Month: October 2024
Sartorial standoff
Should old people wear new clothes? I ask this question in all seriousness because for the last ten years I have been engaged in a running battle with my wife over this. I prefer old clothes. Indeed I have done so all my life. Not just that. I also prefer the same colours — grey or khaki trousers, and a white or grey bush shirt. My determination to not deviate from this was reinforced about 30 years ago. Someone had presented me with a red shirt which I rarely wore. But one day I was obliged to wear it. I had to go to the railway station to bring someone. I was wearing khaki shorts that had been altered from my five-year-old khaki trousers.
Holistic health for longevity
Swedish sweat in the 19th century is the fountain-head of modern calisthenics — the prime source and course of western exercises today. It is believed that Swedish landlords were aghast when they saw the stooped and sagging peasants’ shoulders at work. The landlords wanted their subjects to be soldier-like in bearing. And hence, devised drills and movements on militarist lines. Erect spines and square shoulders were sought and taught through calisthenics.
Greenwashing or genuinely organic?
Are the products on supermarket shelves marked ‘green’ genuinely green? In a world where consumers are becoming increasingly environment-conscious, there is no dearth of marketers luring unsuspecting shoppers with labels such as “organic, chemical-free, 100 per cent natural, sustainable” or even “vegan”. These tags may appear on a range of goods, from food to cosmetics, and make half-true or often false claims.
Eyecare training for Nigerian doctors
Ophthalmologists in Nigeria will now take ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) seriously, thanks to a team of eyecare experts undergoing a vocational training programme (VTT) at Radhatri Nethralaya, an eye hospital in Chennai.
Organ Donation Awareness is needed
Organ donation is a life-saving act that transforms the lives of countless individuals. In India, the need for increased awareness about deceased organ donation is critical. Despite advancements
Glen Kinross: a thorough gentleman
Usha and I met Heather and Glen Kinross in March-April 1978 at the Rotary International Assembly in Boca Raton, Florida, US, as we both were Group Discussion Leaders. Next year, we again
Rice, roti and Rotary
For Hari Krishna Tripathi, a former executive engineer from the Electricity Department, Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, and his wife Madhulika, a dedicated social worker, mornings are far from typical.
Rotary responds to AP-Telangana flood crisis
The recent depression over the Bay of Bengal caused widespread flooding across Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana. The rainfall which began on August 30 intensified through the first week of September, with AP bearing the brunt. Over 27 per cent of the state’s annual rainfall occurred in just 48 hours; an IMD report explains that this extreme weather event was driven by a land-based cyclone, which drew moisture from both the Arabian Sea and the land heat of eastern India, the combination of which led to the two states witnessing an astonishing 500mm of rain in just 24 hours on August 31.
The joy of giving…
Breathes there a man… much more so, a woman… with a soul so dead, who is not happy to receive a gift… however big or
Cancer care diet for children
On July 1 this year, RC Thane Ghodbunder Road, RID 3142, launched Project Annapurna at the St Jude Childcare Centre in Parel, Mumbai, to provide nutritional support to 100 children undergoing cancer treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. “We aim to provide nourishing diet packs to 100 families with children battling cancer every week for the entire year,” said project coordinator Shankar Bhagat. Each carefully curated pack costs Rs.500 and the total project cost is estimated at Rs.26 lakh. The initiative will benefit less privileged children undergoing treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital and staying at all the 20 St Jude centres across Mumbai.
A heart care bus to help health camps in villages of RID 3212
In order to provide free and quality heart care to the villagers in all the seven revenue districts that come under RI District 3212, the district has acquired a state-of-the-art healthcare bus costing over Rs.1 crore.
This Rotarian is on a greening spree
Give a gift that keeps giving…. This is the motto of the charitable trust that Janet Yegneswaran, a past president (2017–18) of the Rotary Club of Bangalore Koramangala (RCBG), RID 3191, set up in memory and name of her late husband Rajanet Yegneswaran, a Rotarian of the same club, some 20 years ago.
Mumbai Rotarians help tribals of Palghar
Whether it is enhancing farmers’ income in tribal villages, providing wells in villages where women earlier had to walk across several km to carry water over their heads, giving modern educational aids to children in rural schools, or organising group weddings for Adivasis, the Rotary Club of Bombay Bay View, RID 3141, has done it all.
The Raja of Rotary hearts
Anybody travelling to Chandigarh for a Rotary-associated visit is bound to hear about Rajendra Saboo’s contributions to Rotary, not only as RI President, RI director, district governor or club president… but right from his early years.
Rotary installs AEDs to save lives
A 70-year-old architect was on a morning walk along Bandra’s Carter Road; he suddenly fumbled and collapsed on the pavement. Onlookers rush to him and respond in the usual way, some