CLUB EVENTS .... INSTALLATION NITE 8-7-2013

     INSTALLATION NITE  8-7-2013

The Rotary House of Friendship was resplendent in a sea of white carnations & roses from gate to stage on the occasion of the installation of the new office bearers of the Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore. The largest inner wheel club in the country on its way to becoming the largest in the world with more than 150 women of Substance had an aura of excitement on the occasion.

The fellowship table was bedecked with flower arrangements & so was the welcoming committee in lovely pink saris & matching jewelry. Welcoming smiles & chocolates ushered Rotarians & Annes to their seats by 7PM.

Rotary President Rtn Purnima Ranganath commenced the meeting on time & dispensed with formalities within 15 minutes to handover the proceeding to the outgoing Inner Wheel President Sudha Rao. The meeting started with a melodious rendition of prayer to Bhavani in Raag Bhairavi by Raji Hari followed by recital of inner wheel prayer by Geeta Gurunath. Outgoing President Sudha welcomed district officers, PDCs Presidents & Secretaries of other clubs & District Chairperson Asha Shailendra and Chief Guest Meena Ganesh.

Incoming President Prabha Pai was introduced by Raji Radhakrishnan. The ceremony of installation of the incoming President was done by outgoing president Sudha Rao. Prabha went on to request the dignitaries’ on the dais to light the lamp whilst members of the visually challenged group led by Dev Reddy & his band sang the prayer. IWCB donated Rs 12,200/- to the group to buy musical instruments, thanks to Geeta Poddar & Raji Deb for their largesse.

Geeta Shenoy introduced Dist. Chairperson Asha. She went on to install the office bearers of 2013-14. In her speech the chairperson unveiled the district plans for the year & urged members to participate in service activities wholeheartedly. In her acceptance speech incoming President Prabha inspired members by unveiling a meticulous plan for the coming year & the various projects the team intends to implement. “A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE” is this year’s theme, which intends to scrutinize the working of project established in the previous 5 years to assess their impact & efficacy & set on track if required.

Prabha’s team rightly called “WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE” was introduced by her as each office bearer walked up the staged for the investure of office by Dist Chair Asha Shailendra.

Usha Vijayarajan introduced the chief Guest Ms Meena Ganesh, social entrepreneur in the education sector, who along with her husband has many path-breaking start-up companies to their credit. An MBA graduate from IIM-C, a “WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE” herself spoke inspirational just by recounting her experiences in the corporate world.

Rotary President Purnima released the inaugural issue of “JYOTHI” the monthly news magazine of the IW club. The long standing patron & chief sponsor of the magazine Editor in Chief of Deccan Herald Rtn Tilak Kumar was thanked for his continued support. Manju Bhatia the editor of “Jyothi” announce the blog & E-Jyothi initiative of the committee while introducing its advantages & cost saving. She also introduced her tech savvy editorial team of Roda Langrana, Aruna & Tasneem Jiruwala.

Rotary President Rtn Purnima announced a lucky dip scheme for Annes attending Rotary meetings. A whopping Rs 10,000/- gift voucher from Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons, the iconic jewelry store of Bangalore owned by Rtn Hayagriv’s family. The first lucky winner of the year was yours truly.

Secretary Shalini Arvind announced installation projects. Chairperson of Fund-Raising Committee Raji Radha announced the establishing of “INNER WHEEL CLUB CHARITABLE EDUCATIONAL FUND”. This fund will go a long way in educating the girl child. A huge thanks to Rtn Arjun Menda who readily came forward to match the donations collected form members to the corpus. The fund was initially envisaged for Rs 10.0 lakhs out of which Rs 5.0 Lakhs was to be collected from members & the balance matched by Rtn Arjun. The motivation of President Prabha & Chair Radha enthused most senior members & new ones too who donated so generously that the contribution swelled to more than double. It is hoped that the fund would now have a corpus of Rs 25.0 Lakhs. Thanks to all the benevolent members & the generosity of Rtn Menda. All donors were recognized by the president.

The crisp meeting which was bang on schedule ended with a vote of thanks by Nanda Patil. The national anthem lead by Kavita, Nanda & your truly brought down the curtains to the formal function.

Guests swarmed up the stage to congratulate the incoming team & wish them well. A sumptuous buffet was enjoyed by all the attendees.

Dr. Shalini Vivek Prabhu

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