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Centenary Projects

Visit To Rotary Club Of Horst Ann Der Maas And Rotary Club Of Vieresn Schwalm Nette – 28 May 2019

The travel weary team of PE PurnenduRoychowdhury, IPP Saumen Ray, Rtn Subrata Kumar Basu and Rtn Ashok Basu, accompanied by Annes Sucharita Roychowdhury and Meena Basu were met at Dusseldorf airport by our hosts, Rtn Peter Walter, Rtn Fredrika and Rtn Rudolf. Whisked away to our hotel and given about 30 minutes to ready ourselves, it felt as if we had never disembarked from our jetliner. The reason for the hurry was that we missed our connection in Zurich reaching Dusseldorf about 2 hours after scheduled time. Our hosts then gave us a quick tour through Dusseldorf, before taking us forthe meeting in a charming restaurant in a quaint and idyllic agrarian location (an asparagus growing area). Thanks are due to Purnendu to have been set up such a unique experience.

This meeting was a joint meeting of the 2 Clubs as mentioned in the subject line, the first named from a neighbouring town in the Netherlands and the second from Germany. Both clubs are our partner clubs. We were welcomed in pretty much the European way, with a serving of wine. Our hosts had, very kindly, scheduled the meeting in a way that we could present our Centenary plans and programs. Rtn Rainer Schnabler IPP of Rotary Club of Vieresen Schwalm Nette commenced the meeting. About 15 members were present from both Clubs.

Purnendu introduced all of us and provided a background of the Rotary Club of Calcutta and its upcoming centenary for the benefit of the members attending. Saumen Ray was invited to make his presentation and he elaborated upon our past projects,our ongoing and future projects andour centenary events, stressing upon the projects in the pipeline like EPN Bridge School, Wash 5 and Bishnupur Model Community. This was followed by interactions and queries of the members.

Rtn Subrata Basu was on hand to explain the complexities of property ownership and legalities of constitutional documents in India and how we go about the very important aspect of legal due diligence of projects that we commence. Rtn Ashok Basu then thanked the members of the foreign clubs for their hospitality and invited them to attend our centenary events. Even though some of the events are during X Mas and New Years’ time, a few of them showed keen interest in attending and some even assured that they will attend! Flags were exchanged. The meeting was attended also by a lady member of the Rotary Club of Lome Flamboyant in Togo, Western Africa.

Doctors Day – 1 July 2019

Rotary Club of Calcutta celebrated Doctors’Day on 1st July,2019 by arranging a panel discussion on the burning issue of Doctor - patient relationship at Rotary Sadan at 7pm in the evening. After a brief introduction by our beloved Centenary year President Rtn. Purnendu Roychowdhury, Dr. Asok Kumar Ghoshal, Chairman, Healthcare Committee for the current year set the ball rolling. The speakers of the day were Dr. Kalyanbrata Bhattacharya, the eminent neurologist, Prof. Amita Dutta, Head of the Department of Dance, Rabindra Varati University, Dr. Kunal Sarkar, leading Cardiothoacic surgeon and Sri Snehasish Sur, President of Press Club of Calcutta. They spoke on various aspects of the problems affecting the Doctor- Patient relationship in our state as well as the country as a whole. Shared their personal experiences as a doctor and as a member of the society. Suggested ways of solving the current problem. Highlighted the role of the government to

be played in thesituation prevailing and the responsibility of the doctors and also of the public at large to raise the quality of the health delivery system of our country. Finally, Prof. Sukumar Mukherjee shared his valued thoughts on the subject. The programme was well attended by many Rotarians.

Distribution of Packaged Coconut Water to RCCs and an Interact Club

The Bimalendu Ghosh Foundation, throughour Fellowship Chair Rtn Shampa Ghosh donated 5000 units of packaged coconut water to The Rotary Club of Calcutta for distribution amongst our RCCs and other affiliates / organisations acquainted with our Club. Accordingly, the bottles were distributed to various RCCs such as Bishnupur, Krishnanagar, The Refuge, SCIR, Stars Welfare and the Interact Club of SilverPoint School (and 2 others).

The distribution was done to the organisations at Rotary Sadan and then they were distributed to children within the RCC schools and some NGO children through our Interact Club. The Interact Club of Silver Point School took the

opportunity to distribute these on the Foundation Day of their School, 26 July, in which a large number of children from NGOs that the Interact Club works with participated, withsome scintillating on stage performances.

The Program was attended from our Club by President Purnendu Roychowdhury, Secretary Anusua Das, Jt Secy Bodhi Brata Das, Rtn Shampa Ghosh, Rtn Debashis Biswas and Rtn Ashok Basu.

Our thanks are due to The Bimalendu Ghosh Foundation, Rtn Shampa Ghosh, all our participating RCCs and the Interact Club of Silver Point School for spreading

cheeramongst some children.

Social Forestry – Bishnupur RCC

Two fresh ideas had emanated from the President at the beginning of this year, first was tree plantation on a large scale in most of our RCCs and particularly 500 plantations at Bishnupur RCC out of which 250 odd plantations in the name of each Rotarian of our Club. Second project visualized by him was the creation of a Rotary Centenary Social Forestry on a suitable land of 1.5/2 bighas at Bishnupur which would constitute fruit plants only that inter alia translates into economic activities and gains as well as attracts flocks of varieties of birds. Laudable. Period. Accordingly, Chairman Community Service RCC and WINS PP Rtn. Haladhar Dey and his able Adviser Rtn. Atindra Sen ventured into Bishnupur RCC in the afternoon of 30th July. At Bishnupur a small program preceded other activities wherein Haladharda recounted his chance meeting with the Mother at Auroville in Pondicherry and his

brush with quiteness, silence and peace. Performance of this RCC and their high recognition at the District level was also lauded. Next the tree plantation activities commenced. The kind of efforts painstakingly given by the RCC people is to be commended. Each plant now has its own FENCING made of bamboo strips of 5 feet height and a net mesh. We have done a lot of tree planting at many places over the years, but none were this serious. 50 plants mostly fruit bearing have been planted.

Oral Hygeine Day 1 Aug 2019 – Dental Camp at The Refuge

A team from RC Calcutta comprising of Rtns. Amit Ghosh and Partha Pratim Mukerjee, observed the Oral Hygiene Day on 1st Aug, 2019, by organising a Dental Health check-up Camp at RCC The Refuge. The West Bengal branch of IDA (Indian Dental Association) assisted in setting up the Camp, and 4 nos doctors (Drs Aihik Sinha Roy, Nilanshu Kar, William S. Maughan, and Ezahar Yeazdani) of Dr R Ahmed Medical College & Hospital performed the Dental Health check of residents of the ‘Girls Home’ at Refuge.

The Camp was arranged & made operational by 10.30 AM (provision of hot water, tumblers, detol for disinfectant, etc) by Mr Biswarup Dey and his collegues (M/s Haripada Dutta, Sisir Das Bairagya). The girl residents lined in orderly manner, with the elementary school (class 1 to 4) totalling to 52 in numbers lined up first, followed by the higher class students

(class 5 to 12) numbering 105 girls, including 5 girls school pass-out and in college. In all 157 girls had their dental check up done.

The general observation was that 75% cases the oral hygiene was good & satisfactory; out of the balance about 12 girls required immediate attention/treatment. The ailments primarily were in the nature of i) abscess, ii) discharging sinus, iii) grosslycarious presence, all of which can be cured with proper care & treatment. The doctors informed Mr Biswarup Dey, that to obviate queueing time, they will be glad to arrange special counter for these girls at R AhmedMedical Hospital, on any predetermined date and extend treatment in one batch. A few would require multiple visits to the hospital over a 12 week period. The hospital is only walking distance from Refuge. Needless to state it being a Govt hospital, the treatment is basically free of charge. A few of the younger girls who are shedding their milk teeth, require daily saline hot water gargling before bedtime, which may please be arranged in the ‘Home’.

Oral Hygeine Day 1 Aug 2019 – Camp at SCIR

Oral Hygiene Day was celebrated on1st Aug, 2019 by RC Calcutta, by organising a Dental Check-up Campat their RCC, SCIR (Society for Community Intervention & Research). The team from RC Calcutta comprised of Rtns. Atindra Nath Sen and SubhasisGhatak, while the West Bengal branch of IDA (Indian Dental Association) assisted in setting up the Camp, and Drs. Subhrasish Halder and S K Sajaudd in Ahammad Iqbal of Dr R Ahmed Medical College & Hospital, performed the Dental Health check of students of SCIR.

The Camp was arranged & made operational (provision of hot water for sterilisation, tumblers, dettol for disinfectant, etc) by Mr Chinmoy Adhikary of SCIR, duly assisted by M/S Alam, Shakti and Tapas of SCIR office, and commenced at 10.30 AM, with timing synchronised with finishing of

the morning elementary school. All 104 of the school present on the day, along with a few Bridge School students, had their dental check-up. A few teachers and school staff members, who desired a dental check, were also taken care of. To propagate theimportance of Dental Hygiene, IDA gaveaway a toothpaste tube to each student as a token gift, to incentivise the concept of dental care.

Rtn Amit Ghosh after closure of the parallel dental camp at Refuge, came over to review the proceedings at the SCIR Camp. Upon discussion, the doctors expressed their observation that the general sense of Oral Hygiene of the children at SCIR, coming from neighbouring communities, was very poor & unsatisfactory, and reflected in poor dental health. Many had ailments of dental abscess and showed presence of grossly carious, all of which will result in tooth decay at early age. On discussion with Mr Chinmoy, the doctors volunteered to hold awareness camp at SCIR on Dental Care, specifically for the parents of the students.

Bag Bazar Sakher Hat Traders’ Welfare Association – Annual Blood Donation Event – 4 Aug 2019

The Bagbazar Sakher Hat TradersWelfare Association organised their Annual Blood Donation event on 4thAug, 2019 along with their Weekly Sunday Hat bazaar. A team from RC Calcutta led by President, Rtn Purnendu Roychoudhuriwith Sucharita Roychowdhury, and comprising of Rtns. Asok Ghosal & spouse, Dipanwita Hazari and spouse, Haladhar Dey and Amit Ghosh, were present to lend support to the event. Officials of the Traders Association – Pranab Mitra, President, Abhijit Ray, Secy, and Debabrata Akhuri, Jt Secy, welcomed theRC Calcutta team and extended hospitality.The meeting commenced with a welcome address by Chief Guest, Kunal Ghosh, Ex- MP & Social Worker, and after felicitation ofthe RC Calcutta team, President Purnenduhanded over the donation cheque of Rs 25,000/- to Bapi Ghosh, Hony President & the local Municipal Councillor, with loud appreciation from the gathering. On conclusion of the formal welcoming ceremony, President Purnendu formally inaugurated the Blood Donation camp, and the Health Check up camp, run parallel along with the sunday Hat.

This Hat is a traditional & a unique event, held every Sunday of the year, and visitors come from all over the city & suburbs, with an average footfall of 15,000 approx every Sunday. The commodities traded includes Saplings - 250 stalls, of seasonal flowers, fruit trees, plants for house decoration, as well as garden decoration; Aquarium fish – 300 – 350 stalls ofvarying types of decorative aquarium fish primarily for house decoration, along with glass aquarium of different sizes & shape.

The Central Blood Bank, situated at Maniktala, arranged the blood donation camp at the site, and the expected blood donors was 200 – 250. Along with the blood donation the association also arranged a Health Camp organised through Probe Diagnostic Centre, with facilities for testing of BS, FS, ECG, and medical advisory.

The RC Calcutta team made a short survey of the event and facilities at the Hat, and departed with words of good wishes and gratitude for the community service doneby the association.

Independence day CelebratIon on 15th august 2019 at Rotary Sadan

15th August, our Independence Day was celebrated at Rotary Sadan with fervent spirit. District Governor Mr Ajay Agarwal graced the occasion and unfurled the National Flag at 9.15 am. Despite the rain and the cloudy weather, 120 students of the Cultural Section of the Club turned up to make present a vibrant event.

There after, an Art exhibition was inaugurated at the Rotary Sadan by the District Governor, Rtn. Ajay Agarwal, PDG. Rtn. Prabhat K Rohatgi, Centenary President Purnendu Roychowdhury and Hony. Secretary Anusua Das, PP. Nilima Joshiby lighting lamps. Other Rotarians who could attend that day were PP. Haladhar Dey, PP. Saumen Ray, Rtn. Kirit M Patel, Rtn. Sanjib Basu, Rtn. Amit Ghosh,Rtn. P. S. Chauhan, Rtn. Debashish Biswas, Rtn. Shampa Ghosh, Rtn. Debjani Ghosh and her father, Rtn. Bodhi Brata Das, Rtn Dr. Dilip Saha.

and his wife, Spouse Jawahar Joshi, Rtn. Amrita Banerjee. The exhibition displayed the artwork of the students ranging from Colorful Paintings, Charcoal Sketches to Graphic Sculptures. Fellow Rotarians were so impressed with the Art Collection that many of the Artefacts were purchased immediately.

President, Purnendu complimented the Art work and congratulated outstanding Artists. He also requested the Guardians to make the most of the Rotary Sadan facilities such as the Library and thanked the contributors of the Cultural section such as Ms Asru Dutta and Chairman NCLCL and Cultural, Amrita Banerjee. District Governor, Mr Ajay Agarwal also applauded the enthusiasm of the students in putting together a masterpiece show. Secretary, Anusua encouraged the students to follow their passion of art and culture.

The Art exhibition was followed by a Stellar Performance of Music, Dance and Drama by the Cultural Section Students.

The Cultural Performance was well knit with threads of Independence Day theme, our National Culture and not to forget a tribute to Rotary on its centenary year. Children of many age groups participated and were supported by the Teachers. Asru Dutta, our Cultural Section Head weaved the performance together by lending her voice and managing the show.

The students were gifted mementoes and the program ended with sumptuous food packets for each. The Guardians of the students and the Rotarians present were filled with Pride to watch the young buds flourish into talented artists.

Eye donatIon awareness camp held on 25th August 2019 – joint healthcare and communIty service committee initiative

Ophthalmological Society of West Bengal (OSWB), Lions Club International, MD 322 and on behalf Rotary International Dist 3291 our club, Rotary Club of Calcutta, participated in the programme as a host, along with Rotary Club of Joka whowere the prime movers jointly arranged a walk/car rally for promoting awareness regarding Eye Donation.

All the participants assembled at the Lions Park in Deshapriya Park at around 9:30 am. They were welcomed with refreshments. Our team was led by our President Rtn. Purnendu Roychowdhury, accompanied by Past Presidents Rtn Haladhar Dey and Rtn Dr Ashoke Basu and Rtn Saumen Ray, Hony Secy Rtn. Anusua Das, Rtn

Bodhibrata Das, Rtn Jeet Banerjee, Rtn Dr Debnath Chattopadhyay, Rtn Dr. Asok Kumar Ghoshal, Chairman, Healthcare Committee. From Deshapriya Park, the rally proceeded to Rotary Sadan. A meeting was held there, hosted by our Club. Here Rtn Debjani Ghosh, Rotary Anne Sucharita Roychowdhury, Rtn Atin Sen, Rtn Ashok Basu, Rtn Kamal Nandy joined. Members of the OSWB and from M P Birla Eye Bank addressed the gathering. President Purnendu talked about engaging more and moreorganisations for extending awareness for organ donation, and Rtn Debnath Chattopadhyay too called for more and more events such as these.

Upper most amongst the take a ways from the meeting (for non-medical folk) is that each cornea can help restore sight in two people. It was mentioned that for Eye and Skin donation, there is no age limit, donor can be of any age. Even if eyes are notpledged, relatives can still call the eye bank to take the deceased persons corneas. A requirement is that the cornea be removed within 4 hours of the person’s demise. Even if a cornea is not usable for transplant, it can still be used for research and training. It appears that a large and concerted effort is required for awareness and increasing the number of donors. Some superstitions also need to be dispelled – a telling proposition– sections of our community believe that if eyes are donated, the person will be born blind in reincarnation. Field workers demonstrate that only a small part of the eye is being to notions, oftento good effect.

Another significant takeaway from themeet was the complementarity of service organisations, in this case Rotary and Lions, and as our President mentioned, engaging other organisations as well. We were informed that there are some 8 million Indian (10% of all blindness cases) patients who require and are awaiting donation of cornea to have vision and that each pair of eyes that we donate will give vision to 6 eyes.

As someone said in the end, the two operative words are Implant and Transplant. While Implants require money, Transplant just requires a big heart!

Visit to Dhaka – Rotary Public Image Conference

President Purnendu Roychowdhury, PP Haladhar Dey, PP Saumen Ray, Rtns Kirit M Patel, Dr Dilip Saha and Samiran Sen attended the Rotary Conference on Rotary Public Image held on 13th and 14th September 2019 in Dhaka, on the invitation of PDG (District 3281) SAM Showket Hossain, Rotary Public Image Coordinator 2019-2022, RI Zone 6B. Several of our district officials namely DG Ajay Agarwal, DGN Prabir Chatterjee, PDGs Debashish Mitra, Braja Gopal Kundu, Anirudhha Raychoudhury, Shyamashree Sen (some with spouses) and RIPN Shekhar Mehtawere also present.

The conference was a grand affair where more than 50 speakers from all over the Asian region spoke on the importance of building the public image of Rotary highlighting its contribution to the society. It was made clear

that RI President Mark Maloney was particularly keen on connecting Rotarians with non-Rotarians in order to spread the message of significant impact that Rotary was making in uplifting the lot of the under- privileged. The Foreign Minister and a Member of Parliament of Bangladesh also spoke to the gathering. The attendance from the local clubs was remarkable.

Our Club team, concurrently, utilised the occasion to publicize our Club’s Centenary celebration and was able to enthuse a large number of Rotarians from Bangladesh who were present for the 2-day conference to register for our forthcoming events. One PDG of that district even believed that where the club is housed was built in 1980s by RC of Dhaka from donations from its members to serve as a cancer detection centre within the Dhaka more than 200 Rotarians from Bangladesh could participate in the December-January celebrations.

On 15th September, Sunday, our team was invited to Rotary Club of Dhaka to attend a special breakfast meeting with the members led by President Dr. Niaz Abdur Rahman. The invitation was from Past President

(2006 - 07) Khandaker Badrul Hasan. It is the oldest club in Bangladesh running in its 83rd year (imagine it is only 17 years younger than our Club). R C Dhaka never fails to acknowledge the fact that RC Calcutta was their Mother Club. The three storey building in Rotary Cancer Detection Unit in Mohakhali, Dhakacancer hospital complex. The club is actively involved now in setting up a Rotary Cord Blood Bank in the same building and intends to start a research facility on stem cell. This is simply an amazing achievement for a club having only about 60 members.

Needless to say the legendary hospitably of Bangladesh was once again proved beyond doubt. As a result, the food and accommodation provided were simply great. Overall, our visit was extremely fruitful and we could generate a tremendous amount of interest in our Centenary endeavors.

Agomoni – 18 September 2019

The President’s brief set us all thinking in the line sofa Pre Pujo Celebration – A BengaliCultural Evening And R-Anne Roshni Ganguly conceptualized the thematic program, along with R-Anne Ranjana Ray and together by God’s Grace we presented AGOMONI on 18 September 2019, with amereten days rehearsals, bouts of viral fever and travel not with standing!

A beautiful floral alpana, done by our First Lady R-Anne Sucharita Roychowdhury leading up to the Auditorium set the tone for what was to be aglittering performance! And then the creative backdrop that Rtn. Amitav Sinha helped develop simply electrifiedall!

After the Ganesh Vandana, the soul stirring rendition of “Jago tumi jago” by Rtn. Sarvani Gooptu followed by a stupendous dance performance by Rtn. Sriranjani

Joshi to “Mahisasur Mardini” truly heralded the coming of MA Durga! Rtn. Debasish Biswas had the audience asking formore by his foot tapping Hindi-Bengali mix Kishore Kumar hits. R-Anne Putul Bose had everyone singing along with her emotive Bengali folk songs. A thought-provoking recitation of “Tomar Durga Amar Durga” by R-Anne Ivy Dey and Rtn Debjani Ghosh followed. A medley of Rabindra Sangeet songs in Hindi, Bengali and English and “Pujo” - favorites in a mix of Hindi and Bengali was presented by Rtn. Sarvani Gooptu, Rtn Anusua Das, Rtn Nilima Joshi, R-Anne Roshni Ganguly, R-Anne Parveen Hirji, Rtn Debjani Ghosh, Rtn. Shampa Ghosh and Rtn. Sonal Worah.

A laugh riot “Sruti Natak” came next, scripted and directed by Rtn. Bodhi Brata Das. Keeping with the theme, he scripted MA coming down from KOI-LASH to MRITULOK with her brood who are getting ready to shop and

the Asur acting pricy and finally coming in an Uber paid by MA by Pay TM as a six-pack villain is a must in her story. Brilliantly enacted by Rtn. Dr. Ashok Ghosal, R-Anne Ranjana Ray, R-Anne Krishna Kolay, R-Anne Indrani Sinha, R-SpouseSomnathBanerjeeandRtn.Bodhi Brata Das this was MA in a contemporary, tech savvy, consumerist world!

And then the show stopper – The Fashion show! Going with the theme, sarees of Bengal was showcased. The catwalk was ablaze with R-Anne Sucharita Roychowdhury, R-Anne Kumud Mitra, Rtn Anand Sharma,R-Anne Madhu Sharma, Rtn Bodhi Brata Das, Rtn Anusua Das, R-Spouse Jawahar Joshi, Rtn Nilima Joshi, R-Anne Parveen Hirji, Rtn Shampa Ghosh, Rtn Amrita Banerjee, R-Anne Putul Bose and R-Anne Moushumi Mukherjee. Welldone!

Pre Puja Event at Navanir Home for The Aged, Tollygunje – Joint project with Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta – 21 Sep 2019

Our Rotary when it serves humanity, itlooks at both ends of the spectrum - those in the prime of their life as well as those in their twilight years.

A program that almost goes unnoticed and held without fanfare every September before the Pujasis a “Day of Delight” dedicated to the senior citizens of an old age home.

The objective is to acknowledge and recognize that in their time they have played their part as valuable members of the society and that they are still a part of us and not excluded from the main stream of society. We value them, we respect them.

On Sunday 21st September ‘19, a rain- washed morning with bright sunshine, the venue was Navanir, a home for the aged, at Tollygunge. A joint program of our Club with Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta saw the Inner Wheelers and Rotarians (Inner Wheelers far out numbering the Rotarians) all over Navanir– freelymixing with the residents of the Home. The residents of Navanirhad assembled at the entrance hall to receive us. Like old friends meeting after a long time, there were” Hi!’s” and “How do you do’s” and exchange of pleasantries. This was followed by a delightful program of melodious Rabindra Sangeet, interspersed with popular film songs both Hindi and Bengali from the visiting Inner Wheelers joined with gusto by the senior citizens of the Home.

The exciting end was a toughly contested & highly competitive “Antakshari” in which the residents in their eighties and nineties, participated with enthusiasm. The whole place was vibrating with music and laughter as if the 52 residents, octogenarians and nonagenarians had all been transformed into little children by a magic spell brought in by”Rotary”. There were gifts (organized by Inner Wheel Club) followed by a special Puja meal arranged by our Club (courtesy Endowment by PP Rtn.Nandita Sen). The Rotarians present joined in the meal sharing the table with the residents of the Home. Later a visit was made to all the four floors to meet those who were physically unfit to comedown & confined to their beds. They held on to our hands and one to one conversation with them clearly showed how much they valued our presence and looked forward to our annual visit.

Parting was sad and difficult. It was the beginning of another year of waiting and longing for them.

It had begun to rain heavily when we left the home with a heavy heart and a question in our mind – arewe doing enough?

Thanks to the Rotarians who were present and participated, PP Rtn.Haladhar Dey – Chairman Community Service Committee, leading the team, Rtn. Atindra Nath Sen, Advisor Community Service Committee, Rtn. Samiran Sen and PP Rtn.Nandita Sen with her sister Chitra di. May we salute R-Anne Meena Basu, President and all members of Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta for organizing the event so well.

Visi To Bangkok And Shanghai

With all smiles, “Thai Smile” flew ateam of 8 delegates from RC Calcutta to Bangkok on the 15th Oct. evening and we checked in at our Sukhumvit hotel.16th evening we were met at the hotel Lobby by Jan Graeff – Director– international Service RC Bangkok and escorted to Grand Hyatt Regency. There we were very warmly greeted and treated over a sumptuous dinner. On behalf of our Club, two Coffee Table books on pictorially illustrated Biography of Tagore was presented to the President and the International Service Director of the Club.

17th Oct. morning we were ready by 11a.m. to attend the Luncheon meeting of RC Bangkok, First

Rotary Club in Thailand, Chartered in 1930 at Grand Hyatt Erawan.The 87-year-Old and 90-member club was vibrant, warm and friendly much beyond expectations, good enough to make us feel comfortable and at home.They also have a 97-year-old member who was equally jovial and showed interest to attend our Centennial Celebration in January, proving that age is indeed only a number.

After the national anthem, our President was given a slot to speak and exchange flags. That evening was relaxed.

18th Oct. - our flight to Shanghai- Grand Millennium- A day of travelling.

19th Oct. evening 5 pm we all gathered at the registration desk and there after got to meet with delegates from different parts of the world like Manila, Bangladesh, USA Singapore and other countries enjoying the fellowship over wine that was served all along. We met Rtn. Teri Lau the cheerful President of the Rotary Club of Shanghai and other members of the Club. Two similar Coffee Table books were also given to the President and International Service Chair of the Club.Here also we happened to meet Rtn. YaYa Yap a veteran Rotarian who was over 90+ but truly young at heart and as cheerful. Amongst others was Gary Huang the former RI President.To our surprise we learnt that none of the members of the RC Shanghai were Chinese nationals but belonged to other nationalities or were expatriates as theGovernment does not permit any NGOs tooperate in China.

The meeting commenced with the repetition of the Four Way Test by the members after the President instead of the national anthem probably as all the members did not belong to the same nationality. They had a wonderful presentation of all the projects undertaken by them and it all went on over dinner being served. It was indeed a Gala Dinner with an exotic spread.After the meeting the President of RC Shanghai Rtn. Teri invited all the delegates from different parts of the world to come on stage to exchange flags whereby our President did the honours.Our President Rtn. Purnendu made all efforts to maximise mileage of Rotary Club of Calcutta’s Centennial Celebrations and left no stoneun turned to establish relationship with the members of the other clubs from all over the world in tandem with the theme of the year “Rotary Connects”.

20th October: we went for a cruise on the Yang Pu river and witnessed the beauty of this truly model city of China. It was amazing to see the development that this city has accomplished, getting their independence only two years after India, the beauty only comparable to Dubai along the waterfront. After the cruise we had dinner that was typically the local Chinese cuisine.

21st Oct - Our journey back to The City of Joy with our hearts filled with the Joy of a truly memorable trip to remember and cherish over many years to come.

Deepavali Meet – 22 Oct 2019

Book Reading Session at NCLCL – 23rd October 2019

To celebrate the experienceof book reading, a book reading event was organised at the Nitish Chandra Laharry Children’s Library, Rotary Sadan on 23rd October 2019. Editor of Popular Bengali Children’s Magazine “Anandamela”, Mr Caesar Bagchi narrated 2 short stories. The audience was made up of Children, their parents, Rotarians and Rotaractors who volunteered to help. President Purnendu Roychoudhury and Secretary Anusua whole heartedly supported the occasion.

The event started at5.30 pm with Rotarian Krishna Sen welcoming the kids to the worldof books before handing over the podium to Editor Ceasar Bagchi. Rotarians Nandita Sen, Heena Gorsia, Debasish Biswas, Sanjib Basu, Shinjini Bose, Ashok Basu and Sriranjini actively participated to make the event a success.

The detective story narration held the audience spell bound for over an hour. Post the narration, food packets were distributed among children with the help of the Rotaractors. The library’s revamped look was widely appreciated by Rotarians as well as ABP group who promised to come back soon with another event for the children at the library.

Dental Check up Camp at RCC Stars – 29 Nov 2019

Chairperson Healthcare, Dr Asok Ghos alin formed of a felt desire by Community servicesof conducting a Dental Health Check Camp at RCC Star Welfare Society for the children undergoing pre-school education at the location. A Camp was accordingly arranged by RC Calcutta at Star Welfare on 29th Nov, 2019.

Three doctors from R Ahmed Dental College & Hospital attended the Camp; they were Dr Shouvik Mallick, Dr Ishita Mondal & Dr Rohit Das. They were escorted by Rtn Amit Ghosh of R C Calcutta, and the team was warmly received by Mr Chung and Mrs Yasmin Chung at the gates of Star Welfare. Since it was a school-day, the children came in batches of 10– 15 class-wise for their dental check, to ensure the other classes continued undisturbed.

A total of 90 (approx) children (including 9teachers & staff) under went their dental check-up. The camp functioned in an orderly fashion, and

Mrs Chung had pre-arranged certain facilities like hot water, metal tumblers, dettol, etc for sanitisation of instruments used by the doctors. As regards the general observation at the camp end, the doctors opined there was presence of ‘heavy metal’in ground water that the local residents were using, which necessarily impacts dental health resulting in tooth decay at early age. Many of the children showed signs of gross carious and dental abscess. Further, most children coming from families of migrant labourers, possessed neither a general sense nor facilities to practice oral hygiene. The doctors took care to individually inform each child of daily brushing of teeth at bed-time, direction of bristles during brushing, and rinsing mouth after each meal. The doctors informed Mrs Yasmin and offered free-of-charge treatment to some cases requiring immediate attention, at the R Ahmed Hospital at Moulali.Mr Chung arranged refreshments for thevisiting doctors.

Camp concluded at 2.30 PM.

Mosquito Nets Distribution at RCC Stars Welfare Society – 13 Dec 2019

On 13th December 2019, Rtn. Purnendu Roychowdhury and Rtn. Atindra Nath Sen visited RCC Stars Welfare Society at Tangra to distribute 100 Mosquito nets wherein we saw about 120 children from Nursery to class V studying free of cost and they are provided midday meals from various donation received. The school runs from Monday to Friday and has good infrastructure while they are maintaining the rain water harvesting, ground water recharge system and the water filtration system donated by our Club very well. Our Club supports them with a monthly teacher’s honorarium of Rs.2000/- which will be continued this year also. Additionally, the following was offered to them provided they made an appeal and funds are available-Self Defense Training, Training for Home assistance Sponsoring of children at a cost of Rs.500 per child. Providing them a table space on 31st December and 1st January to sell their candles to Rotarians and visitors during the Centenary Events.

Mosquito Nets Distribution at RCC Begumpur : 24th November 2019

A Team from our Club visitedRCC Begumpur and distributed Mosquito Nets to the poor villagers. The team constituted Rotarians Dr SukantiTarafdar PP of RC Rochdale, Manchester, Rtns Subrata Basu and Atindra Sen.

Mosquito Nets Distribution at RCC Bishnupur and RCC Dara : 26th November 2019 and 27th Nov 2019

		A team also visited RCC Bishnupur Uchchal Probaho and distributed Mosquito Nets to the poor villagers. The team constituted Rotarians Arindam Roychowdhury and Atindra Sen.

		At RCC Dara nets distribution was conducted on 28 August 2019. Dara is probably the farthest RCC from Rotary Sadan situated roughly 74 odd kilometres that entails a one way journey of nearly 3 hours. The team leader was Chairman Community Service RCC WINS Rtn Haladhar Dey with his Liaison Director Rtn Ashok Basu and Adviser Rtn Atindra Sen. While at Dara the first activity was distribution of mosquito nets to the local needy village folk which comprised very old infirm women and children. Number of Beneficiaries were 100.

94th Annual Childrens’ Treat - 15 Dec 2019

Ninety Four years ago a sunshineproject was initiated, which has ever since become a source of joy to under privileged and orphan children. In 1925 a programme of entertainment of the under privileged children was conceived by the Rotary Club of Calcutta. It received the immediate approval of all Rotarians and more so of their Annes, who with zest and enthusiasm took active part in its execution.It started on 28 December, 1925. Some 200 poor children from 5 institutions in Calcutta were collected by Rotarians and their wives, driven to the Chandpal jetty and taken across the river to the Botanical Gardens. A dayof feasting and sports ensued. At the endof the day the children were driven back to their orphanage. Thus was born the longest running Community Service programme of the Club, the famed Annual Children’s Treat. The tradition continues. Over the years the number of children have increased, the institutions have changed but the format of the programme and more importantly the spirit behind it have remained the same. In the 1970s the Annual Children’s Treat was held at

the beautiful and spacious lawns of the National Library, Belvedere, Alipore and thereafter shifted to the Command Hospital Ground, Alipore. Since 1993 the Treat has been held at Nicco Park, Salt Lake, Kolkata.

This year the 94th Annual Children’s Treat was organized on Sunday, the 15th December, 2019 at Nicco Park, Jheel Meel, Salt Lake City, Kolkata -700091. Around 1300 children from 26 institutions/ schools including 7 RCCs participated in the event.

This year as the date coincided with the Kolkata Marathon event hence the usual assembling and dispatch of buses from Rotary Sadan at 6 am in the morning had to be cancelled and was shifted to South Point Junior School premises as this School since past two decades had been providing us with several buses from their fleet for this Children’s Treat programme. PP Dr. Ashoke Kumar Basu, Rtns. Raj Agrawal and Anand Sharma along with 10 Rotaractors and 12 Interactors of Silver Point High Schoolarrived at South Point School at 6.30 am and arranged the despatch of 10 buses to pick up students from 12 institutions for taking them to Nicco Park. Rtns. Amit Ghosh and Subhajit Guha Mazumdar along with 10 Rotaractors assembled near Deshapriya Park to supervise the boarding of 180 students and 12 teachers of our Cultural section and NCLCL in 4 buses for joining the Treat at Nicco Park. The participants from 6 institutions and 7 RCCs being located outside Kolkata came to Nicco Park by theirown transport. The Rotaractors and the Interactors help in picking up the children from various schools and institutions, act as their escorts and guides during their stay at Nicco

Park and they remain at Nicco Park till the evening supervising the boarding of the children in buses for their return to their respective schools and institutions.

On entering Nicco Park at about 8.30 am the children were served with breakfast and health drink and were presented with T-shirts and Caps. After the inaugural programme at 10.00 am, they were taken through a series of entertainment programmes which included joy rides and Magic show. The mood at the park was that of fun and frolic, the children enjoying the rides, vegetarian and non-vegetarian lunch served by the Rotarians, R-Anns and their family members and finally a wrap up coke and ice cream with gifts like biscuit packets, potato chips, fruit juices, exercise books etc all sponsored and donated by Rotarians. The participating organizations were gifted with a play kit.

The end of the day saw a 1300 strong band of children boarding their buses for the journey back home – tired but happy. Thus ended a day of sunshine as it has happened for the last 94 years, with a glow in the hearts of the receivers and more so in the hearts of the many givers who made this day possible, waiting one more year for A Day of Sunshine. The spirit has remained the same as was envisioned 94 years ago in December, 1925.

The programme was covered by both Print & Electronic media due to the untiring efforts of our former member Anil Jain and Rtn. Partha Mukherjee. Rtn. Partha Mukherjee arrived at Nicco Park at 5 am in the morning to receive the Breakfast packets sent from Sugarr& Spice courtesy Rtns. Supriya & Prosanta Roy and to supervise the decoration of the venue withballoons.

The Club wishes to thank the 50 + Rotarians, R-Anns, family members and Interactors & teachers of Silver Point School and South Point High School and Rotaractors of Rotaract Club of Calcutta and Rotaract Club of George College, the NICCO Park team, Mr. Madan Kothari and staff of Rtns. B.D. Kothari & K.K.Kothari organisation and our own office staff who made the event a success. We like to offer special thanks to PP Sushil Kumar Bagla, PP Dr.

Ashoke Kumar Basu, PP Nilima Joshi, Rtns. Sujata Chatterjee, Raj Agrawal, Sujata Pyne, Probir Gupta, Partha Pratim Mukherjee, Sonal Worah, Amit Ghosh, Shampa Ghose, Subhajit Guha Mazumdar, Bodhi Brata Das, Atindra Nath Sen, Dr. Debashis Mitra, Debjani Ghosh, Debasish Biswas, Anand Sharma and K.K. Kothari for their help and guidancein the organizing of this programme. Finally, Annual Children’s Treat Committee wishes to thank President Rtn. Purnendu Roychowdhury and Hony. Secretary Rtn. Anusua Das for their guidance and support which helped to make the programme a success.

Dental Camp at RCC Bishnupur – 18 Jan 2020

RC Calcutta organised a Dental Check-up Camp at their Ucchal Probaho, its RCC at Bishnupur. The team from RC Calcutta was led by Rtn Amit Ghosh, while the West Bengal branch of IDA (Indian Dental Association) assisted in setting up the Camp, and Dr Subhrasish Halder and Dr Ejhar of Dr R Ahmed Medical College & Hospital, performed the Dental Health check of students of school Sri Aurobindo Siksha Kendra, and village elders. Rtn Atindra Sen also joined little later, supervised the camp in progress and offered a few words of encouragement to the patients, the doctors and the RCC officials present.

The Camp was arranged & made operational(provision of hot water for sterilisation,tumblers, dettol for disinfectant, etc) by the Sri Aurobindo

Siksha Kendra staff, and commenced at 11.00 AM. It being Saturday, a school holiday, students of distant villages who are bused to school couldn’t be present, however student of the village and adjacent ones along with village elders made up a camp attendance of 75 approximately. One kid suffering from tooth ache apparently from a milk tooth which was ‘shaking’, had his tooth extracted so fast by the doctor even before he could realise, but once he saw blood trickling burst into tears, and sobered down only when his parent was advised to give him one or two ice-crèmesduring the day. A few teachers and schoolstaff members, who desired a dental check, were also taken care of. The doctors offered free-of-charge treatment to some cases requiring immediate attention, at the R Ahmed Dental Hospital in Moulali.

The RCC Bishnupur arranged refreshments for the visiting doctors. The camp concluded at 2.30 PM

Republic Day Celebration on 26th January 2020

Rotary Club of Calcutta celebrated the 71st Republic Day of India at Rotary Sadan with an art exhibition and a cultural programstaged by the students of the cultural section.

In the absence of Rtn. Purnendu Roychowdhury – President, Rtn. Sujata Pyne– Vice President unfurled the tricolor. The National Anthem was sung by the members and others present. The art exhibition was inaugurated by lighting of the lamp. The art works made by the children were outstanding and some of them were sold instantaneously. It was indeed a brilliant effort put up by the children. The cultural program staged by the children of the Cultural Section included song and dance and was conducted very efficiently by their teacher in-charge, Ms. Ashru Dutta.

Rotarians present were PDG Prabhat Rohatgi, Dr. Shashi Prabha Rohatgi, Pritpal Singh Chauhan, Krishna Sen, Haladhar Dey, Ritwik Gupta & R-Anne Anuradha Gupta,Anand Sharma, Bodhi Brata Das, Veena Rohatgi, Shashi Bhargava and Sanjib Basu.

Krishnanagar RCC – Literacy and Tree Planting

The Community Service RCC WINS Committee under leadership of PPRtn. Haladhar Dey along with Adviser Rtn. Atindra Sen made a visit to Krishnanagar RCC with a 4 point agenda: Distribution of Certificates to the womenfolk who had undergone Literacy training a couple of years back numbering 65 individuals; Distribution of 100 Mosquito nets to the needy locals; discussion on the Children’s welfare initiatives that the RCC is continuing with which is similar to that of Bishnupur; Discussion on the presentation to be made to the RIP covering all of our RCCs; Inspection of possible WASH5 projects and last but not the least plantation of trees on the name of the President and the two visiting Rotarians. The enclosed snaps would speak for themselves.

Joint Project With Inner Wheel Club Of Calcutta – Navanir Home For The Aged

The much-awaited joint project of Rotary Club of Calcutta with Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta in the Centenary year of Rotary at Navanir Senior Home for Aged in Tollygunje was ceremoniously concluded on 12th of March 2020. The project was to renovate and extend to accommodate two more residents. Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta has a long association with them. They visit this home twice in a year, once to sponsor 4 senior ladies in the home and then the Puja treat when IWC give sarees, gamcha and toiletries to all the residents before Durga Puja, an activity now continuing for the past 27 years.

For the past 5 years PP Rtn Nandita Sen has initiated a lunch party for all the residents with the IWC program. Large numbers of IWC members werepresent at the program. President Purnendu along with Past Presidents Rtn Nandita Sen, with spouse Mr. Biswajit Sen, Rtn Haladhar Dey and RtnPritpal Singh Chauhan Chairman Inter Club District Relations and Public

Image were present. Inner Wheel Club has gratefully acknowledged the contribution of the Club that has helped catalyse the fufilment.

Rotary Club of Calcutta Centenary (1919-2020) Club Specific Events

1.100^th Installation on 2^nd July 2019
2. 26^th September 2019-100^th Foundation Day Celebration
3. Club Centenary Convention

• 31^st December 2019 – Morning: Free Time for Tourists’ Calcutta sight seeing, Evening: Cultural Programme & New Years Eve Party
• 1^st January 2020 -100thCharter Day Celebration - release of Postage Stamp, and main events followed by Evening Fellowship and Dinner
• 2^ndJanuary Morning – Golf Tournament & Vintage car Show, Felicitation of Showcase projects in teams, & Cultural evening by International and Sponsored Clubs

4. 3^rdJanuary –Travel to Santinikentan ( 300 km from Kolkata) and Free time for sight seeing,; 4thJanuary 2020 –Seminar in Santiniketan
5. 5^th January Morning – Showcasing /Inauguration of WASH projects and Santniketan Seminar continues
6. 14^thFebruary 2020 – Rotary Club of Calcutta Centenary Endowment Evening by RIP MARK D MALONEY
7. 23^rdFebruary 2020 – Oration evening by TRF TRUSTEE CHAIR GARY CK HUANG
8. 30^thJune 2020 - Release of Club Centennial History Book and Closing Event

Rotary Club of Calcutta Centenary Projects

	MAIN PROJECTS	TARGET BENEFICIARIES
1	HeartSurgery at RTIICS	1,000
2	Children Immunization (St Thomas Home)	100,000
3	Nehru MemorialHospital Rotary Ward	3,000
4	MercyHospital Operation Theatre	10,000
5	AyodhyaSchool (in Purulia) Hostel	200
6	HowrahSouth Point Simple School	120
7	Baramangua Simple School	100
8	Bishnupur Model RCC and Village	1,000
9	Water Sanitationand Hygiene (WASH) 1000thToilets, 300th Bore Wells, 10th Pay & Use Toilets	5,000
10	Prevention of Blindness -Pre-mature babies	10,000
11	Postage Stamp
12	HistoryBook

BUY END POLIO FUND RAISING GREETINGS CARD S DESIGNED BY RC BATTERSEA
PARK AND RC CALCUTTA


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