A Musical Event by Specially-abled for Senior Citizens

Rotary Club of Bombay West in association with Rotary Club of North Island and several other neighboring Rotary Clubs, organized a Musical evening by specially-abled Group on Wednesday, 27th July, 2016 at Khar Education Society.

The event partners, Lakshya Art Foundation, Mumbai, encourage and motivate specially-abled to nurture their talents like singing, umbrella painting, handicrafts, etc.  Their mission is seek to provide a platform for the specially-abled children and youth of all sections of our society to express their views and opinions, showcase their talents fulfill their dreams, empower their thoughts and be a responsible future citizen. 

While the Rotary Clubs present at the event gave donations to the Foundation, an umbrella painted by an artist in front of the audience was auctioned for Rs.10,000/-.

Speaking at the occasion, District Governor Rtn.Gopal Rai Mandhania appreciated the work of the Foundation in restoring confidence and dignity of differently-abled people.  He mentioned that supporting such section of the society was one of the thrust areas of current Rotary Year 2016-17.

Ms.Kavita Seth is now an Honorary Rotarian

Ms.Kavita Seth, well-known sufi singer, was inducted as an Honorary Rotarian by Rtn.Aslam Merchant, President, Rotary Club of Bombay West on Wednesday, 27^th July, 2016.  She was accompanied by her husband, Rtn.Dharmesh Bothra, President, Rotary Club of Mumbai Versova.  Also present at the event was Dr.Mukesh Batra, CMD, Dr.Batra’s Positive Health Clinic and President of Rotary Club of Bombay.

Soulful renditions and a beautiful interplay of melodious voice and heart stirring compositions is what explains Kavita Seth - a voice that has enthused, captivated and enthralled audiences across age groups, genres and geographies. A Post Graduate in Hindustani and Classical music, Kavita's refreshing voice is an embodiment of godly love, something that's synonymous with Sufi style of singing.
 

Specializing in Sufi form of singing, Kavita's voice and heart touching compositions have paved her way into crème-de-la-crème of playback singing with smashing hits like Iktara (from the movie Wake Up Sid), Tum Hi Ho Bandhu (from the movie Cocktail) amongst many other successful playback numbers.  As an empanelled artist at ICCR for Sufi Music, Kavita travels across the world, uniting a global community through the international language of Sufi music and has so far performed at over 500 + concerts.

Her dedication to Sufi Music, her soulful voice, her inspiring compositions and her performances the world over have kept alive the traditional music form and have also won accolades for her. 

She has distinguished herself by meritorious service in her chosen field and has created an impact in the socio-cultural sphere globally making her a good candidate to be bestowed with the privilege of an honorary membership of Rotary Club of Bombay West.

Earlier, Ms.Kavita Seth was introduced by Dr.Usha Jayachandran, Secretary, Rotary Club of Bombay West.

Introduction to Vipassana - an initiative of Rotary Club of Bombay West

On Sunday, 24th July, 2016, senior teachers from Vipassana International Academy descended on Rotary Service Centre to introduce 'Vipassana' to over 150 rotarians, senior citizens and invited guests.  

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art Of Living. This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation.

Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body, which can be experienced directly by disciplined attention to the physical sensations that form the life of the body, and that continuously interconnect and condition the life of the mind. It is this observation-based, self-exploratory journey to the common root of mind and body that dissolves mental impurity, resulting in a balanced mind full of love and compassion.

The scientific laws that operate one's thoughts, feelings, judgements and sensations become clear. Through direct experience, the nature of how one grows or regresses, how one produces suffering or frees oneself from suffering is understood. Life becomes characterized by increased awareness, non-delusion, self-control and peace.

The Introductory Session brought at the doorsteps of the participants was appreciated by all.  The feedback received immediately after the Session has motivated Rotary Club of Bombay West to organize more such programs which bring value to the Rotarians as well as members of the public from the neighborhood.

We are in the news....

A local daily published news about the Organ, Skin & Eye Donation Seminar organized by Rotary Club of Bombay West on Saturday, 9th July, 2016:

Centennial Celebrations of Rotary Foundation begins...

Rotary International District 3141 kicked off the Centennial Celebrations of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) yesterday at Y.B.Chavan Auditorium, Mumbai where the TRF Trustee Chair and Past Rotary International President Rtn.Kalyan Banerjee was felicitated.

Speaking at the function,  Rtn.Kalyan Banerjee gave glimpses of the work that TRF has been doing in the world since it was established in 1917 with an initial contribution of USD 26.50.  Since then, TRF has spent over USD 3 billion on humanitarian projects throughout the world, including India.  Its greatest achievement has been eradication of polio from the world from all countries except Pakistan and Afghanistan.  When he was the Rotary International President in 2010-11, Polio was eradicated from India.  He was hopeful that while he is the Trustee Chair of TRF, Rotary will be successful in eradicating polio from the face of this earth.

Earlier, Past Rotary International Director and Past TRF Trustee Rtn.Ashok Mahajan, Rotary International Director Rtn.Manoj Desai and Rotary International District 3141 District Governor Rtn.Gopal Rai Mandhania paid rich tributes to Rtn.Kalyan Banerjee's persona.  He was a pride of Rotarians in India, having risen to the highest echelons in the Rotary World.

The major donors to the TRF this year were recognised by Rtn.Kalyan Banerjee. Proud to inform that our member Rtn.Madhu Narang, with his commitment of USD 50000 during 2016-17 was the first one to be recognised by him.  On his behalf, Club President Rtn.Aslam Merchant along with Past President Rajendra Ruia and Past President Ashok Deorah collected the special gift from Rtn.Kalyan Banerjee.

The event was co-hosted by Rotary Club of Bombay West. 21 Members from the Club attended this glorious event.

Rotary takes up Organ Donation Awareness as their major initiative this year….

DG Gopal Rai Mandhania

Rotary Clubs based in Mumbai and extended Western suburbs, under leadership of their District Governor Rtn.Gopal Rai Mandhania has taken up the task of creating awareness on Organ, Skin and Eye Donations amongst the masses.

Rtn.Ashok Mahajan

At a Seminar held on Saturday, 9^th July, 2016, Chief Guest Past Rotary International President and Past Trustee of The Rotary Foundation, Rtn.Ashok Mahajan congratulated the District Governor on this excellent initiative and urged the packed audience at Rotary Club of Bombay West’s Rotary Service Centre to whole-heartedly participate.  He stressed the need for Organ Donation in India because with a population of 1.2 billion people, the statistic stands at 0.08 persons as organ donors per million population. This is an incredibly small and insignificant number compared to the statistics around the world.

Dr.Sunil Bhurke

Among the speakers who made presentations at the Seminar were Dr.Sandeep Bhurke, a Nephrologist & a Surgeon who represented the Seminar Partners, Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Centre (Mumbai), Dr.Sunil Keswani, Medical Director, National Burns Centre, Airoli, Navi Mumbai and Dr.Girish Trivedi.

Rtn.Dr.Sunil Keswani

The impact of the talks by experts led to over 75 participants at the Seminar to sign the Pledge Forms on the spot, donating their Organs, Skin and Eyes after their death.  All the Rotary Clubs in Mumbai District, numbering over 80, will follow up with more such Awareness Seminars at schools, colleges, corporate houses as well as engage artists to perform skits and street plays to spread this message.

Rtn.Aslam Merchant

The Seminar was organized by Rotary Club of Bombay West as the Lead Host Club with 19 other Rotary Clubs joining in as co-hosts.  Welcoming the participants, Rtn.Aslam Merchant, President of the Club mentioned that the very presence of the people at such a Seminar shows their desire to participate in saving precious lives by learning all about the organ donation.

Organ Donation Awareness at Sathaye College

Rotary Club of Bombay West along with several other Clubs co-hosted an Organ Donation Awareness Talk for the students of Sathaye College at Vile Parle East, Mumbai on 1st July, 2016.

The keynote speaker was Dr.Girish Trivedi, 55, a general physician by profession, who has been doing what others wouldn’t do given a choice. He voluntarily does eye enucleation (the process of removing the eyeballs from the donor's eyes and depositing them in an eye bank) for free. Trivedi, a Kandivali resident, who started this voluntary work towards the end of 2012, has done about 868 enucleations till date.

Dr.Trivedi talked to the students about their participation in this process of creating awareness and removing the myths and misconceptions associated with organ and tissue donations.  

Blood donors are life savers!

Blessed are the young and not so young who can give back life with their blood.

On 1st July, 2016, Rotary International's District 3141 organized a massive Blood Donation drive in the city of Mumbai and extended suburbs upto Dahanu on the western side.  More than 25 Camps were set up at various Rotary Clubs at railway stations, colleges, corporate offices, etc. and over 1000 units of Blood were collected at these camps. The volunteers included members from Rotary Clubs, Inner Wheel Clubs, Rotaract Clubs and ofcourse the doctors and paramedics from the Blood Banks.

Rotary Club of Bombay West too had participated in this drive at Sathaye College and at Andheri Railway Station where 281 units were collected by the associated blood banks.  All the Rotaract Clubs sponsored by our Club participated at these two camps and did a wonderful job in managing and making the camps a success.

All in all, a good start to the new Rotary Year which begins on 1st July, 2016.