Rotary International is a well known international organisation and it was founded by Paul Harris. It has done yeoman service over 100 years and has grown into a huge banyan tree spreading across the world. India got connected to Rotary long ago and Coimbatore became a ' Rotary City ' in 1943. Sir Arthur Hope (Governor of Madras) inaugurated the Rotary Club of Coimbatore on 23/5/1943 and it was chartered on 17/2/1944. Several wonderful men and women have served the city through the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. Polio Plus was a wonderful programme and the work of Rotary in this regard has been simply fantastic.
Rotary International is a well known international organisation and it was founded by Paul Harris. It has done yeoman service over 100 years and has grown into a huge banyan tree spreading across the world. India got connected to Rotary long ago and Coimbatore became a ' Rotary City ' in 1943. Sir Arthur Hope (Governor of Madras) inaugurated the Rotary Club of Coimbatore on 23/5/1943 and it was chartered on 17/2/1944. Several wonderful men and women have served the city through the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. Polio Plus was a wonderful programme and the work of Rotary in this regard has been simply fantastic.
The Rotary Club of Coimbatore celebrated its Platinum Jubilee recently. President Joseph M Paul and Secretary Vijay Balasundaram are the incumbents. The Rotary Club of Coimbatore has brought out a souvenir which celebrates its service to the city. Team members Gurpreet Singh, A.Ramkumar and K.S.Balakrishnan had put together a number of photos which accompany us on this journey. The Four Way Test of Rotary will hold good for everyone. Let us look at this test before moving ahead with the rest of the story.
(1) Is it the TRUTH ?
(2) Is it FAIR to all concerned ?
(3) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS ?
(4) Will it be BENEFITIAL to all concerned ?
We live in a world full of questions and answers. One needs to go through a process of examination in order to move ahead in life. Admission tests are required in order to not just filter students but to filter our thoughts in the right direction. The FOUR WAY TEST is like a sieve which will help one to serve the society. The Rotary Club of Coimbatore was inaugurated with 32 Charter Members who had the passion to serve the society - H.Ananthanarayana Iyer, D.Balasundaram, P.Balasundaram, R.C.S.Bell, M.A.Billimoria, J.C.Burton, D.J.Coreilli, G.K.Devarajulu, G.V.Doraiswamy Naidu, N.L.Dutt, R.K.Kandaswamy, E.Kirk, G.Krishnan, A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar, G.D.Naidu, R.T.Naidu, K.Nanjundiah, V.Palaniswamy Naidu, Dr.N.Parthasarathy, T.A.Raja, P.N.Rangaswamy Naidu, T.T.Rathnasabapathy Pillai, C.S.Rathnasabapathy Mudaliar, B.K.Roy, C.R.Sadasivam, Dr.Scudder, V.S.Sengottiah, K.K.Srinivasan Pillai, S.Thomson, W.J.Treleven, R.K.Venkatachalam and R.Venkataswamy.
C.S.Rathnasabapathy Mudaliar was the Charter President and R.Venkataswamy Naidu was the Charter Secretary. Several of the Charter Members were leaders in the society and they were known for their contribution to the society during and after their times. This space is too small to chronicle their role in the society of the day. Rotary Clubs exist as independent entities and a group of clubs are brought together in order to form a district. Rotary Club of Coimbatore is in District 3201 which was earlier known as 3200, 320, 56, 94, 91, 89. The current Rotary District extends over parts of Tamilnadu and Kerala. However there was a time when it was huge and several parts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency were part of the same Rotary District. Eminent leaders like C.P.Ramaswami Iyer, D.C.Kothari and Sir Phiroze Sethna had been Governors of the Rotary District which included Coimbatore.
Today there are 39 Rotary Clubs in Coimbatore and the first one was the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. Thus far 6 Past Presidents of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore have been Rotary Governors - C.S.Rathnasabapathy Mudaliar, P.R.Ramakrishnan, T.R.S.Ramanatha Iyer, G.Varadaraj, N.R.Ravishunkar and K.S.Pillai. The Inner Wheel Club of Coimbatore was inaugurated on 2/2/1976. Balambal Ananthasivam and Indra Ganesan were the Charter President and Charter Secretary. The Inner Wheel Club has done its bit to the society. Nandhini Rajendran and Vijayalakshmi Ravi from this club have served as District Chairpersons and Anitha Srinivas for the year 2019 - 20.
Rotary has many interesting facets which have enriched the society. It established the ' Endowment Fund ' in 1917 and it became the forerunner for the Rotary Foundation. Youngsters are involved through Rotaract and Interact Clubs. The Rotary Foundation was created by Rotary International's Sixth President Arch. C. Klumph and it has grown from an initial contribution of $26.5 to over $4.7 Billion now. The Foundation supports projects which fight disease, support education, provide clean water, growing local economies, saving mothers and children and promoting peace. Rotary Past President N.Sundaravadivelu from the Rotary Club of Coimbatore is a Major Donor and he became a Arch Klumph Society Member in 2018. It was a unique contribution.
The souvenir also carries the essay biographies of some of its eminent members - C.S.Rathnasabapathy Mudaliar, G.D.Naidu, G.Varadaraj, P.A.Raju Chettiar, Prof P.R.Ramakrishnan, R.Venkataswamy Naidu, T.R.Sundaram Pillai and T.T.Rathnasabapathy Pillai. Long ago first lady Rajeswari Ramakrishnan, the wife of Past District Governor Prof P.R.Ramakrishnan led an entire ' All Ladies Delegation ' on behalf of Rotary on a Charter flight to Sri Lanka. The Rotary Club had sponsored a number of bus shelters made of concrete in the city. These bus shelters had the name of the donor and the Rotary logo in the centre. They were strong and sturdy. Not long ago, the shelter which was sponsored by Rotarian P.A.Raju Chettiar used to serve the ones waiting for their turn to board a bus. A total of 12 bus shelters were made through a contribution of Rs.15,000. A princely sum those days. A number of noteworthy contributions were made to schools, hospitals and common facilities. Time to recall a few - Motors and Pumps were installed at Chettipalayam village in aid of 600 farmers and financial assistance was provided to dialysis patients during the tenure of B.Janarthanan.
Past President T.R.Sundaram Pillai was known for his briefings on Rotary to the new members. He used to share his knowledge on service as envisaged by Rotary to the members regularly from his residence at Race Course. "I remember him providing us guidance when E.Ramani, Golden Jubilee President K.Govindarajulu and myself were inducted into the club," recalled R.Balasubramaniam. Rotarian M.K.Kuppuraj and D.K.Desai joined the club in 1961 and have completed over 58 years in Rotary.
“My father N Duraiswamy was an active member in Main Rotary and we as kids were actively involved those days. I was in fact inspired to start a school in seeing the service and commitment of foreigners during my visit to Taipei,” stated Rajini Krishnamurthy, Founder of Vidhya Niketan School.
Rotary Club of Coimbatore did well by using unique methods for generating funds. It was the year 1991 - 92 when President G.V.Ramaswamy promoted PAUL HARRIS NAGAR (named after the Rotary International Founder). The meetings were held earlier at Town Club and then at Shanmugha Mansion in Race Course before moving over to President Hall. Later it began to take place at the Paul Harris Memorial Hall in the Chamber Buildings. G.D.Naidu had been responsible for the possible developments and contributions in this regard. The book library of G.D.Naidu contains enormous literature on Rotary and its a treasure. Today there are third and fourth generation Rotarians in the Rotary Club of Coimbatore. While N.Sundaravadivelu is the grandson of Past President T.T.Rathnasabapathy Pillai, Rotarian J.Narayankumar is the great grandson of G.D.Naidu.
The Rotary Club of Coimbatore had been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Nilgiris and today is the parent club for Coimbatore. It has made a number of contributions. Rs.10000 was given long ago towards the construction of a ward in the Moses Gnanabaranam Eye Hospital in Podanur. It sponsored the Rotary Club of Udumalpet in 1962. Circa 1966, a sum of Rs.20,000 was contributed towards the construction of the ground floor, to be named after Paul Harris in the Chamber Buildings. The club had conferred the ' For The Sake of Honour Award ' to G.R.Damodaran. The other awardees were - T.S.Avinashilingam Chettiar, G.D.Naidu, G.K.Devarajulu, K.B.Sundarambal, Chandrakanthi Govindarajulu, S.N.R.Chinnaswamy Naidu, Dr.Leela Meenakshi, V.R.Krishna Iyer, G.Venkataraman and Santhanam IAS. The AMRUTHAVARSHINI AWARD was given to Siruthuli, the green NGO of Coimbatore. Dr.Jairam Varadaraj had received the VOICE Award. Professional Excellence Awards were given too and it was also given to Emerald Jewellers Srinivasan. Anjali Ajeeth, Vaishnavee and Padmanabhan have received the Hidden Gems of Coimbatore Award. ' Outstanding Citizen of the Year ' Award was given to Dr.N.Mahalingam and Dr.B.K.Krishnaraj Vanavarayar. ' Vocational Excellence Award ' was given to D.Vijaymohan, Founder of PRICOL in the presence of Brijmohan Lall Munjal, Chairman of Hero Motors. Industrialist Ravisam was recognised by the club in the year 2014 - 15. S.P.Balasubramaniam, the singer, Pazhamudir Nilayam N.Chinnaswamy, Jayam Automotive, Poet Kavidasan V.V.S.Laxman, Mallika Badrinath, Pandanallur Bhagavathar and Dr.D.Padmanabhan were also recognised for their work.
People still remember many of the Rotarians who were known as the people from the Main Club - Dr.Thulajaram Rao, D.Dorairaj, R.Gopalakrishnan, Mahendra R Dave, N.Ramachandran, N.Santhanam, M.R.Venkataraman, K.Kasthurirangian, B.R.Bhansali, Dr.Balavenkatasubramanian, N.Srinivasan, Ravi Krishnamurthy, Jyotish Pillai, P.S. Balasubramaniam, Amarjit Singh Chandok, V.Chinnaswamy, H.O.Fowler, V.S.Ghulati, N.C.Rajan, V.V.Nandagopal and many others. This column is too small a place for adding a note of appreciation. Many have been unsung heroes. Some of the above continue to add a flavour to the city and the club and they are ready to participate to lend a hand. Rotary Club of Coimbatore is popularly known as the ' Main Club ' and continues to be known for its service to the society. G.Karthikeyan Chaired the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.
Countless good deeds, citations, awards, donations, service to the society by the Rotary Club of Coimbatore has enriched the region. The ' Father of Rotary ' in Coimbatore continues to shine like a bright and flawless gem. It has been adding to the lustre of Coimbatore.