The Days That Were - Tr. Ashish Mehta, RT 30

>
>Istanbul
>
>Days That Were
>
>October 6, 2003
>
>
>In the late Sixties the main path for the young gripped by wanderlust
>ran from India, where it picked up a lot of Aussies, across Asia to
>Istanbul. There it forked. One branch went to Egypt and the Middle
>East, the other to Europe. Istanbul was the hub. In jeans and boots,
>with backpacks and shoulder bags, kids arrived from Bombay and
>Katmandu, from Sydney and Brindisi and New York. Most were between
>eighteen and twenty-five. They wanted to see far places and astonishing
>things, and simply did it, as kids will. They had little money. They didn't care.
>They pooled to buy decomposing minibuses and casually set off across
>Persia.
>
>In Istanbul their-our-habitat was the Sultan Ahmet district, in the
>shadow of the grand domed mosque that loomed against, when I was there,
>grey wintry skies. Dirty ice squeezed from between stones of winding
>streets and a whiff of wood smoke hung in the air. Dark-faced and
>vaguely dangerous looking men who in fact weren't hurried by in thick
>coats. You were Somewhere Else. It was magic.
>
>Many of the wanderers wore beards. These were the freak years, and
>anyway shaving is a nuisance on the road. They were motley: college
>girls from Barnard, a black smooth-talking DJ out of Jersey, drugged-up
>spindrift from the hippie havens of Europe and North Africa, a guy from
>somewhere east with a parrot. Some were truth-seeking tumbleweeds
>pursuing enlightenment, others just adventurers. There was an artist
>from Ohio who showed us photographs of a blue fiberglass sculpture he
>had made of his ex-wife's backside. It wasn't obscene, just rounded.
>All of us were caught in the craving for new things that besets late
>adolescents if they're worth a damn.
>
>I was a bit of an oddity--pretty much out of the Marines by then and
>traveling with a shot-up squid named Len Vanderwood who had been in
>PBRs in the delta and gotten ambushed. He did all sorts of heroic
>things, like chopping the paravanes and using a Browning .30 like a
>fire hose, which only happens in the movies but Len didn't know it.
>We were exotics among hippies, poets, and seekers. On the other hand
>they had crossed Afghanistan in VW buses, passing through towns where
>both you and your girlfriend could get raped and sometimes were.
>
>Most were just kids with an itch, and stayed at the Yucel Hostel,
>pretty much the standard European gig: a buck-fifty if you had a sheet
>bag in a bunkroom with five other people. They would travel for a year,
>remember it forever, and go back to Belgium to be doctors. A few were different.
>
>These stayed at the Gulhane Hotel. The Gulhane was for the lost, the
>doomed, for people too low-caste to sleep under bridges. You went up
>narrow dark stairs and came out on the roof where sheet plastic covered
>a two-by-four framework to form a skeletal barn in the January cold.
>You could stay there for twenty-five cents a night. It was a good price
>for kids who had sold their passports to buy drugs and had nowhere to go.
>Len and I went to see it in a spirit of anthropological curiosity. Your
>two bits bought you squatter's rights to a decomposing grass mat on the
>floor, on which to lay a sleeping bag. Maybe a dozen people stayed
>there. There was no electricity. From a crossbeam at either end a hash
>pipe dangled on a cord. At night the inmates sat in circles beneath the
>hash pipes, jacketed against the chill, staring at what appeared to be
>pie pans of bluely burning alcohol.
>
>The pipe went around. When it burned out, etiquette was that whoever
>then held it filled it from his stash. The flames danced, shadows leapt
>strangely, especially after a while in the circle, and some freak from
>North Africa tweedled on a soprano recorder. He didn't quite play it,
>but neither was it unmelodic. The camaraderie of those who knew it was
>cold outside gripped us, a conspiracy of warmth. We told stories of Goa
>and Marikesh, of mortar flares hanging ghastly in clouds over the ugly
>thumb that was Marble Mountain.
>
>From time to time, so help me, a Turk from the hotel came through and
>called, "Hasheeshkabab, twenty-five cents." Lamb, dog, road kill,
>morgue meat, I don't know. It was well spiked with the herb.
>The lost too had their place in the order of things. I wished them well.
>
>We were the first drug generation. Ritalin was the preferred
>amphetamine, not yet being used to subdue schoolboys. Kids gobbled it
>and for a couple of days were very intense. If you got close to them
>you heard a faint "bzzzzzzzz" and smelled hot insulation. A plaque of
>hash the size of a Heath bar cost three bucks. Most of us experimented
>for a few years, enjoyed the sense of shared misbehavior, got bored, and quit.
>A few ended up at the Gulhane.
>
>The scam of the times was selling traveler's checks. You sold them to a
>South African for forty percent of their face value, unsigned. His
>operatives then forged them for face value. You went to the American
>Express office and said that you had lost your checks. They replaced
>them. A long line of kids waited at the Amex office to report lost
>checks. It was no more moral than shading your deductions, cheating on
>your wife, or downloading music.
>Yenner's, if memory doesn't lie, was the roasted-meat den near the
>Pudding Shop. It was dark and blackened by smoke, like a medieval
>torture chamber but without the cheer. You knew immediately that it
>wasn't Kansas. The roasts were savory, greasy, and smoky. A clothesline
>ran diagonally across the room. On it in those pre-internet days
>travelers left notes to each other, held by clothespins. One I remember:
>"Will the girl in the green dress I met on the bank of the Ganges ask
>for me at the Youth Hostel? Mike."
>
>That's how it was. Wherever you were going, somebody had been there,
>and knew what to do. Calcutta? Sure, try the hostel on Sutter Street.
>(I did. Coming out one day, I saw a naked man with no feet rolling down
>the sidewalk to beg from me.) Israel? Ask them not to stamp your
>passport because then you can go to Arab countries. In Delhi the Pahar
>Gange section is really cheap, the Venus hotel is fifty cents a night.
>You won't find it in a tourist guide.
>
>I don't know where kids go today. I just hope it is as good.
>
>

>

This e-mail was scanned for viruses using BitDefender.

Free Heart Surgery for Children - Tr. Sumit Kalra - RT 124

P.J. Gupta School, Ambattur - Classrooms Inauguration, Tr. Rajesh Sundrani

Dear Tablers:Greetings from MMRT 42!

I am happy to inform you that 2 classroom at the P.J. Gupta School, Ambattur were officially inaugrated on Thursday, July 17th at 3.30 pm by our Area Chairman, Area II Tr. Rajesh Gupta.

Tabler Sandy, Alok, Suman, Ravi, & Chetan from 42, past Area Chairman Sq Lg. Ashish Gupta, staff, PTA members, school management, principal, and students were present in good numbers.

I would like to thank our Area Chairman for his support and for taking time out to attend this function.

I would like to recognize the efforts put in by our Project convenor Tr. Chetan who worked on a war footing to complete this project before our AGM next week. Also, would like reconize the effort of Tr. Hari & Tr. Prasana who raised funds for this project thru the funds raiser "Chocholate Krishna" and "Dasavatharam".

Thanks & Rgds,

"Ignite your passion"

Tr. Rajesh Sundrani
Chairman MMRT 42

Dance in the Rain - Tr. Gautm Garg - RT 30

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see himI saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years nowI was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life.'True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.I hope you share this with someone you care about. I just did.'Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

Snapshots from COB

COB Snapshots - LMF H Tr Satish Jupiter

Area II at COB, Hyderabad

The glittering Change over Banquet in the City of the Nizams was held on the 12th July 2008 where the Tablers and Circlers had a memorable time. Each one of us who participated reveled and rejoiced in the COB ROCKED ...AND ROCKED BIG TIME !! Area 2 took the COB by storm with 47 heads participating in this grand event. The COB was hosted by SMART 118 & SMLC 49 of Secunderabad which saw the change of guards of Round Table India and the Ladies Circle India.

The first day’s business session which was the last NEX meeting of 2007-2008 commenced around 11 A.M on Saturday, 12th July 2008 and ended at around 4 P.M. The President and the Head table acknowledged and praised the efforts of Tr Rajesh Gupta Area Chairman and lauded the perfomance of Area 2 in all facets of Tabling. Tr Punit was the Sergant for the meeting and AHT Sandeep Somani was appointed as the Marshall. NST Tr Himanshu Gupta presented the activities of all Areas for the year gone by. There was a special mention made to Tr Sakthivel Raja’s contribution to projects and Tr Satish Kumar's (MMRT 3) contribution to the renovation of the Conference Hall at the RTI Secretariat. The Tablers and Circlers were soon back, dressed in the wine red shirts, lounge suits for the formal Presidents Banquet at the Convention Center of the Mariott. This was truly a grand affair with superb settings and ambience.

The President of Round Table, Tr. Ajay Handa and the President of Ladies Circle, Cr. Mona Sanghavi were brought inside the venue amidst pomp and gaiety. After a very touching and thought provoking speech by Tr Ajay Handa and Cr Mona the formal jewel change took place amidst thunderous applause. The mantle was passed on to the new National President of RTI Tr Pranay Trivedi and to President LCI Cr Uma Raghuram. The all new look minus 13 Kilos Tr Himanshu Gupta took charge as the new National Vice President. Cr Manila Jain took over as the new National Vice President Ladies Circle India.

Tr Pranay went on to invite his team to the diaz. Followed by this he released his theme for the year "We make the difference" with a nice presentation. He released his pin, the honours was done by his parents which was a great and proud moment to watch. The first pin was received by the National Honorary Tabler HT Inder of Area 9. Cr Uma Raghuram released her theme "Circle of Life" after a melodius presentation. Her pin was released by Cr Rama Devi Past President LCI.

Soon after the formal programme, the evening’s programme began with a dazzling dance performance. After that, the stage was taken over by DJ, the dance floor was swarmed by the Tablers, Circlers and Twinklers to dance to the tune of the DJ. The night never seemed to end and the dance floor was occupied till early morning 6 am of 13th July 2008.

Area 2 Tablers had a blast of a time right from the train journey which started off with Shoot the Kitty and 3 cards. The next day lunch was at the famous Paradise Briyani which saw many Tablers and Circlers in small bunches enjoying the delicious Briyani. Evening prior to the COB was again the Cards session at AHT Satish Jupiter’s room where there was a huge bunch of Tablers from Area 2 enjoying the game.

The National fellowship awards were presented to Table 3 Chairman Tr Satish and Table 95 Chairman Tr Punit in the NEX meeting by the National Fellowship Convenor Tr Manmohan Kothari. Tr Sakthivel Raja Area Chairman Elect of Area 2 was called on to the diaz by the new National President to join the team. The new Chairperson of Ladies Circle Area 2 Cr Yamini (W/o Deepak of Table 82) took over at the formal Banquet in the evening. The new National Secretariat Convenor (NSC) Tr Prasanna of Table 42 and National Greeting Cards Convenor Tr Senthil of Table 94 & National Honorary Tabler HT Sesha Sai joined the National Board 2008-2009.

The Tablers and Circlers departed on 13th July Sunday evening after the first NEX meet of the new team with refreshed ‘spirits’, renewed friendship and with memories of a happy week-end etched in their mind to begin the New Year afresh setting their own resolutions and smart goals.

Kudos to the RTI COB Convenor Tr Siddarth Karan and LCI COB Convenor Cr Madhavi Rao for a splendid COB.

We wish the new Teams all the very best and a fantastic new Tabling year ahead !!!!

Let us show to the world that "We can make the difference in the Circle of Life by taking the Road to Friendship".

LMF HT Satish Jupiter (RT 162)
Area Honorary Tabler,
Area 2, Round Table India

PRRT 104 - AGM - Tr. S K Soni

From: sureshkumarsoni@gmail.comTo: rtiarea2@yahoogroups.comDear Friends,Yesterday, Pondicherry Rivage Round Table had conducted its19th AGM at GRT Sunway (06.07.08. Past Area Chairman Sq.Leg. B.B.Vengatesh presided the functions as the chief Guest and Area Chairman Tr.Rajesh Gupta was the Guest of honour.Tr.Srikant handed over the jewel to Tr.Anand and we have AVC Sakthi, AST Praveen and Chairmen, Tablers Circlers attend the meet. The pictures taken during the AGM have been uploaded and please do view them at your leisure.Happy Viewing. RegardsSuresh Kumar Soni.
http://cards.webshots.com/invite/pickup/141685166XkmY/album/564020031kLBIkx

Vollet at St. George's - Tr. Bbby - RT 30

When Fitness Leads to Fellowship at
And MERT 30 leads the way

Guys
Using the beaten, bruised adage – At 30 we don’t let things happen, we make them happen.

Almost 60 heads - 32 guys, 12 ladies 15 kids came together with for one reason. The passion
to play, cheer and have good time at the 1st Inter Table – Inter Group Volley tournament.
This was held on the 6th of July at the St Georges AIHS School, Chennai.
What started off as a week end volley game, grew to be a daily morning affair for 25 plus
tablers (3,10,30,95,100,124,159,162,181) of Area 2 . The way forward was to judge our
game and the tournament was planned to be played against a team called the
“Sledgehammers of Egmore”.

One week of planning lead to setting up 2 courts, 4 teams, short eats, refreshments, fruits
and fun. We even had in house Doc – a Sports Injury Specialist, just to ensure an injury free
evening. A total of 4 teams were formed (3 of tablers). A round robin league had each team
playing 3 games and the top 2 playing a best of 3 finals. The tablers team D had a good run
to the finals winning 5 games in a row. The team D gave a good fight and lost 2 to 1 in the
finals to the Sledgehammers.

The event was full of fun and fellowship but the games weren’t to be that way. The decibel
levels went up every time there was a disputed line call. Every point won was loudly
celebrated and every long rally was appreciated. If it weren’t for the non intoxicating
beverages, we might have had a real situation!

Not to forget the support given by the wives and children of the players. The ladies had a
good time too and the children made use of the vast ground playing volley, basket and
football and made new friends.

Thanks to all the guys who made this event possible by being there dot at 3pm on Sunday.
And special thanks to guys who helped in organizing the event. Our thanks to Mr. Paul
Victor Samuel, Headmaster of St Georges School, for his help too.
For the 12 + guys who meet up at the School every morning to play the game they love, it’s
been a satisfying weekend and am sure our resolve to maintain fitness and enhance
fellowship has grown stronger.
YIT
Varindar Singh “Bobby”
MERT30

Sales Talk - Tr. Niraj

RT 42 - School Inauguration

RT 42 - School Inauguration

Pictures of MMRT 42 school inaugration - Tr. Rajesh Sundrani - MMRT 42

Dear Tablers:I happy to inform you that our classroom/computer lab (2 classrooms) at the Government higher secondary school, Arumbakkam was officially inaugrated on Monday, June 30th by IPL Chennai Superkings Cricketer Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and our Area Chairman, Area II Tr. Rajesh Gupta.

Tabler Sandy, Prasanna, Ravi, & Chetan, students, staff, principal, and press reporters were present in good numbers. Pls find attached clippings of the articles which were published in the various newspapers. As you can see from the clippings that having a Cricketer for the inaugration gives fantastic public for our movement particularly for a school project where kids look up to Cricketers more than film stars.

I would like to thank our Area Chairman for his support and for taking time out to attend this function.

Kudos to our Table Project convenor Tr. Chetan who is done a fantastic job of executing this project. A big thank you to our friends in Coimbatore Table 62 for donating Rs. 50000 towards this project in memory of the good times we have had in the past, present and future. Also, would like reconize the effort of our Fund Raising convenor Tr. George, Tr. Prasanna for raising funds from "Om shanti om" and Tr. Ravi & Anu for the press coverage we got both pre and post event.

In conclusion this is the result of our tables TEAM effort.

"Ignite your passion"

Tr. Rajesh Sundrani
Chairman MMRT 42
SBS Paper Recycling (P) Ltd.No. 57 Arathoon RoadRoyapuram, Chennai - 600013Tel. 91-44-42175522, 42175533Fax. 91-44-25982797Email: sbsrecycling@eth.net

Last Sam Standing - A Tribute to Sam Manekshaw

SORRY SAM, WE INDIANS NEED TO HANG OUR HEADS IN SHAME
The passing away of the only Indian to be appointed Field Marshal when in active service has been remarkable for the warmth of the ordinary men and women, who queued up to say meebeenamet to the adorable dikra who put his life on the line for them.It has also been remarkable for the complete lack of grace and gratitude, civility and courtesy, decency and decorum on the part of the bold-faced names rapaciously grazing the lawns of power in Delhi and elsewhere, for the brain behind India's only decisive military victory.Sam, the Bahadur, had been unwell for a while now. From about 1000 hours on June 26, reports of his being 'critically ill' had appeared in the media. Yet, when the 'expected tocsin' sounded at 0030 hours till the guns were fired in salute around 1500 hours on June 27, 'civil society' chose to show its incivility.
Pratibha Patil, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces with all the time in the world: Absent
Hamid Ansari: Vice-president releasing books and writing reviews of books by fellow-travellers: Absent
Manmohan Singh, the prime minister who could do with a bit of the field marshal's charisma and heroism: Absent
Sonia Gandhi: daughter-in-law of the woman the field marshal called 'sweetie': Absent
L K Advani: prime minister in waiting of the party which would like to do to Pakistan what Manekshaw did: Absent
M Karunanidhi and Surjit Singh Barnala: chief minister and governor of the state which Manekshaw had made his home for 35 years: AbsentPoliticians may have their reasons. They always do. Maybe, there are issues like protocol. Maybe, this is one way in which 'civil India' shows the armed forces its place. Maybe, this is why we are not as militaristic as Pakistan. Maybe, the knees are just too old to climb the hills.But what about the armed forces itself?
A K Antony: the defence minister 'now behaving like the chairman of the confederation of the armed forces' trade unions: absent 'due to prior political engagements'.
The chief of army staff: absent (away in Russia)
The chief of navy staff: absent
The chief of air staff (incidentally, a Parsi): absentThe fact that the defence minister was represented by his deputy Pallam Raju, the fact that the navy and air staff sent two-star general rank officers, shows that however high or mighty, however rich or powerful, civilian or military, if you should die as you must, you should do so somewhere in the vicinity of New Delhi -- or Bombay. Or else, they must have some use for you.Or else, too bad.As he rightly surmised once: 'I wonder whether those of our political masters who have been put in charge of the defence of the country can distinguish a mortar from a motor; a gun from a howitzer; a guerrilla from a gorilla -- although a great many of them in the past have resembled the latter.'The contrast couldn't be starker:
When Amitabh Bachchan was ill after being socked in the stomach during the shooting of Coolie, Indira Gandhi flew down to Bombay to show her concern.
When Dhirubhai Ambani died, L K Advani cut short his Gujarat tour to pay his respects to an 'embodiment of initiative, enterprise and determination'.
When Pramod Mahajan was shot dead by his brother, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekawat had the time to attend the funeral.Our VIPs and VVIPs have time for dead and dying celebrities, charlatans, fixers. Not for a field marshal?In his biography, K M Cariappa, the only other field marshal India has had (and who too died at age 94), writes of his father's cremation in May 1993:'Honouring him in death as they did in life were Field Marshal Manekshaw, the three service chiefs all of whom belonged to the same course and at whose passing out parade from the joint services wing father had presided, the gracious chief minister M Veerappa Moily and C K Jaffer Sharief, Minister for Railways representing the President as the supreme commanded of the armed forces.'Somebody should have told the geniuses in Delhi that Sam, the Bahadur, passed away in Wellington, Ooty, not Wellington, New Zealand. The nearest civil airport is Coimbatore, just 80 km away.If this is how we say goodbye to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, any wonder why Rang de Basanti could successfully tap into the angst of an entire generation?

Area II - Text - Tr. P Sampat, RT 95

WHOA! it has taken nearly a week to recover from the AREA 2 TEXT 2008-09.

The set of incoming chairmen and secretaries had as it is been well primed by the suggestive mails of the incoming area chairman .These mails were not only thought provoking but also went in to record and welcome a amazing set of new leaders taking up responsibalities in RTI.

The Text had so been arrainged that all the chairman and the secretaries travel together from Chennai to Pondicherry in a van to the luxorious resort.Tablers being tablers had some awesome fellowship and really creative discussions enroute to Pondy.Some gyan was really shared and exchanged on the style and manner of function of tables within our area itself.Some really surprising new styles were learnt .

We reached Pondicherry to be joined by the 3 set of table leaders from pondy tables and meet our trainers for the TEXT Tr.Sanjay Kondaas and Sq Leg Sivabal with the assistance of your truly Punit Sampat Area Hr Convenor AREA 2 .

The session kicked of with a different style of introduction of the participants much to the reluctance of Sanjay but extremly enjoyable and hilarious session.The ice breaker was infact one of the highlights of the evnt and kept the whole weekend on a different note.After this we jumped into serious working immdiatly despite the groaning stomachs and the long road journey just completed.We screened the motivator and the thought provoking movoe"even eagles need a pus".The movie was of course run in parts ,with we taking up discussions every now and then on the important aspects such as self appreciation,vision,goal setting ,contribution etc.,
Post this we broke for a quick lunch i guess aroun 3 p.m.The quick lunch continued in to the secretary and the chairman's module and these intresting sessions had the new leaders involved and we did not realise the speed at which time flew to 8.30 p.m.
Here we broke up to freshen up and before the same case studies were given for the various groups along with some rib tickling and crazy topic for the fellowship informal evening ,rather night session of team building and relaxtion exercises.These specially designed exercises had the participants at thier fun loving and creative best.They partying and the fellowship went late into the night,i guess the last people to leave the lawn were around 3 a.m. in the morning.

Much to our delight and surprise we had the whole group up and ready to go by 9.45 a.m.
The 2 nd morning session we had lined along with the case study presentation a huge line of eminent speakers from
Pacart president -Tr.Shivkumar Eshwaran,President elect RTI - Tr.Pranay Trivedi,AC.Tr.Rajesh Gupta,Ast Praveen and the tele confrence with RTI president Tr.Ajay Handa .And with all these we had some indetail discussion on topics of case study and also were witness to the plans of the AC elect - Tr.Sakthivel Raja.Some path breaking ideas were generated,discussed and some amazing feedback was taken back home by all ,i.e.Nex,Aex and the table leaders.
The huge morning session lasted nearly the full day to conclude the event with a Pep talk from the Trainers at 3 p.m.
Thanks to
Pacart president -Tr.Shivkumar Eshwaran,President elect RTI - Tr.Pranay Trivedi,AC.Tr.Rajesh Gupta,Ast Praveen,present in spirits RTI president Tr.Ajay Handa,Ac elect Tr.sakthi vel Raja and the trainer for the TEXT.Tr.Sanjay Kondaas and Sq Leg Sivabal.


Thanks and Rgds.,
Punit Sampat.,
Area Hr Convenor -07-08.
Chairman Elect MMRT 95-08-09.
08.06.29.,

p.s. -The above report does not go into intense detailing as the Text programme is a common set of systems,but in case any body wants details on any of the specific activities carried out do not hesitate in shooting out questions.