METRO MUSING 27

Dear Friends,

Last meeting became most memorable due to large number of friends remaining present. Total attendance 45 of which 30 were our own members and 15 guests in which 3 prospective members remained present.

Prayer was sung by Hon. Secretary in her melodious voice.

Then President expressed herself about how the year has gone by. President was lucid in her expressions, of her apprehensions, rock solid support of members and the outstanding results that we have achieved. She learnt many lessons of voluntary service, significant donations, sincerity in appeal and service to humanity. While she conveyed her contentment of serving well, she committed to President (E) Premal that she would continue to be active and supportive during his year also. Everyone applauded her feelings and Sir ji, as Past President, requested everybody to give her a standing ovation for an outstanding year to us.

Then was the time for the nostalgic memories of the year through a power point presentation of about 70 slides. It was fascinating to see significant services alongwith great fellowship and everyone enjoyed the same thoroughly.

Then President (E) Premal gave gist of the resolutions made during last Joint Board Meeting.

Then was the time for both IYE students Sidharth and Solal. Due to technical difficulties of incompatibility of computer and data projector, Solal was brought in first who tried to show glimpses of France in a nice way. He had a little difficulty but was quite expressive. Then it was Sidharth's turn who gave a short and sweet presentation about his impression about the country and the people. The meeting ended at 10.00 p.m. (partly due to late start) and fellowship / dinner continued till 11.00 p.m.

President Sharmishtha started a new trend and she gave T-shirt to everybody. As per our original decision, one was given free and everyone paid for the second T-shirt.

A good surprise was the presence of Col. Ranadive - Charter Member and Charter Secretary during this meeting. He was happy to see a robust adult which he had left in teens. Everyone applauded his efforts and presence. President gave a small gift to him to remember. President also recognized the achievers of our Club who have scored excellent results as well as IYE students of our club.

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

METRO MUSING 26

Dear Friends,

Decisions of Joint Board Meeting

Very well attended Joint Board Meeting. 17 Members remained present for this Joint Board Meeting at President (E) Premal's residence. The meeting was started early in order to have adequate time for discussions on important matters for the next year like Projects, Budget, etc.

President Sharmishtha welcomed all the Members and appreciated them for registering in large numbers for the District Assembly, because of which our Club got recognition. She also appealed to all Members to attend District Events in large numbers in future as well.

Then the topic of Atmanirbhar was discussed. President (E) Premal has worked hard and finally completed the pending work of compiling the bills in the necessary format for Matching Grant. Everything has been done and the bills have been raised.

1. Dediapada Camp - Rs.66,525.00

2. Pavijetpur Camp - Rs.82,616.00

3. Chhotaudepur Camp - Rs.1,16,170.50

4. Hansot Camp - Rs.26,685.00

5. Dashrath Camp - Rs.97,683.00

6. Godhra Camp - Rs.70,862.00

All the three contacts namely Nileshbhai, President Sharmishtha and President (E) Premal have verified and signed the bills. The Board passed resolution to issue the cheques with a request that every camp's account should be settled within a week's time from now onwards.

She then invited Treasurer Anilbhai for bird's eye view of accounts so far. It was heartening to see significant surplus, inspite of clearing the previous liability, many projects and eventful year. It was unanimously decided that funds will be earmarked for following specific projects:

1. Rs.2.00 lacs for Project Sanjeevani

2. About Rs.1.20 lac for Polio Corrective Surgery

Rtn. Pinky Patel gave cheque of Rs.1.00 lac on behalf of her uncle for Project Sanjeevani (total Rs.2.00 lacs given this year). She also expressed feelings of her uncle and announced that he would be sponsoring one Dialysis Machine (total cost Rs.5.00 lacs) in the next year. He has given this Rs.2.00 lacs towards that project and hence the same is earmarked.

Everybody applauded Treasurer Anilbhai's clarity and the hard work done so far in maintaining the accounts.

Then President requested everyone of RCBM Clan to come for 10th June meeting, which is going to be her last meeting as she is leaving for Montreal Convention after that. She also requested everyone to celebrate Charter Night in a big way as it is the beginning of our Silver Jubilee Year.

President announced that our Piggy Bank Collection has reached Rs.45,000.

Finally she invited President (E) Premal Smart to unfold the plans of his dream year.

President (E) Premal was full of ideas and innovations about meeting day, budget, projects, etc. The meeting format will be changed to 2 dinner meetings a month, one Project meeting and one meeting will be hosted by different families. He has put more thrust for attendance in Projects. Then he presented the budget while explaining the difficulties due to price rise, Rotary International fee rise, etc. After healthy discussions, it was decided that the club fees for the next year will be Rs.8500 per Rotarian and Rs.5500 for spouses and family members of Rotarians. He stressed the point that Project Sanjeevani and Project Atmanirbhar are going to be the centre of attraction and focused attention will be given to them. A system has been created for billing and hopefully from next time onwards bills will be settled within a week's time after every camp.

Everyone present pledged support to President (E) Premal for the year 2010-11.

Fellowship after the meeting was centered around new projects, new members, etc. Everyone thanked the host family for the excellent hospitality.

NEXT MEETINGS

6th June - Atmanirbhar Camp at Dashrath

10th June - Family Meeting - Please do attend.

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

LAST MEETING - 20/05/2010

Dear Friends,

It was very interesting - Bird's Eye View of GSE visit to Sri Lanka by our own Ms. Niyati Walter. We have known her as Rotaract President but now she has proven her ambassadorial qualities. for Rotary Club of Baroda Metro and RI Dist. 3060. It is difficult to describe the sharp, sweet and meaningful presentations that she gave. She gave us two presentations, the first one was short about herself and our club and in the second presentation she described her experience of visit to Sri Lanka. Picture quality was good. Her smile was impeccable and she used the language of heart. Those who did not attend, certainly missed something special. Don't worry as there is a possibility of another opportunity to know her and to listen to her as she has granted request of President Dr. Sharmishtha and agreed to become a Rotarian in the coming year i.e. the way she wants to express here gratitude for this wonderful GSE experience because of RCBM's initiative and her hard work. Her talk was followed by question and answer session and there were many questions about the life style, Rotary in Sri Lanka, etc., which she answered really well.

President then invited "Sir ji" - Rtn. P.S. Grover to recite the prayer which he beautifully sang in Punjabi language.

President gave crisp opening remarks of the happenings at Club Level and at District Level. She reminded members of the forthcoming District Assembly at Anand on Sunday the 30th of May. I just overheard Mitesh talking to Premal that we have got 16 commitments. Since it is going to be Silver Jubilee Year, President (E) Premal is targeting at 25. Any more takers?

Do not forget our camp on 22nd / 23rd May at Godhra - C.V. Shah Balmandir, Prabhakunj Society, Nr. B.V. Gandhi Petrol Pump, Godhra. Those who have committed should reach Rotary Hall, Opp. Raj Laxmi Complex, Race Course at 7.00 a.m. sharp on 22nd and23rd May. Cars would leave together latest by 7.10 a.m. Let us not be late and punish the physically challenged people in this summer of 43 degree centigrade.

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

NEWS WORTH KNOWING

1. President Dr. Sharmishtha Desai has been invited to do Inter-Faith Service (Prayer) on Hinduism alongwith its translation just prior to opening of Montreal Convention on 20th June between 10.00 to 11.00 a.m. at Palais des Congres.

2. 3rd operated Polio Patient Ankita has taken the first step on the ground after birth. I wish I could share with you all tears of joy in her mother's eyes alongwith folded hands to express her gratitude.

3. Our Ambassador Dr. Manoj Desai has been / will be going to the following places:

1. 4th April - PETS, RI Dist. 3060 at Baroda.

2. 10th / 11th April - PETS, RI Dist. 3131 at Goa.

3. 17th / 18th April - PETS, RI Dist. 3291 at Kolkata

4. 24th / 25th April - PETS and District Assembly, RI Dist.3250 at Shillong.

5. 2nd May - Membership Seminar, RI Dist. 3230 at Chennai

6. 8th / 9th May - District Assembly, RI Dist. 3260 at Raipur

7. 15th / 16th May - District Assembly, RI Dist. 3080 at Dehradun

8. 29th May - Membership Seminar, RI Dist. 3030 at Nasik

9. 30th May - District Assembly, RI Dist. 3060 at Vallabh Vidyanagar.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES - MAY 2010

METRO MUSING 25

Dear Friends,

Kudos to RCBM Clan for making a difference to two lives by corrective surgeries. They are able to walk for the first time in their lives! Kindly find pictures of two operated patients - (1) Vipul - fitted with Left Side above knee Prosthesis and (2) Kanta - now walking with above Knee Caliper. The smile on their faces while taking the first step was worth witnessing!
BOARD MEETING
Venue - Residence of Rtn. Nilesh Patel
Date - 4th May, 2010.
Highlight of the meeting was the excellent attendance and presence of AG Alok. President welcomed everybody at 8.30 and after the opening remarks appreciated the hard work put in by many members under the leadership of Rtn. Nileshbhai for four camps of Atmanirbhar - (1) Pavijetpur, (2) Chhotaudepur, (3) Hansot and (4) Dashrath - all during last 10 days. More than 600 patients were seen. Vow! The total number of beneficiaries of the three camps are:
(1) Pavijetpur - 92
(2) Chhotaudepur - 118
(3) Hansot - 31
Some of the items like Hand Splints, Ortho Shoes are not covered in the Matching Grant and hence will not be accounted but all said and done, this is a big, big help to the real needy (Below Poverty Line). Also kits were given to make them earn their livelihood. All those who remained present thanked Almighty for giving us this opportunity to serve others.
Lessons learnt and suggestions received from all Rotarians who remained present were discussed in the meeting. They are as follows:
1. Involvement of General Practioner, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Physiotherapist and Specialist for differently abled children is a must as their technical input is a must for who needs which help.
2. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the camp should be finalized for recording General Number, Screening, Registrations and Measurements. Responsibility is taken up by IPP Rajan Bhatt. He is free to select his two team members to finalize this.
3. Involvement of Rotarians is very good as in every camp there were more than 8 to 10 Rotarians, but still everyone felt that visibility of Rotary and involvement of Rotarians is vital for the success of the camp with effective P.R.
4. Proper publicity required - at least six number of banners should be displayed at different places in the village / town (in order to avoid low turn out like at Hansot).
5. We can improve upon the quality of calipers and prosthesis with the help of our Technical Input from Engineers. A trial should be given at the earliest. 6. Everyone appreciated the efforts of Shroff Foundation Trust as they have excellent follow up as well as counselling after prosthesis and calipers are given to make sure that they use it.
7. A good suggestion was given that we should create a team consisting of our staff members and train them for technical work. 8. More than once it was suggested that better organization for registration and routing the patients is required.
9. C.P. Mentally Retarded Patients and Hemiplegic should be sent for Physiotherapy and not for Aids, which they are not going to use.
10. Everyone strongly felt that the camps have to be on Saturday / Sunday as during week days it becomes difficult to devote time and that too for one week.
11. We should make it a point to provide food for all patients as they are physically challenged and there are hardly any arrangements in these remote places. The causes were discussed and it was decided that this will not be repeated.
12. We should give printed cards with details (address and phone number) of Jaipur Foot Centre, Nav Durga Trust, Polio Surgery Foundation - Ahmedabad, Arpan School for Mentally Retarded Children and Dr. Manoj Desai's Hospital to patients while guiding them to the correct places.

At the end, everyone committed to the cause and decided to put their might into the next camp on 22nd / 23rd May at Godhra with Standard Operating Procedures. Three teams have been finalized:
(A) Pre-execution Team consisting of Pinky, Alok and Vijay.
(B) Execution Team for 22nd May - Manoj, Sharmishtha and Pratima.
(C) Execution Team for 23rd May - Manisha, Premal and Nandkishor.

MEETINGS DURING THIS MONTH
13th May - Business Meeting over Hi-Tea. 20th May - Family Dinner Meeting in which our GSE Team Member Ms. Niyati will give her presentation on her visit to Sri Lanka.

Dr. Manoj Desai
Bulletin Editor

METRO MUSING 24

Dear Friends,

President welcomed everybody and invited Rtn. Ahmed Munavvari to recite the prayer in Arabic. Friends, this has happened for the first time. He did it in a beautiful way and explained the meaning of the prayer. It was appreciated by all. RCBM is truly a Trendsetters' Club. Then President invited Jt. Secretary Rtn. Utkarsh Hathi to recite the 4-Way Test.

This was yet another meaningful meeting with great fellowship before and after (from 7.45 to 10.20), without losing focus on Project Atmanirbhar. At 8 O'clock the meeting started and as per request from new Member, few senior Rotarians briefly introduced themselves.

Then Preisdent Sharmishtha invited new Rtn. Shahnaz Tayyibji. In less than 7 minutes she introduced herself in a unique way. She narrated about her journey from childhood and the lessons learnt because of transferable job of her father Mr. Tayyibji, who was then an IAS Officer (Vow!). She narrated her experiences vividly and everybody gasped when they heard that she had opportunity to have pets like deers (nothing new) but six lion cubs (Vow! Vow!). While she was talking, it occurred to me that she looks and talks like Indira Gandhi, remembering Jawaharlal Nehru and the childhood. They settled down in Baroda finally where she did her studies and later on settled in Mumbai with her husband who was practicing law.

Her son is a well known architect, married an architect and happily settled. She faced crisis in life when her daughter was seriously ill and she came down to Baroda to be with her but unfortunately she lost her. She was faced with a dilemma - What to do? Where to go? At that time she was introduced to Friends Society and she again found the joy and meaning of life. When she heard about Atmanirbhar Project and heard our talks, she felt that this is a club worth joining. Now she is our member for many months and has committed to make a difference. She is an Educationist and is one of the key persons in running Muslim Education Society with more focus on education of girls. She has joined our club with classification of Educationist. We welcome Shahnaz to the club of Pathfinders, Trendsetters and Difference Makers.

Significant time was allocated to Project Atmanirbhar. After that, meeting of Primary Contacts, Treasurer Anil, Secretary Pratima and PDG Manoj was held last week and the guidelines were decided which were informed to all Members.

Listed below are the points discussed and agreed for the MG PROJECT "AATMANIRBHAR" concerning documentation, record keeping and modus operendi of payment.

1. All Registers and Registration Forms must have following names printed on it:
- PROJECT "AATMANIRBHAR"

- TRF MG Project - 70325.
- Rotary Club of Baroda Metro.
- Rotary Club of Jackson Breakfast.
- Shree Navdurga Seva Trust.

2. Shree Navdurga Seva Trust will maintain the hard copy of the all the Visiting Patient Register and Form of Patient who has received the benefit at the Camp, signed / Thumb marked. Seperate List of patients who has received the benefit at the camp will be listed separately and soft copy of the same will be emailed and kept for the record of following persons:

Sharmistha Desai, Manoj Desai, Premal Smart and Nilesh Patel.

3. At the end of the camp, Total Expense Statement of the items distributed under the MG should be prepared at the agreed rate of TRF MG, to be signed by the 3 contact persons Sharmishtha Desai, Premal Smart & Nilesh Patel and the same amount bill will be raised on RCBM by Shree Mahavir Vikalang Samiti for payment. Payment must be done to SMVS for each camp separately.

4. Soft copy of Pictures, posters etc. shall be maintained of each camp for possible RI audit.

PAVIJETPUR & CHHOTAUDEPUR CAMPS

Dates - 23rd to 25th April, 2010

Five doctors have committed their time due to Shroff Foundation. The details were discussed and it was decided that we should have six Rotarians minimum for each Camp to look after (one for each room for Counseling and making patients comfortable):

1. Room No. 1 - For Orthosis

2. Room No. 2 - For Prosthesis

3. Room No. 3 - For Wheel Chairs and Tricycles

4. Room No. 4 - For Polio Corrective Surgery patients to enroll

5. Room No. 5 - For Kits for earning livelihood to be given

6. One of us has to look after distribution of food at lunch time and water arrangement for differently abled people and their relatives (see the blog of Dediapada camp where Vrajesh and Anilbhai effectively did it).

In addition to this there would be Camp Incharge who would take care of coordinating, travel arrangement as well as enroute fellowship.

It was encouraging to see the following Rotarians volunteer their time for the Camp:

23rd April -Pavijetpur

Alok

Nilesh

Pinky

Vijay

Manisha

Premal

Rajan

Himanshu

Rishiraj

24th April - Chhotaudepur

Nilesh

Leena

Sharmishtha

Sonal

Ahmedbhai

Iqbal

Premal
Rajan

Manisha

26th April - Hansot
Nilesh

Vijay
Pinky

Shahnaz

Shantibhai

Bijal - Rishiraj

Sumul

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

UPDATE ON PETS / SETS

Dear Friends,

Here are the glimpses of PETS as seen from President (E) Premal Smart's eye. Please note that we have an important meeting to finalize the details - modus operandi about Atmanirbhar Mega Camp at two places starting from 23rd April to 29th April. All those who have volunteered please make it point to come and know your role in order to have a effective Camp.

Jai Ho Difference Makers!

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor.

PETS & SETS - 4th April, 2010

Dear Friends,

Yet another success - shall I say a 'Golden Feather in the cap of RCBM!' Under the Chairmanship of AG Alok Desai and Presidentship of Dr. Sharmishtha Desai, RCBM successfully hosted PETS & SETS. The total number of delegates present were 124.

Hotel Surya Palace saw a flurry of activities from 6.45 a.m. in the morning. Nearly 20 Club Members and 3 Annets were present from 7.30 and taking care of their assigned jobs. At 8.15 a.m. delegates started arriving. Pictures will tell you the story of our success. Annets of RCBM who were traditionally dressed welcomed the Guests with tikka and spouses with rose buds. Leaders arrived and everybody enjoyed breakfast till 9.00.a.m.

Time Management was its best with DT Ashok Panjwani and DGE Devang Thakore. Dot at 9.00 a.m. they started the meeting without worrying for the late comers and absentees. Speakers did a marvellous job. Chairman Alok welcomed every one in his unique style highlighting Baroda's importance in many other fields including cricket.

DGE and DT were to the point and delivered their crisp speeches in time. Discovery of the day - Chief Guest PDG Dr. Ulhas Kolhatkar from Mumbai delivered master piece on the subject of Leadership. His speech will be remembered for a long time to come. He was flawless in English, Hindi and Marathi with Sanskrit Shlokas and anecdotes - not to forget history as well. Spontaneous standing ovation was testimony of his beautiful speech.

All the Speakers did a good job and after lunch for nearly two hours Group Discussions were held with each AG and four to five Club Presidents with PDGs as Resource Persons. A successful new experiment. All Presidents have filled up the required forms - hands on experience works wonders! Finally, it was the time of 45 minutes interactive session on 'Manage Your Time and Improve Communication Skills by PDG Dr. Manoj Desai, who lived upto the audiences' expectations with subtle examples without losing focus on Rotary.

Concluding Session was short, which was followed by distribution of certificates to the Presidents. President Sharmishtha proposed vote of thanks.

One more time KUDOS to RCBM Clan.

TODAY'S MEETING - BUSINESS MEETING at 7.30 - HI-TEA FOLLOWED BY MEETING AT HOTEL SURYA PALACE.

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

METRO MUSING 23

Dear Friends,

LAST MEETING

It was a Sleek and Effective Meeting of 60 minutes was appreciated by all. There were 28 participants. After the crisp Opening Remarks, President felicitated four youngsters namely:

Milan Vyas

Dharmesh Vyas

Dhruv Pathak

Harshil Khatri

Their contribution at the time of NID was excellent. They moved house to house and managed the booth well till the close of the day. In fact some of the Members requested them to start an Rotaract Club with their friends. They are thinking about it. Keep your fingers crossed, we might have yet another baby!

President thereafter introduced 2 new Members - (1) Rtn. Sudhir Shethi and (2) Rtn. Leena Smart. Their classification, bio-data, phone numbers and address will be posted on the blog later.

Then President invited AG Alok Desai to formally induct both the Members to RCBM Clan. They were welcomed by everyone present.

President briefly touched upon Project Atmanirbhar for which President (E) Premal is going to chalk out the plan. For the want of Chairman Nileshbhai dicussion of plan could not take place.

Then President invited Chairman for PETS & SETS Alok Desai to give update about the job on hand for PETS & SETS on 4th April. Chairman Alok appraised members about the team work which is going to get us success. He briefly narrated the names of Volunteers with their responsibilities and updated about the happenings.

At 9.10 p.m. the meeting was over after singing the national anthem. It is heartening to see wonderful fellowship over the dinner for nearly an hour.

Dr. Manoj Desai

Bulletin Editor

LAST MEETING 18/03/2010

Dear Friends,

LAST MEETING - 18th March, 2010

Family Fellowship Meet hosted by Rtn. Dilip Shah and Ann Sandhya Shah was certainly a class apart. A new milestone in hospitality was created by Shahs'. Nearly 40 persons enjoyed the fellowship. Those who did not come missed out in a big way. Italy was flown into their house for the evening which lasted till 11.30 p.m. Spirits of RCBM soared so high that no other spirits were called for.

President showed a beautiful DVD on Polio - A Short Film which was nominated for Oscar last year. It is Rotary's polio efforts and the video has been filmed in collaboration with Google.org.

Rtn. Rachna, Rtn. Ashish and family put in lot of efforts to make it more entertaining with Quiz and Tambola. The food was so good that everyone wanted to say Yeh Dil Mange More - Dilip you need to think about our request.

Kindly find three pictures of fellowship below.

NEWS MAKER

Hearty Congratulations to SiddharthVrajesh Shah for being selected for short term IYE for France. Congratulations to proud parents as well.

IMPORTANT - NEXT MEETING - 25/03/2010 - Dinner Meeting - Hotel Surya Palace

1. Two new Members will be inducted into Rotary fold - (i) Sudhir Sethi & (ii) Mrs. Leena Smart.
2. Briefing Session by Chairman Alok Desai about PETS & SETS.
3. Yet another polio patient from Dediapada camp has been admitted for operation - Ankita Bharat Vasava. She will be operated tomorrow. Don't you think friends it is our earnest duty to care for these underserved ones? - That's the real Rotary Spirit. Arpan welcomes you at your convenient time... A cup of teach is guaranteed if it is between 3.30 to 5.30 p.m.

REMEMBER it is a dinner meeting so all please come to welcome new members and plan for upcoming PETS / SETS.

Dr. Manoj Desai - Bulletin Editor