The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras 2015-2016 • Edition No.26 • January 5, 2016 • 4 Pages

PRESIDENT Rtn. A S Venkhat Ramani

HoNoRaRy SECRETARY Rtn. Rajasekar Gorantla

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. S N Srikanth

PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. Dr N V Arulmozhi Varman

PRESIDENT NOMINEE Rtn. P N Mohan

Asst. SECRETARY / BULLETIN EDITOR Rtn. Sunita Suresh

DIRECTOR CLUB ADMINISTRATION Rtn. Vidya Amarnath

DIRECTOR YOUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai

DIRECTOR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Dr. Srinath Yeshwanth

DIRECTOR ROTARY FOUNDATION & INTERNATIONAL SERVICES Rtn. S. Ravi

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 1 Rtn. Dr. Chandrashekar

DIRECTOR SERVICE PROJECT 2 Rtn. Nimish C Tolia

TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Aditya Agarwal

TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. R. Ravishankar

TREASURER (SPECIAL PROJECTS) Rtn. Kishor Dandeker

a Transcendental Experience

Shabnam Virmani and Vipul Rikhi with their 5-stringed tambura and the manjira, transported the audience into the mystical world of Kabir

and other poets through the soulful rendering of their couplets. More than 600 years after his time, the various emotions and moods of the poet came alive through their beautiful performances.

The opening piece was from Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, a couplet on seeking purity within ourselves with symbolic references to the deer and the cuckoo. The next was a song from Rajasthan that ridiculed the outward display of piety and religiosity and exhorted

one to look within.A song by Mira on a ‘Panihari’ was beautifully rendered and the focus of the woman on the pot of water was compared to keeping one part of ourselves away from all entanglements. The poetess Chandrasakhi’s piece on the relationship of the Gopis with Krishna was sensual - ’If my beloved is like a rose I’m the fragrance of that rose’… ’beloved is in my heart and in my breath’.

The program had more songs from Malwa - Kabir the weaver comparing the body to a woven cloth and a wedding and a celebratory song on the limitless capability of the creator were the other themes.

2 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 26 • January 5, 2015

The next community health care program of Rotary Club of Madras will be a medical and dental screening camp proposed

to be conducted on 7.1.2016 at Children Garden School, RK Salai, Mylapore between 9.00am to 2.00pm. Around 1500 children will be benefitted by this program and the following organizations are participating:1. Eye check up by Uma Eye Clinic (Rtn Dr Arulmozhi Varman)2. General health screening by doctors from Ragas General Hospital3. Dental screening by Ragas Dental College (Rtn Dr S Ramachandran)4. Rtn Indira Subramaniyam, Ehrlich Labs has consented to send her team of technicians for conducting various lab tests for teaching and non-teaching faculty members of Children Garden School

Special thanks to Rtn Sesha Sai for organizing this program. I request the support and participation of all our members to make this event a success.

- Rtn Dr S Ramachandran

The next full club fellowship will be held on the afternoon of 16th Jan’16, Saturday. The fellowship will be hosted

by Rtn Ranjit Pratap at his Villa. Members are requested to come along with their family members and enjoy the activities planned by PP Gunashekhar and Rtn Linesh.

Next Health Care Program Next Full Club Fellowship

Festivity and celebration starts from 11.30 am onwards at Rtn Ranjit Pratap Villa, Kottupuram on Saturday, 16th Jan 2016. Special program for all children. Please attend without fail.

PONGAL VIZHA

a Transcendental Experience...

Sgt-at-arms Rtn M Srinivasan collared Pres Rtn A S Venkhat Ramani who called the joint meeting with RC

Chennai Kilpauk to order, followed by a silent invocation.

The minutes of the 29th dec’15 was duly confirmed.

President welcomed RC Chennai Kilpauk Pres Rtn Sanjay S Agarwal, Secy RtnVasanthi Ashok and RCM & RCCK members, visiting Rotarians, guests, Probus club members, Anns of RCM &Anns of RCCK. Pres welcomed the singers of the evening, Ms. Shabnam Virmani & Mr. Vipul Rikhi.

President extended birthday/wedding anniversary wishes to the respective Rotarians/spouses who celebrated that week and thanked them for their sunshine.

President said that the biggest RCM golf event 2016 will be held at Prestige Golfshire, Bangalore on 29th and 30th January, 2016. RCM has got an ambitious plan of collecting more than 1 crore.Appealed members to support in terms of t-boxes/sponsors and participation.

President requested members to register for the UTSAV, District Conference to be held on February 6th and 7th, 2016. Since our PP George B Cherian is the Conference Chair, President beseeched all to enrol in support of our club member.

From From 15th Sept’15 to 11th Jan’16 to 10th Jan’16 6th Feb’16Rotarian – Rs 4000 Rotarian – Rs 4500Spouse – Rs 3000 Spouse – Rs 3500Annettes – Rs 2000 Annettes – Rs 2000Venue: Chennai Trade CentreDate: Feb 6th& 7th,2016

President Sanjay of RC Chennai Kilpauk thanked PresVenkhat Ramani for having this joint meeting and organizing a recital of Kabir’s songs by singers Shabnam &Vipul. He also quoted one of Kabir’s famous couplets, ‘I set out to find evil and

found no evil one. I searched my own self and found no one as evil as I.’ He stated that Kabir has inspired and provided answers to many problems.

Pres Sanjay spoke about their 2 major projects: helping hands & hearing aids (providing cosmetics/artificial limbs/wheel chairs/hearing aids/speech therapy to children & the needy.)

Secy RtnVasanthi of RCC Kilpauk greeted their members who celebrated birthdays/wedding anniversaries that week. Ann Pinky Chordia introduced the singers of the evening Ms. Shabnam Virmani& Mr. Vipul Rikhi by reading their profile.

ShabnamVirmani is a filmmaker and artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, India. In 2003 she started travelling with folk singers in Malwa, Rajasthan and also Pakistan in a quest for the spiritual and socio-political resonances of the 15th century mystic poet Kabir in our contemporary worlds. Inspired by the inclusive spirit of folk music, Shabnam took up playing the 5-stringed tambura herself and now sings a wide repertoire of folk songs of Kabir and other mystic poets.

Vipul Rikhi is a poet, fiction writer, translator and singer. His work with the Kabir Project includes extensive writings

on and translations of a wide range of mystic poetry, including a forthcoming book on Shah Latif Bhitai, co-authored with Shabnam. He loves to play the tambura and manjiras, and to sing mystic poetry in folk music traditions. He is also the author of a novel and collections of poetry and short stories.

Singers portrayed poet kabirs dohas/couplets/songs with a touch of folk, while simultaneously giving the meaning in English.

President thanked the singers for taking the audience to an altogether different realm and presented mementos to them on behalf of RCM.

President said that our earlier speaker Mr Nipun Mehta has sent ‘smile’ cards, which are available at the reception for members to take. (The idea is this - you do an act of kindness, leave a Smile Card behind and log the act online.The person who receives the card will do the same, and that will create a trail).

Rtn Ravikrishnan of RCC Kilpauk thanked the singers for a great evening of divine music and Pres Venkhat Ramani for this joint meeting. He then requested members to attend the fellowship & dinner.

Rtn Pres Venkhat Ramani adjourned the meeting.

MINUTES

3 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 26 • January 5, 2015

4 Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • Edition 26 • January 5, 2015

12th Jan – Rtn Dr N Ambalavanan12th Jan – Rtn Sanjay Tulsyan13th Jan – Rtn Ranjit Pratap13th Jan – Rtn S Suresh Kumar18th Jan – Rtn Rajendra Mudaliar18th Jan – Ann Dr Sushama (Rtn Dr Prashant Kekre)18th Jan – Ann Brinda (Rtn Suniel U Lulla)

birthday

16th Jan – Rtn Bharat B MohindraAnn. Rashmi18th Jan – Rtn PP V R BakthavatsalamAnn. Dr Manoranjitham18th Jan – Rtn S Abhay MehtaAnn. Niyati

WEddiNG

Rtn PP Nandita Krishnan – Rs.15,000(RCMBTS)

PP Satyan Bhatt – Rs 1000Rtn Shakthi Girish – Rs 1000

suNshiNE

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: lighthouse201516@gmail.com. Design: www.studiodescience.com

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

Next week… The next weekly meeting of RCM will be held on Jan 12, 2016 at 12:45pm.Program: Young Achiever Award to Ms. Nithyashree Venkatramanan, Indian Idol Junior Finalist.

Water your garden with a watering can rather than a hosepipe. A hosepipe uses 1,000 litres of water an hour. Mulching your plants (with bark chippings, heavy compost or straw) and watering in the early morning and late afternoon will reduce evaporation and also save water.

Water Tip

president’smessage

RIK.R. “RAVI” RAVINDRANPRESIDENT 2015-16 JANUARY 2015

There is a story told in my Hindu tradition of two sages, Shaunaka and Abhipratari. They were worshippers of Prana, the wind god. One day, the two men were about to sit down to lunch when a poor student knocked on their door, asking for food.

“No, boy, do not bother us at this hour,” was the reply. The student was surprised but very hungry, so he persisted.

“Tell me, honored sirs, which deity do you worship?”

“Prana, the wind god,” they answered impatiently.

“Do you not know that the world begins and ends with wind, and that wind pervades the entire universe?”

The two sages were by now very irritated by their impertinent guest. “Of course we know it!” they replied.

“Well, then,” continued the student, “if Prana pervades the universe, then he pervades me also, since I am but part of the universe. He is also in this hungry body, which stands before you begging for a bite to eat! And so in denying food to me, you deny it to the very deity whom you say you serve.”

The sages realized the student spoke the truth and invited him to enter and share their meal. For they understood, at that moment, that by opening the door to one who sought their help, they were not only serving that individual – but reaching toward a larger goal.

Our experience of Rotary is, for the most part, based in our own communities. We meet every week in our clubs, in the same places, with the same familiar friends. While almost all of us are involved in some way or other in international service, the Rotary we see and share from day to day feels very local. It can be easy to lose sight of the larger picture – of what our service truly means.

Every impact you have as a Rotarian, individually and through your club, is multiplied by the power of our numbers. When you feed one person who is hungry, when you educate one person who is illiterate, when you protect one child from disease, the impact may seem small. It is anything but. For it is only through the power of numbers, through the power of our individual actions and gifts, that we can have the impact we seek: to truly Be a Gift to the World.