A Rotaract club springs to life again
Set grand targets, work towards them so that “you start your career at the right time to move in the right direction,” said former Isro scientist Mayilsamy Annadurai while addressing over 700 school and college students at the Vinnai Thodu (Touch the sky), a webinar to mark International Youth Day hosted by RAC Coimbatore Texcity, RID 3201.
at a webinar to mark International Youth Day.
He urged students to “chase your dreams to achieve success” but with a caveat that they should work passionately towards their goals. In the emerging post-Covid world, youth must be well-prepared to take on challenges; “it is not enough to excel just in studies, but due importance must be given to extracurricular activities too.” Annadurai explained in detail the checklist that India had to achieve as he noted in his Vision 2020 Mission. Former President Abdul Kalam’s dream big mantra should be adopted by all students to achieve excellence in their chosen fields, he said.
He narrated a Buddhist parable to drive home the importance of self-evaluation and the need to handle criticism in a positive way to come up in life. Additional chief electoral officer, Chhattisgarh, K C Devasenapathi spoke on a five-point formula to crack the UPSC and other competitive exams. He clarified the queries of students on issues like coaching and exam preparations at an interactive session after his speech.
RC Coimbatore Texcity president Dr V Ravendran motivated the Rotaractors to take up community projects by stating that his club is ready to extend all support in their endeavour. District Rotaract Committee chair Godwin Maria Viswasam said, “I will recommend this novel youth project to DG Jose Chacko for declaring it as a district Rotaract project.” The RAC Coimbatore Texcity has been revived after a gap of five years, he noted, and under a new leadership it has found its moorings with such youth initiatives like Vinnai Thodu.
DRR Janani Mani thanked Annadurai for his inspiring speech which would go a long way in sensitising the youth on the challenges ahead and the need to equip themselves with right skill sets for success. Rtn Hendry Amalraj, zonal chairman, District Priority, also spoke on the occasion. The participants logged in from Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem and Palakkad among other nearby districts.
A great start
Five years ago, the club was shut down “for want of leadership as there was none to take over that responsibility then,” recalled Logesh Bharani, president, RAC Coimbatore Texcity. Now with 25 Rotaractors, he had revived the club with great hope and vision to do “socially relevant and impactful projects.” Wasting no time after taking over the reins, he along with his Rotaract team has already completed two Covid-relief projects. First, they distributed over 70 hygiene kits containing sanitisers, masks, gloves and soap to needy families in Chennai, Vellore and Coimbatore at a cost of ₹10,000. This was followed by a cash donation of ₹1,000 each to 10 migrant, daily wage families who had lost their livelihood due to lockdown. Club secretary K R Athiray said a new project titled Open Talk will be launched soon in which ordinary, but aspirational women will be invited to share online their ideas, and creative thoughts with Rotaractors. Bharani, a customer service associate at Amazon, and his secretary are confident that Open Talk will extend a “useful platform” for young women striving hard to achieve success in diverse ventures. They expressed their “heartfelt gratitude to our parent Rotary — RC Coimbatore Texcity, who had contributed the seed money for us to start Covid projects,” said Bharani.
