THE ROTATOR - Issue 12

Happy reading!
Your Rotator Team 2025–26

Our Charter Club

On 10th September 2026, the 26th Rotary Club, sponsored by RCB, the Rotary Club of Bangalore North Hub, came into being with the installation of its Charter President, Rtn. Akil Rassai and the Board of Directors by DG Rtn. Ravishankar Dakoju and RCB President Rtn. Vineetha Chinappa.

Interact Club Installation New Horizon PU College

The 4th Installation Ceremony of the Interact Club of New Horizon PU College was held on 10th September 2026, marking the beginning of a new year of leadership, fellowship, and service. A total of 59 Interactors were formally installed into the club.
The ceremony was attended by Youth Service Chairman Rtn.Pooja. S and PP Rtr. Diya Fathima. The students were introduced to the ideals of Rotary and Interact, along with their roles, responsibilities, and opportunities to undertake meaningful service projects.
The newly installed members pledged to uphold the spirit of Service Above Self and contribute positively to their school and community.
-Rtn. Pooja. S

OFF THE CUFF – An Opportunity to Make a Difference

Rotary offers each of us countless opportunities to make the world a better place.
As Rotarians, we can choose an area of service, identify a need, and turn a simple thought into meaningful action.
I experienced this personally during Kreeda Habba, a sports meet organised for primary school children at Malur by our Youth Service team.
Watching the children enthusiastically participate in the games was a wonderful experience. But I noticed something that stayed with me -most ofthe children were running and playing barefoot. The playground was rough, with thorns and sharp pebbles that could easily hurt their little feet.
At our next Board meeting, I suggested that we provide sports shoes to these children. The idea received a positive response, and soon it became a project.
Our Board members enthusiastically organised the procurement of shoes at a good discount and raised funds among the Rotarians. The response was overwhelming. Within a week, our Rotarians came together and contributed enough to provide sports shoes for more than 1,000 children.
A distribution event was organised at Malur with the support of our beloved Rotarian, Late Babu Subramanian. Many Rotarians travelled there to personally distribute the shoes.
The most beautiful moment was seeing the excitement and smiles on the faces of the children. This, to me, is the beauty of Rotary.
We do not always have to wait for a great opportunity to serve.
Sometimes, we simply need to observe, recognise a need, and take the initiative to do something about it.
The Rotary Club of Bangalore undertakes many such meaningful projects every year. Through the collective efforts of its members, simple ideas become meaningful actions.
After all, making the world a better place does not always begin with something big.
Sometimes, it begins with simply noticing a pair of bare feet.
-Rtn. Musten Jiruwala

DID I PASS AS A TEACHER? I am afraid I didn’t

The Monday meeting at the RHF was unlike any other. The air carried a quiet anticipation as Mr. G. Balasubramaniam, a seasoned academician with over five decades of experience, took the podium. His presence was commanding yet gentle, the kind that instantly drew the audience into his world of reflections and revelations. Former Director (Academic) of the Central Board of Secondary Education and Chief Mentor for Global Indian International Schools, he had lived a life immersed in classrooms, corridors, and conversations with young minds. His chosen theme for the evening was both provocative and humble: “Did I pass as a He began with a startling confession. “We teach subjects,” he said, “but we do not teach what the students want.” The words hung in the air, challenging the conventional wisdom of education. He recalled moments from his teaching days
when he would ask students to close their books – a strange request from a teacher, yet one that carried profound meaning. For him, learning was never about rote memory or the mechanical act of reproducing content. It was about listening to the heartbeat of curiosity, about understanding what the student truly needed to learn.
The role of a teacher, he argued, was not to measure success by grades or failure by marks. “Passing or failing is not important,” he declared. “In fact, there is success in failure.” He illustrated this with stories of students who had stumbled in examinations but later soared into institutions of prestige – India’s IITs and IIMs.
Their journeys were proof that failure was not an end but a beginning, a hidden doorway to resilience and reinvention.
Balasubramaniam’s voice softened as he spoke of the deeper purpose of education. “It is important to teach students how to be human beings,” he said. Knowledge without wisdom, he warned, was hollow. Content without values was incomplete. A true education was a blend of both – the sharpening of intellect and.
the nurturing of character. Only then could a student grow into a better human
being, capable of empathy, integrity, and vision.
He carried the audience back in time, to the era of textbooks, chalk, and blackboards. Those were days when learning was bound by pages and margins, when the teacher’s word was the ultimate authority. Yet, he acknowledged that the world had changed. The age of artificial intelligence had arrived, reshaping the contours of teaching and learning. “The old ways,” he said, “must give way to the emerging ways.” His tone was not one of lament but of acceptance, even excitement. For him, the challenge was not to resist change but to embrace it, to weave technology into pedagogy without losing the soul of education.
The audience listened, rapt and reflective. His words were not mere anecdotes but
distilled wisdom, born of decades of watching young minds struggle, stumble, and shine. He reminded them that the classroom was not a battlefield of marks but a sanctuary of growth. A teacher’s true success lay not in the number of students who topped exams but in the number of lives they touched, the number of hearts they inspired, the number of failures they transformed into triumphs.

As the evening drew to a close, Balasubramaniam left the audience with a thought that lingered long after the applause faded. Education, he said, was not about chasing content or racing through syllabi. It was about nurturing wisdom, about teaching students to value humanity as much as knowledge. In that balance lay the future of learning.
The meeting ended, butthe question remained, echoing in every mind: Did I pass as 1 a teacher? Perhaps the answer was not his to give, but the countless students who had walked out of his classrooms carrying more than lessons – carrying life itself.

ROTOQUIZ GOES COASTAL: MANGALORE CHAPTER A GRAND SUCCESS

Mangalore, 20th September 2026 — The waves of the coast met the wave of young intellect as Rotary Club of Bangalore’s flagship project Rotoquiz travelled to Mangalore for its much-awaited Prelims and Semi-Finals.
10 Rotarians from Bangalore travelled to Mangalore to take the Rotoquiz movement beyond the capital city, with a mission to provide a quizzing platform to coastal Karnataka’s brightest minds.
The event, hosted in Mangalore, saw an overwhelming response with 68 teams from leading PU Colleges, Degree Colleges and Engineering Institutes across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi participating.
A Battle of Brains
The day began with a high-energy preliminary written round covering
history, science, current affairs, Rotary knowledge and general awareness.
The Semi-Finals were a nail-biting affair, conducted in a classic quiz format with buzzer rounds, audio-visuals, and rapid-fire questions that kept the audience on the edge oftheir seats.
After hours of intense quizzing, two champions emerged:
Finalists for Rotoquiz 2026 Grand Finale, Bangalore:
1. Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal

2. National Institute of Technology Karnataka (N ITK), Surathkal

Both teams have now qualified for the Grand Finale to be held in Bangalore, where they will compete with 3 teams from the Bangalore chapter.
Rotary Fellowship in Action

Speaking on the occasion, President, Rotary Club of Bangalore, said, “Rotoquiz started as a Bangalore quiz. 67 years back and today it’s our 11th year of collaboration with Mangalore. We thank our fellow Rotarians from Mangalore who welcomed us with such warmth. This is the true spirit of Rotary fellowship.”
The event was supported by Rotary Clubs of Mangalore, whose members not only attended in large numbers but also hosted us.
The day concluded with prize distribution, a vote of thanks, and a promise — Rotoquiz will be back, bigger and better.
-Team Rotoquiz I Rotary Club of Bangalore

EKYA Swasthya, Samman, Suraksha

The Rotary Club of Bangalore, under its Community Services initiative EKYA — Swasthya, Samman, Suraksha, successfully conducted an awareness session on Menstrual Hygiene & Sexual Health on 17th September 2026 at St. Annes Degree College for Women, Cambridge Road.
The session was led by Speaker Dr. S N Nikita Agarwal and championed by Rtn. Kalyani Talukder.
Highlights:
– Participants: 300 P U students. 70% of the students of St Annes are from economica Ily weaker sections.
Engagement: The session was extremely well-received and highly interactive, with students actively participating and clarifying their doubts in a safe, respectful and open space.
Objective Achieved: From Hesitation to Awareness, From Awareness to Empowerment — breaking myths and building health, dignity and confidence.
-Rtn Kalyani Talukder

Hormones in Harmony: Empowering 160 Young Minds

The 12th awareness session under the Hormones in Harmony for a
Healthy Life, endocrine wellness programme was conducted for 160 boys and girls from Classes 7— 10 and 30 teachers of Rotary Bangalore Vidyalaya (RBV) on September 19th, 2026. The session, titled “Hormones and Health,” was delivered in Kannada to ensure easy comprehension and meaningful participation.
The programme featured two Endocrinologists from the Karnataka Endocrine Society (KES): Dr. Nishchitha K, from BGS Gleneagles Hospital, and Dr. Afsar Fathima from Baptist Hospital.
The doctors sparked energy and curiosity, bringing hormones, puberty, diabetes, thyroid health, obesity, nutrition, physical activity, vitamin D, sleep, mental well-being and smart screen habits to life with real-world examples that resonated with every student. Students and teachers participated enthusiastically,
making the session highly interactive with numerous thoughtful questions and discussions. The presentation emphasised that small, healthy daily habits can support long-term well-being.
The Rotary Club of Bangalore sincerely thanks the RBV school management for excellent logistics and coordination, especially Headmistress Mrs. Suvarna. Appreciation is also extended to Rotaractor Lahirii of the RRCE Club for her valuable support.
– Rtn Dr. Nita Roy