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Vol. 54 Issue No. 46 Mumbai May 14 to May 20, 2013 Pages 8 Price Rs. 3/-
ForthcomingmeetingsMay 14, 2013
A talk by Ms Sucheta Dalal.May 21, 2013
The Municipal Commissioner ofBombay, Mr. Sitaram Kunte, tospeak.
May 28, 2013Mr. Cyrus Broacha to address the
Club.
A museum can easily be turned into a cultural centre, saysMr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the Director-General of the ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (earlier known as the Prince of
Wales Museum of Western India)
‘The Bombay museum is like an NGO, it needsmoney to maintain its Grade I heritage building
and to preserve 60,000 priceless artefacts’Here are some little-known facts
about Bombay that most citizenswould not know and which tell a taleof monumental indifference.
The city’s 91-year-old museum wasset up by an act of legislation (thePrince of Wales Act of 1909) as anautonomous body to be run by an in-dependent board of trustees. The Stategave it an annual grant of the princelysum of Rs. 1.36 lakhs ever since itsestablishment.
However, nobody bothered aboutinflation and the grant remained staticat that level till it was completely with-drawn in 1998.
Today, the Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya orCSMVS (as it is now called) is notsupported by anybody, neither theState government nor the Centre. It islike an NGO and has to raise moneyto maintain its Grade I heritage build-ing and to care for over 60,000 price-less artefacts.
Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the Di-rector-General of the museum, whowas speaking at the last meeting on“Museums: Building cultures – In-creasing scope for cultural interac-tions”, pointed out that although it wasbuilt to commemorate the visit of thePrince of Wales to the city, the onlyexhibit pertaining to him was a statutestanding exposed to the elements inthe garden.
Another little-known fact was thatit was designed by a young Britisharchitect George Wittet who also de-signed the Gateway of India. Construc-tion work started in 1909. But withthe outbreak of the First World War,the building was converted into a mili-tary hospital. Finally, on January 10,1922, the doors of the museum wereopened to the public.
The first collection came from theArchaeological Survey of India and thencame the Purushottam Mavji collec-
tion in 1915. Later, two sons of theillustrious Sir Jamsetji Tata, Sir Doraband Sir Ratan, gave their collections tothe museum. The Sir Ratan Tata col-lection was received in 1922 and theSir Dorab Tata collection in 1933.
Mr. Mukherjee was introduced tomembers by Dr. Saryu Doshi whopointed out that the word “Sabya-sachi” was a reference to Arjun, one ofthe Pandavas, and, like him, Dr.Mukherjee always kept his eye on thetarget and achieved it.
Under him, the museum had beentransformed and reminded her of thetime when legends such as Dr. Moti-chandra and Mr. Khandalawalla wereassociated with it. They had put to-gether an excellent collection of minia-tures (one of the biggest and best inthe world). They also wrote many ar-ticles and did path-breaking researchthat benefited all their students.
Now, Mr. Mukherjee had made themuseum an interactive place whichconducted educational programmes
and where visitors were introduced tothe collection in such a warm mannerthat they went away with a betterunderstanding of the role of the vari-ous artefacts on display.
“You will see turbans... in fact, youcan put on a turban and get yourselfphotographed. This gives you a betteridea and takes you closer to the art-works.”
Mr. Mukherjee had also introducedseveral offbeat programmes, attract-ing all kinds of specialists who broughtalong new ideas and created an aura ofactivity in the museum. Most muse-ums in the country were now study-ing his methods and employing theseto liven up their own museums.
Even the doyen of Indian art, Mr.B.N. Goswami, who visited Bombayrecently, had complimented Dr.Mukherjee for living up to his name(Sabyasachi was another name forArjun), added Dr. Saryu Doshi.
Mr. Mukherjee said he had beengrappling for a long time with the ques-
tion, what was the role of a museum incontemporary society? Did a museumhave any role to play in society? Orwas it just a “murda-ghar”, an“ajayeeb-ghar” or a house of curiosi-ties? For years he had observed thatmuseums in India remained separateentities; they were repositories of trea-sures but few people had access tothem.
But now things were changing,people were changing and starting togo to museums, so perhaps it was timefor museums to also start changing.
Going back to the subject of his talk,viz., “Museums: Building cultures –Increasing scope for cultural interac-tions”, Mr. Mukherjee asked the ques-tion, “What is culture?”
While each person had his owninterpretation of culture from hisperspective, the renowned scholar,Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy, hadsaid that “Culture is consciousnessprimarily and unprejudiced com-prehension of one’s own civiliza-tion. This is only possible when wehave some idea of its relation toother cultures’ likeness and differ-ences”.
According to him (the guestspeaker), anything that enriched hu-man life was culture. Given this, whatwas the need for museums to buildculture?
(Continued on Page 2)
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 2
(Continued from Page 1)This brought him to the second cru-
cial question, “What is a museum?”He said that a museum could also bedefined differently under different dis-ciplines. While the inter-disciplinaryapproach was quite common, the mostacceptable definition had been givenby the UNESCO.
It said that “a museum is a non-profit permanent institution in the ser-vice of society and its development,open to the public, which acquires,conserves, researches, communicatesand exhibits the tangible and intangibleheritage of humanity and its environ-ment for the purposes of education,study and enjoyment”.
This definition raised a few ques-tions, and provided their answers, too,said Mr. Mukherjee.
First, what was the character of amuseum? The answer to this was thata museum was a non-profit perma-nent institution open to the public.
Second, what was the duty of amuseum? It had to remain in the ser-vice of society; this could never be lostsight of.
Third, what were the functions of amuseum? These were acquisition, con-servation, research, communication andexhibition.
Fourth, what was the purpose of amuseum? UNESCO’s definition an-swered this question, too, by statingthat the key purposes of a museumwere education, study and enjoyment.
Touching briefly on the history ofthe CSMVS, Mr. Mukherjee recalledthat it was conceived way back in 1892by the then British government. How-
George Wittet combined Hindu, Islamic and Westernarchitectural elements while designing the museum
(he also designed the Gateway of India)ever, financial constraints stopped allfurther work.
Finally, a public meeting was heldat the Asiatic Society in August, 1905,which was attended by eminent per-sonalities such as Sir PherozeshahMehta, Jamshetji Jeejeebhoy, JusticeChandavarkar, Justice BadrudinTyebji, David Sassoon, NarotamdasGokuldas and Kikabhai Premchand.
They decided that it was importantfor a city to have a cultural institution,in other words, a museum. And so thefoundation stone for the museum waslaid by the Prince of Wales, who waslater crowned King George V, on No-vember 11, 1905. The museum wasoriginally christened the “Prince ofWales Museum of Western India”.
Paradoxically, not only did the mu-seum have anything other than a statueof the Prince of Wales in its garden, itdid not having anything significant toshow even as far as Chhatrapati Shivajiwas concerned.
The museum was designed by theyoung British architect George Wittetwho also designed the Gateway ofIndia. Construction work started in1909 and it took about five years tocomplete the building. It was built inthe Indo-Saracenic style on a parcel ofland that was popularly known as the“crescent site” in South Bombay.
But the outbreak of World War Isaw the building being converted intoa military hospital for some time. Fi-nally, on January 10, 1922, the doorsof the museum were thrown open tothe public.
Mr. Mukherjee said that the archi-tect, Mr. Wittet, had combined Hindu,
Islamic and Western architectural ele-ments in his design for the museum. Ithad eight pillars which, if studiedclosely, had a lot of similarity to theJain temple of Vimal Vasahi in MountAbu. An octagonal wooden pavilionwas purchased and brought from a vil-lage near Nashik at a cost of Rs. 227.
What about the role of a museum inthe present times?
“Traditional cultural institutionswere created in different times for dif-ferent audiences (as against) the onesthat they now have to serve. While inthe past mapping, collecting and pre-serving cultural goods was of greaterimportance, today cultural institutionsare required to connect with the soci-ety and to represent the people theyserve. This is what the world is think-ing, not just us alone.
“And how do we connect with so-ciety? We acknowledge the ownershipof people; through our activities wetry our best to connect people fromdifferent communities. Today, we havea very strong education departmentwhich is taking up a lot of activitiesfor different communities. There arefour major (target) segments, students,including teachers, the community, theprivileged and the underprivileged, andsenior citizens.”
Continuing, Mr. Mukherjee said thatthe prime function of a museum wascollection. The CSMVS had over60,000 art objects. It was known forits collection of miniature paintings.In fact, Dr. Saryu Doshi had studiedthe collection and commented on itsimportance. Many believed that it wasone of the best collections in the world.
Apart from the miniatures, it had alittle bit of everything to offer, such as200 European paintings, over 1,500Chinese and Japanese paintings, thecollections from the Tata family, theHimalayan art collection, an archaeo-logical collection, a textile collection,arms and armour, natural history andso on.
Recently, it had got Indian modernart and contemporary art as part ofthe Jehangir Nicholson Gallery forContemporary Art. (The late Mr.Nicholson was a member of the Club.)
Commenting on museums in gen-eral, Mr. Neil McGregor, Director ofthe British Museum, had said that thewhole point about museums was thatthey helped people sort out their placein the world. It was only in a museumthat people could look at their pastand understand their relation to it –and this was more important now thanever before.
“As the world gets more global andthe notion of identity gets more com-plicated, it is important to have placeswhere everyone can come and look atthe museum and come face-to-facewith their history, their stories and theirfuture. After all, each object narratesstories.
“We have the personal armour ofEmperor Akbar in our collection. Whenyou go around the gallery, we will nar-rate the story of how it was acquiredand you will be fascinated. We alsohave a metal image of Bahubali repre-senting the Jain community and it nar-rates its own story.”
Similarly, Mr. Mukherjee said, therewas an ivory jewellery box which hadbeen sent for exhibition at the Delhiart fair in 1905; it also had its story. Sodid the European painting adorationseries and so on.
Today, museum curators were pre-senting cultural artefacts in a differentperspective so that people learnt evenmore about the stories of the past andconnected those with the present.
Another problem that museumsfaced was going beyond multi-culturalsocieties and into the realm of inter-cultural societies where there was du-ality of cultures which co-operated indialogue and in shared responsibility.This was a unique problem in India,especially in a cultural institute. Howdid one address such issues?
(Continued on Page 7)
Yes, the museum was named after the Prince of Wales who was later crowned King George V, whom many in Indiacalled ‘George Pancham’. Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee engages in conversation with PP Dr. Kekoo Kavarana at the
last meeting. At right is Dr. Saryu Doshi who formally introduced the guest speaker to the members
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 3
When one thinks of the infamousHarshad Mehta securities scam
or recalls the doings of a certain C.R.Bhansali, the one name that leaps outfrom memory (and from newspaperrecords) is that of Ms Sucheta Dalalwho has single-handedly exposed morewrong-doings than the CBI can be ac-cused of unearthing!
Not just the two scams mentionedabove, Ms Dalal has also been behindthe remorseless exposure of Enron, ofbad loans in banks, numerous corpo-rate frauds and regulatory lapses – andall of these in her capacity as India’sleading investigative journalist.
Ms Dalal, who will share her experi-ences at the next meeting of the Club,to be held on May 14, is an award-winning business journalist and author.She has been a journalist for a quarterof a century and was conferred withthe prestigious Padma Shri by thePresident of India in 2006 for excel-lence in the field of journalism.
A graduate in statistics of theKarnataka College in Dharwad, shewent on to study at Bombay Univer-sity and earn both the LL.B. and theLL.M. degrees.
She started her career in journalismin 1984 with Fortune India, an invest-ment magazine. Later, she worked withBusiness Standard and The EconomicTimes and then went on to become theFinancial Editor of The Times of India.She was a columnist and ConsultingEditor with The Indian Express Groupuntil 2008.
At present she is Consulting Editorof MoneyLIFE, a personal finance fort-nightly and columnist for several pub-lications, including the DainikHindustan.
Ms Dalal is well known for her nu-merous investigative pieces, most no-tably for breaking the securities scamin 1992 which was India’s biggest fi-nancial scandal till that time. She co-authored a book on the securities scam
with her husband, Debashis Basu, titledThe Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, WhoGot Away (1993), which was a best-seller of the year.
The book has since been revised,updated and re-released in 2001 and2005. (It is now titled The Scam: FromHarshad Mehta To Ketan Parekh).
In March, 2000, Ms Dalal wrote abiography of Mr. A.D. Shroff, thefounder of the Forum of Free Enter-prise and who was considered a finan-cial genius in the 1950s (it was pub-lished by Viking Books of Penguin).Pathbreakers, a book of 26 inspiringinterviews with eminent Indians bySucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu, wasreleased in July, 2007.
She has been a member of the inves-tor protection and education fund setup by the government of India underthe Ministry of Company Affairs anda member of the primary market advi-sory committee of the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI).
Ms Dalal is a trustee of the Con-sumer Education and Research Centreof Ahmedabad which is among the larg-est consumer and investor advocacygroups in India. She is also a memberof Bank of Baroda’s standing commit-tee on consumer services and on theboard of Credibility Alliance, which isa consortium of voluntary organisationscommitted towards enhancing account-ability and transparency in the volun-tary sector through good governance.
In 1993, she was awarded the Cham-eli Devi Award for outstanding jour-nalism as well as the Femina Womanof Substance Award after breaking thestory of the Harshad Mehta scam.
She has served as a member of theN.R. Narayana Murthy committee oncorporate governance and the consu-mer complaints council of the Adver-tising Standards Council of India. Sheis a member of the committee for fol-low-up on investor-related issues ofthe Corporate Affairs Ministry.
She was the birthday girl a few weeks back. Tara Deshpande Tennebaum (second from right) snapped with President-Elect Nirav Shah, Madhusudan Dagaand Subhash Sagar. (Right) What a state of affairs! Kamal Bulchandani (second from left) laments the nation’s condition. With him are PP Rajnikant
Reshamwala, Dr. Vikram Lele and Dr. Percy Chibber
Lemonade is good for health in these oppressive summers. PP Dr. Rumi Jehangir and Dr. Dinesh Daftary (centre) answer a query posed to them bySameer Kaji at right. (Second photograph) No, this is NOT the notorious gang of four! This smiling quartet consists of (from left) S.K. Mitra, Farhat Jamal,
Aziz Javeri and Mahesh Khubchandani
Harshad Mehta, C.R. Bhansali, Enron – Sucheta Dalalhad a role in exposing all of them
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 4
The Interactors of the Young La-dies’ High School got down to the
task of conducting their regular projectsonce the installation was through atthe joint programme for six InteractClubs organised at the Bharda NewHigh School.
The first of these was the tree-plan-tation drive in the school compoundwhich attracted enthusiastic participa-tion by all members.
Soon after, in the month of Septem-ber, the Interactors lent a helping handto the Rotaract Club of Jai Hind Col-lege when its month-long initiativecalled “Silent Saturday” got underway.
As part of this, the Interactors joinedthe Rotaractors as they formed a hu-man chain along Marine Drive tospread awareness about global warm-ing. They also took part in the cleanli-ness drive at Marine Drive.
In November, the Interact Club ofYoung Ladies’ High School did “shramdaan” by taking up the task of clean-ing the school premises, including theclassrooms, the corridors and the li-brary.
INTERACTORS KEPT THEMSELVES BUSY ALLTHROUGH THE YEAR
And then, in February, they trav-elled to Goregaon to participate in theWorld Wetland Day poster competi-tion organised by the Bombay Natu-ral History Society in collaborationwith the Environment Committee ofthe Rotary Club of Bombay.
Well done, girls.
Bharda New High School
With 59 members and two Mod-erators (Ms Tasneem and Ms
Shumaila), the Interact Club of BhardaNew High School planned and ex-ecuted its activities for the year in asystematic manner.
The projects that it carried out inclu-ded the annual “Recycle Paper Drive”and a contest to develop a slogan forthe conservation of water. There wasalso the delightful joint installation func-tion at which the Office-Bearers of sixInteract Clubs were invited to hold theirinaugural meeting at a joint programmein the school.
A get-together, including some partygames, was arranged for teachers andhelpers on the occasion of “Teachers’
Day”. A few weeks later, when “Envi-ronment Day” came around, theInteractors formed a human chain fromthe McDonald’s outlet at VT to theschool premises. The children heldaloft posters and banners urging citi-zens to ensure cleanliness in the city.
Then came the annual village visitand the interaction with the studentsof a rural school (both at Silvassa). Thisyear, the Interactors focused on theimportance of the girl child.
A tree-plantation drive and an elo-cution competition were the highlightsof October. Diwali, in November, sawthe students preparing and displayingbanners urging people to adopt safetymeasures and to avoid using firecrack-ers.
December saw a rigorous driveagainst the habit of spitting and the ill-effects of smoking and consumingpaan, gutkha and other tobacco prod-ucts. Another important programmewas a visit to the institute for the deafand dumb at Mazagon.
There were three key projects inJanuary. The first was an eye camp
for school children by Zen Eye Clinic.The second was the “Road SafetyDrive” organised by the Road SafetyCommittee of the Rotary Club ofBombay. The Interactors were part ofthe human chain from Godrej Bhavanto VT station. They held aloft postersand banners urging everyone to fol-low the various road safety rules. Fi-nally, they heard a talk on women’sempowerment.
Apart from taking part in the RYLAcamp organised by the Rotaract Clubof H.R. College – and at which theybagged many prizes – the Interactorsof Bharda New High School alsohelped collect funds for young cancerpatients.
That initiative bore fruit when theyhanded over the amount collected tothe Tata Memorial Centre at the an-nual “Terry Fox Run” organised alongMarine Drive. About 150 studentstook part in the “Run”.
Finally, the school’s students sat inattention and heard a police officer ashe gave an interesting talk on “How tobe an alert and vigilant citizen”.
Rotary has received the SilverEdison Award in recognition of
its Future Vision Plan, the newgrant model that enhances thescope, impact and sustainabilityof humanitarian and educationalprojects funded by The RotaryFoundation.
The Edison Awards have, since1987, recognised innovative new
products, services and businessleaders in the United States.
The awards symbolise the persis-tence and excellence personifiedby Thomas Edison. Winners rep-resent active contributors to thecause of innovation in the world.
R.I. President Sakuji Tanaka ac-cepted the award during the an-nual Edison Awards gala held on
Rotary receives Silver Edison Award for its ‘Future Vision Plan’
Snapped at the awards banquet are, from left, R.I. President-Elect Ron Burtonand his spouse Jetta, Foundation Trustee Chair Wilfrid J. Wilkinson, Past R.I.
President Luis Vicente Giay, R.I. President Sakuji Tanaka, R.I. GeneralSecretary John Hewko and Celia Elena Cruz de Giay
April 25 in Chicago, the city whereRotary was founded in 1905. TheFuture Vision Plan received tophonours among funding modelscompeting in the Lifestyle andSocial Impact category.
Nominee ballots were judged by apanel of more than 3,000, includ-ing members of seven associationsthat represent a wide range of in-dustries and disciplines.
“This Edison Award recognises andvalidates Rotary’s innovative ap-proach to humanitarian service aswe constantly strive to improvelives and communities by address-ing the world’s most pressingproblems,” said Sakuji. “It is agreat honour to accept such a pres-tigious award on behalf ofRotary’s global membership of 1.2million men and women.”
The Edison Award coincides withthe successful completion of athree-year pilot in which 100 Ro-tary Districts in more than 70 coun-tries tested Rotary’s new grantmodel.
The Future Vision Plan simplifies the’s grant process and focuses Rot-arian service efforts where theywill have the greatest impact. Themodel is innovative in combiningRotary’s volunteer base and a glo-bal reach with local resources tosupport sustainable, high-impactresults all over the world. The mo-del funds more than $100 millionin service projects annually. Thenew grant model will be imple-mented from July 1 worldwide.
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 5
Trust the youth to take up a burn-ing issue that nobody bothers
about and to come up with some re-freshingly new thoughts and activities.
In a statement of the objective be-hind its latest initiative, CHEEKH, theRotaract Club of Jai Hind College saidthat after its members came across re-ports of thousands of women beingtrafficked illegally into the Indian sub-continent, they decided to give ear tothe deafening pleas or screams(CHEEKH) of such women so thatthey were heard by the powers-that-be.
The Rotaractors felt that March 8,which was observed as the “Interna-tional Women’s Day”, was no longer aday to celebrate the existence of a gen-der. Rather, it was better to spend theday by taking up a cause that wouldprotect and benefit women.
As part of a three-month-long ini-tiative, the Club decided to showcasea documentary on the hard-hitting re-ality of trafficking in women. Almostthe entire world having been shakenout of its slumber by the Delhi gang
Can you hear the cries of women being illegally trafficked?rape case of December, 2012, it feltthat it was the appropriate time toexecute the project.
It started on February 6 with thescreening of a documentary on traf-ficking in women at a regular meetingof the Rotary Club of Bombay.
The programme itself was launchedat the Oberoi Mall in the distant sub-urb of Goregaon on March 2. A flashmob suddenly collected at the site andperformed an act that focused on theplight of the modern Indian woman.
The main event banner forCHEEKH 2013 was unveiled by thePresidential Advisory Council and wasfollowed by a hand-imprinting sessionthat enabled onlookers and others tosupport the movement. This was aninteractive session and the handprintsindirectly formed the logo of the projectitself.
On March 6, a CHEEKH hoardingwent up at a site opposite the MafatlalBath at Chowpatty. The designing,printing and mounting had been takencare of over the previous two or threedays.
And then, on March 8, the eventwas launched with a performance atthe domestic airport at 10 am. It wascovered by 12 news channels and wasfollowed by another flash mob per-formance at the High Street Phoenixshopping complex at 4 pm. The spec-tators were so enamoured by the per-formance, that they requested an en-core at 6 pm. The Rotaractors hap-pily obliged them.
The day was to culminate with anambitious flash mob performance atthe International Airport at 9 pm. Allpermits and permissions had beenobtained in advance, but a last-minuteintervention by the police authoritiesforced the Rotaractors to call it off.
The documentary on trafficking inwomen, which had earlier been shownat a regular meeting of the Rotary Clubof Bombay, was screened all day longon the LCD TVs at Oberoi Mall andin the lobby and on promotionalscreens of Fame Adlabs, too.
Another performance by the flashmob team took place at Phoenix Mar-ket City at 6 and 7 pm on March 9.
H.R. Rotaractorsplan to provide
water, health andhygiene facilities
to villages in StatePresident Shashank Jogani of the
Rotaract Club of H.R. Collegemade a brief announcement at the lastmeeting when he said that his Clubwas launching a new initiative called“Boond” to provide clean water fordrinking and domestic purposes todrought-affected villages in Maha-rashtra.
The Rotaractors had already final-ised a joint project with an organisationcalled the Watershed OrganisationTrust through which wells and waterbodies all over the State would be builtand repaired. The joint project wouldalso help in the construction of toiletsand the provision of other health andhygiene facilities.
A modest donation of Rs. 3,500would enable the joint project to en-sure water and basic health and hy-giene facilities to one individual for alifetime.
Shashank appealed to members tomake generous donations to this wor-thy cause. He added that a fund-rais-ing programme had also been organisedon May 10.
On March 10, PVR Cinemasscreened the documentary on traffick-ing in women in its screens all over thecity, especially during the intermis-sions. The management of PVR Cin-emas did an encore with another simi-lar screening on March 14.
The print media carried reports onthe activities being undertaken throughCHEEKH and also noted that a hugehoarding was displayed for a week ata prominent spot in Bombay.
The last programme under the three-month-long project was a flash mobperformance at the Green Lawns HighSchool on April 25. This was coveredextensively by the ZEE News net-work.
Rotaractor Charmi Mehta, Vice-President and Organising Chair for theCHEEKH project, stated that themembers of the Rotaract Club of JaiHind College had attempted to make asmall contribution to the cause of build-ing an empowered society and an In-dia which treated all women as equalto men.
Well done, RCJC!
The main event banner for CHEEKH 2013, organised by the Rotaract Clubof Jai Hind College
Yet another flash mob being shot at the domestic airport. The RCJC was in full flow with its CHEEKH
A prominent site opposite theMafatlal Bath, Chowpatty, held up
this CHEEKH hoarding for a week
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 6
The 2013 Council on Legislationheld in Chicago, saw the repre-
sentatives approve a $1-a-year increasein per capita dues, remove limits on e-Clubs and change the name of the FifthAvenue of Service to Youth Service.
“It has been a pleasure for me toserve you as Chair and work with youthis week on the legislation before the2013 Council on Legislation,” CouncilChair John Germ said. “You have comewith energy and thoughtfulness andyou have represented your Districtswell.”
During the final day of deliberations,the Council rejected several resolutionsthat would have asked the R.I. Boardof Directors to grant official recogni-tion to programmes that served a rangeof different age groups, includingEarlyAct, KidAct and ElderAct.
It approved resolutions asking theBoard to consider allowing grandchil-dren of Rotarians to be eligible forRotary Foundation programmes andto waive the rules for Rotary Grantsso that family members of Rotariansaffected by a natural disaster wouldbe eligible.
During the week-long deliberations,the delegates considered more than 170pieces of legislation that addressed thepolicies that govern Rotary Interna-tional and its member Clubs. The Coun-cil is held every three years.
The council approved a $1-a-yearincrease in per capita dues that Clubspay to Rotary International startingfrom 2014-15. The increase was pro-posed by the R.I. Board based on afive-year financial forecast presentedto the Board and shared with delegates.
According to the forecast, if therewere no dues increase, R.I.’s deficitwould grow to $9 million in 2018 andreduce the General Surplus Fund be-low the level required in the R.I. By-laws.
With the dues increase, the deficitwould fall to $5 million in 2018, ac-cording to the forecast, and the sur-plus fund would then stand at $88million, above the mandated level.
Supporters of the dues increasemaintained that it would be sufficientto keep pace with inflation withoutnecessitating cutbacks in service. (Duesare the primary source of funding forRotary’s operations.)
The Council action has thus raisedRotary Clubs’ annual per capita duespaid to R.I. to $54 in 2014-15, $55 in2015-16 and $56 in 2016-17. Dues for2013-14 are $53 and they have in-creased $1 a year for the past threeyears.
In other action during the Council’sdeliberations, the delegates also
(1) Approved a measure creating theoffice of Vice-Governor who wouldfill in if the Governor was unable toserve. The Vice-Governor would beselected by the District’s nominatingcommittee from among the District’sPast Governors;
(2) Increased the number of Clubsthat can take part in pilot projects to1,000, up from the previous limit of200. The R.I. Board uses pilot projects,which last for up to six years, to testnew ideas, methods and organisationalframeworks for Clubs. Pilot Clubs thattake part in these experiments are fullyfunctioning Rotary Clubs that are ex-
empt from some requirements in theStandard Rotary Club Constitution.
(3) Approved a measure allowingRotarians outside the United Statesand Canada to receive an electronicversion of their official Rotary regionalmagazine, if one is available. Rotarianswithin the United States and Canadawere allowed the option of receiving adigital version of The Rotarian by the2010 Council on Legislation.
(4) Approved changing the name ofRotary’s Fifth Avenue of Service, atpresent called New Generations, toYouth Service. The 2010 Council onLegislation had approved this Avenueof Service for youth, which joinedRotary’s Four Avenues of Service(Club, Vocational, Community andInternational). The name New Gen-erations was meant to reflect the needto build up the next generation ofRotarians, but proponents of the namechange argued that the word “youth”was more universally understood, bothinside and outside Rotary, and clari-fied the fact that these programmesencouraged Rotarians to empoweryouth.
(5) Approved allowing a District tohave an unlimited number of e-Clubs,removing a previous restriction of twoe-Clubs per District. E-Clubs meetelectronically, conduct service projectsand sometimes also hold in-personmeetings.
(6) Approved a measure, aimed atincreasing membership that providesfor “Satellite Clubs” whose membersmeet at a different time and locationfrom their parent Club but who arestill considered members of the parent
R.I. APPROVES UNLIMITED E-CLUBS AND‘SATELLITE CLUBS’, TOO
Club. This measure is intended to makeit easier for members to develop thecore for a new Club.
(7) Approved a measure allowingparticipation in Club projects to counttowards Club attendance require-ments. The measure amends the Stan-dard Rotary Club Constitution to pro-vide that a member must attend ormake up at least 50% of regular meet-ings or engage in Club projects for atleast 12 hours in each half of the year,or a combination of both.
(8) Removed the travel reimburse-ment policy from the R.I. Bylaws.This will enable the R.I. Board of Di-rectors to develop a policy that is flex-ible, able to address emergency travelsituations and able to take advantageof cost-saving opportunities.
(9) Defeated two measures thatwould have allowed Clubs to meet lessfrequently. The delegates also rejecteda measure that would have allowed aClub to cancel six regular meetings ayear instead of four, for holidays, thedeath of a Club member, disasters, orother emergencies.
(10) Defeated two measures affect-ing Rotaract, Rotary-sponsored ser-vice clubs for men and women aged 18to 30. The Council rejected raising theage limit to 35, arguing that the oldermembers would have little in commonwith 18-year-olds. They also arguedthat Rotarians should reach out to in-clude Rotaractors who are reaching theage limit in their Rotary Clubs. Theyrejected establishing lower dues forRotaractors who want to join Rotary,partly because Rotaract membershiprecords have not been collected by R.I.
Enjoying one another’s company. From left in this photograph areHon. Secretary Sitaram Shah, Ashok Gokal, Vice-President Shailesh
Haribhakti, Roda Billimoria and a guest
Another group of five at a recent meeting. The ever-smiling PP Ashish Vaid(left) appears to bask in the company of Sudha Motwane, Malti Jain,
a guest and Mudit Jain
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 7
(Continued from Page 2)Most politicians and members of
society talked about multi-cultural lay-ers, multi-cultural religions and so on.But no one appeared to be making anysincere effort to initiate an inter-cul-tural dialogue between communities.
To put it simply, inter-cultural dia-logue was not unachievable. It was sim-ply a conversation between twopeople, their decision to respect eachother, to understand each other andeach other’s culture and to create a plat-form for the next generation so thatthere would be very little bitterness intheir minds.
Mr. Mukherjee said that the citymuseum had started some initiativesin this direction.
On noticing some years back that ithad become an object-oriented mu-seum where visitors came, saw, en-joyed themselves (or not) and wentaway, now, an attempt was being madeto create an atmosphere in whichpeople came, saw, participated, learnt,enjoyed themselves and, before leav-ing, carried something along.
Many programmes and activitieshad been taken up under inter-culturaldialogue, bringing different communi-ties and different religions to the mu-seum and organising culturalprogrammes that would connect thepeople with the museum and itsartefacts.
To increase the scope for culturalinteraction, the museum authoritieshad decided to engage in the exchangeof objects and exhibitions in a spirit ofgenerosity and recognising the dispari-ties of resources and expertise; theyalso recognised their responsibility toshare cultural artefacts with a commu-nity which had an interest in a collec-tion even if it was not in their care.
To further the circulation of culturalartefacts, the museum had brought inseveral exhibitions from abroad. Thefirst of these was “Indian life and land-scape” by Western artists from theVictoria and Albert Museum, London,in 2008. This was arranged especiallybecause not many Indians had theopportunity of visiting London toview the paintings. The museum hadthus brought world culture to the citi-zens’ doorstep and did not charge evena rupee extra for such special exhibi-tions.
Another exhibition was of “100 ArtDecor items from Tilany”, Milano,Italy; and a third was that of ancientChina when, for the first time, the
The museums of tomorrow will disseminate knowledge, expertiseand resources through professional and virtual networks
Please accept this gift. President Nowroze Vazifdar presents a memento toMr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the Director-General of the Bombay museum
which houses no less than 60,000 artefacts
“Terracota Army” travelled toBombay. It was a rare opportunityfor the citizens of Bombay to see thecollection for which specimens hadbeen picked up from nine provincialmuseums in China.
Similarly, said Mr. Mukherjee, theBombay museum had been sendingpart of its collection, especially its richtreasure of miniatures, abroad. Manyminiatures had travelled to differentparts of the world, as had several sculp-tures.
Recently, the museum organised anexhibition styled “Mummy, the insidestory” which was an Egyptian collec-tion from the British Museum, Lon-don. Talks were on to bring a Romancollection from the British Museum.Rubens’ original paintings were likelyto be shown for the first time inBombay very soon in co-operationwith the Belgians.
“The idea is to bring world cultureto Bombay which will provide a newperspective and the ability to under-stand culture from different perspec-tives and interaction with world com-munities.
“As part of an interesting prog-ramme under inter-cultural dialogue,we invited students from 15 schools,all of them from different religions andcommunities, so that they had an op-portunity to interact with each other.The subject was Akbar and his reli-gion. There was a panel discussionamong the children. Some parents alsoparticipated in it. We repeated thisprogramme twice. There was a hugeresponse.
“These are some of the programmesand exhibitions taking place in the
museum along with conversations withartistes and experts, sharing their ideasand experiences with college studentsand school children. For your infor-mation, over a million people visit themuseum every year, including over200,000 children. Clearly, there is ahuge appetite for culture.”
Mr. Mukherjee said that apart fromMr. Neil McGregor, Director of theBritish Museum, the Director of theArt Institute of Chicago and the Di-rector of the Scotland Museum hadalso visited the Bombay museum andshared their experiences.
Thus, the Bombay museum was aneducational institute, a cultural insti-tute and a civic space for social debate.From time to time the museumorganised cultural programmes, too.Every year, at least four to five cul-tural programmes took place in thepremises, whether performing arts,classical music concerts, a symphonyorchestra, Indian folk dances and per-formances.
Mr. Mukherjee also spoke about theshape that museums would take andthe role that they would play in fu-ture. They would help disseminateknowledge, expertise and resourcesthrough professional and virtual net-works, in addition to the circulation ofmaterial objects. They would also al-low for a variety of perspectives inthe interpretation of museum prac-tices; and engage in the exchange ofobjects and exhibitions in a spirit ofgenerosity, recognising the disparitiesof resources and expertise.
Returning to the question, whymuseums, he said it was evident thatmuseums had to be creative and inno-
vative to remain relevant in a changingworld. They had to move towardsbecoming high-impact, audience-centred institutions valued by the com-munity, artistes, other institutions andthe government.
And what about integration? Mu-seums around the world were guard-ians of the cultural and artistic achieve-ments of humankind. By providingpeople with the opportunity to expe-rience cultural objects and art, muse-ums fostered not only an appreciationof human beauty and inventiveness,but also promoted mutual understand-ing of histories and cultures among thepeoples of the world.
The museum was reaching out toNGOs working with HIV patients, sexworkers and their children and alsoconstruction labour and their children.They were being encouraged to bringthese under-privileged sections of so-ciety to the museum in order to givethem the museum experience as partof cultural integration and to partici-pate in the activities conducted at themuseum.
“As they say, museums touchhuman lives; a museum is notmerely a storehouse of antiquitieswhich establishes a link betweenthe past and the present, but animportant centre of culture andeducation that touches all aspectsof human life.
“We also have programmes for se-nior citizens; we have done many incollaboration with the Dignity Foun-dation and with other institutes... atpresent we have partnerships withseven institutes all over the world.
“Saregama, the musical heritage ofIndia,” was, for the first time, organisedin the museum. At present there is aninteresting exhibition going on, called‘Conversations with nature, the art ofBireswar Sen’. If you have the time,please do visit the museum,” Mr.Mukherjee added.
ServiceAbove
Self
May 14 to May 20, 2013 THE GATEWAY, The Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Bombay Page 8
Printed, Published by Rtn. PP Arjun Bulchandani on behalf of Rotary Club of Bombay and printed at Nikeda Art Printers Pvt. Ltd., Unit No.H & I,Kanjur Industrial Estate,Quarry Road, Off L.B.S. Marg, Bhandup (West), Mumbai 400 078 and Published at 97/B, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. Editor Arjun Bulchandani
Regd. No. MH/MR/South-109/2012-14, R.N.I. No. 14015/60Posted on Wednesday, May 15,2013; Published on Tuesday,May 14, 2013
Published on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Regd. No. MH/MR/South-109/2012-14; R.N.I. No. 14015/60Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai 400 001, on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
ROTARY CLUB OF BOMBAY
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OFFICE-BEARERS 2012/13
PRESIDENT NOWROZE VAZIFDARImmediate Past President Paul GeorgePresident-Elect Nirav ShahVice-President Shailesh HaribhaktiHonorary Secretary Sitaram ShahJoint Hon. Secretary Hiren KaraHon. Treasurer Ishraq ContractorCLUB SERVICE: New MembersDirector in charge Nirav ShahMembership PP Sandip AgarwallaClassifications PP Dr. Adi DasturInformation PP Dr. Kekoo KavaranaMembership Development & District Conference Ramesh NarayanCLUB SERVICE: Programmes/MeetingsDirector in charge Framroze MehtaAttendance Arvind AgarwalProgramme PP Haresh JagtianiFellowship PP Ashish VaidBulletin, Website & Public Relations PP Arun SanghiSergeant-at-Arms Roda BillimoriaCOMMUNITY SERVICE: Medical – IDirector in charge Dr. Percy ChibberChairman Emeritus, Talwada PP Dr. Rahim MuljianiHTEC, Talwada PP Dr. Rumi JehangirADMC, Talwada Dr. Sorab JaveriOral Health Dr. Rajeev NarvekarCOMMUNITY SERVICE: Medical – IIDirector in charge Dr. Vandana BulchandaniControl of TB Dr. Rohini ChowguleCancer Aid Zinia LawyerHeart Care and Health Dr. Aashish ContractorPolioPlus & Differently Abled Shyyamniwas SomaniCOMMUNITY SERVICE: Non-MedicalDirector in charge Sunny PariyaramOld Age Homes/ Senior Citizens Naresh Kumar JainRural Development Dilnavaz VariavaEnvironment Jagdish MalkaniVOCATIONAL SERVICEDirector in charge Shernaz VakilRotary & Public Awards Ram GandhiVocational Training & Night Study Centres Bimal MehtaINTERNATIONAL SERVICEDirector in charge Ashok MinawalaRotary Foundation & Matching Grants PP Arvind JollyR.I. Programmes & Slumber Kit PP Rajnikant ReshamwalaNEW GENERATIONS: EducationDirector in charge Madhusudan DagaBhavishya Yaan Manish ReshamwalaScholarships & Loans Manojj Kumar PatodiaManagement Studies Poonam KumarNEW GENERATIONS: YouthDirector in charge Arjun JollyInteract Meera AlrejaRotaract Ravindra FotedarRoad Safety Deepak Kapadia
Hans KhimjiMay 14
Burjor PoonawalaMay 14
Soli CooperMay 16
PP Mahendra SanghiMay 16
SpousesLovey Pariyaram
May 16Damini Kamdar
May 17Firoza Kavarana
May 17Shama Thukral
May 17Kiran Bajaj
May 18Mridula Maluste
May 18Fouzia Muljiani
May 19
At the lastmeeting
(Held on May 7, 2013)ATTENDANCEMembers 119Rotaryanns 4Guests 3Total 126Svc. box collection Rs. 3,100
Jamshed BanajiMay 17
Partha GhoshMay 17
Bimal MehtaMay 18
Bomi BulsaraMay 19THE FOUR-WAY TEST
Of the things we think, say or do...1. Is it the TRUTH?2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Many happy returns to the man for all seasons. President NowrozeVazifdar greets Hon. Secretary Sitaram Shah at the last meeting
Error and exaggeration
In the last issue of The Gateway datedMay 5, we reported on Page 3 that
PP Arvind Jolly had made a contribu-tion of $25,000 to The Rotary Foun-dation Endowment Fund. With this, itwas stated, he had given a total of $1.75million to The Endowment Fund.
We regret the error and exaggerationin the report. For, with the latest dona-tion of $25,000, Arvind’s contributionhas reached the figure of $175,000 (not$1.75 million).
