Issue 10 • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

BULLETIN OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF MADRAS

DIST 3232 • 2020-21

Scaling heights
and finding Rotary
designated
month

her space! SEPTEMBER

Basic
Education
and Literacy
Month
EDITORIAL
Welcome to a new week, dear Rotarians.
Last week we had a most interesting
speaker - a female maritime expert and the
founder of Maritime “She-EO” (a take on
“CEO”, which sounds notoriously
patriarchal, haha) and makes a case for
more women to be in senior corporate
positions in field of shipping and other
maritime businesses. Quite a niche area of
interest, I must say; and the speaker
Sanjam Sahi Gupta was as crisp and clear
as she was graceful and eloquent, as she
walked us through her intriguing career
and fielded the Q&A session expertly.
Our Rtn. Suresh Amirapu has given us
an equally crisp and interesting review of
that talk, in this issue.
Our cover resonates with the progress
of women in business in India, especially
in areas jealously guarded by the male
bastion; shipping being one of them. May
her tribe increase and may we see a future
with strong, confident women in all career
sectors.
But this edition is actually dedicated to:
Youth.
As Youth Services Director, our Rtn.
Balaji Chinni with his various committees
THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
and chairpersons under that umbrella,
have kept up a strong and steady pace of
activity since they took over this year,
Covid and pandemic restrictions or not.
As young and fiery as any of the college
students and school children they work
with, our Youth Services teams have
seamlessly adapted to virtual meetings
and events, a determined calendar of
activities and have kept the morale up and
the train moving, like an unstoppable
juggernaut, albeit a speedy and sleek
one. Rtn. Shivkumar Easwaran gives us a
Behind-The-Scenes look at the superbly
executed Career Guidance Webinar they
spearheaded; and we see a roundup of
other Rotaract activities as well. Energetic,
indeed!
There are plenty of “Awww” moments
in this issue too, but I don’t want to ramble
on and take the sparkle away from them.
So I leave you to the reading and hope
see you all soon, at our next weekly
meeting!
Let’s all remember: A full force of RCM
members at our weekly meetings is a force
to reckon with, indeed!
- Rtn. Shri Shakthi Girish
2
Birthdays
16th Sept – Rtn. Maya Thiagarajan
17th Sept – Rtn. Vivek A. Parachur
18th Sept – Rtn. R. Ashok Thakkar
18th Sept – Rtn. Dr. R. Chandrasekhar
21st Sept – Rtn. Shakthi Girish
21st Sept – Rtn. Shivkumar Eashwaran
15th Sept – Spouse Radhakrishna S.
Iyer (Rtn. Nalini Radhakrishnan
16th Sept – Ann. Divya Chetti
(Rtn. Deepak Chander)
20th Sept – Ann. Meghana
(Rtn. Kishor Dandeker)
Anniversaries
15th Sept – Rtn. Rinku Mecheri &
spouse Rajeev Mecheri
FELLOWSHIP
ACROSS
CONTINENTS
“Thank you for joining us
virtually last night as Rotary Club
of Nairobi celebrated the 90th
Charter Anniversary.
Whilst we were waiting for
members and guests to log on, I
was having a conversation with
our club member PDG
Mohammed and he very jokingly
told me, “at 90, the celebrations
are past diamonds, emeralds,
rubies, sapphires... not certain
which gem to associate them with,
perhaps all together.”
President Kapil, your message
to members of RCN was
heartwarming.
On behalf of RC Nairobi, I
congratulate you and members of
RC Madras upon 92 years of
service.
We l o o k f o r w a r d t o a
strengthened bond between our
clubs.
Thank you, truly
– Rtn. Pres. Ritesh Bharot
of Rotary Club of Nairobi
GLIMPSES THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 3

Rtn. Kapil Chitale, President Rtn. P B Prasad, Secretary

PP Rtn. Shanno Ravi Rtn. N. Prakash

Rtn. Maya Thiagarajan Speaker Sanjam Sahi Gupta

Rtn S. Balakrishna Pres Nominee Rtn Jayshree Sridhar

Rtn Suresh Amirapu Rtn Rani Muralidharan

MINUTES
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
A fter collaring, President Kapil Chitale called the 10th
meeting of RCM to order.
The RCM theme song was played.
The minutes of the 25th & 31st August, 2020 was duly
confirmed by the President, after approval by the members.
President welcomed guest speaker Ms. Sangam Sahi
Gupta – founder of Maritime SheEO, Probus Club members,
Rotarians, Rotaractors and other guests.
President complimented the speaker as a pioneer in the
management of logistics/ shipping industry and promoting
women empowerment, which is mostly dominated by men.
Rtn. Maya Thiagarajan gave her views on the 4-Way Test
and said that the Test contains very crucial questions
which helps her professional life move forward in a
positive manner, particularly when dealing with the
younger generations. The first point ‘truth’ is an
interesting one and also a difficult one to follow, as it
emphasizes the importance of being truthful in words as
well as in action, in all things we do in our day-to-day life.
The principles are a guide for everyone to do the best in
their respective fields, which leads to fair practices,
goodwill and actions beneficial to everyone around us.
President was full of praise for Rtn. N. Sukumar, as he
was able to trace the original documents of BTS & CT and
this tremendous effort will help RCM to re-apply for fresh
documents of RCMBT & RCMCT.
Rtn. S. Balakrishna, Director – Covid-19 & Special
Projects, informed members that the protocol for the
industries, under Chairperson Rtn. Dr. Gauthamdas Udipi,
was approved by the Industries Secretary Mr.
Muruganandam on 7th July, but this was held back by the
Chennai Corporation.
Now, a revised protocol has been submitted and
hopefully it will kick off in the coming months. This
initiative of RCM is to see that safety is implemented in all
industries, as the main criterion.
Rtn. N. Prakash, Director – Community Service,
mentioned to members that he, along with President Kapil,
Rtns. Ravi & N.K. Bhatia had visited RCMBT and reviewed
the operations and activities for the coming months. The
visit was fruitful, as a survey of the entire property was
done and they had discussed how the place can utilized
more.
It was heartening to see the toilets built by RCM in the
nearby villages were used by the people there, properly.
More details about the plans will be updated shortly.
President-Nominee Jayshree Sridhar briefed members
THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 4
that it was a proud moment for RCM, as many JWD clubs
were excited to be a part of the group. RCM, along with RC
Bombay, proposed to have a zoom meeting with the
Presidents/ International Directors on the 21st September,
2020. This is slated to be a historic moment as this
platform will be the first of this kind in the Rotary
movement. Most JWD clubs responded positively when
approached, Rtn, Jayshree said.
Secretary PB Prasad read out a 2-week list of birthdays/
wedding anniversaries of Rotarians and spouses.
The Secy. announced that the next weekly zoom meeting
would be on the 15th September, 2020 at 2.00pm.
The guest speaker will be Mr. S. Vijaykumar, Co-Founder
– India Pride Project and he will address us all on “A citizen-
led initiative to stop the plunder of cultured treasures of
India”. The Secy. requested all members to log in and
participate.
Rtn. Suresh Amirapu introduced guest speaker Ms.
Sanjam Sahi Gupta, by reading out her impressive profile.
He complimented her on not only being a strong and
positive inspiration for career women, but also for leading
by example by inducting female workers into her own firm
and supporting them in their career. Later, he acted as
moderator for the Q&A session.
Ms. Sanjam Sahi Gupta is the founding member of the
Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association
(WISTA) in India, board member of WISTA International
and a member of the executive board of directors of the
World Maritime University.
Ms. Gupta spoke on “SheEOs” breaking the glass ceiling
and achieving success in the maritime industry. She
herself led by example, with her women-majority
workforce. She spoke about focussing on leadership,
entrepreneurship and growth of women in the maritime
and other traditionally male-dominated industries.
A video from International Chamber of Shipping was
shown, depicting the role and success of women in the
maritime industry.
Ms. Gupta shared her journey from joining her family
business and being at the forefront of driving gender
equality and diversity in the shipping line
Rtn. Rani Muralidharan thanked Ms. Gupta for her
inspiring talk with many take-aways – the surging position
of women in the professional world, avoiding self-
sabotage, utilizing all opportunities that could arise and
aspiring to reach higher.
The meeting was then adjourned.
SNIPPETS THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 5

Life & the

4-WAY TEST!
“The 4-Way Test’s point on “truth” emphasizes
By Rtn. Maya Thiagarajan
the importance of being truthful in words as
well as in action, in all things we do in our
day-to-day life."

TAKING PRIDE IN INDIA!

SPOTLIGHT THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 6

SheEO - Breaking Many

A Glass Ceiling!
By Rtn. Suresh Amirapu

The Rotary of Club of Madras can rightly claim to have

attracted a fascinating array of speakers for its weekly C ommon Man - defined as
ordinary people in a community
or nation, they form the majority of
meetings. Coming from diverse backgrounds, passionate
the population and are
about their subject, inspired and inspiring, they make for
representative of the maximum
great communicators leaving lasting impressions. people in a society and thus the
virtues, needs and deficiencies of a
Ms. Sanjam Sahi Gupta, Director of Sitara Shipping and common man would be a reflexion
founder of Maritime ShEO, who addressed the Rotary of that of most of the people in a
club on 8th September, ticked all these boxes and then society.
some more. Sanjam has almost an
evangelist’s zeal in promoting the
entry, acceptance and growth of
women in the workplace,
particularly in the shipping and
logistics industries in which she
herself works. These industries are
relatively unknown to the general
public and yet they have huge
growth and employment potential
in India. Though the common
perception is that these industries
are male-dominated, women have
been inducted and have had
successful careers playing
challenging and diverse roles.
It took a committed reformist like
Sanjam to promote and publicize
the fine work down by women in
these and similar roles. Apart from
those at the sharp end of the
business, Sanjam also promotes the
cause of women in the higher
echelons of Management. She is the
founder of Maritime SheEO – the
name says it all, to impel and
encourage women to move all the
way up the corporate ladder,
breaking boundaries and dispelling
traditional practices!
Sanjam recounted her personal
journey, joining her family
business, which was in shipping
and logistics, normally associated
with tough and demanding tasks
mastered by men. Citing passion
SPOTLIGHT
and hard work as key requirements, and
determination to succeed as an important factors,
Sanjam shared a photo of herself as a five-year-old
with the caption “I am going to work with Daddy”. A
word of very practical advice was to try and get
mentoring relationships preferably a male and a
female mentor even from outside one’s organization.
It was important to believe in oneself and have an
open mind so one could learn along the way.
Citing numerous examples of women who have
succeeded in her profession and in adjacent
vocations, she effectively made the larger point that
given an opportunity, women can learn new skills,
work competently and reliably, and deliver high levels
of productively without any compromise to safety or
good work practices.
She gave the example of lady CES (Container
Equipment Specialists, more popularly
known as crane operators, operating
cranes that are twenty stories high)
at PSA Mumbai container terminal,
probably the only terminal in the
country where ladies are
employed in that role.
Assimilating the training they
were given they have proved to
be safe, efficient and highly
productive operators. At the other
end of the spectrum was Ms. Liji
Nowal, co-founder and MD of ODEX,
an online payment and documentation
platform for the shipping and Logistics
industry. Mrs. H. K. Joshi, was recently elevated
as the present Chairperson and Managing Director
of The Shipping Corporation of India, a Navratna
PSU. She is the first lady to hold this post and a
true inspiration to aim for the highest echelons of
management. Sanjam went on to share photos of
women ship captains and officers. She also
mentioned her address to lady cadets. The
maritime and logistics industry could do with more
women, was her message.
Sanjam’s modesty downplayed her personal
achievements but they are indeed impressive. Apart
from a host of awards, including Glenmark Pharma’s
Woman of the Year 2019 and ‘Leading Woman in
Shipping Award’, Sanjam is the founder and
President Emeritus of WISTA India – WISTA being
Women’s International Shipping and Trading
Association. WISTA is a networking organization
whose mission is to attract and support women, at
the management level in the Maritime, Trading and
Logistics sectors. She is board member of WISTA
International. Her numerous achievements enabled
her to be nominated as Executive Board Member of
the World Maritime University at Malmo, Sweden.
THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 7
As the Maritime and Logistics industry is not very
well known to many, Sanjam shared her experiences
in the International arena and the inspiring
personalities she works with including Ms. Despina
Panayiotou Theodosiou, President WISTA
International and Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry
President of the World Maritime University.
A lively Q&A session followed the presentation.
What is the percentage of women in the Shipping
Industry, she was asked. While the acceptance and in
turn the preference to employ women was increasing,
Sanjam cited the example of her own company, Sitara
Shipping which had about 50 percent of its office
work force as women. A regular visitor to their office
quipped that they may as well change the name to
“Sita Shipping”! A more reassuring feature was that
women were being employed not just in office
functions like Account Claims and
Administration, but in more customer-
facing roles as well at the sharp end of
the business.
What were the challenges that
she faced as a woman in the
industry? The acceptance of
women in higher management
roles was slowly increasing but
challenges remain. The fact that
women were giving a better
account of themselves professionally
was helping to breakdown old
prejudices born mostly out of
unfamiliarity.
What helped her in her journey? A supportive
family was the key. As hers was a family-managed
business, the support of her parents especially her
father was very crucial. Her very supportive husband
enabled her to chase her dreams.
Though these were personal examples, Sanjam
brought out that the underlying lessons were generic
and applicable to most wanting to enter the
profession.
The attendees to the e-meeting were clearly
impressed with Sanjam’s calm and dignified manner,
her deep knowledge of the subject and almost
effortless ease of responding to the numerous
questions that came her way. Here was no fire-
breathing feminist. Nor an entitled dampener. Instead
she was the perfect ambassador to convincingly
promote the cause of women in the work place from
the shop floor to the board room. Sanjam ended with
some advice and encouragement to women wanting
to join the industry.
“Dream and go after your dreams with full gusto.
I’m cheering for you -welcome aboard your journey in
the world’s most fascinating industry.”
Time to break all glass ceilings!
YOUNG STARS
The Making of The
CAREER GUIDANCE
PROGRAM RID 3232
By Rtn. Shivkumar Eashwaran (Co-Chairman Youth Service (Rotaract & Interact)
T his was the first big initiative of the Youth Service
team and the seeds of this initiative were sown by
our Youth Service Director Rtn. Balaji Chinni & Rtn.
Parkavi Mahalingam. We initially wanted to conduct a
career guidance seminar for the Rotaractors of the 9
clubs sponsored by Rotary Club of Madras, but when we
called my close friend Rtn. Shriram Duvvri, Youth
Service Director for this event, he helped us in making
this program into a DISTRICT level initiative,
benefitting all the Rotaractors of RID 3232.
We had the privilege of having Mr. Datta – Vice
President, Corporate Affairs, Hyundai Motors, Mr. Gopi
Shanmugavel – Regional HR Head, CAPGEMINI India,
Mr. Rakesh Prasad – Director HR, Indigo airlines and
Ms. Nagalakshmi Karthikeyan – Assistant General
Manager HR, TATA Consultancy Services as facilitators.
Registrations were open from 15th July 2020. We had
a record registration of 2700 Rotaractors registering for
this event, out of which 1847 were female and 853 were
male!
13% of the candidates were pursuing a degree in
Engineering while 87 % of the candidate were pursuing
a degree in Arts, law and Science.
We created a “war room” in my office, Eashwaran
Towers. Mock sessions were held from 2nd September
2020 at the war room. These mock sessions were
memorable, as we got to see the Rotaracters face-to-
face because we had not yet met them in person, thanks
THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 8
to Covid-19. I enjoyed sharing with them, my
experiences as the Charter President of the Rotaract
Club of Pillar City & DRR of the District 3230 in 1992-
1993.
We had appointed Rtr. Harish Kumar, President of
Rotaract Club of JPR college as Chairman of the
organization committee from the Rotaract side. He &
his team worked with us in the war room continuously
for four days to bring out the event.
The YouTube digital background was designed by
DRR Rtr. PP Anbarasu as we decided to stream on both
YouTube live and Zoom platform. DRR Anbu is an
exemplary leader and he came to our war room and
helped us without any inhibitions.
The dry run was conducted on 4th September 2020
and helped us eliminate all technical glitches.
(We finished the dry run only in the early hours of
September 5th 2020!)
Mr. Ranjith from Rtn. Parkavi Mahalingam's office
worked with us as the session moderator.
The big day finally arrived and we assembled in the
war room at 8.30 am.
This signature event of RCM started through Zoom
platform with 1000 participants. We had the balance
1700 Rotaractors on YouTube.
The inaugural speech was delivered by Rtn. Parkavi
Mahalingam. We had our RCM President Kapil Chitale,
DRG Muthupalaniappan, Chief Guest Rtn. Sridhar, Youth
YOUNG STARS THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 9

Service Director Shriram Duvvri and District Rotaract

Chairman Selvakumar motivating the Rotaractors with
thought-provoking speeches.
Mr. BC Datta, Mr. Gopi Shanmugavel, Mr. Rakesh Prasad
and Ms. Nagalakshmi Karthikeyan gave us insights to the
present-day market situation & opportunities.
The Q&A session was quite brain-stimulating and
captivating. Rtn. Balaji Chinni wrapped up the session by
expressing his thanks for everyone's presence. I delivered
the Vote of Thanks. The event came to an end with the
National Anthem, followed by fellowship and lunch at my
office-lounge; and was attended by all the committee
members. We, the Youth Service team, enjoyed organizing this
To this day we receive calls from Rotaractors, both ours program. It made us understand each other better and our
and from district, appreciating the way in which the program bonds of friendship became stronger than ever before. And
was conducted and also thanking us for giving them an hopefully, in the process, we shone a bright light in some
opportunity to attend such a life-changing program. youngsters’ future.
YOUNG STARS THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 10

PROUD MOMENT
FOR ROTARACT CLUB OF MADRAS!

The Rotaract Club of

Chennai
Madras received a
prestigious Value
Card at the 6th
District Rotaract
Council Meeting held
recently.
The Value Card is an
annual initiative
taken by Rotaract
Club of Zenith, along
with District Rotaract
Council to recognise
the clubs which have
given their club-
updates in most
creative manner at
the Council meeting.
YOUNG STARS THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 11

TRAFODAETH By Rotaract Club of Jeppiaar Engineering College

(To one interested in a
parley on current affairs)

“Trafodaeth” was an International-cum-Professional

Service event, for those interested in a ‘parley’ on current
affairs. We joined hands with Rotaract Club of Young
India, RID 3011. The event was held on 30th of August,
2020.
The debate was on the topic of Indian parenting vs.
foreign parenting.
Three participants from each club participated in the
event. The event commenced at 3.05 PM and there were
20 participants who attended the event.
The afternoon began with the welcome note by the
emcee, followed by the address by both club secretaries.
Rtr. Siddarth from the Club Young India initiated the
event with Indian parenting, followed by Rtr. Abirami.
Her points were based on education, academics and
decision making, which is left to the child in the foreign
countries. Later, it was continued by Rtr. Vibhav and he
made his point, that education and academics is better in
India and one must have a proper guidance in decision-
making. Then, Rtr. Rekha Sree made her point that, more is important both in India and elsewhere. Both Indian
than learning from mentors, we can learn from and Western-style parenting is best in their own ways.
fellowship. Rtr. Anamika made her points about pros of This was followed by the vote of thanks, by Rtr.
Indian parenting. After that, Rtr. Harish Kumar kept his Abirami ISD of RaC JEC. The event came to an end at
points that every child must be taught about how they about 3.55 PM.
should treat their opposite gender, which is lacking in This event was all about debating on specific current
Indian parenting. affairs, for the participants to gain knowledge on the
The debate continued, with each participant making topic they debated on and on gaining strength in
their strong points. The emcee concluded that parenting communicating between people.
POSITIVE NOTE THE LIGHTHOUSE • SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 12

A DAY FOR Celebration!

It was a special day for all of us at RCM, when PDG M. Natarajan, our senior-
PRESIDENT
Rtn. Kapil Chitale
HONORARY SECRETARY
Rtn. P B Prasad
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
most Rotarian, celebrated his 95th birthday recently. Rtn. Dr. Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan

This wonderful human being, beloved to all and the pride of RCM, was seen PRESIDENT ELECT
Rtn. P.V. Mohan Raman
wreathed in smiles and enjoying himself - and that gave us all immense joy as
PRESIDENT NOMINEE
well! Rtn. Jayshree Sridhar
His son-in-law Dr. Kandiah kindly shared photos of their sweet family Asst. SECRETARY/BULLETIN EDITOR
celebration with us. Rtn. Shri Shakthi Girish
Happy birthday Sir! DIRECTOR - CLUB ADMINISTRATION
Rtn. Shanno Ravi
DIRECTOR - YOUTH SERVICE
Rtn. Balaji Chinni
DIRECTOR - PUBLIC IMAGE
AND FUND RAISING
Rtn. Hemant Chordia
DIRECTOR - SERVICE PROJECT 1
Rtn. N. Prakash
DIRECTOR - SERVICE PROJECT 2
Rtn. Dr. Anuradha Ganesan
DIRECTOR - PANDEMIC & DISASTER
MITIGATION
Rtn. S Balakrishna
TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS)
Rtn. Aditya Agarwal
TREASURER
(CHARITABLE TRUST)
Rtn. Gooch Kumar
TREASURER
(SPECIAL PROJECTS)
Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia

LIGHTHOUSE COMMITTEE:
Editor: Rtn. Shakthi Girish

Rtn. Indrani Krishnaier

Rtn. Shanno Ravi
Rtn. Sharon Krishna Rao
Rtn. Rinku Mecheri
Rtn. Rani Muralidharan

Send in your articles, news,

write-ups to be considered for
publication here on
lighthouse.rcm@gmail.com
Be in touch with the Lighthouse,
your very own RCM magazine!

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY:

Rtn. Asst. Secretary, Rotary Club of
Madras, 'Rayala Towers',
2nd Mezzanine Floor, 158, Anna Salai,
Chennai - 2, Ph: 28591020.
Contact the editor at:
lighthouse.rcm@gmail.com
Design: www.studiodescience.com
Visit: www.rotarymadras.in
Contact club secretariat at:
office@rotarymadras.in