As posted on The Hindu, March 14, 2015.
From meeting at the modest canteen of a factory in Ambattur Industrial Estate to meeting at the cosy interiors of the Presidency Club, Egmore, the Rotary Club of Ambattur has come a long way.
In the last three decades, its members as well as its projects have spread across the city. To give just one example, the Club runs a vocational centre at Ayappakkam. .
In the 1980s, Rotary International expected each of its clubs to function within defined territories. “Only those residing or working in the territory designated for a club can hope to become a member of it. Therefore, the members of the Rotary Club of Ambattur either lived in the area or work in the region, which stretched up to Avadi,” recalls N. Krishnan, charter president.
During that period, especially the 1980s, executives of TVS companies in Padi, entrepreneurs with units at the Ambattur Industrial Estate, people working at T.V. Nagar and Avadi and a doctor who had a clinic in Padi were some of its members. The canteen of Deepak Banker’s office (Kunal Engineering) was the venue for the meetings in those days.
“Infrastructure facilities at the Industrial Estate were minimal and Banker’s offer was readily accepted. Also, Raju Iyengar, finance manager at Kunal Engineering, was one of our members,” he says.
The Club’s profile has changed over the years and, today, it has members from across the city.
“Of the 47 members, only three live in Ambattur. The majority of us live in areas around Mylapore and Anna Nagar. But, our projects are mainly concentrated around Ambattur and Avadi,” says Yadav Murti Sankaran, president of the Club and resident of Mylapore.
The Ambattur Rotary Hospital and the T.V. Nagar School are two of the Club’s pioneer projects. While the dispensary-turned multi-speciality hospital is being run since 1988, the Club has been associated with the school since 1980. “We get many patients on dialysis We also get those with cerebral palsy or requiring eye surgery,” says Yadav.
Its other major project is a join collaboration with Canadian NGO Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), where sleeping kits are distributed to underprivileged children. This year, the Club handed over one lakh kits. It started distributing them in 1987. With the vocational centre, Rotarians invite any under-privileged students for mentorship and to help them find employment opportunities. For details, visit www.rotaryambattur.org
