Vol. XIII No. 08
August 25, 2017

WOMEN LITERACY PROJECT IN LADAKHOur Club has been associated withRotary Clubs in Japan, R.I. District
2780 in implementing the GlobalGrant Women Literacy Project in Leh,Ladakh. Rtn. Naoyuki Takagi led adelegation of Six Japanese Rotarians
and friends to visit the project site tosee the progress of the project.
After visiting the three Centres set
up under this project they cameto Delhi on 22nd August and since
they were booked to leave for Japanon 23rd Aug., our Club decided toprepone our Club Meeting scheduled
to be held on Thursday 24th Augustby two days and arranged a special
meeting on 22nd August to welcome
our Partners from Japan in thisproject. The Japanese delegation
members were – Rtn. Naoyuki Takagi(Leader), Rtn. Koyoko Yokota, Rtn.
Yuka Shimozato, Rtn. Chigusa Hara,Ms. Michinori Maruta and Ms. Keiiko
Furuya. On arrival they were accorded
the traditional Indian Welcome with
Chandan Tika, Rose Petal Showers anda Stoll around their Neck & Shoulders.
Addressing our Club Member, Dr.
Naoyuki Takagi, Leader of theJapanese Group said, we came thismorning (22nd Aug.) from Ladakh.
We thank you very much for having
us today evening. I know you meeton Thursdays. Thanks for shifting yourmeeting today to meet us. Our Dist.

Governor and Club Presidents havesent their best wishes and greetings
to all of you. This project was started
in 2015 and will continue for 3
years till 2018. Ladies in Ladakh areparticipating in this Literacy project.
When we started this project, theLadies were totally illiterate. Today
they are learning to read and write.
Six Ladies in Ladakh are monitoring
this project. 86 Adult Ladies arelearning to read and write. Not onlyreading and writing they are also
learning sewing on sewing machines
and also knitting woollen clothes.
Mahabodhi Society is also helping
us in this project.
When this project was initiated by
us in 2015, the Ladies were totally
illiterate. Today after 3 years they
can now read and write and someof them can even sew clothes. They
can also read their holy scripts andcan chant in their Ladakhi language.
They can write their names. They sew
clothes and even sell them. They allsell agricultural products. This project
has changed their lives. They cancount in English also. Some of themcan even read English as well. A few
samples of products made by theseLadies were brought by these JapaneseRotarians and same were circulated forviewing to our Club Members whichwere highly appreciated.

They have three Literacy Centres atthree different locations. Each Centre
has 4 sewing machines. In wintertemperature goes down to as low as–20° and this is why they have started
learning knitting woollen clothes.
We asked them whose life has beenchanged most due to this project andthey all chose and selected one oldlady.
Bhothi scriptures written in Bhothi
language are very important scripturesin their lives.
On our third day in Ladakh we had avery pleasant surprise. The Presidentof India, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind wasvisiting Ladakh and visited a school
which has 400 students. Ladakh has apopulation of about 3,00,000

NEXT MEETING
SATURDAY 26th AUGUST 2017
THE ROSEATE RESORTS
TIME: 5.00 P.M.

CLUB ASSEMBLY
WITH
OVERNIGHT STAY
MEETING WILL BE FOLLOWED BY DRINKS & DINNER
SPOUSES ARE MOST CORDIALLY INVITED

people. Our Centre is located about
15 minutes drive from the Airport. All
the three Centres are in close proximityof about 15 to 20 minutes drive fromeach other.
Officially this project ends in March
2018, but we are requesting TRF for anextension since a lot more needs to bedone for sustainability of this project.
Our Club Members present at thisspecial meeting on 22nd August at
Ethiopian Centre, were: Rtns. President
Anuj Khurana & Rupa, PDG AshishGhosh, PE Madhumati Singh, VP
Mahesh Ch. Gupta, Secy. Saurabh &Ashu Gupta, Parveen Jain, SangitaBansal, Pran Mehta, Umang Das, Yadav& Mamta Bhargava, Vinod & Lata
Gupta, Surendra Singh & Nirupama,Prashant & Neha Sahgal, Ranjit SinghSahni, Rishi Malhotra, Rajiv & PoonamSodhi, Vimal Gupta, Asit Gupta, VirPhilip, Mahesh Kr. Aggarwal, Jayashree
Jayaraman, Vikas Seth, Radha Sood andMrs. Raj Maira and Baby Navya Sahgal.

Project Overview• New Delhi Rotary Club & District
2780 (Japan)–Global Grant Project• Partner: Mahabodhi International
Meditation Centre (MIMC)• Participants: 86 Adult Ladies in Ladakh• Subjects: Bhothi (Tibetan ScriptureLanguage) Reading and Writing
Ladakhi Reading and Writing
Simple Math & Numbers
English Alphabet & Simple English
Sewing/Knitting (in FriendshipCentre)• Three Centres: Equity (29),Friendship (27), Peace (30)
• Started August 2015
History• PP Rtn. Yokota San met Rev.
Sangasena, founder of MIMC in1993.
• MIMC started 1st batch of Literacy
Centres in 1997 with the help ofPP Rtn. Yokota.
• MIMC had supported 18 centres
in total before 2015, when ourproject stated.

• We added sewing to the project.
OutcomeTotally illiterate Ladies now can:• Read and write in Bhothi (languageof scriptures) – Most important• Read and write in Ladakhi (everyday life)• Do simple Arithmetic (for goodhousekeeping/commerce)• Can read English alphabets• Can make clothes using a sewingmachine• Can knit gloves, sweaters, etc.
(Friendship Centre)
Common Words of Gratitude: Now I can...
• Read holy scripts and chant• Read and write in Ladakhi• Sign my name instead of giving
thumb print• Make clothes and even sell themfor small profits• Sell agricultural products without
being cheated.
Whose life has been changed most?
Ladakhi Ladies lives have beenchanged with this project. One seed
can make the whole world green.

Pictorial Glimpses of the Project at Ladakh . . .

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
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The 604th regular weekly club meeting heldat Ethiopian Cultural Centre, Niti Marg, New
Delhi on Tuesday 22nd August 2017 (insteadof Thursday 24th August – preponed by 2days to suit the convenience of our Guestsfrom Japan) was called to order by President
Rtn. Anuj Khurana.
National Anthem was led by Rtn. Madhumati
Singh.
We had the privilege of welcoming ourJapanese Rotarians who had just returned
only today (22 Aug.) morning from Ladakh
after visiting the Women Literacy Centre atLeh, Ladakh, a Global Grant Project jointly
sponsored with our Club.
All the Six Members of the Japanese Group– Rtn. NAOYUKI TAKAGI, Rtn. KOYOKOYAKOTA, Rtn. YUKA SHIMOZATO, Rtn.
CHIGUSA HARA, Ms. MICHINORI MARUTA
and Ms. KEIIKO FURUYA were welcomed intrue Indian style with a Chandan Tika, RosePetals and a beautiful and colourful Stoll.
Ms. Karuna Poddar and her brother Mr. Gobind
Poddar, the two visually impaired children gave
a fantastic Sitar and Tabla performance inhonour of our visiting Japanese friends which
mesmerized everyone and received accolades
and appreciation with loud and long applausefor very amazing and splendid performance.
A token of appreciation was presented to thetwo young musical performers on behalf ofthe Club.
President acknowledged the presence ofMrs. Raj Maira and also welcomed Mr. &Mrs. Alok Sangal and Mr. Nihar Mittal two
prospective new members.
Rtn. Mahesh Chand Gupta was greeted on
his Birthday on 23rd August. R’ann Kanika
Grover was also greeted in absentia on her
Birthday on 23rd August.
Rtn. Naoyuki Takagi, Leader of the Japanese
Delegation informed about the Women
Literacy Project at Leh, Ladakh with a PPTpresentation.

10. PP Rtn. Vinod Gupta, proposing vote of
thanks said we appreciate the efforts of
our Japanese partners in this project andthank them for informing us the latest
position and details of this project inLadakh.
11. Miss Navya Sahgal was presented PHF Pinand Certificate by Rtn. Naoyuki Takagi.
12. President informed about the Club
Assembly on 26th August at the Resort
near Palam Airport with overnight stay.
19 Members have already confirmed forovernight stay. Board Meeting starts at 4p.m. followed by Club Assembly at 5 p.m.
Since this is Club Assembly all Members
are invited to attend. People who don’t
want to stay overnight can just come for
the Assembly and have Tea. The Resort isabout 3 km. from the Airport and one canreturn after Tea/Cocktails.
13. There is District Fund Raiser TRF Million
Dollar Dinner on Aug. 23 at Pullman
Aerocity Hotel. Distt. Governor wants usto commit a contribution of more than
$50,000 for TRF this year. Some ofour Members have already committed tocontribute substantial amount to TRF thisyear–Rtns. PDG Asoke Ghosh, PDG Ashish
Ghosh, Umang Das, Vinod Gupta, Mahesh
Gupta, Sarita Puri, Sangita Bansal.
14. A Blood Donation camp is being held at
Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Ashok
Vihar on Saturday 26th August 2017 from
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Members are requestedto join and participate to motivate Donors.
15. Rtn. Saurabh Gupta, Club Secy. informedthat we have done 12 projects, some with
our Rotaractors, in last 10 days from11th August till 20th August. All theseprojects have been put on our Website
and Facebook page. Complete details of
the projects with photos and the link has
been communicated to the Members bothby email and Whatsapp.
16. The Regular Weekly meeting ofThursday 31st August been preponed

THE BOARD 2017—18
President

Anuj Khurana
Rajiv Sodhi
President-Elect
Madhumati SinghVice President
Mahesh C. Gupta
Saurabh K. Gupta
SecretaryJt. Secretary
Shrawan Chhajer
Treasurer
Parveen Jain
Sergeant-at-Arms
Asit Gupta
Counsellor & Advisor Asoke K. GhoshClub Trainer
Ashish GhoshClub Mentor
Sanjiv Mehra
Club Coordinator
Vimal Gupta
DIRECTORS:
Umang Das
Pran Mehta
Dr. Sangita Bansal
Narender Gupta
Kashish Chandan
Imm. Past President

NO BIRTHDAY & WEDDING ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEKto CLUB ASSEMBLY on Saturday 26thAugust at the Roseate Resort.

17. NO MEETINGS on Thursday 24th August andThursday 31st August since both meetings
preponed to 22nd August and 26th August.
18. Sunshine of `2060 was collected by Rtn.
Asit Gupta.
19. Meeting was then declared adjournedand everyone was invited to enjoy Drinks
and Dinner and share fellowship with ourJapanese Rotarian Friends.
FORTHCOMING PROGRAMMES DURING
AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2017
SATURDAY/SUNDAY 26/27TH
AUGUST 2017
CLUB ASSEMBLY—With Overnight Stay
THURSDAY 31ST AUGUST 2017
Scheduled Club Meeting Preponed to 26 Aug.
THURSDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2017
Teachers Award Function
Honouring Best Teachers from our7 Interact Club Schools
THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2017
Speaker: PP Rtn. SURENDRA SINGH
Subject: Mansarovar Yatra
THURSDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 2017
Speaker: Major General Pramod K. Saigal
Subject: Current Hot Topic of Interest

POLIO RAVIVAR
NEXT POLIO NID IS ON

SUNDAY

17TH SEPTEMBER 2017
President: Rtn. Anuj Khurana, 54/2, East Panjabi Bagh, New Delhi - 110 026 • Phone: 9811033851
Secretary: Rtn. Saurabh Kr. Gupta, 61/21, Ramjas Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi - 110 005 • Phone: 9899696918
Edited and published by Rtn. Vimal K. Gupta for and on behalf of Rotary Club of New Delhi and printed at Shree Kamna, Delhi – 110 092

Wesite: https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubNewDelhi • E-mail: rotaryclub.newdelhi@gmail.com

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