THE ROTATOR - Issue 14

Happy reading!
Your Rotator Team 2025–26

SWING FOR A CAUSE ROTARY AM – AM GOLF TOURNAMENT

The tournament held on October 3, 2026, at KGA was in its ninth year. We had a full house – 195 Club golfers and 35 top Amateurs took part in the Rotary IGU Bio-gen Sensera Southern India Golf Championship. Tee-off was at 6:45 am and the last round was completed by 12:45 pm. It was a team event selecting the best 3 cards.
Bio-Gen Team won both Runner and Winner Awards.
Gross winner was Shashank from BGC, and Anoushka won in the Amateur Category.
During the Prize Distribution we also recognised our Kids from Begur Govt School and gifted them with 2 golf sets.
Golfers enjoyed the good spread of lunch and cocktails till 4 pm.
-Rtn Praveen Singhvi

OFF THE CUFF – Some seeds take decades to reveal the size of their impact

Sometimes Rotary enters our lives long before we become Rotarians.
In February 2017, I received an unexpected call and email from members of the Rotary Club of Bombay East. They had traced me through Darshnaben Doshi because of a connection with my grandfather, Ramjibhai Kamani.
He had helped initiate the Ramjibhai Kamani Multi Diagnostic Medical Centre in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, more than 50 years earlier.
What touched me most was their invitation to come and “witness the result of the Charity done by Ramjibhai Kamani.”
My grandfather had passed away in 1965. Yet, more than five decades later, the institution he had helped create was still serving the community.
By 2017, the Centre had been renovated and modernised, with dozens of doctors and more than 50,000 patients being served every year.
And there was an extraordinary coincidence.
By then, I was a Rotarian myself.
My grandfather could never have known that his grandson would one day become involved with Rotary in Bangalore.
I, too, had no idea that his contribution had such a deep Rotary connection in Bombay.
Two completely separate Rotary journeys-his in the 1960s and mine decades later-had unexpectedly come together.
That experience taught me something I have never forgotten:
Projects may begin in a Rotary year, but service can continue for generations.
Buildings age, Committees change, Donors pass away. But when a project is nurtured well, its impact can outlive everyone who began it.
Perhaps that is the real meaning of “Service Above Self”.
We should not only ask, “What will this project achieve this year?”
We should also ask:
“Could this still be serving someone 50 years from now?”
Because one day, someone may call and say:
Come and see what the seed planted all those years ago has become.

-Rtn Chetan Kamani

RPL 2026: A Season of Sport and Fellowship

The Rotary Premier League 2026 is well underway, bringing close to 80 Rotarians, spouses and Annettes together for weekends of sport, friendly rivalry and fellowship. Representing Anju’s Aces, Pooja’s Avengers, Sanghiʼs Superstars and Vikram’s Vikings, participants have been putting their skills to the test across the courts, tables and pool. With each event, there have been new winners to celebrate and more opportunities for members and families to connect.
The opening ceremony at KSBA on 27 September set the stage for a full day of badminton, snooker and board games. Pooja’s Avengers enjoyed a strong showing in badminton, winning both the singles and doubles events.
Vikram’s Vikings finished runners-up in doubles. In snooker, Kawal Sood of Vikram’s Vikings claimed the title, with H. S. Sridhar of Anju’s Aces finishing second.

The board games brought a different kind of competition, calling for concentration, patience and quick thinking. Rtn. Lomesh Kiran of Pooja’s Avengers won chess, followed by Rtn. Sunil Kumar of Vikram’s Vikings. Rtn.Gobind Mohinani secured the Sudoku win for Vikram’s Vikings, with Sudha Dinesh of Sanghi’s Superstars finishing runner-up. In Scrabble, Rtn. Manju Sood
of Sanghi’s Superstars took the honours, followed by Usha of Anju’s Aces. Anju won Mahjong for Anju’s Aces, with Padmini of Pooja’s Avengers placing second.
Table tennis brought 19 participants together across singles and doubles. Rtn. Prashant Shah of Pooja’s Avengers emerged as the singles champion, with Tushar of Vikram’s Vikings finishing runner-up. Tushar then teamed up with Rtn. Arun Bhaskar to win the doubles title for Vikram’s Vikings. Rtn. Prashant Shah and Rtn. Anil Agadi of Pooja’s Avengers were the doubles runners-up.
In swimming, Rtn. Lomesh Kiran and Rtn. Mustali Wagh shared the top honours across four races. Rtn. Lomesh Kiran of Pooja’s Avengers won both the 25m and 50m freestyle events, with Rtn. Mustali Wagh of Sanghi’s Superstars finishing second in each. Rtn. Mustali Wagh went on to win the 25m breaststroke and 25m backstroke. Rtn. Lomesh Kiran took second place in breaststroke, while Rtn. Satej Alur of Vikram’s Vikings was runner-up in backstroke.
With two more weekends to go, there is still plenty of action ahead for all four teams. Alongside the results, RPL has been about making time to play, getting to know fellow members better and sharing the experience with our families. We look forward to more spirited competition and plenty of cheering as the league continues.

-Rtn Medha Rao

Living Beyond Years: The Longevity Prescription

The Monday meeting at RHF this week carried a rare resonance.
Instead of dwelling on the grim corridors of cancer, the guest speaker – Dr. Pramod S. Chinder, Director of Orthopaedic Oncology at HCG, Bangalore – chose to illuminate a brighter horizon: longevity. His talk was less about disease and more about the art of living better, longer, and with purpose.
Dr. Pramod began by sketching the ecosystem of life itself. Cancer was mentioned only in passing, but longevity, anti-aging, stem cells, and the balance between biological and chronological age became the heart of his discourse. He urged the Rotarians to look at life not as a finite stretch but as a canvas that can be expanded through conscious choices.
The Five Dimensions of Longevity 
To stretch the human lifespan, he prescribed five interconnected aspects: physical, mental, social, moral, and spiritual. Each, he explained, is a pillar that supports the edifice of healthy living.
Physical health was his first emphasis. “Work, work, and work,” he said, warning against static living. Movement is medicine. He advocated seasonal foods – India alone offers nearly 600 varieties consumed annually – balanced nutrition, eight hours of mandatory sleep, yoga, and running. Nutrition, he reminded, is the silent architect of longevity. It has already raised India’s life expectancy from 47 years to 73 years. Clean water, Vitamin D, and mindful eating, he said, are not luxuries but essentials.
Sleep, he added, is not mere rest but a builder of SEF-Strength, Endurance, and Flexibility. Without it, the body cannot repair, nor the mind rejuvenate.
Mental wellbeing was his second pillar. Positive thinking, he said, is a lifelong companion. Constant learning, openness to change, and the courage to accept life as it comes are the tools to keep the mind youthful. Reading, acquiring knowledge, and embracing curiosity are not hobbies but lifelines.

Social connection was the third. He praised Rotarians for already embodying this principle. Community engagement, he said, is not an accessory but a necessity. Human beings thrive in networks of care, conversation, and shared purpose.
Moral living formed the fourth. His prescription was simple yet profound: Be good and do good. He posed the question, “What is good?” and answered it with a layered vision-goodness begins with self, extends to family, relatives, country, and finally, the planet.
Spirituality was the fifth and perhaps the most delicate pillar. He defined it through four elements: freedom from fear, detachment from unhealthy attachments, release from expectations, and mastery over anger. These, he said, are not abstract ideals but practical tools to live a balanced life.
The Science Behind the Spirit
Dr. Pramod also touched upon epigenetics – the everyday changes in DNA influenced by geography, seasons, and diet. Human beings, he noted, consume nearly 600 types of plants annually, each subtly shaping genetic expression. This interplay between biology and environment, he explained, is proof that longevity is not just inherited but cultivated.
Balancing biological age with chronological age was his closing mantra. One may be 60 years old by the calendar, but with conscious living, the body can feel 40. The secret lies in aligning lifestyle with nature’s rhythm.
A Healthy Afterglow
By the end of his talk, the room carried a healthy afterglow. The Rotarians had not just listened to an oncologist but to a philosopher of life. His message was clear: longevity is not about adding years to life but adding life to years. It is about movement, nutrition, sleep, learning, goodness, and spiritual balance.

DOWN SERVICE PROJECTS LANE

Sankara eye hospital, Whitefield is set up by the Sankara eye foundation Coimbatore and run as a charitable institution providing free / affordable treatment for people having eye defects.
The hospital runs on a 20:80 principle. Only 20% of the patients pay for any treatment and 80 % of the people are treated free, based on their economic capabilities.
The hospital was set up with a huge facility to manage cataract condition which is widely prevailing among Indian adults and which can be treated easily once detected and identified. Sankara had set up a facility to undertake around 2000 cataract surgeries per month. Sankara’s doctors and medical staff would cover the villages under the various Districts of Karnataka, conduct free eye check up, identify people needing cataract surgery. These people would then come to Bangalore for the surgery and stay overnight after the surgery, get tested again and sent back to their homes with sunglasses and eye drops – in a matter of few days their eyesight was restored and they would be able to see better, read and return to their daily activities. While the procedure looked simple, to convince the villagers and get them to come to Bangalore was a big task.
Sankara eye hospital then came up with an idea to conduct regular eye check up camps at villages.
Moving from one village to another using a fully equipped ambulance, bring the deserving people to Bangalore in a bus along with one helper and send them back post the operation. Sankara eye hospital was looking for a donor to donate the Bus and a fully loaded ambulance, costing around Rs 70 Lakhs.
Timken foundation was one such donor they had approached thru the Tata Timken factory at Electronics city . Coincidentally my company Gift Links was doing business with Timken and I was known to the senior management thru my stint at Titan / Tata Teleservices and during one of the meetings we had discussed the work that we at RCB undertake serving the society. During the next visit of Mrs and Mr Timken, the founders and the patriarchs of the Global Timken foundation, I had the opportunity to meet them along with the CSR team at Timken and the Sankara Management who had by then put together a project report on the requirement, we were able to convince the Timken family of the worthy cause and upon their return the Timken family trust was magnanimous to approve the funding of USD 110,000 towards the project.
RCB President Rtn Purnimaa Ranganath and yours truly in my capacity as Community Service Director, had managed to realize what was then the largest CSR donation to RCB.
Once approved, the bus, ambulance and equipments were sourced and we inaugurated the same at the Sankara eye hospital, Whitefield. The bus and ambulance were able to ensure that villagers were checked and ferried to Bangalore for their cataract treatment and almost every month the hospital was able to conduct around 2000 cataract surgeries in a full fledged assembly line kind of a facility.
For the next few years we used to track every month how. Many such camps and people were treated every month. We would also refer needy people for any eye related surgeries / treatment to the Sankara eye hospital. Post Covid we have not been much in touch with the Hospital.

-Rtn TV Raghunath

Hope in Every Dose: ShieldHer Women Step Forward Against Cervical Cancer

The 3rd HPV vaccination camp under ShieldHer : United Against Cervical Cancer was held at Christ University’s Kengeri campus on October 6, 2026.
What began with a series of cervical cancer prevention awareness sessions culminated in this deeply encouraging camp, where around 50 women ground staff members from underprivileged backgrounds came forward enthusiastically to receive their second dose of their catch-up vaccination -an inspiring demonstration of their trust, commitment and determination to protect themselves.
Conducted in association with Sagar Chandrama Hospitals and Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, the camp received expert clinical support from Dr. Vidyamani, Dr. Indukala, Dr. Shobha K and Dr. Surendra. Sisters Chitra and Divya made the vaccination experience smooth and virtually pain-free, while Ms.Bhagyalaxmi’s excellent coordination ensured the camp ran seamlessly. Thanks to the management of Christ Univ. for supporting the vaccination of their ground staff and special appreciation for Dr. Seela Matthew (Chief Medical officer) for her continued commitment towards the cause of prevention of cervical cancer.
The women expressed deep gratitude for the initiative and earnestly requested support to vaccinate their young children, who stand to benefit most from early HPV protection. Their response reaffirmed that awareness, access and timely vaccination can help protect women, families and future generations.
– Rtn Dr. Nita Roy and Dr. Sowmya PR