In a world getting increasingly divided by strife, prejudices, conflict and violence, one of the strongest and most relevant points, particularly relevant to our country, that RI President Holger Knaack made at the virtual convention pertained to racism. Addressing the district governors and club presidents, he made

After joining the Rotary News Trust as Editor over five years ago, I have covered from ground zero only three conventions — at Seoul, Atlanta and Hamburg — and enjoyed the colour, vibrations, energy, passion, vigour, an eclectic mix of cultures and regions and so many other

Who had ever imagined that we would live in a time like this, when we would be scared of meeting and interacting with our own friends, colleagues, or our favourite local grocery guy? As we quake with fear and put off all travel to the most exotic

The speed, alacrity and heart with which the entire Rotary world, particularly Rotarians in India, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic is heart-warming. Without any nudging from anybody, India Rotarians quickly reached relief in terms of critical hospital equipment, sanitisers, masks, PPEs, and cooked meals to lakhs of

I happened to be in Mexico City and watched with fascination and admiration the call given by a collective of Mexican women’s associations to observe this year’s International Women’s Day (March 8) by simply disappearing from public places — offices, public transportation, grocery stores, restaurants, shopping malls…

Over the last five years, almost all the RI Presidents have told me that no place on earth celebrates Rotary events as colourfully and grandly as Rotarians do in India. Forget a Zone Institute which has so much of colour, music, dance and dazzle, even a district

When RI President-elect Holger Knaack unveiled his theme at the International Assembly — Rotary Opens Opportunities — the first recall was of RI Director Bharat Pandya’s pet mantra on Rotary being all about “hope and opportunities”. As Rotary Club of Calcutta celebrated its 100th birthday bang on

The Indore Institute, with RI Director Bharat Pandya as convener and Raju (T N) Subramanian as chairman, is bound to be remembered for a long time, for several factors. One, it was held at Indore, a city that has not been on too many people’s bucket list of

Reading and rereading classics is a constant source of joy for me. It amazes me that every couple of years when I revisit my favourites such as Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, or Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss; Harper

While I am not an admirer of little girls being made to walk the ramp, or sing and dance in television competitions, a news item of 9-year-old Daisy-May Demetre, a physically-challenged girl from Birmingham, walking the ramp in Paris caught the eye. This because she was endorsing

After the Godhra tragedy and the riots that followed in Gujarat in 2002, I went to Ahmedabad as a journalist to report on the ground situation. Seventeen years have gone by, but I vividly remember, as though it had been told to me yesterday, the reply I