The First Community based Rotaract Club, The Rotaract Club of Madras With additional history of the other Rotaract Clubs sponsored by the Rotary Club of Madras

From: A Timeless Legacy – Eighty Years of Service
The Rotary Club of Madras

Page 88

The Rotary Club of Madras sponsored its first Interact club at Vidya Mandir. The club was inaugurated on September 23, 1965. Soon after, the second Interact club was established at Doveton Corrie. In 1994-95, during the presidentship of V. Ramabhadran, Rtns. Prathap Kumar, Arun Sarathi and Dr. K. Rajan embarked on an enrolment drive and took the number of Interact clubs from 15 to 23. This set a world record though, shortly afterwards, the Club was overtaken by a club in Colombo. Today, the Rotary Club of Madras sponsors 25 Interact clubs.

Not too far behind came the Rotaract movement in 1968, which allowed the Rotary to expand their service to young adults in the age group of 17-30. The purpose of the Rotaract is to stimulate among its members an acceptance of high ethical standards in all occupations, to develop leadership and responsible citizenship through service to the community and to promote international understanding and peace.

At a club meeting on October 29, 1968, Rtn. A. Agarwal announced the Club’s intention of sponsoring a Rotaract club to be known as the Rotaract Club of Madras. He requested Rotarians to sponsor the club by enrolling their children and their friends. Twenty members were necessary for the club to get started. Today, the Rotaract Club of Madras has closed down but in its time it had the distinction of being the first community-based Rotaract Club ever. The Club also co-sponsored the Rotaract Club of Ethiraj with the Rotary Club of Chennapatna. This joint venture was a first in the district. In the late 1990s, however, the Club relinquished the Rotaract club to the sole ownership of the Rotary Club of Chennapatna. Today, the Rotary Club of Madras sponsors six flourishing Rotaract clubs; five are in colleges — Presidency College, Queen Mary’s College, Loyola College, New College and Madras Medical College — and the Vepery Rotaract Club is community based.

Both the Interact and Rotaract movements came into being when the world was witnessing war on several fronts. In Africa, old colonial powers were being overthrown. In 1967, Israel won a six-day war against the rest of the Arab countries. USA and the erstwhile USSR entered the period of the Cold War after teetering on the brink of nuclear war. And as the first club came into being in Madras, Indian troops were pushing back invaders on the frontier.

In this climate, the Rotary felt the urgency of training youngsters to be responsible leaders, with a broad understanding and tolerance of other cultures. As Rtn. Lt. Col. Vasudeva Rao said in 1965, “... I believe that clubs like the Interact have a major part to play in answering the need of our country. Misunderstanding leads to war and if only countries understood each other’s aims better, I am sure that wars can be checked. Prevention is better than cure and it is here that the young come into play.”

When it started, the Interact movement was meant only for boys. In 1969, the Board of Directors of Rotary International voted to admit girls to the Interact. The Board said: “The Interact was originally established as a programme for boys only and retains a primary emphasis on training in leadership and citizenship for boys. Nevertheless, should local circumstances indicate to the sponsoring Rotary club that good cause would be served by admission of girls, the sponsoring Rotary Club is at liberty to use its discretion accordingly.”

For many years, the Club considered Youth Service a part of Community Service. It was only in 1978, that Youth Service was declared a separate avenue. Under able directors such as Rtns. N.K. Gopinath, Arun Sarathi, M. Pratap Kumar, Dr. K. Rajan, Archana Shri Sanjay and Indhra Subramanyam, Youth Service has developed into a vibrant channel of service.

Interactors and Rotaractors look for opportunities to be of service to both the local and world communities. Leadership camps like RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), started in 1971 to develop and build youngsters to be leaders with strong ethics and values. Their social talents and public relations abilities are honed. Youngsters develop both confidence and a conscience. Whether it is helping in old age homes, orphanages, organising blood donation drives and medical camps, or conducting fundraisers, these youngsters lead the way in their generation.

Page 91

While the Rotaract clubs in colleges are doing well, the success of the Rotaract Club of Vepery suggests that community-based Rotaract clubs are the way to the future.

The Vepery Rotaract came into being when a group of students from Doveton Corrie High School graduated, but were reluctant to leave their Interact days behind. The Interact club of Doveton Corrie is not only the second oldest Interact club in Chennai but also one of the finest. The motivation to form a community based Rotaract club came from the school Interact counsellor and Maths teacher, Mr. Natarajan. Rtr. Jaby John, one of the founding members of the Vepery Rotaract club recalls the early days of the club. "Boys that had passed out from Doveton Corrie five years ago, and quite a few from my batch had been avid Interactors. We formed the nucleus of the new club. We modelled it on a Rotary club."

The first two to three years were spent consolidating the club. The club would meet twice a month at Hotel Breeze on Poonamallee High Road. Since fun had been an integral part of the Interact, the group decided to carry on the same spirit of fun as a Rotaract Club. Fellowship was emphasised and every month a different person took the responsibility of organising a fellowship dinner. As John says, "Given the age group of our club, we need a lot of fun activities to keep people motivated and interested in being a part of the club." Once members had bonded through fellowship, the club launched itself into community service. "We used to move from project to project. On public holidays we would visit orphanages and old age homes. But now we’re setting up some projects that are ongoing in nature like a medical centre at Kolathur."

To raise funds, the club held Planet Rotaract, a fun fair on the lawns of Abu Palace, a hotel on Poonamallee High Road. Planet Rotaract has now become a yearly affair and is a crowd-puller.

Forging a bond with the Rotary Club of Madras, the club can be depended upon to help the Rotary’s ongoing projects. In 1996, they made contributions to Rotary Nagar. A function was organised at the Community Hall of Rotary Nagar and the following donations were handed over to the residents:

• A Singer Fashionmaker sewing machine to the students of the Rotary Nagar tailoring class;
• Rs. 2,100 towards the cost of medicine administered by the Primary Health Centre;
• Schoolbags, pencil boxes, water bottles and stationery to the Class V children attending the Rotary Nagar night school;
• Rs. 1,000 to assist a handicapped resident in setting up a public call office at Rotary Nagar.

The club won the Best Rotaract Club Award 2000-2001. That year, the club completed a record 35 projects in 350 days. Just days after Gujarat was devastated by an earthquake, a three member team from the Vepery Rotaract Club rushed to the State to assist aid and rescue operations. They also sent aid in the form of cash (Rs. 2,00,000), 1,000 new blankets, old clothes, milk and other essentials. A team of three doctors also went.

The Vepery Rotaract Club is both the legacy of the Interact movement and the pioneer of the Rotaract movement. Most of all, it is proof of what young people can achieve when their hearts, minds, and souls are opened.

Our Rotaract Clubs:

1. Rotaract Club of Vepery
2. Rotaract Club Of Loyola
3. Rotaract Club of New College
4. Rotaract Club of Queen Mary’s College
5. Rotaract Club Of Chennai
6. Rotaract Club of MOP Vaishnava
7. Rotaract Club of Presidency College

We had also jointly started the Rotaract Club of Ethiraj College along with The Rotary Club of Chennapatna

............................................................................................................
First edition 2003 DEEPIKA DAVIDAR, Updated up to the 80th year by RTN. ARUN K. RAMCHANDAR & RTN. N.K. GOPINATH