As part of " Illuminate", Team Behala did their bit to illuminate the lives of the wonderful residents of Santi Niwas. We had promised them a surprise last month and we had been flooded with phone calls to let the secret out. However, it was all worth the wait as Rtrs. Shuvratav, Arijit, Rituparna and Samina visited them and presented them with his unprecedented gift.

They were visibly enthralled with the DVD player and more so because we gifted them DVDs of their favorite Satyajit Ray and Uttam Kumar classics. They arranged for Tea, biscuits and snacks and even put forward names of other movies they would like to watch. We duly noted them down and promised them to visit them often and get them these DVDs to make their evenings more fun and enjoyable as part of "Illuminate"

We left Santi Niwas promising them a fun Puja Parikrama and many joy-filled days ahead!

Goodwill Visit to Twin Club RC Tagoreland

Rotaract Club of Behala visited Rotaract Club of Tagoreland (RID 3240) in Shantiniketan on the 17th and 18th of September. It was a goodwill visit that culminated in the formal acceptance of the club as RCB’s Multi District Twin Club. We, Rtrs Arijit, Rituparna, Shuvrangshu and Shireen reached Shantiniketan on the 17th, in the afternoon and were greeted by Rtrs Rishav (President RC Tagoreland)  Indronil, Nitin and Arpita. They had booked rooms at Hotel Shantiniketan for us and once at the hotel, we ate lunch and rested before heading to their Club House, a charming room dedicated to the functioning of their club, complete with banners, a board with their signatures and a cupboard serving as their library and trophy cabinet.

We held our first joint meeting where we discussed initiating a cleanliness drive during the pujas – an initiative which will accomplish two things simultaneously. Not only would it help clean up the surrounding and ensure people don’t throw garbage around the place, it would also help RC Tagoreland to gain the prominence they deserve, allowing people to realize that the youth is indeed concerned about environmental welfare.

After the meeting we went for our first joint Project. There is a small tuition centre run by a few people in front of a temple behind the railways station. RC Behala and RC Tagoreland distributed exercise books, stationery and sweets to the tiny tots who were more than happy to receive them.The eventful day ended with dinner of biriyani.

RC Behala’s President, Rtr Shuvratav and Rtr Samina joined us the next day. We explored Shantiniketan till 2:00 pm after which we went for our second joint project at the Elmhirst Insitute Rehabilitation Centre. It was truly a humble and heartening experience to listen to the stories the inmates of the centre had to relate. They opened up and shared stories and experiences of battling the drug habit and one of them even sang rabindrasangeet for us. We spent an hour there and proceeded to the VishvaBharati Campus ( The Bell on their Club's Logo is located here)  where the presidents and secretaries of the two clubs signed the necessary documents to make the association of the clubs as twin clubs formal and complete. This done, we made our way to the station and took the train homewards in the evening.

We had a brilliant experience at Shantiniketan and found our hosts to be extremely warm, welcoming and hospitable. We intend to go back very soon, for projects and more!

Teacher's Day Celebration with Parent Rotary

8th September, 2011 Rotaract Club of Behala felicitated the teachers in Rotary, Rotaract and Inner wheel Behala fraternity, celebrating a belated teachers’ day. Rotary Club of Behala also gifted mementos to all the teachers.

To grace the occasion was AG Rtn Indrani Sen and many of the teachers in Inner wheel Club of Behala shared their experiences of teaching and few noteworthy experiences that they have come across. All appreciated the effort and hoped we continue with our noble work. All mementos were handed over by PP Rtn Sushanta Das –Rotary Club of Behala.

Wonderful interaction and discussions on teachers and their importance were done with everyone participating. It was an excellent get-together for all where future joint projects involving all was kept on the cards

 

7th September, 2011 around 300 hundred students from reputed schools of Kolkata attends a seminar at Rotary sadan from 10am with Deputy mayor of Kolkata Smt Farzana Alam as the chief guest. Among other speakers are Dr. TK Mukherjee and Mr. Kapil Dev Pillai- Vice-president, Godrej Industries. The occasion was a seminar on prevention of malaria and the reason for the 280+ students attending the seminar was the initiative and hard work from Rotaract club of Behala and Rotaract Club of Kalighat. It was a joint effort of RC Behala and RC Kalighat along with NPO Synergie in organizing the seminar, which was followed by a rally for 1.5 kms.

This was the inauguration of the HIT-anti malaria campaign sponsored by Godrej industries and the most important role of coordinating and initiating the participation of the schools were completely taken care by the Rotaract clubs. This campaign is a 7 city campaign across India and in Kolkata RC Behala and RC Kalighat are the partners with Synergie and Godrej in making this campaign a grand success. The schools that participated in this grand event were St James, St Thomas Boys, La martiniere for girls, Calcutta Boys, St Joseph and Mary’s, Silver Point, Abhinav Bharti, Albany Hall and Chowringhee High. The rally was a big one that started from Rotary sadan and took a circle through AJC Bose road covering Nandan and Birla Planetarium before reaching Rotary Sadan again were the children were provided with snacks. All students participating were provided with caps and all participating schools were given mementos. This rally was a small effort to make the common man aware of how we can curb down on malaria by taking simple measures.

This inauguration will be followed by quizzes in schools along with slogan writing competitions in the next one month. This initiative was lauded by all present and was also attended by Rtr Vishal, Rtr Jahanabi and Rtr Mukta from RCC South city and RC EIM. This full event was covered by DD News, Zee News, 24 Ghanta and Akash Bangla channels and print media Hindustan times reported the event with a picture of the rally the next day. it was a great effort from all the members of the two clubs and a special thanks to DG(N) Rajani uncle for his help in this project.

A Fellowship to remember!

On 3rd September, 2011, Rotaract club of Behala had a grand club fellowship dinner at Youth service Director (Rotary Club of Behala)- Rtn Prasunjit Mukherjee’s house. The event was also graced by president (Rotary Club of Behala) Rtn (Dr) Siddhartha Chakraborty, Ann Sudipta aunty and Ann Rachana aunty. Prasunjit uncle and Rachana aunty played perfect hosts in welcoming us. We were also joined by Rtn Prasunjit uncle’s two sons Vireen and Roheen and his niece Namrata.

It all started from 7:00 pm, when the team Behala members reached Prasunjit uncle’s. All wer welcomed with chilled glasses of cold drinks and snacks. We first had our regular club meeting at his place. After the meeting time flew without much of our knowledge- as we enjoyed to the fullest with games and gossips, before the clock forced us to settle down in the dinning table to satisfy our hungry stomachs. But to everyone’s delight the menu card was awesome. From biriyani to polao and chicken chaap to matar paneer, we enjoyed the food to the fullest. We enjoyed every moment of the fellowship and indeed “it was one of the best fellowships we have had” with a record 16 Behala Rotaractors attending the fellowship- a hundred percent attendance with Rotaractors in town.


It was one of the fun filled and entertaining club fellowships we ever had. Team Behala members thanked Rtn Prasunjit uncle and his family for organizing such a wonderful fellowship.

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak to all!

The boys reign supreme!

We are no entirely sure what is happening here! :)

Rtr. Rituparna wins Housie!

Life at Team Behala gets exponentially exciting as the days go by. Not only do we brainstorm and devise meaningful and interesting projects, but we make sure we make our lives fun at every available opportunity. And opportunities are around every corner it seems.

We celebrated Eid in the fittest way possible- we watched Bodyguard- the new Salman-Kareena starrer which released on that day. We were a group of 6- Rtrs Soumojit, Shuvratav, Shireen, Samina, Arijit and Rituparna; and it is obvious which section of the group enjoyed the film the most- the guys were drooling everytime Kareena Kapoor appeared on screen and Samina apparently shrieked "oh isn't he cute!!" every time Salman flexed his considerable biceps. Shireen and Rituparna rolled their eyes continuously through out the movie but had to admit that they actually did have fun watching it. After all, a Salman Khan movie is bound to be entertaining, if not enlightening!

The day ended with a fellowship dinner at Rtr. Arijit's house - the menu of course being biryani, kababs and delicious mutton korma. UNO, Housie and A fun quiz conducted by the host were the star attractions of the evening. The boys won the quiz and were delighted at the triumph of men over women and reiterated that fact many times over the course of the evening. Rtr. Punit and Rtr. Rituparna took top honours in Housie. Prizes were handed out. pictures were taken and ice cream and chocolate ended a most enjoyable Eid fellowship!

What are they looking at?

All's well that ends well!