer Seth, Ann Harsha Sajnani and Rtn Sanjay Parikh. Thank you very much for being there and for encouraging me and giving me strength every time I felt lost.

A support team comprising of Mr Sridhar and Mr Venkatesh - Rotary Secretariat and Mr Venkatesan (Venky) – designer, have helped me seamlessly bring out the �ifty issues.

I leave you with a quote…

THE

THE

THE

BULLETIN OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF MADRAS | 2019-20

L I G H T H O U S EL I G H T H O U S EL I G H T H O U S EEdition # 50 JUNE 30, 2020 16 Pages • •

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Rtn.Biswajit

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

AfterthelastMeeting,manyRCMMembersasked whatDrVijayaBharathiRangarajanwilloccupyher'Rotarytime'fromJuly1stonwards.Hereisherpictorialanswertothem...

rcm award recipient COMMUNITY SERVICE

FLASH BACK PRESIDENT THANKS

President inducted them into the Club by pinning the lapel pin, after apprising about Rotary, its activities and ideals. All the Members greeted to the Club.

The Rotary Club of Madras commended WV Raman's life in the game of cricket, saluted and applauded his achievements. Then the President conferred the RCMs

Secretary'sRemarks

Secretary Rtn M Sesha Sai read out the birthdays and wedding anniversaries for the week of the members and spouses who celebrate that week.

Rtn Sesha Sai, being his last meeting as the Secretary, thanked the President, Board and the Members of RCM for giving him an opportunity to serve this esteem Club. He also wished PE Rtn Kapil and his team a wonderful Rotary year ahead.

Inaugurationofoldagehome,Gummidipoondi-Video.

President played video clips on the virtual inauguration of the Varshini Illam, the old age home at Gummidipoondi. The President appreciated the work done by Rtn S Ravi and Mr Vasu of Equitas. At present there are �ive inmates in the old age home. PE Rtn Kapil Chitale wished that association

of RCM and Equitas will grow in strength in the years to come. IPP Ranjit Pratap said that it was happy to note that the home has started now, even though the initial paper work was done in his tenure. IPP added that there is additional land which can also be utilized. PP PN Mohan applauded the involvement of Mr Alex and Mr Vasu of Equitas. He also acknowledged the dedication of IPP and the President in making it possible. The President thanked IPP Ranjit and PP PN Mohan for their guidance.

BirthdaysandAnniversaries

SportsAchieverAward2019-2020President Nominee Rtn Mohan Raman,

Chair - Awards said that Mr WV Raman, former, cricketer and current coach for women's cricket will be conferred RCMs

Sports Achiever Award 2019-2020. He gave a brief introduction of the awardee right from his Grand Prix club days where it rose from the �ifth division and climbed to the �irst division in �ive straight years in the league matches. He praised the awardee with an anecdote about his opening debut century as a left arm spinner and batsman. He requested Mr WV Raman to accept the award online and the physical award would be sent to him after the lockdown.

Rtn Sandhya Sridhar who had prepared the citation read it out amidst applause.

The President Rtn DrVijaya Bharathi Rangarajan called the 50th and the last weekly Meeting of 2019-2020 to order after she was collared with the Presidents Jewel by the RCM Sergeant at arms, Rtn Jayanth Hemdev.

Con�irmationoftheMinutesThe President called for the con�irmation

of the Minutes of the 49th Meeting and it was acknowledged.

After collaring the President Dr Vijayabharathi Rangarajan, a minute's silence was observed by all in respect of the demise of Rtn Hiren Shah's father.

FourwaytestVideobyRtn.SanjayChaganti.

The Four Way Test clip was played wherein Rtn Sanjay Rao Chaganti explained the importance of it from his perspective.

CallingtheMeetingtoOrder

Lastly, she invited the proposer Rtn Ashish Gupta to introduce Ms Maya Thiagarajan.

WelcomebyPresidentRtnDrVijayaBharathi

The President welcomed the Members of RCM and Mr WV Raman to the Meeting.

NewMembersInductionPresident invited the proposer Rtn PP

George B Cherian to introduce Mr Suman Voora.

She then invited the proposer Rtn PDG Benjamin Cherian to introduce Ms Dr Anisha Ashok.

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 02MINUTES OF TH MEETINGe

BIRTHDAY

WEDDING7th July - Rtn Ravi Moorthy9th July - Rtn Subbiah Viswanathan11th July - Rtn Prabha Srinivasan12th July - Rtn Shakthi Girish4th July - Rtn Shankar Jalan4th July - Rtn Sivasubramaniam VM5th July - Rtn Dr Krishna Hande H7th July - Rtn Ravi Moorthy

7th July - Rtn Mahinder Jain 8th July - Rtn Anand Vurgese10th July - Rtn Rajib Kumar Hota11th July - PP Biswakumar B11th July - Rtn Suresh P 14th July - Rtn Shankar Menon P14th July - Rtn TS Chandrasekar

Continuedonnextpage

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 0 3Continuedfrompreviouspage

ChiefGuest: Rtn Kalyan Banerjee, Past President – Rotary InternationalGuestofHonour:Rtn S Muthupalaniappan,

District Governor 3232

The baton will be formally handed over by the 91st President Rtn Dr Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan to President Rtn Ar. Kapil Chitale as the 92nd President of the Rotary Club of Madras.

InstallationofRtnArKapilChitaleasthe92ndPresidentandandRtnPBPrasadastheHonorarySecretary,alongwiththeirteamofof�icebearersfortheyear2020–2021ofRotaryClubofMadras

NEXT MEETING July7,2020,7.00pm

Shakthicanspreadfunlikenoother,friendliest,seriouswhennecessary,committed,writingandpublishingandlaughingishersecondnature,animalloverandmanymoregreatqualities!LookingforwardtoherversionsofthemuchlovedLighthouse!

Four Way Test – Rtn Sanjay Chaganthi

Awardee Mr WV Raman thanked RCM for this award. He shared a few incidents from the mid 80's cricket life and his association with the Cricketing legends like Bedi, Prasanna, Gavaskar and others. He appreciated RCM for its exemplary social work and also urged to reach more people in this testing times of the pandemic and to lead the society as many are in the clutches of the uncertainity. He also appealed to provide psychological advice to the frustrated people until normalcy prevails. He ended by saying that this award is an honour and will cherish it very dearly.

PPRaviKatariRtn Rajaseskar Gorantla, Treasurer -Charitable Trust presented a summary on

the accounts of the fund raisers done this Rotary year namely – Dandiya, Golf, Art auction and Crowd funding. Total of Rs 10 crores was raised from the fund raisers. He said that this was an record collection never done in the history of RCM. He gave full credit to the fund raising team lead by President with a personal contribution of Rs1.4 crores. He gave an complete account statement of each fund raiser, including the Global Grant, which was well appreciated by all.

Sports Achiever Award 2019-2020 on Mr WV Raman amidst a thunderous applause.

President'sRemarks

FundRaisers-Summary

The President delivered her thanks giving speech appreciating the board, members, her of�ice staff, club secretariat for their cooperation.

PP Ravi Katari congratulated President Dr

Vijayabharathi for her dedication, involvement and getting along with all the Members with an ever smiling face. He said that RCM was in the good hands with the successive Presidents.

HappyVideoPresident ended by playing an Happy

Video where all the Board Members did some fantastic dance moves that brought joy and celebration.

The President and the Secretary whole heartedly thanked the Board and the Members of RCM and also the well-wishers for this great Health, Hope, Happiness message which was very well executed ...HE….HO…HA!

AdjournmentoftheMeetingPresident Vijaya adjourned the 50th

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Madras.

Itgotmethinking......One of my powerful insights

over the past few years has been the concept of relative truth vs absolute truth. The diagram below is a simple example:

Weindeedseetheworldfromwherewestand.

Hence, very rarely do we actually experience absolute truth! Almost all of what we experience is relative. Think about it.....For instance, my most challenging assignment is to get a father and daughter to improve their relationship. Each of them stand �irm on

the following: A few days ago, I was asked to record a one minute message on the '4 Way Test'. The �irst 'way' is a statement - Is it the Truth?

Why?

"Iamrightandyouarewrong."

Sounds familiar? Whether at home or at work, this is often the impasse we quick reach. I hope I can get them to understand relative truth, a concept deeply embedded in

Indian philosophy.

Because, if one does that, then this allows for space and compassion....for listening, discussing, understanding and resolving., the #2, #3 and #4 of the 4 Way Test.

So, as Rotarians and as human beings, being Wisely Compassionate is indeed a powerful mantra for the year ahead!

Meet your NextEditor –Rtn Shakthi Girish

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 04

Sports Achiever Award2019-2020 – WV RamanHe went back in time to the late 1970s

when a group of school and college students formed a cricket team and used to practice in the CP Arts centre in Alwarpet. This team was called Grand Prix and they entered the 5th division league, won it and came to the

4th division and successively won every year to reach the �irst division in just 4 years. Rtn Mohan's brother, Bharat and a few of his friends were part of the team. Accompanying them in this journey to the top were two other y o u n g s t e r s , t h e l e g s p i n n e r L Sivaramakrishnan and our awardee WV Raman, then mainly a left arm spinner. In one match, the skipper Mukund suddenly announced the WV Raman will open the innings - batting!!!. The reason he gave was although Raman used to bat mainly as a tailender he always had a straight bat and middled the ball well. Raman opened the innings and along with his partner KK Sridhar, made a partnership of over 180 runs and also made his maiden league century. Thereafter Raman was never again seen as just a spinner.

This pandemic has made all of us think too much that we tend to lose touch with the immediate problem. He said with con�idence and working as a Team we can all get over this pandemic and in the process serve our fellowmen.

Rtn Sandhya Sridhar then read the Citation.

Raman said this is what true con�idence is about. Ability and a plan to use your ability to win. He also mentioned t h e n e e d f o r u s t o s o m e t i m e s n o t g e t clouded with a "long term view" and miss the immediate need of the hour. One of the current

players came to him and said I am not playing my best , what do you see as my problem. Raman told him to watch the game for two overs and get back. After two overs the player came back with a detailed report on every ball, the technique, the strategy etc. Raman then asked him - how many people were there in the stand sitting next to you and watching. He did not know. Raman's answer was you are probably thinking too much about everything else other than what is immediately ahead of you. The player confessed that it was so, till he was selected he was playing his free �lowing natural game and had the goal to play for India. Having reached it he was now focussed on how to retain his place, his future and so on and not on the innings being played.

–RtnMohanRaman

His acceptance speech ended with a Q and A session.

Accepting the Award W V Raman said he was extremely happy to receive such an award for two reasons �irstly it comes from a Club as prestigious as the RCM and secondly it has come well after his retirement from the game as a player. This surely is a vindication of his efforts in trying to contribute to the game in all his post playing day activities. In these Covid days it is extremely tough for people all over physically, economically and emotionally. He mentioned that sports can help strengthen individuals to cope with a lot of dif�iculty and disappointment. One of the

important things is to be con�ident of one's ability and plan.

He narrated an incident that took place several years ago. Prasanna and Bedi had retired much earlier and Prasanna was the Manager of the Indian Team and Bedi a Selector. The Team was having its net practice and Raman was one of the youngsters selected to bowl to the players. After watching for a while both Prasanna and Bedi decided to bowl. They were chatting amongst themselves, Raman being a Spinner and a big admirer of both was standing nearby and heard them discuss on how they will be getting the Batsman out . Bedi asked Prasanna - How many? Prasanna said in one over, the 6th ball. One must remember these two retired players were bowling to a member of the then Indian Team. True to his word Prasanna wove a web and also got hit a few times. After 4 balls were bowled Bedi remarked that its 4 down...Prasanna replied that it's the 6th ball Bish. The 6th ball �loated down and deceived the batsman who spooned up an easy catch. To the next man Bedi said, forget about getting him out , he will not touch the ball. True to his words the ball bounced all over, turned and spun so s h a r p l y t h a t t h e batsman had a problem in getting bat to ball. The next player was the rising star of Indian cricket Azharuddin. Prasanna told Bedi 6th ball, bowled, leg stump. Bedi scoffed and said this lad is one of the best players of Spin, do you know that ? Sure enough A z h a r w a s h i t t i n g Prasanna with ease until t h e 6 t h b a l l w h i c h literally shot off the pitch and in what is today called the doosra, turned the other way and knocked down the leg stump.

rcm awardRtnMohanRamanintroducedtheawardandtheawardee.HespokeofthevariousawardsgivenbyourClubandhowthisyear'srecipientaddsvaluetotheaward.HedidnotwishtodwellontheCVofourawardeeasheistoowellknowntoallCricketloversinIndialetaloneChennai.

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 0 5

A Year of Superlatives

Thank you & Jai Hind!

A great year despite enormous and unprecedented adversity. And, a small statistic to close this out – we end the year with 257 members, a �igure I would never have thought possible in my tenure, 13 years ago, and our lady membership hovers at 26 which is about 11 % .

Congratulations to them All.

–PPRaviKatari

I can't tell you how delighted I am, to have the privilege of acknowledging, and saying Thank You from us all, to our outgoing President Vijaya Bharati at the end of her glittering year in of�ice.

The year began after a wonderful installation function, and the well oiled RCM machine got into gear. President Vijaya had an excellent team, superbly marshalled by the Secretary Sesha Sai, supported by Director Club Service Shanno Ravi, chronicler par excellence Biswajit, and the array of very active directors and their chairpersons supporting her in the Board.

I am reminded of the �irst time my wife Tehzeeb and I really got to know her fairly well, which was on the 2011 Mystical China tour, organised by PP Gunashekar. We noticed in her an untiring zeal for exploring, sightseeing, dining, shopping, music, photography etc, and very clearly that energy has, if anything, increased manifold!

President Vijaya and fellow Rotarians,

Having discreetly quizzed a few Rotarians who worked closely with her, there is a pretty unanimous agreement that she is super ef�icient, meticulous, will not take NO for an answer and will �ind a way to get a job done. She is also a stickler for correctness, etiquette and decent behaviour. This latter quality was on display at the Zoom meeting when the Accounts motions were passed, and she made a point of deploring the unnecessarily aggressive remarks that were passed on the WhatsApp group.

- A very active byelaws sub-committee who had numerous meetings

- A number of full club fellowships by single hosts – PDG JB Kamdar, AVM Balu, Hyatt hosting Oktoberfest, Rtn Jagdish, Rtn Yeshwant Srinath, and PDG Benji's family.

The theme for the year was Health, Hope, Happiness and I believe that was very well observed in spirit.Corona brought in a whole new paradigm – the �irst trial with our very own Dr Ramasubramanian, explaining Corona to us, was

expected to be the �irst and last such endeavour until things got back to normal. However, Hiren Shah promised to deliver the tech, and despite many obstacles delivered a Tuesday regular meeting. Alok Bhargava as Programme committee chair then realised the possibilities, and produced an array of superb speakers from all over India and the World. Kiran Mazumdar, Abhinav Bindra, Shiv Kunal Verma to name just a few. They managed an online fellowship, Board Meetings were held and proved to be more ef�icient, and often 2 or 3 meetings were held in rapid succession if the need arose. Adapting like �ish to water the board revelled in this freedom. To quote Shanno “from what I have observed, we [the board] have been cohesive, and extended unanimous support to President Vijaya in these challenging times”. She goes on to mention a few other highlights that come to mind:

The last �ive months have been held under the shadow of the virus leading to necessarily restrictive functioning, but despite these constraints projects have been completed. Lake restoration led from the front by PP Mohan, Her Place with Rtns Ravi Shankar & Roopa Shetty, multiple activities by Directors AVM Balu, S.Ravi, Anuradha, Balaji Chinni, then logistical and other support from the tech team of Hiren, Rajesh and Vipin, the legal team of Sunil, Shaan & Jacob and behind all this the quiet but solid presence of Secretary Sesha Sai who has made sure that everything was accomplished on time and correctly. His contribution, I am assured, has been prodigious.

The year was a roller coaster, with the biggest Googly of all, the Corona virus, hitting us in February. Despite this, projects worth US$ 910,000 were completed, and in particular several projects are worthy of special mention – Lake restoration, Her Place [a sanitation project], Dialysis for the disadvantaged, Old Age Home, Cancer Awareness, Perumbakkam School, Pink cabs, plus much else.

- Fund raising appeals gathered momentum starting with police feeding, moving on to migrant workers food, PPE kits to Govt Hospitals, President meeting with Health Secretaries to know their requirements thus leading to signi�icant donations, Global Grants amount of Rs 1.5 crore which bene�itted 5 Govt Hospitals

I was personally delighted to have been asked to continue to chair the club induction programme, thus being able to meet so many new Rotarians along with panels of selected senior Rotarians.

So, to sum it up, our outgoing President Vijaya Bharati Rangarajan has led her board and entire team with aplomb, and pretty much seamlessly, despite the body blows, despite various hiccups, the board has worked as a team, untangling itself wherever necessary and delivering. The picture I get is of great coordination between the President, the PE Kapil and the PN Mohan Raman with helpful support from the IPP Ranjit, the teams already mentioned, and the �inancial backbone of the club, namely Treasurers Hemant, Nimish, Rajsekar and Aditya. That's a real powerhouse. Looking at this board, last years board and the battery of competent members in our ranks, our club will never be short of capable hands to keep the ship steady and always at full speed ahead.

- Meeting with past presidents early in the year for inputs, leading to planning of the centennial year among other things

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 06

Later, with the efforts of President Rtn Dr Vijaya Bharathi, Rtn S Ravi Shankar, Director and Chairman Rtn BK Rao, the RCM - Varshini I l l a m O l d A g e H o m e w a s v i r t u a l l y inaugurated on the 29th June, 2020.

In the year 2014, Rtn Balakrishna Rao Donated Rs 50 lakhs towards building a

Public Health Centre at the Gummudipondi Boys Town premises. At that time there were n o t e n o u g h p a t i e n t s a n d t h u s t h e infrastructure was not utilized. PP Rtn PN Mohan and PP Rtn Ranjit Pratap met up with Mr Vasu of Equitas with the initial discussion of starting an old age home.

The Trustees of Varshni Illam, Mr N Rangachari, Dr CK Gariyali IAS ( Retd) and Mrs Arun Ramanathan were present and gave their insights about the project and appreciated the partnership with Rotary Club of Madras.

Mr Vasudevan spoke about the efforts of Past Presidents Ranjit Pratap and Rtn PN Mohan and thanked them for bringing it to the present shape. He added by saying that

Rtn Kapil Chitale will bring in more signi�icance to the Old Age Home.

President Rtn Kapil Chitale assured continuous support from RCM and wished to increase the numbers from the present �ive.

President Vijay spoke from heart and expressed her happiness that we could inaugurate this project in spite of the pandemic.

Rtn Mohan Raman Narrated a mythological correlation to the Lord Vasudevan with Mr Vasudevan of Equitas.

Many of the Board members were present and enjoyed the virtual meeting �illed with love and positivity.

The RCM Secretary Rtn Sesha Sai delivered the Vote of Thanks and he thanked everyone including Mr Kannan and Mr Mahesh from the Boys Town Society and for the ground work done by Mr Sankar Raj of Varshini Illam.

Rtn Ranjit and Rtn PN Mohan addressed the virtual gathering by adding their points on the journey of this Old Age Home.

Special thanks to Mr are Mrs John Alex, Tr u s t e e o f Va r s h i n i I l l a m fo r t h e i r involvement and dedication and for coordinating with the Varshini Illam Trust Members to take part in this meaningful evening. In his speech he also mentioned that the �ive inmates who are in the Old Age Home

are at the safest place in this pandemic as it adheres to strict standards on maintaining social distancing, sanitizing and wearing masks.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Varshini Illam Old Age Home

RI news

Rotary's New Area of Focus -

EnvironmentSupporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of

focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and con�lict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.

Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.

he Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of TDirectors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.

More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past �ive years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.

Source:RotaryInternational-Courtesy:eFlashRotaryKalamassery

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 0 7

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 08

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 0 9

Prez Vijaya - superb! So proud of you!

Rtn Shakthi Girish

Rtn N Sukumar

Hearty Congratulations President Vijaya and Team.

Rtn Dr. Rajan

Vijaya you have done all of us proud. I am very happy.

Rtn Ravi Bhatkal

Congratulations to Vijaya and the team

Congrats President Vijaya & team. Great year...

Rtn P S Jagdish

Congratulations pres Vijaya for a great year gone by...

All the best to kapil and team

Rtn Shailesh Vummidi

Rtn S Suresh Kumar

Congratulations! excellent year president Vijaya Bharthi

Rtn S N Srikanth

Well done, President Vijaya and team. It was a very

good year

Great year President Vijaya one of the best

performances of RCM so far, in spite of aberrations due

to the pandemic. Kudos to you and your wonderful team

Rtn Ranjit Pratap

Congratulations President Dr Vijaya & Secretary Sai,

entire board & the various teams for all the hard

work.This was truly a wonderful year. Your tremendous

effort made even our Zoom meetings very interesting.

Truly a outstanding year of health, hope and happiness.

Rtn Kareem Sait

Rtn Saron Krishna Rau

Prez VBR Sai Shanno and all of this years board....you

have done an outstanding job in the year of everything

being turned around and nothing normal. It's been a joy to

watch you weave your magic in making wonders happen.

The lake restoration school buildings old age homes skill

development to name just a few. I truly appreciate VBR's

way of leading from the front in dealing with this pandemic

and the new challenges it has thrown up... grace under

pressure. The achievements of this year will be talked

about for a long time. To all of you in showing us the way.

Kapil and team good luck and looking forward a fabulous

year with the new normal in place!

Three Cheers to Pres VBR and her team who have done

a fabulous job... Hip Hip Hurray!!!!!

Rtn Gauthamdas Udipi

Rotary Club of Madrasß Rotary Club of Madrasß

That was superb. Congratulations to President Vijaya

and her entire team. What a year!

Rtn Ravi Katari

Rtn Rohit Toshniwal

Congratulations President Vijaya and Team..lovely

experience as a green Rotarian...

Rtn Krishna Hande

Congratulations pres Vijaya for a great year gone by..

All the best to kapil and team.

During this pandemic, every country which was headed

by a lady, the country did well to control it and came up

triumph. I am so glad that we too had a lady heading our

club and a Dr at that. It was a double whammy for the

epidemic and how well Vijaya and team has shone

through these tough times. Well done. The best year in a

long long time.

Rtn Archana Shri Sanjay

Rtn Suresh Amirapu

A word of thanks to President Vijaya and the whole team!

“To be able to look back upon one's life in satisfaction, is

to live twice.” - Kahlil Gibran. And looking back upon this

year must bring a huge sense of accomplishment. Hats of

President Vijaya and team! You all have been incredible.

Thank you for everything you have done for RCM.

Rtn Shaan Katari Libby

(Source: Friends in RCM WhatsApp group)

Congratulations President and Team

Rotary Thanksgiving

My two wings who let me �ly high, took the bumps out of the road ahead, Hon Sec Rtn Sesha Sai and Club Service Directo, Rtn Shanno Ravi.

Le t m e s t a r t w i t h H E a l t h , H O p e , HAppiness, as our theme for the year.

HE - Health, my area of concern. HO - Hope is all that Sesha Sai infuses into everything he does, be it with the children he is so fond of, projects to get done, encouraging people on board with all the Brotherhood he could m u s te r. Rt n D r Ra j a n wa s n o t o n ly instrumental in pushing me to take up the Presidentship but also recommended Sai, saying he is well liked and gets along with everyone, thank you Rajan for the suggestion, and thank u Sai, for being the hands on secretary in all that you did to keep things going smoothly. HA- is given to Dir Club Service Rtn Shanno Ravi, always with a Happy smile. With her warm personality, she is the glue that binds everyone together making one Happy picture. She was kind of cornered while driving back from Gummidipoondi with Vikram, thanks Vikram for before she could get out of the car, she had to say yes!! Rtn's Sesha Sai And Shanno have been there every step of the way.

My mentor, PP PN Mohan, and IPP Ranjit, PE Kapil And PN Mohan Raman, agreed right at the beginning, on our focus areas so that continued work would carry on for all of our projects. We have developed a special bond as PP's would agree, one realizes you can overcome many hurdles, all for the name of the club. They have been a pillar of strength for me, with their support, encouragement and just a listening ear when needed.

Along with them, I would like to mention the support I have received from our own PDG's, PP Rtn JB Kamdar, who has guided me through the dos and don'ts of Rotary, supported when needed and especially been proactive in inviting prominent RI Directors to our major RCM functions. It has been an exquisite year with Rotarians Past RI president, Rtn KR Ravindran, RIDE Rtn Kamal Sanghvi, RID Rtn Dr. Bharath Pandya, RIPN Rtn Shekar Mehta, RI Chairman of Trustees Rtn Gary Huang and TRF Trustee, Rtn Gulam Vanavathy, and now for the installation of President Elect Kapil will be RI Past President Rtn Kalyan Banerjee.

Such a galaxy of Rotarians who have graced our stage and left us with powerful messages of Rotary Above Self.

Directors, Rtn's Ravishankar, Anuradha, S Ravi , and Balaj i Chinni have done a phenomenal job in getting their projects completed even in these Covid times.

Ravishankar gives total commitment to whatever is given to him, he never says no, always with 'I will do my best Ma'. He has been a pillar of support even with his long list of projects to complete. He has given his complete attention to detail with such aplomb that the function for each project has gone smoothly - thank you.

H e h a s h a d g o o d s u p p o r t f r o m

Chairperson, Rtn Roopa Shetty for Her Place - which was just inaugurated before the last lockdown, talk about tenacity, that's what it took with the number of phone calls to get the project moving to the �inish line. I am so t h a n k f u l f o r h e r p e r s i s t e n c e a n d determination to complete the project

Other Chairs, like Rtn PB Prasad for RCM - ACS, Education Scholarship, Rtn Ravindran, medical camps by Chair Dr Chandrashekar, �irst aid training by Rtn NK Bhatia. All were hands on to make sure there was an update with quarterly reports so projects would run smoothly.

The biggest one, Perambakkam school with Rtn Ashok Thakkar as Chair, another

T H E L I G H T H O U S E • J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 010

–PresidentDrVijayaBharathiRangarajan

ItiswithgratefulacknowledgementofeverymemberofrotaryClubofMadrasforbeingapartofmyRotaryYearasPresident2019-20.

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-September - Kalyana Samayal Saadam by AVM Balu and Family

-August we had Flashback Dinner hosted by PDG JB Kamdar and Ann Marlene,

-Octoberfest - hosted by Hyatt Regency and Rtn Tarun Seth, General Manager

-November - a Hole in One - Rtn Jagdish and Ann Meera

-January - Pongal Celebrations hosted by Rtn Yeshwant Srinath and Ann Anita

-February - Fire and Ice - hosted by PDG Benjamin Cherian, Rtn's George and Vivek Parachur and their spouses

Fellowship Committee Chair, Rtn Raj Rajenderan, and Co-Chair Rtn Bharat Pujara along with Full Club Chair Rtn Rajesh Mani and his team, bringing to us fabulous fellowships, feeling the excitement and easy camaraderie that takes us to the next level. Thanks to their energy, we've enjoyed wonderful get togethers.

Many thanks to Full Club Fellowship hosts:

-December Christmas Festivities - Madras Club members

Rtn Dr. Sharon Krishna Rau, and Rtn P B Prasad worked so well with their

Our Programs Committee headed by Rtn Alok, always bringing top notch people as speakers. Full Club Fellowship and Fireside committees have outdone themselves.

My Sergeant @ Arms, Rtn's Archana, Jayant, and George who pitched in whenever needed, running meetings so smoothly, it was a pleasure being collared by them. PP Rtn George also doubled up as MC on special occasions adding charm and eloquence to each meeting.

Rtn Nimish has been especially helpful this year with the Cover Relief measures that we undertook. He has been on the phone talking to various Deans of Government Medical Hospitals, and getting the best price possible for medical equipment and var ious protective gear that was needed.

-Art Auction, Rtn Sanjay Tulsyan, with the right people, anything is possible, it was a

wonderful evening and a great fund raiser

Rtn Nikhil Raj for �ine tuning, answering queries by RI to make sure we covered all aspects. We have placed and got approval for 5 Global Grants this year.

Youth service Dir. Rtn Balaji Chinni, never has a dull moment where children are concerned. He is one with the kids and like Sai have made a permanent connection with our Rotaractors and Interactors, thank you Balaji for your effervescent enthusiasm in conducting so many programs bene�itting these kids. With stalwarts to help you, Rtn Venkat Ramani leading the way with his experience on RYLA, you had on your team, Rtn Dr Parkavi , Rtn's Asha, Deepak, Jayashree, and Vijay Kadel. Many thanks for giving us a well rounded year with Youth Services.

Director of Rotary Foundation, Rtn Balasubramanian or Balu as we fondly call him, has given his expert advise with the District of�icials for he has been held in high esteem throughout the years, and I'm grateful for his support, always with his encouraging words, it has given me a lot of con�idence.

Old Age Home, with Chairman Rtn B a l a k r i s h n a n Ra o , we we re a b l e to inaugurate this center yesterday. Since Ravi was busy with family, thanks to Sai, we had a virtual inauguration with Varshini Illiam Trust and RCM. One thinks that maybe this new norm of doing things online, may not be a bad idea, saves time, and with more

participation. Mr. Vasu of Equitas, along with Mr and Mrs John Alex and other trustees from Varshini Trust joined us on the occasion. Good suggestion is to have a ladies wing added with Equitas support. Thank you Ravi and your team of Chairpersons in the above projects, for their time and commitment.

My Treasurers, Rtn's Rajasekar, Nimish and Aditya, worked well to provide and keep track of the accounts but also, kept pace with what was needed for the projects. Finances, never being my strong point , I worked from the start thinking I had no funds to begin with so maybe that prompted me to work harder in collecting funds.

I am also in gratitude to the diligent efforts of Rtn Rajesh Somasundaram, and

Rtn Aditya, in Club Funds has the dif�icult task of collecting subscriptions, Rtn Rajasekar for Charitable Trust, pours over every spending to make sure every spend is correctly submitted. He has given a number of hours painstakingly going over our accounts for proper auditing at the end of the year.

Thanks to the efforts of Director Fund Raising, Rtn Hemant who kept pushing me for ways and means of keeping the coffers with a good surplus. Thank you Hemant, for your follow ups with the various Chairpersons and encouraging them along for the bene�it of the Club. Along with your Chairpersons, we had amazing support from:

-Dandiya committee chair Rtn Hiren and all of the active Dandiya team, three cheers

-Corporate CSR Chair Rtn Jagdish and Ravi Bhatkal, who joined recently, jumped into fund raising for our projects, so along with Rtn Hemant they were able to convince our CSR Sponsors that our projects is worthy of their attention to help the communities around us.

I also like to thank all the members who have donated to the various fund raisers making our events a success.

Public Relations Chair, Rtn PP Satyan Bhatt, thank you for getting out the news on RCM projects, for by showcasing the good our projects do and sharing that impact it has on our communities , makes all the difference in the lives of the people we reach out to.

What phenomenal newsletters we have been receiving week after week, a treasure trove of information on our Club Projects, District happenings and Members sharing their lockdown stories, he gave us something to look forward to each week. Rtn Biswajit, with his imitable style of cartooning, easy style personally and professionally, it was such a pleasure to have him on the Board. A big thank you to Rtn Biswajit.

-Golf Committee, Chair Dr Rajan and his team of golfers went beyond our expectations in providing a wonderful event enjoyed by many golfers from outside of Chennai.

Rotary Nagar, Chair Rtn Vijay KadelTTC - with chair Rtn Nikhil Raj, few more

months to complete

Water n Sanitation, Chair Rtn Dr Arul Varman

Thanks to Rtn Alok Bhargava to get the major donation from TATAs over golf, with Mr Vasu of TATA's, beginning to see how playing golf is bene�icial.

Our oldest go- getter and Lakeman, Chair PP PN Mohan, makes the younger ones run to catch up with him. When projects are done whole heartedly, they �low like a beautiful stream, one lake at a time. At the moment we have 3 lakes simultaneously getting readied waiting for the monsoons to �ill them bringing more happy smiles to residents and its habitat.

Thanks to architect Rtn Paul Jacob for his innovative design, and to Rtn Nimish who kept accounts and invoices upto date.

Rtn Anil Srinivasan, who simply shows his passion thru his music to help bene�it kids all over the world, not only getting a donation from Ahuja and continued to support through his special music program online to further collect funds.

Thank you to each of you for your commitment and energy in steering these projects.

The school project , has a devoted committee who have been working through 3- 4 presidents, not an easy task but they persevered to get this beautiful building which will motivate any child to walk in and claim, 'this is my school'.

Pink cabs, Chair Rtn Sunita, has started with 10 ladies for driving skills trained by Maruti and will continue when things open up, Selaiyur, Rtn Bhaswas Mukerjee, Sembakkam, Rtn Jayashree Sridhar, soon to be PN, and Four way test Chair Rtn Abdul Kareem Sait, have given all their efforts…

Director, Rtn Anuradha, is naturally a sweet person to befriend and work with. She is so earnest and ever willing to do whatever is given to her, she will get it done or do her best trying.

S Ravi, he has been a hard working Rotarian whom no one can deny the number of hours he puts into any project. Over the years, he has brought up Gummidipoondi to a certain level of achievement, with Boys Town, along with Chair Rtn NK Bhatia, who goes regularly with Ravi to check on the boys , taking a deep interest in their welfare,

Schools to Smiles, with Chair Rtn Abdul Kareem Sait

work in progress over the last 3 years, but we were lucky to see its completion.

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by Rtn Suresh Kumar, a wonderful Rotarian to have on any committee for he is ever willing.

It is always the hard work of the Board and Members who makes a President look good. I'm in total gratitude for their bene�icence throughout the year.

As they say in Rotary, fellowship is the basis for all good work that gets done.

Thank you to the Rotary Staff, Sridhar and

Venkatesh, and my own staff members, Boopalan, Lakshminarayanan, and Priya who have been helpful throughout my Rotary year, with �iling, taking notes, sending reminders and most important delivering medical supplies to Government Hospitals during Covid -19. Thanks to Venkatesan (Venky) who does all the design work for RCM, which includes The Lighthouse, banners, invitation c a r d s , e t c . T h a n k s a l s o t o R a h u l ,

videographer who put the Happy video together and covered other RCM projects.

Thanks to my wonderful Board members who have stood by me, encouraged, guided and supported me in every action that kept us in total alignment. It was a blessing to work with all of them.

In gratitude, I thank each of you as members of Rotary Club of Madras, for being a part of my journey as President 2019-20.

Photo Gallery 2019-20

OutStationTrips-Croatia OutStationTrips-Kolkata

JBKamdar80s�lashback

RotarySchool

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Factoryvisit-CenturyFlourMillVisitDr.VijayaBharathiRangarajan�ireside

5-beddedDialysisunit

Health-RCMACSDialysis-LabCenter

RCM-ACSDialysisCenter RCMACS-DCBreastscreeningcamp

Mammogram-GlobalGrantSanctioned

Health-FirstAidTrainingProgram

OmegaFATP RCMFATP

Hope-TTC

Health-Her-HisPlace

Hope-WashInSchoolsHope-EducationProject

-VinayakaMission Hope-OldageHomeInaugural

Happiness-LakeRestoration

KoladiLake Madambakkamlake PuduthangalLake

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ArtAuction

2ndOctoberRIDRtn.BharatPandya-321Toilets-Kannankottai

5thSeptember-Rtn.GaryHungVisitChairTRF 9thJulyDr.VBR-Installation-Rtn.Ravindaran

19thJuly91stCharterNight-RIDRtn.KamalSanghvi 26thDecemberRIPNFelicitationRtn.ShekarMehta

M.S.SwaminathanMeet RIPNVist-PerumbakkamSchool-26thDecember

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KalyanamSamayalSapadu-Rtn.AVMBalu

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ChristmasFellowship Fellowship-PongalFestRCMFriendshipCricket

Tournament

HoliFellowship

LeapyearFire&Ice-Rtn.George

LIGHTHOUSE COMMITTEE:Editor: Rtn. Biswajit Balasubramanian

Rtn Mohan RamanRtn Sanjay ParikhRtn Niloufer SethAnn Harsha Sajnani Ganeriwala

Send in your articles, news,

write-ups to be considered for

publication here on

lighthouse.rcm@gmail.com

Be in touch with the Lighthouse,

your very own RCM magazine!

Contact the editor at:

lighthouse.rcm@gmail.com

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY:

Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of

Madras, 'Rayala Towers',

2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai,

Chennai - 2, Ph: 28591020.

Design: www.studiodescience.com

Visit: www.rotarymadras.in

Contact club secretariat at:

office@rotarymadras.in

PRESIDENTRtn. Dr. Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan

TREASURER(CHARITABLE TRUST)Rtn. Rajasekar Gorantla

TREASURER(SPECIAL PROJECTS)Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia

DIRECTOR VOCATIONAL SERVICERtn. Dr. Anuradha Ganesan

TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS)Rtn. Aditya Agarwal

DIRECTOR ROTARY FOUNDATION &INTERNATIONAL SERVICESRtn. M. Balasubramaniam

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 1Rtn. S. Ravi

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 2Rtn. R. Ravishankar

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTRtn. Ranjit Pratap

HONORARY SECRETARYRtn. M. Sesha Sai

Asst. SECRETARY/BULLETIN EDITORRtn. Biswajit Balasubramaniam

DIRECTOR CLUB ADMINISTRATIONRtn. Shanno Ravi

DIRECTOR YOUTH SERVICERtn. Balaji Chinni

DIRECTOR PUBLIC IMAGEAND FUND RAISINGRtn. Hemant Chordia

PRESIDENT ELECTRtn. Kapil Chitale

PRESIDENT NOMINEERtn. P.V. Mohan RamanBis!

Best wishes from all of us.

Of course I did try to draw, do it digital and failed miserably at both.

Dear Biswajit,

I was wondering who could help me with this when I remembered "Keshav" of THE HINDU. I reached out to Vikram Chesetty who asked me to get it touch with Sandhya Sridhar. she helped me get his number. Once I reached out toKkeshav, who readily agreed, I gave him all the details that I wanted - especially your pet dog. Vikram helped me by reaching out to Shruth.

I promised a caricature of your role as editor of the lighthouse, and here it is!!!

This is our way of saying a big Thank you for the wonderful content and caricatures you have given us this last year.!!!

The only thing keshav missed was the Tibetan �lags that hang behind you in zoom meetings.

2019-2020Director-ClubservicesShannoRavi

Thank you

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