Rotaract comes alive in Kosamba, Gujarat
Kosamba, a small village in Mangrol taluk of Surat, Gujarat, has seen numerous Rotary Rotaract activities after their clubs have got an image makeover with change of names.
Rotary Club of Kharach Kosamba, RID 3060, and its Rotaract club of the same name are now called ‘Tarsadi Kosamba’ with effect from July 1, 2025. “After our parent Rotary changed its name, we also followed suit to reinvent ourselves. Our eight-year-old club has 28 members consisting of a good mix of businessmen, working class professionals and college students,” says Aditya Dubey, joint secretary and director of club services at RAC Tarsadi Kosamba.
Following a request from principal M K Mahida of Adarsh Kelvani Mandal, a government secondary and higher secondary school in Kosamba, who found that some 200 tribal students in his school “are in need of a proper health check-up, we decided to conduct a medical camp for the benefit of these rural children,” he explains. A Rotarian doctor Surjeet Singh Rana, a homeopathy practitioner, screened over 160 students, and non-allopathy medicines were given to needy patients. “Our team of seven Rotaractors also conducted a health awareness session at the camp in which dos and don’ts for a disease-free lifestyle were explained to the students.”
Over the past eight years, the Rotaract medical camp in Kosamba would have benefitted around 550–600 people including students, says Dubey. The locals and the Rotary fraternity look forward to the nine-day Navratri musical fest at the Rotary Garba Ground every year (Oct-Nov). “Around 1,000 people across age groups come together for a joyful music and dance, a celebration that epitomises the Gujarati culture, marking the grandeur of the festival season. This is a ticketed event, with each participant being charged an entry fee of ₹50 at the Garba Grounds that sports a festive ambience with colourful buntings, music and dance,” he explains.
The Garba music and dance at the Rotary Grounds have been the major fundraiser for Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Kosamba for the past many years now.
Mass wedding
Gujarat deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghvi will inaugurate Project Samuh Lagan, a community wedding in which over 70 couples will tie the nuptial knot simultaneously, at a mega Rotary-Rotaract event in January last week.
As they are doing this for the first time, “we are working out all the finer details of logistics and the venue alterations for the mass wedding in Kosamba facilitated by Rotary-Rotaract to ensure its success. On our part, we will donate all the essential household items including cooking vessels, cot-bed, table fan, cupboard etc. A few gold grams will be used for the mangal sutra for the matrimonial knot between couples.”
Having been in Rotaract for two-and-half years, Dubey has won four district awards in community service; as ‘outstanding Rotaractor,’ ‘Rising Star’ of the club; and Rotaractor of the Year. A first-year student of BPT (physiotherapy) at the P P Savani University, Dhamdod, near Kosamba, he says, “I am learning about my community through my Rotaract activities.”
As a physiotherapist, “it is always better to know the community for which you are working, and being a Rotaractor, I have this advantage of having a good understanding of the people, their customs and practices.”
Dubey wants to join Rotary only after 32, “and as Rotarian my focus areas will be on health, wellness and reaching out to needy people in rural areas,” he smiles.
