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Rotary House of Friendship 20, Lavelle road, Bengaluru
Issue 15 October 12, 2026 | Charter No. 3233 | ID No. 15766 | R I Dist. 3192
Total Membership : 338 | Members Present : 66
| Members Exempted : 079
Happy reading!
Your Rotator Team 2025–26
Local golfing sensaon Ishnidh Singh Virdi delivered a commanding performance to clinch the men’s tle at the IGU Rotary Southern India Bio-Gen Sansera Amateur Golf Championship held at the Karnataka Golf Associaon (KGA) course from Oct 5 – Oct 9. The 17-year-old maintained his lead throughout the tournament, compleng an impressive wire-to-wire victory with a final-round threeunder-par 69 and an outstanding four-day aggregate of 10- under-par 278. Virdi displayed remarkable composure on the final day. Aer a steady start, he accelerated his charge with a 15-foot birdie pu on the eighth hole and followed it up with addional birdies on the 10th, 11th and 15th holes. Ranveer Mitroo and Harjai Milkha Singh finished ed for second place at two-under-par 286, while Prince Bainsla secured fourth posion at one-under-par 287, making him the only other amateur in the field to finish under par. The Ladies and Junior Girls’ compeon produced an equally thrilling finish as Keya Kumar Badugu staged a sensaonal comeback to capture the tle. Starng the final round one shot behind leader Anaahat Bindra, Keya found herself four strokes adri aer the 10th hole. However, the Delhi golfer refused to surrender and mounted a stunning late charge . The 19-year-old produced a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th hole onwards to erase the deficit and force a playoff aer both players finished ed at one-under-par 215 following 54 holes. In the playoff, Keya showed exceponal nerve, striking a superb drive before chipping to within three feet of the pin and converng the birdie opportunity to seal victory. The triumph earned her the championship trophy and the winner’s purse of Rs 75,000. Among other notable performances, Priya Kumari finished third while also topping Category A( 15-17 years ). Ojaswini Saraswat emerged champion in Category B( 13-14 years ), while Aaliyah Kalra claimed top honours in Category C ( 11- 12 years ) . The championship concluded with memorable performances from two of India’s brightest amateur golfing talents, highlighng the depth of emerging talent and the promising future of Indian golf.
–Rtn Praveen Singhvi
Sports and sports management took centre stage at the Rotary Club of Bangalore’s RHF on Monday evening, featuring disnguished speakers Mr. Ved Kumar, Managing Director of the Padukone Centre for Sports Excellence, and Mr. Ashish Ballal, award-winning former Indian hockey goalkeeper. Moderated by Rotarian Naveen Pishe, the discussion explored the challenges facing Indian sports and the urgent need for systemic reforms. Both speakers observed that India remains nearly two decades behind global standards in sports management. Despite growing interest in sports, athletes connue to receive inadequate financial support and recognion, while administrators and support professionals oen enjoy greater rewards. They emphasised the need to place athletes at the heart of the sporng ecosystem. Parks and playgrounds are oen unavailable during convenient hours, liming opportunies for children and aspiring athletes. The speakers called for more open playing spaces to encourage grassroots parcipaon and nurture talent. They also highlighted the importance of sports in promong physical fitness, mental resilience and overall wellbeing. Beyond medals and championships, sports should be recognised as an essenal part of a healthy lifestyle and prevenve healthcare. The discussion underlined the growing role of sports medicine, mental wellbeing, performance science and data analycs. The speakers advocated developing more Indian coaches who understand local condions and called for greater use of technology in training and performance assessment. They also urged India to broaden its sporng focus beyond cricket. Mr. Ved Kumar proposed earmarking 10% of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for sports development, a recommendaon supported by Mr. Ballal, who encouraged corporaons to adopt and support specific sporng disciplines. Responding to audience quesons, both speakers stressed the need for qualified professionals with praccal sports experience to lead sports administraon. They argued that professional, forward-thinking management is essenal to building a sustainable sporng ecosystem. The evening concluded with a powerful message: sports is not merely about winning medals but about building healthier individuals, stronger communies and a vibrant naon. As the speakers aptly put it, “Sports is Good Life.” The session ended with fellowship and dinner, leaving Rotarians and guests with a clear takeaway: India must invest not only in stadiums and events, but also in athletes, coaches, accessible infrastructure, sports science and visionary management to realise its sporng ambions.
OUR RCB MERMAID
The recently concluded Asian Masters Swimming Championship which was held recently in Bangalore featured 1,300 stellar swimmers from all over Asia. Our Past President Rtn. Gowri Oza, more than lived up to her nickname of “The RCB Mermaid” by winning two silver medals and one bronze medal at this international competition. The entire Club extends warm congratulaons to Gowri on this impressive achievement and wishes her the best of luck at future swim meets.
ROTARY movement is the first of its kind organisation to dedicate itself to 100% Service to mankind and it was started in 1 9 0 5 in Chicago, USA, by a young attorney Paul Harris and his associates. Mr. Gustav Lohar, Mr. Sylvester Sheel and Mr. Hiram Shorey at room no.711, United Buildings, Downtown Chicago. The Idea of Mr Paul Harris was to meet regularly and have meaningful interactions. That is how the Journey of Rotary started and has lived 121 years so far, and Rotary today has a history of its own in serving mankind. As they were meeting in different places in rotation regularly, the name ROTARY came into being. I very much vividly remember that we in RCB did enact the first Rotary meeting Our late Rtn. Manohar Rao did the role of Paul Harris.
Mahatma Gandhi had a direct connection to Rotary in India, having addressed the Rotary Club of Calcuatta, the first Rotary club in the country, on August 18, 1925, to speak on the economic and spiritual value of the charkha (spinning wheel). Beyond this direct interaction, Gandhi’s philosophy of “Service Above Self” resonates deeply with Rotary’s core values, as seen in the shared emphasis on helping others, non-violence, and community empowerment. His teachings have inspired Rotarians and are reflected in their pursuit of service and positive change globally. He also wrote an article , “My 7 points for a new world order,” which was published in the February 1942 issue of The Rotarian magazine.
EKYA is derived from the Sanskrit word Aikyam. In English, it means oneness, unity and togetherness. It represents harmony — coming together as a whole, creating a sense of shared community while still honouring individual identity. Before Maa Durga takes form in the hands of the potters, the clay is mixed with soil from several sacred places. One handful of that soil comes from the doorstep of a sex worker — a doorstep society often looks away from. It is called Punya Maa — the sacred soil. For most of the year, she may be shunned. Yet when Puja arrives, the Goddess cannot be made without her. Skilled karigars from all walks of life work hand-in-hand, pung in their best to create some of the finest pandals. Rituals survive because they are beautiful. During Durga Puja, Navratri and Dussehra, people from all walks of life — irrespective of caste, creed, colour, language, background or status — come together in a spirit of shared community, where everyone is valued, encouraged, important, respected and welcome. This is the true spirit of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. When we honour every identity, include every voice, and provide fair opportunity for all to participation, we move from tolerance to true togetherness. That is Aikyam. That is EKYA.
“For the nth me… it’s VOCATIONAL Service, not OCCASIONAL Service!!” Yes, October is Rotary’s Vocaonal Service Month. Jokes apart, what exactly are we supposed to do? At its heart, Vocaonal Service is about using our professional k n owl e d g e , ex p e ri e n c e a n d networks to help others succeed. And doing so with integrity. Not just organising programmes, distribung cerficates or delivering sleep-inducing speeches to sleepdeprived entrepreneurs! Take our upcoming RCB Utsav in November. We’re creang opportunies for home-based women entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products. Wonderful! But imagine if we went a step further. What if our members helped them with pricing, markeng, customer relaonships, financial planning or simply navigang the challenges of running a business? Aer all, RCB has decades of collecve professional experience. Surely some of it can be put to good use helping these entrepreneurs! Heck, I even wrote a book to help people make beer decisions. It’s called Your Behavioural Advantage. Unfortunately, nobody seems parcularly keen to take advantage of it. Now THAT’S a behavioural challenge for me! And perhaps that’s the real spirit of Vocaonal Service. Not just helping people do business for A DAY, but helping them do beer business EVERY DAY. We all have good intenons. But are we really M.A.D.? Hey, that stands for Making A Difference! So, at every upcoming Vocaonal Service programme, let’s ask ourselves: How can I be M.A.D.?
