Manju, Babita, Gudiya, Hema, Rakhi and Kajal are happy that they can now read Hindi dailies, sign their names, and transact business (buying and selling) without help from others. These six middle-aged women employed as domestic helpers, shop assistants and doing unskilled work at Naukuchiatal, a hill station near Nainital, have completed their two-month Adult Literacy Programme (ALP) conducted by the Interactors of RC Nainital, RID 3110. All of them wrote the exam formulated by the Rotary India Literacy Mission, and got their certificates.

Over 400 people benefitted from a one-day medical camp organised by RC Elampillai, RID 2982, at ­Elampillai, a town near Salem, Tamil Nadu. The camp comprised diagnosis and treatment for eyes, ENT, varicose veins, and joint and shoulder. Cataract surgeries were performed for 200 people and physiotherapy sessions were scheduled for over 90 individuals with joint and shoulder issues, said club president Obuli Venkatesh.

Six Rotary clubs — RCs ­Coimbatore Town, Downtown, Uptown, Texcity, ­Centennial and ­Thondamuthur, RID 3201 — collaborated with the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University to organise a three-day Covai Flower Show at the 23-acre Botanical Gardens in Coimbatore. It was inaugurated by Agriculture minister M R K ­Panneerselvam and minister for Urban Development S Muthuswamy. Over 4 lakh people visited the show, said project chairman C Nagaraj. The district’s impactful service projects were prominently displayed on giant LED screens across the garden. The district is planning to organise a similar show in January 2025, said event secretary A Godwin. DG T R Vijayakumar presented the Rotary Vocational Excellence Award to the university vice chancellor V Geethalakshmi.

When the Department of Paediatrics, in partnership with the NGO Children in India, recently started an Autism Clinic at the government SMGS Hospital in Jammu to offer a range of services to children with autism and their families, the Rotary Club of Jammu Stars, RI District 3070, happily pitched in with some colourful, modern play equipment that was required for training and therapy for these children.

Renovating run-down anganwadis is a major project of RC Mysore South East, RID 3181, for the last four decades. These days, if the government-run creches in the neighbouring Ashokapuram and Vidyaranyapuram villages sport a spanking new look, it is thanks to the efforts of the club members. “Most of these anganwadis are poorly maintained and in bad shape — the doors and windows are creaky and broken, the paint is non-existent and the buildings generally look gloomy. Right from the club’s inception, our members decided to transform these ramshackle buildings into warm, welcoming homes. This is the least we can do for the little children who spend hours here when their parents, mostly construction or sanitation workers, are out on work,” says K N Muralidhara, president of this club which was chartered in 1983. He shares that all 64 members are involved hands-on in all the service projects being done by the club.

Supported by RC Pune Sports City, RID 3131, the Rotary Dialysis Centre at the Symbiosis University Hospital,

Rotary Club of Chandan Nagar, RID 3291, has entered into a partnership with L&T Construction Skills Training

Holding a pride of place at the transgender award ceremony titled Matram (change in Tamil) hosted by the Rotaract Club of Shri ­Krishnaswamy College for Women in Chennai was the veteran Noori Saleem, a transwoman from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, who emerged victorious after battling long years of societal pressure, taunting, and all other forms of humiliation and discrimination to create a home for over 300 HIV positive children abandoned by their families because of their infection.

The motive power of Rotary is friendship,” said Paul Harris at the Rotary Convention held in Edinburgh in 1921. The friendships that are forged between Rotarians can be the beginning of great things for our community.

Near the market yard of ­Panvel city in Raigad district of Maharashtra, a two-acre urban forest — Rotary Ghandat (dense in ­Marathi) Jungle — with a park in the front has sprung up, thanks to RC Panvel Central, RID 3131. This green hub has become a centre of attraction for locals and tourists alike.