Ganapati Bappa Morya!! We left from Tathawade Udyan with destination of Kumta in Uttar Karnataka in mind. One tempo traveler and one car carrying President Surekha driven by PP Rtn. Madhav Tilgulkar completed our entourage. The first stop for tea on Sinhagad Road set the tone for the rest of the trip. This road trip was the result of the agreed synergy meeting with Rotary Club of Kumta. The idea to go to another District with our Club members and hold a meeting there was conceptualized at the beginning iof the year by Club Admin team and our President upheld this idea. Our able club Admin PP Rtn. Mohan found the right match in RC Kumta in District 3170. The Dist Governor of Dist 3170 Rtn Nasir who received the first call from PP Rtn Mohan gave a great welcome to this proposal and directed his Asst Gov Rtn Vasantrao to take it further from RC Kumta side. Under the leadership of convener Rtn. Rajesh Ingale, fourteen of us were on the way!

The first leg of the journey took us to Belagavi. Here we had a flag exchange meeting with RC Belgaum Central with whom Pres Rtn Surekha had communicated and they hosted the
evening tea and snacks at the hotel we had stayed “Hotel Sanman Delux” . It was a marvelous interaction with President Manjunath Alawani and Secretary Rtn. Abhay Joshi.
Both the clubs exchanged information on the projects they did, and the service they rendered to society. There is much to learn from each other was felt mutually.

The Chhatres whose home town is Belgaum, made our stay special by leading us to many local specialties, from visit to Military Mahdeo temple to tasting Puranpoli, mande,
Alepak(not same as one we get in Pune. I’m keeping it a surprise!) to mention a few. Our day in Belgaum ended with special Gadbad icecream.

Our next destination was Murudeshwar. We left fairly early after a sumptuous south Indian breakfast. The journey through the forests of Dandeli with sightings of jackals and giant
Squirrel, took us to Ghanta Ganapati temple at Yellapur. We made it to the aarti of this beautiful temple and had a simple but tasty lunch at the temple. The weather turned stormy
and was fully pouring by the time we reached Murudeshwar. A luxurious hotel located next to the temple on a rock in the sea awaited us in Murudeshwar. The grey skies pouring rain, the waves crashing on the rocks and the beach below provided a beautiful sight from our gallery. Later in the evening, we went to see the temple and the beautifully lit statues of Shiv Parvati. Early morning walk on the beach indicated a clear and beautiful day ahead. Our admin took us to Marwanthe beach which provided a unique view of the river and the sea separated by only a road.

We reached Kumta for lunch. Our hotel was on a dreamy beach. But alas, the facilities were somewhat short of expectations. The group showed extraordinary camaraderie and decided to move to another hotel. The next day morning was the excursion to Yana Caves. Inspite of the hot and humid weather and very steep climb, most of us made it to the top to see the majestic rock formations. Even the strenuous walk did not stop our enthusiastic group from visiting the sandalwood factory of two Rotarians of RC Kumta and shopping in the afternoon guided by PP Rtn Jayashree Kamat of RC Kumta.

The 46 th Charter Day celebration meeting of RC Kumta started at seven thirty in the evening at Nadashree Kala Kendra in Kumta. The President Rtn. N.R. Gaju and the Club Secretary Rtn. Ramdas Gunagi welcomed us. The program started with a prayer by Shree Rao and two captivating dance performances, Bharatnatyam performed by Disha Deepak and the modern dance by Reesha Sandeep. The meeting was called to order by observing one minute silence for world peace, four-way test and national anthem. The welcome address was given by the president. All the guests were welcomed with flowers. The lamp was lit by the DG representative Rtn. Ajay Menon and President Surekha. After a brief report of club by the secretary, the introduction of AG and DG Rep was done by Rtn. Suresh Bhat and Rtn. Jaivitthal Kubal respectively. Rtn. Gururaj Shetty introduced the President and Secretary of RCPMetro . The RC Kumta club completed 46 years. The journey of the club was highlighted by PE Rtn. Atul Kamat. He gave a brief account of the projects carried out by the club towards the service to the society. The Past Presidents were also felicitated at the hands of DG rep Rtn. Ajay Menon.

The flag exchange ceremony took place with both the Presidents exchanging their club flags. The flags and gifts were exchanged as token of friendship. Each member of the Pune
team was introduced by our own PP Narendra Dravid (Tau) while Dr. Vishwas Sahashrabuddhe was introduced by Secretary Rtn Prerana Joshi. The AG appealed to the public for donations emphasising the work done by Rotary. The DG rep in his speech appreciated that Kumta Rotary has been working hard for public service for a long time and has been at the forefront of wonderful and social work, he expressed happiness that RC Kumta has global grant and major donors despite being a small town. President Rtn Surekha talked about the activities of the club and invited the RC Kumta club to visit RC Pune Metro.Dr. Vishwas talked about the work of Girish Karnad. After the vote of thanks by Rtn. Sandeep Nayak, the audience was mesmerized by two Rajasthani dances by President Surekha. The memorable evening ended with scrumptious dinner and interaction with the Rotarians of Kumta.

Next day, after tasting the local delicacies for breakfast, we left for Gokarna. After a brief halt at the temple, we took the scenic route via Karwar to Goa. A delicious lunch at goa and then on to Amboli completed the journey for that day. Early morning walk through the protected forest of Amboli with a biodiversity expert showed us the diversity of the forest. A delicious breakfast of “usal and amboli” was the cherry on the cake. The journey to Pune saw us visiting a cashew factory and shopping for the local rice varieties to take back with us.

The team which undertook this wonderful fellowship activity comprised of young Rotarians, many PPs , Anna and Anns and was a great bonding experience. President Surekha along
with PP Narendra Dravid, PP Madhav Tilgulkar, PP Anjali Sahashrabuddhe and Anna Vishwas, PP Mohan Chhatre, Ann Snehalata, PP Mukund Chiplunkar, Ann Mugdha, Rtn. Rajesh Ingale and Rtn Dipashree, Rtn. Panchwagh, Rtn. Prerana Joshi and Rtn. Rajas Phadke were part of the trip.

Meticulous planning of Club Admin PP Mohan and extremely thoughtful execution of project by the convener Rtn. Rajesh Ingale made this trip truly memorable. The safe driving of
Mr. Gurunath made this journey a stress-free journey.

The spirit of the members in making this journey was admirable. May there be more is all I pray to the lord!