High point of every Rotary Year is District Conference where Rotarians from different clubs come together, share and celebrate achievements, listen to eminent speakers and go back with lot in their kitty. This year also on 1st and 2nd February, 800 plus Rotarians from District 3131 assembled for this yearly event, District Conference at Nishigandha lawns. In this well designed and managed event, we had opportunity to witness work happening in different avenues in the District. It was also time for felicitations, recognitions and awards. The icing on the cake was great speakers.
Conference opened with grand procession. Stalwarts of the District shared their views on various aspects of Rotary and our District. PDG Rtn.Dr. Mahesh Kotbagi in his usual flawless style elaborated what is in store for Rotarians in future and also suggested that we need to check with those who exit Rotary about the reasons behind it. PDG Rtn.Pankaj Shah talked about different District forums and change of format from training to learning. PDG Rtn.Dr. Anil Parmar gave overview of what will be happening for 2 days during conference. DG Rtn.Shital Shah proudly shared the happenings in the District. Conference issue of GML was released at the hands of RIPR PDG Rtn.Uday Kumar Bhaskaran. RIPR explained the different responses to the crisis by different persons by sharing story of Titanic sinking and response to the tragedy by 3 different ships available in the region at that time. He asked to check our 'Happiness Quotient' while returning from club project to guage how important our work as Rotarians is.
Here is brief overview of knowldge sharing by all the eminent speakers. Lt Gen D. B. Shekatkar talked about 3 aspects of Army, "राजनीती, कूटनीती and रणनीती" and also about Psychological warfare in 21st century. Mr. Kishore Patil, MD, KPIT talked about importance of greener and safer world. Philanthropist Dr. Sonam Kapse was interviewed by Rtn.Tejashree Patil. She elaborated on how sympathy is not what is enough or desired for differently abled people and how we need to go beyond it. Dr. S. V. Sharma, Scientist ISRO outlined past achievements and future projects of India. The pride about what our country has achieved in the field was quite palpable in his speech. Marathi Writer, Actor, Director Girish Kulkarni was interviewed by Rtn. Milind Kulkarni. His take on social media presence was very interesting. At the fag end of the first day 3 beauties with brain, Ms Pallavi Kaushik, Dr. Prachi Punde and Ms Chahat Dalal were interviewed by Rtn. Megha Sharma. Second day was just next day after budget. So Mr. Krishan Sharma talking about wealth creation was very apt beginning. Paralympic Silver Medal winner, Ms Bhavina Patel was interviewed by PDG Rtn.Dr. Shailesh Palekar. She refuses to be called disabled and expressed her desire to leave her mark on life. First Lady Fire Engineer and Fire Fighter, Harshini Kanhekar was equally awe inspiring. She was interviewed by IPDG Rtn.Manjoo Phadke. Her experiences as a girl in man's world were motivating. Vaccine warriors Dr. Pragya Yadav, Dr. Nivedita Gupta were interviewed by Rtn. Suresh Beri and Rtn. Moushmi Shaha. Our memories of Corona are still fresh. It was interesting to know about their struggle. I must say "Narishakti" was visible impression in this Conference. It is no wonder that last speaker was none other than Actor Dancer Meenakshi Sheshadri interviewed by Rtn. Jignesh Pandya. Jignesh was caught behind wicket when she asked him question about his moment of being left speechless. He was honest enough to agree that this was the moment.
All in all very rich Conference it was. Rich in content with tasty food, hospitality of RCP East members and easy comraderie. DG Rtn. Shital Shah and first lady Rtn.Ragini Shah both were as usual down to earth couple mingling with all the Rotarians. Rotary business was conducted with equal aplomb. So it surely was "De Ghumake".

Rtn. Vrinda Walimbe
District Secretary, Publications