Letters to the Editor – December 2017 issue
Rotary-GOI partnership
As soon as I receive Rotary News every month, I usually glance at the Editorial. The October Editorial, The power… to do good, inspired me.
It’s good to find the GoI seeking partnership with Indian Rotarians in the Universal Immunisation Programme. I feel proud that RI has established its credibility by achieving a near polio-free world. The two Indian Rotary icons, PRIPs Rajendra K Saboo and Kalyan Banerjee, are mainly responsible for Rotary’s dedicated service. We salute the duo with deep reverence.
Rotary’s partnership with the government is welcome but the need of the hour is to make the Rotarians of our zones aware of the ‘Plus’ theme. That Rotary’s service has caught our government’s attention is good. Both the DGs and PDGs have to work now to achieve the goals set out by the PolioPlus programme.
Arun Kumar Dash, RC Baripada — D 3262
RC Birmingham
The Editor’s interview with two icons of Birmingham Rotary club, USA — its President Fred Mccallum and Executive Director Susan Jackson — is informative and inspiring. Established in 1914, and with 640 members, the activities of this club are worth emulating. The members hail from top business and philanthropic organisations, and have spent millions of dollars in various projects such as school buildings, cancer detecting centres in Sri Lanka, and has the biggest Rotaract club with 290 members. God bless the members for their selfless service.
G V Sayagavi, RC Davanagere Vidyanagar — D 3160
Simple ideas matter a lot
You have rightly said in the Editorial that “most beautiful things come in small packages”. We also had a small package campaign of banner messages that read No Horn, Do Not Smoke and Wear Helmet While Driving at four petrol pumps in Kolkata. It blossomed into a much larger image building exercise. Over one lakh vehicle users read the message. A simple idea scaled into a huge momentum.
Piyush Doshi, RC Belur — D 3291
A wonderful, unusual Governor
In the article Meet your Governors (November issue), I find Governor Dr Zamin Hussain’s attitude rather different. He collects only Rs 50 as consultation fee from his patients, thus justifying the theme: Service Above Self.
It is surprising to observe that when a Rotarian approached this DG last year and said he would give to TRF during his tenure, he had said “Why wait for my year? Why not now? People’s suffering can’t wait. Your timely donation will help people when it is most needed.”
A wonderful reply.
N Jagatheesan, RC Eluru — D 3020
Exclusive world of books
Sandhya Rao’s article Gifting ideas reminds me of my time spent in browsing books in Shimla’s bookshops. Maria, the shop that I never miss, has a good collection of old titles, and I always spend at least half-an-hour here. An old shop on Mall Road, I once found an issue of Punch magazine dated way back to 1895!
This British magazine laced with humour, satire and cartoons was very popular, but unfortunately, ceased publication in 1996.
H S Khurana, RC Ludhiana — D 3070
Informative article
An article on Dr Amar Agrawal and glued IOL surgery is very much informative. No doubt he is a pioneer for IOL surgery. But he is not a Rotarian and hence, such a detailed article is not justified. We are looking forward to the publication of articles on the contribution of Rotary in the UN formation, the memories of late Rtn Inder Kumar Gujral and Rtn JRD Tata, who were active Rotarians in their times.
Sanat Jain, RC Raipur Heritage — D 3261
A thumbs up survey
Congratulations to Team Rotary News as the online survey has shown that 82 per cent of the readers are happy over the quality of the magazine, while 70 per cent have given a thumbs up on the topics. But still there is scope for improvement.
D P Muniyappa, RC Kolar Gold Fields – D 3190
Congratulations on your big success as Rotary News-Survey Analysis Results, in the November issue, depicted positive responses. Hope you will contribute further and achieve bigger goals in the years to come.
Krish Chitale, RC Madras — D 3232
A great November issue
Once again, an excellent November issue. The cover photo of the children is captivating. Thank you, madam photographer. The inside cover picture of the Board of Directors has just one lady and I do hope soon a lady occupies the central position of the RI President! We hope to see a lady in a saree soon in such a picture.
Compliments to Team Rotary News — Jaishree and V Muthukumaran, designers Krishnapratheesh, N Krishnamurthy and L Gunasekaran, Kiran Zehra, Sandhya Rao, Sabita Radhakrishna and Sheela Nambiar as well.
It was good to see thumbs up for the magazine in your survey; the credit goes to Editor Rasheeda and her team. I was thrilled to know our District 3000 has the largest number of Rotaract and Interact clubs (Membership Summary).
Your editorial and cover story on pure drinking water was great and we noted that the Editor and Jaishree have written so many articles.
Nan Narayenen
RC Madurai West — D 3000
The November issue is lovely and fantastic right from the cover page to the last.
I enjoyed reading each and every page. In particular, the Survey Analysis Results impressed me the most; the results were as expected by us! A small request — incorporate two photos for every district in Club Matters as this will encourage the clubs to take up more activities.
K A S Jagabar Sadik
RC Nagore — D 2981
Nice to see Rotary News is improving in a big way. I suggest that you focus on green issues by giving it a special place in the magazine and carry articles on green buildings, rain water harvesting and water recycling.
Pramod Chaugule
RC Krishna Valley — D 3170
The coverage, quality and in-depth articles in the November issue are truly good. Congrats.
Perumal Murugan
RC Nagercoil Golden City — D 3212
A big “Thank you” for the lovely article Giving Dignity to the Forgotten in the November issue.
Cdr Pradeep Bahri, Secretary
RC Delhi South — D 3011
Shudhu tablets: A laudable project
Hats off to Rotarians of RC Jalna Midtown in Maharashtra for taking up laudable and replicable projects (Shuddha Jal, November) to provide pure drinking water to school children and the community. My compliments to the Editor for covering and gathering details about Shudhu tablets and Project Taral by visiting the areas personally and writing the eight-paged beautiful article Shuddha Jal which will motivate other clubs to replicate this project. These Rotarians are really rending service to mankind. The Editor’s apt headline for her Editorial: An exemplary, replicable, scalable project, and her opening remarks: “Some of the most beautiful things come in small packages” and the statement that a small and simple idea that is replicable and can be easily scaled up are appreciable.
The Editorial rightly states that by taking care of the health care and educational needs of our children, Rotary clubs in India are making an invaluable contribution to India’s march towards progress and development. Rotarians are doing what the Governments can’t do.
Again Giving dignity to the forgotten by Rasheeda Bhagat is a wonderful project RC Delhi South has taken up with the Inner Wheel members. Gifting ideas by Sandhya Rao, Rotary partners HRD and Drinking water and Sanitation ministries by Shekhar Mehta are other articles of value and worth reading.
Raising awareness on organ donation by Team Rotary News is a noteworthy project of RC Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. DG Bagh Singh Pannu has delivered a lecture on awareness among school children. Organ donation is the best gift one can give to others and much more needs to be done for creating more awareness.
Raj Kumar Kapoor, RC Roopnagar — D 3080
