PRESIDENT Rtn. Dr. N.V. Arulmozhi Varman

HoNoRARy SECRETARy Rtn. Dr. R. Chandrasekhar

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rtn. A.S. Venkhat Ramani

PRESIDENT ELECT Rtn. P N Mohan

PRESIDENT NoMINEE Rtn. Ranjit Pratap

Asst. SECRETARy / BULLETIN EDIToR Rtn. Mohan Raman

DIRECToR CLUB ADMINISTRATIoN Rtn. R. Rajenderan

DIRECToR yoUTH SERVICE Rtn. M Sesha Sai

DIRECToR PUBLIC IMAGE AND FUND RAISING Rtn. Harish K. Murthi

DIRECToR RoTARy FoUNDATIoN & INTERNATIoNAL SERVICES Rtn. M. Balasubramaniam

DIRECToR SERVICE PRoJECT 1 Rtn. R. Ravishankar

DIRECToR SERVICE PRoJECT 2 Rtn. K.M. Vinod Kumar

DIRECToR VoCATIoNAL SERVICE Rtn. S. Ravi

TREASURER (CLUB FUNDS) Rtn. Hemant Chordia

TREASURER (CHARITABLE TRUST) Rtn. Nimish C. Tolia

TREASURER (SPECIAL PRoJECTS) Rtn. Kishor Dandeker

The LighthouseBulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras2016-2017 • Edition No.11

September 13, 2016 • 4 Pages

Itwas a night to remember...not one, not two, but SEVEN Rotarians from Clubs in the city, including spouses strutted down the makeshift

catwalk glowing in Vivek Karunakarans’ designer clothes!

This young man has certainly come a long way...currently based in Chennai, Vivek Karunakaran graduated from the National Institute Of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai, with an award winning Diploma in Fashion Design in 2002. He proceeded to debut in Lakme Fashion Week In 2006. He has since been named as one among the ‘Generation Next Designers’ at Lakme Fashion Week, has partnered with TRENT to launch a prêt line of clothing under the designer’s label – available at Westside countrywide. Vivek Karunakaran is also associated with ATP Chennai Open and Pantaloon Femina Miss India amongst other events. He has styled several well-known personalities including A.R.Rahman, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Vidya Balan, and Nayantara to name but a few.

He recently conceptualized and created a collection for the Handloom Export Promotion Council of India, Ministry of Textiles where he showed handloom fabrics amalgamated with natural fabrics and his signature intricate surface development.

His philosophy? Dare to be different. Tweak what you see and make a contemporary statement. Does he live by it? Oh yes! Not only did he stand out in his printed jacket and trousers and striped shirt, he even had some of our Rotarian men wearing floral jackets - something I am certain they never in their

wildest dreams imagined themselves in! But do South Indians really need fashion

designers?There was a discussion at one point about

whether Chennai and the South in general really need all this fancy designer wear given that we are generally quite comfortable in our own skins, our saris, and wearing what we wear. This took me back to a phase I went through once when no matter what the event, I wanted to wear my black t-shirt and jeans. Finally, my frustrated designer mother explained to me that while I may be very comfortable in casual clothes all the time, it also sends a message to our hosts that I could not be bothered to put in a little bit of effort to dress up for the occasion, and that is a slight to them. This was more or less the outcome of this discussion too... Vivek reasoned that putting in that extra bit of effort is appreciated. It does not have to be very fancy or expensive, but the little touches, a waistcoat here, or a nice scarf there, that can make

Style Matters!

Continued on next page

Thank you Rtn. George Cherian for hosting the fellowship on the evening of 13th September 2016.

Sgt-at-arms Rtn M Srinivasan collared President Rtn Dr Arulmozhi Varman who called the

11th meeting of RCM to order,followed by a silent invocation

The minutes of the 6th Sept’16 was duly confirmed.

President extended a warm welcome to• the chief guest speaker Mr Vivek

Karunakaran, fashion designer & celebrity stylist, who will deliver us a talk on ‘Decoding the style quotient’

• President Rtn Ashok Verghese of RC of Chennai Capital

• IPP Akshay of RCM Next Gen• DGN Rtn Babu Peram

President greeted members/spouses who celebrate their birthday/wedding

anniversary that week and thanked for their sunshine.

Rtn Hemant Chordia on behalf of the Dandiya Committee said that our Club is organizing the Dandiya on the 30th Sept’16 even at the same hotel, Ball

room.This starts actually on the eve of Navarathiri.A fabulous buffet,amazing music,lucky dip,prizes are all interesting programs of the nite.Donor passes is Rs 1500 and requested members to contact Rtn Suresh Kumar.He thanked Rtn Punkaj Sachdev for printing the passes at a very short notice.Rtn Suresh Kumar handed over Rs 8 lacs 11 thousand to President towards the dandiya.President appreciated and said that the first fund raiser of our Club has started off very well and hoped that there will a record collection this time.

Rtn Mohan Raman requested members to join with their family/kids for the full club fellowship on the 18th

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • September 13, 20162

minutes13th SEPTEMBER 2016

13th Sept’16 meeting minutes - joint meeting with Rotary Club of Chennai, NextGen and Rotary Club of Chennai Capital.

all the difference. It also encourages local talent when you take time to buy some of their creations.

How it all works, is as follows: Once a client takes the leap, and decides they would quite like a designer to advise them on how to dress for a certain occasion; the said client should approach Vivek, and the rest follows naturally.

‘Trust me...I’m a designer’ Having approached a designer, the essential

quality needed is trust. He moaned about clients who arrive, then proceed to micromanage the

entire creative exercise, down to the style, the cut, and the fabric. In that case, one really just needs a master and a tailor...not a designer from NIFT. So, the way to approach this is to literally go with the flow, and hopefully be (pleasantly) surprised at the outcome.

Vivek took the time to call up to the stage a stunning model Pradhayini who spoke well, about how she is quite content being in Chennai, and thoroughly appreciates the passion that goes into these creations.

From what we saw, Vivek Karunakaran certainly added a touch of magic to those he worked on: Rajesh Somasundaram, Nalini

Radhakrishnan, Anjali Goel, Sanjay, Rishabh Harinarayan, Ashish Sethi and Apoorva Prasad...all made a real impact...driving home the point that style matters. He explained that he purposely made them step out of their comfort zones, selecting garments they don’t usually wear, and this gave everyone a unique experience.

On a personal note, it was special to meet Vivek later on, and to hear from him that my mother (Tehzeeb Katari) who mentored him at NIFT, was a person he had enormous respect for. A wonderful evening.

- Rtn. Maithili Shaan Katari Libby

From previuos page

Continued on next page

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • September 13, 20163

Sept’16, Sunday from noon onwards at the AVM Rajaeswari. Rtn Anil Srinivasan & Rtn Mohan Raman will charm our finer musical senses with a “DECATHLON” .and the entertainment will be of greater quality.This is hosted by Rtn M Balasubramanian. An interesting movie clipping on the eatables was shown in the beginning as a teaser.

Rtn Rajasekar Gorantla was happy to inform members that the global grant applied last year using our term gifts (thanks to Rtn Markand/Rtn Dr Anuradha Ganesan) have come thru and an amount of 98,000+ dollars & 61,000 dollars have been deposited in our account. This can be taken forward

for the construction of 500 toilets and 2 wells in our community projects. President said that this has been already taken up in our Gummidipoondi Boys Town on the 15th Aug’16.

President was pleased to announce that Rtn M Balasubramanian has sponsored for 10 boys in our boys town and a chq for Rs 1,50,000 was received.Pres thanked Rtn Balasubramanian for his kind gesture.

Secy Rtn Dr R Chandrasekar announced that the next meeting will be at the 12.45 pm at the same venue on 20th Sept’16 Tuesday.

Program: RCM will be conferring ‘The Educator Extraordinaire Award’ to Padmashri Dr. Smt. YG Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy & Mrs Arulselvi Chandrasekaran.

Also secy reminded that intimation mails have been sent about the AGM Notice on the 6th Sept’16 to members which will be on 27th Sept’16 meeting.Requested all to attend both the meetings.

Rtn Usha Umapathi introduced the guest speaker Mr Vivek Karunakaran, fashion designer by reading out his

profile.Speaker Mr Vivek spoke on decoding

the style quotient with a help of a PPT.He shared his early days and how he got into fashion designing interestingly and pointed out that how small little choppings will make a huge difference.He was concerned on the youth talents which are remaining untapped in various fields,and never had the chance to come to the limelight. He then presented our inhome Rotarians turned models with fused imaginative outfits,each one of them had an narrative on the individual. The inhome artists presented a colourful show altogether with the creative experimental touch of Mr Vivek. Prizes were given by Mr Vivek to the best worn socks. hair styles. tatoos, dress etc…

President presented mementos to the speaker Mr Vivek & Akshay & Ashok Veghese and our 80 year history book A Timeless legacy on behalf of RCM.

Rtn Dr Pavithra of RCM NextGen thaned Pres Dr Arul for this joint meeting and a wonderful fun-filled evening and the club service for orgainising this lovely meet.

The meeting was then adjourned.

From previuos page

21st Sept – Rtn Shakthi Girish21st Sept – Rtn Shivkumar Eashwaran23rd Sept – Rtn Srinivas Garapati25th Sept – Rtn N Prakash20th Sept – Ann Meghana (Rtn J Kishor Dandeker)24th Sept – Ann Mallika (Rtn IPP AS Venkhat Ramani)25th Sept – Ann Meena

(Rtn Mohan Kumar Subramanyam)25th Sept – Ann Priyadharshini (Rtn V Murali)

Secy Rtn Dr R Chandrasekhar – ` 1000Rtn.Deepak Chander – ` 1000Rtn Ashok Thakkar – ` 15000

(RCMBTS)Rtn. PP Mangadu Shanker – ` 15000

(RCMBTS) + ` 1000

Birthday

Sunshine

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: mohanraman@gmail.com. Design: www.studiodescience.com

Visit: www.rotarymadras.in Contact club secretariat at: office@rotarymadras.in

The Lighthouse - Bulletin of The Rotary Club of Madras • September 13, 20164

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEAdvisors: Rtn. PP N.K. Gopinath,

Rtn. Sunita SureshChairman: Rtn. Mohan Raman

Rtn. Shaan Katari Libby, Rtn. Bhaswar Mukherjee, Rtn. Shakthi Girish,

Rtn. Biswajit Babu, Rtn. Sandhya Sridhar, Rtn. R. Ravishankar, Rtn. Hiren B. Shah,

P.S. Sridharan

The next weekly meeting will on the 20th August 2016, Tuesday

1.30 pm at Hyatt Regency. Program: RCM will be conferring

‘The Educator Extraordinaire Award’ to Padmashri Dr. Smt. YG

Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy & Mrs Arulselvi Chandrasekaran.

The Interact installation was held at American In-ternational School, Chennai on Sept 6 at 3:30 pm.

Rtn Sesha Sai and Rth Nikhil Raj attended the event. The President of the Interact Club Ms Hye Jin Kim made a presentation of last years activities as well as the plans for this year. The school works extensively with other schools which are located near to them. Students from Lady Nye Marticulation School visit the American International School every Tuesday and Thursday and members of the Interact teach them Computers, Math and other subjects. They plan to par-ticipate in the Interact programs to be held this year.

Interact Installation atAmerican International School

Glimpses from the meeting...