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Rotary Calcutta - RI Files | |
| RIP KALYAN BANERJEE | ||
| Kolkata Visit 15-Jul-2011 |
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RI PRESIDENT KALYAN BANERJEE
________________________________________________________ VISITS KOLKATA 15 JULY 2011 This date will be etched in the minds of 4000 + Rotarians of R.I. District 3291 as a golden day in their lives. This was the day when First Lady Binota and R.I. President Kalyan Banerjee paid a visit to Kolkata. They were received at the airport by RI Director Shekhar Mehta and his spouse Rashi, District Governor Angsuman Bandyopadhyay and First lady of RID 3291 Jaya, a host of district officials and Rotarians from eight clubs. On their way into the city, they were welcomed at four different points and in each, RIP Kalyan Banerjee and First Lady Binota alighted from their car to meet the enthusiastic Rotarians and their families who greeted him and the First Lady with banners and posters. A total of ten billboards and nine LED display boards depicting photographs of the First Couple of Rotary and welcoming them had been arranged to offer a great welcome to the couple who originated from this city. They were accompanied by journalists of Doordarshan Kolkata from the airport to Hotel Taj Bengal and R.I. President Kalyan Banerjee was interviewed by them. After a brief stop over at RID Shekhar Mehta's residence, they made their way to Taj Bengal where another group of enthusiastic Rotarians and the entire District Secretariat gave them a warm welcome. After lunch, R I President and First Lady, RID and his spouse, DG and his spouse and PDG Ravi Sehgal along with his spouse paid a visit to the famous Writers' Building the seat of the State Government, to meet Honorable Chief Minister of West Bengal Ms Mamata Banerjee. The CM of West Bengal discussed many issues with RI President of which the most important were her request for medical camps in the tribal Jangal Mahal, distance education for rural children, toilets in schools especially for girl children and planting of 2,00,000 fruit bearing trees. Also promised to her were 100 heart surgeries for poor children in West Bengal. The meeting ended amicably with the presentation of the RI Theme set in crystal and a Paul Harris Fellow recognition to the Hon. Chief Minister by RIP Kalyan Banerjee. The electronic media of Kolkata covered this visit to Writers' Building in details. By 3 pm, RIP Kalyan, RID Shekhar and DG Angsuman were meeting the press of Kolkata in the Mandarin Room of Taj Bengal. This was a very meaningful event and most of the noted print media houses were represented. Following the address of the RIP, a very interactive session took place, reflections of which were evident in the following day's newspapers. From 4 to nearly 5:30 pm, Kalyan Banerjee met the who's who of Kolkata ~ ranging from the captains of industry to artists, dancers, musicians, singers, representatives of the diplomatic corps, representatives from different non governmental agencies, entrepreneurs, actors, government officials and other leaders in society. In his address he spoke about his vision and looked forward to partnerships in the good work that Rotary does in the world. The R.I. President along with his spouse, RI Director Shekhar and his spouse, DG Angsuman, PDG Ravi Sehgal and his spouse and IPP Sushil Bagla of RC Calcutta then proceeded to meet His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal Sri M.K.Narayanan at the Raj Bhavan. There too, Kalyan Banerjee had serious discussions about working in the tribal areas, especially in the fields of health care and education. His Excellency also advised the delegation to uphold the 4 Way Test amongst the youth of West Bengal as corruption was so rampant in the society. RI President Kalyan Banerjee then made a presentation of the RI Theme set in crystal and a Paul Harris Fellow recognition to His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal. Incidentally, His Excellency is an Honorary Rotarian of RC Calcutta-the first Rotary Club of India. The crowd at Vidya Mandir auditorium was unbelievable! Rotarians, their spouses, Rotaractors, Interactors, Inner Wheel members and RCC members had gathered from early evening to ensure they got seats to listen to their beloved "Kalyan da". It was almost 7:30 pm when amidst the music of "shehnai", the RIP President and his ever smiling spouse were accorded a warm welcome along with a welcome dance by young students. Four young Interactors gave their enunciation of this year's R.I. Theme "Reach Within to Embrace Humanity". The dignitaries were introduced by PDG Debasish Mitra as they were welcomed to the stage. DG Angsuman gave a brief round up of Kalyan Banerjee's hectic yet eventful schedule in Kolkata while visuals were shown on the screens. As RID Shekhar introduced the Rotary International President, he mentioned that he was the quintessential Rotarian, the Boardroom Rotarian as well as the grassroots Rotarian. He made a few promises on behalf of R I District 3291 to the R I President such as 1 million dollars to TRF, the best public image projects, working in tandem with the government, mega projects and a polio-free India. PDG Nayantara Palchoudhury was in charge of the formal introduction of Kalyan Banerjee and his family. After an interesting audio-visual introduction of the First Couple of Rotary, Kalyan Banerjee's sister Mrs Kona Mukherjee, his brother Mr Ashish Banerjee and his wife were invited on stage and felicitated. Shawls, memento, flowers and a gift were handed over to the First Couple of the Rotary world. Kalyan Banerjee enthralled the audience by greeting them as "My brothers and sisters in Rotary" and then stating, "We are what we are because you are what you are!" After reminiscing about the Past Governors of this district, he remarked that it was indeed, very remarkable that there were 2 Kolkata persons on the Board of Rotary. He emphasized on the importance of polio eradication and stated that since one stray case had been detected in West Bengal but for the past so many months there had been no recurrence here so probably the last chapter of the conquest of polio was probably being written here in West Bengal. We reminded the Rotarians that by maintaining the "no polio" status for three years, we would be able to say India is polio – free. Commenting on his experience of the day, he said "Today has been a day I will not forget in a long time. He recounted his visits to the Governor and Chief Minister of the state and then talked about the Indian flag in Evanston and how all eyes were on India in 2012. He said this was the time to be the change that we wish to see in the world. While explain how one can reach within to embrace humanity, he said it was possible by doing that which we are good at doing. However, he commented that even though he had thought that those from the Indian culture and ethos would understand this, he has found out that even those who are not from here have understood this. "You look inside yourself ~ that's where you will find the strength~ the vision for the future~ that is, only when you will it," said he. RI President Kalyan related the quality Distance Education project taken up by R.I. District 3131 (Pune) as the only solution to education problems in our country. He suggested that if a needy school is willing to spare one room, this project may take off at a cost of Rs 75,000/- for a personal computer, an LCD projector and software in any Indian language. He mentioned low cost shelters in our country as well as in other parts of Africa, South America. While touching upon the 5th Avenue of Service, he mentioned that India has the strongest Rotaract movement with about 26,000 Rotaractors in Chennai District itself. He asked Rotarians to encourage this partner in service through guidance and mentoring. Finally he mentioned that even though membership was always on the rise in India, we were the third highest in terms of membership loss. He encouraged Rotarians to bring in past Rotaractors, as well as to depend on new social network initiatives. He claimed that before 2020, Asia would emerge as the most important area and even said that at that time maybe the Headquarters would be at Geneva or Singapore! He concluded his speech with a cordial and warm invitation to all Rotarians to be at Bangkok for the annual convention where the registration would be only US $160. However, he insisted that as Rotary was family oriented, the Rotarians should take their families along. The evening ended in an informal meet of the R.I. President with the Council of Governors over cocktails and snacks. R.I. President left at 6am next morning from Kolkata. -- PP Shyamashree Sen, AG Zone 15, 2011-2012, R C Calcutta Metro City, R I District 3291 Reporting exclusively for eFlash_Rotary |
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