PRIDE & PRIVILEGE -
FELICITATION FUNCTION OF RIPN KALYANBHAI & BINOTAJI
Total Attendance - 364 - Vow !! - All 19 Clubs remained present.
Our Club's Attendance - 38 Rotarians and 6 Guests making it to 44 - Kudos !?
An Evening with RIPN Kalyan and Ann Binota Banerjee was attended by all the Clubs of Central Gujarat, applauded by all present and will be remembered for a long time to come. Some of the expressions that AG Alok Desai received are as follows:
"Grand Success."
"Crisp Function with many surprises"
"Wonderful Show"
"Captivating"
"Sweet & Short - Baroda Style"
"A Sheer Beauty"
"Well Managed Function with Excellent Time Management"
The function started at 7.45 p.m. with 19 Presidents receiving Kalyan'da and Binota ji.
Major Sharma and 3 Assistant Governors received them at the entrance of the hall and led them to their seats after meeting all the Past RI Officers of Central Gujarat, except PDG Dr. Bakul Joshi as he was out of station on account of Conference.
The camaraderie was obvious in the song which was being played - "Sathi Haat Badana Sathi Re...." The moment DG Major Sharma escorted RIPN Kalyan'da and Binota ji to the dias, the melodious voice of Master of Ceremony Radhika flowed and audience was in rapt attention, not to miss anything.
The meeting was called to order by Rtn. Rajiv Gehlot of RC Baroda Sayajinagari.
Prayer was recited by Miss Ishira Baxi of RC Baroda Jawaharnagar.
Then came the surprise as Master of Ceremony Sarmir was missing who was actually present in the audience and he picked up the thread and requested young Rtn. Atman Shah of RC Baroda Airport to recite the 4-Way Test. You would not believe but young Rtn. Atman recited the same in a crisp way without any hesitation or referring to any paper. All present applauded him.
Then MoC welcomed all the dignitaries and attendees. Floral welcome was done by all the 3 Assistant Governors.
Then DG Major Sharma expressed is feelings on behalf of the entire District. He poured his heart out by rendering a beautiful couplet.
Then it was the time for me (Manoj). After thinking a lot I preferred to introduce Kalyan Banerjee and used language of heart in Urdu and Hindi, rather than in English. Repeated claps of audience, even in those 4 minutes encouraged me a lot. In the given 4 minutes I completed introduction of Kalyan Banerjee as "Karmayogi," "Big B of Rotary," "Khatron Ka Khiladi," "Sapno Ka Saudagar" and "Allama." I realised that I missed out to highlight 40 years of marriage life and hence I took the liberty to invite Binota ji to let us know how 40 years with Kalyan’da have been.
Everyone present in the hall appreciated Binotaji's 4 minutes straight from the heart talk and she was adjudged as highlight of the show by one and all.
Then PDG Ashokbhai narrated their time together – back to back years and conveyed his best wishes in chosen words.
Then the video interview of Kalyan’da was shown, just for 7 minutes. Kalyan’da thanked Alok and Rishiraj for their support in making his video presentation.
"Rajyabhishek" Ceremony was done in a befitting "Gaekwadi" style by PDG Ashokbhai in presence of DG and all RI officers. Smt. Binotaben was offered a "Shrifal" by Ann Meena Bhatt. During the entire ceremony a beautiful song of Jodha Akbar was played in the background.
PDG Mayur Vyas and PDG Jatin Bhatt narrated their experience with Kalyan’da and Binota ji and committed whole-hearted support.
Then followed the terrific performance of Rtn. Nilesh and his Group on the following 7 songs in flat 7 Minutes. The innocent smiling girls conveyed great meaning what it is to be a Rotarian.
1. Vaishnav Jan..
2. Aakhoin Mei Sapna…
3. Kisi Ki Muskurat…..
4. Heal the World…
5. Chodo Kal Ki Baatein..
6. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara..
7. Jai Ho…
The stage was then set for Kalyan’da. Next 28 minutes was a real treat for all who remained present. His year’s logo and theme were weaved in his talk while asking for support to break the record at Bangkok Convention. The entire audience said, “Yes, we will come.” Kalyan’da used SMS twice and received thunderous applause. Spontaneous standing ovation by one and all itself was the proof of how they felt about Chasm-o-Charag’s speech.
Felicific Plaque by 19 Presidents of Central Gujarat was presented to Kalyan’da. We were made proud as the only Lady President of Central Gujarat – our President was given the honour to offer the same. Yet another honour for our club was that the words on the plaque were aptly selected by Sunil Vakil, who expressed his feelings for Kalyan’da while Samir invited him to share his feelings.
Vote of Thanks was given by President (Elect) Rohit Shah of RC Baroda.
Everyone enjoyed -enough time to relish excellent varieties with 'sit down' arrangments and the fellowship continued till 11.20 – can you believe it more than one and half hour for dinner? Old bonds were renewed, shake hands were exchanged and lot of smiles were poured.
What more do I say – Yeh Dil Maange More…. This kind of function is certainly a rarity and a great expression of joy for one of us creating a new milestone ! Enthusiasm of 364 Rotarians and Anns of Central Gujarat was greatly appreciated by RIPN Kalyan'da and Binota ji.
Kudos to our own AG Alok for the excellent planning and effective execution. Rtn. Sonal Desai’s help for this needs to be appreciated by all of us (it is a secret that I am revealing now).
Dr. Manoj Desai
Bulletin Editor
