Rotary Club of Vasco da gama

Our dear DG Dr. Pranesh, Rotary Foundation Trustee Rtn. Carolyn Jones, PDG. Dr. rajan, Dr. Vahia, fellow Dream Presidents, dear Rotarians, Annes, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a great honour and proud moment for me to be chosen as a Dream President whose club untill now has played its role to satisfaction to ‘Make Dream Real’ this year. I am asked to share my experience of the last six months with you all.

Rtn. Santosh Lotliker is the man I should credit this year for the achievements our club has managed. The reason being that he did not hesitate to accept the post of secretary-just imagine! a seasoned Past President accepting the post under the youngest Rotarian, that too hardly 4 years in the Club. It bolstered my enthusiasm and laid the first foundation of my confidence.

Since I was anointed as the President at a very late stage in the last Rotary year, my submission to the club was not to expect miracles since my inexperience and lack of Rotary knowledge could be an impediment. But I realized being honest about your intention to serve helps. Everyone supported me whole heartedly and today I can stand here and boast of a string of achievements:- The first MG project in 43 years that too a MG project which will make the Specially Challenged Children in our Taluka feel that we understand and are sensitive to their needs. Last year our I.P.P. Rtn. Dattaraj was keen to see that we help the ‘Ashadeep School’ for the Specially Challenged Children get a school bus so that those children whose parents are not financially able to send their wards to school due to lack of transport would be in position to make the decision to send them to school and make them independent individuals. And here we are today having already fulfilled our desires, thanks to the magical wand called the Rotary Foundation. I found support to all my honest approaches. Having realized the power of the Rotary Foundation, we decided that let us make a difference to our contributions to the Rotary Foundation. So we just put our heart into it and we are today, I believe the highest contributors in the history of the District to the foundation via Raffle Sales.

Our aim to spread the Rotary Fellowship found favour and we had the Rotary Club of Dabolim installed, the first new club in this Rotary Year. 21 leaders in their own fields have dedicated themselves to the cause of Rotary.

Dear friends, please do not misunderstand that I wanted all this to happen for fame and personal achievements. I wanted it all to happen so that we could say in hindsight,that yes, in 2008 – 09 we made the difference and we brought Dreams into reality by keeping our eyes, ears and heart open to humanity.

We are galloping on the tracks of achievements which is giving solace to our souls and we will continue to do so. Ultimately we should understand that we do not do something for others because they need it, we do it because we are the ones who need it, for our satisfaction, for the satisfaction of our inner being, for the satisfaction that we have done our Dharma.

A frequently asked question to me is ‘How do you manage your senior members and specially the past Presidents? I will like to reply to it today. I do not manage fellow members, I sincerely work with them to satisfy their tryst for the Rotary cause. I love them and they reciprocate. I respect them and they return the sentiments. I learn from them and they happily teach me. I beg forgiveness for any mistakes and they heartily pardon. I seek their blessings and they bless me abundantly.
Today I realise thatI have used the word ‘I’ many times in my speech which is not my true character but let me remind all of you that Vasco da Gama is not spelt with a ‘I’ but it is spelt with a ‘V’(WE). We have done our very best to 'Make Dreams Real' of the unfortunate children especially the specially challenged children and I dare to say that we will continue to do so in the coming months for the children at risk.

Thank you for your precious attention and patient hearing