President’s Address 

As I stand here before you this evening, I am indeed deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the President of Soroptimist International of Bangalore for the next two consecutive years. You have my sincere assurance that I will be dedicated to the cause of serving our society as a true Soroptimist.

SI Bangalore has come a long way since it was formed in 2002 and chartered in 2003. The club has achieved great heights with capable Presidents, dedicated teams and members since then. Right now I am taking over from one such president and team, who have exhibited the qualities of great leadership and teamwork. It makes me a little nervous and inspired at the same time.

This definitely makes me realise that we have a great responsibility to carry on the legacy and then pass it on to the next team, which we can leave with similar feelings. One of the key strengths of SI Bangalore, as I see it, is the diversity of skills, talents and determination we see across our members, many of whom are successful businesswomen, professionals and homemakers.

Being the individuals that we are means a lot, it means that we are unique. It means that we are enabled and empowered. Most importantly, it means that we have infinite power. Your very presence in this room today means that you are here on a mission to bring in the change that we all aspire and intend to see in our society. So please don’t hold back all the good things that God has blessed each one of with. Use it to help someone who is not as privileged as we are.

SI Bangalore is not just about the President or the committee. It is rather about us as individuals. It is about the personal contribution that each one of can make as a Soroptimist. So that we can proudly define ourselves not only BY WHAT WE DO but more importantly by WHO WE ARE!!

Therefore, I am looking forward to having the full support and contribution of each and every member. I am extremely gratified at the Committee Chairs we have in place, and am thankful to all of you who will be currently serving as the committee. Looking forward to working in harmony with all of you. I take pleasure in introducing our committee members to you all.

MAMTA GHOSH, Entrepreneur, President (2018 to 2020) addressed SIB office-bearers and members at the 15th Annual General Meeting, Sept 4.

PROJECTS

Matsakanya

With lights on her face and springs on her feet, one little mermaid danced her way into a thousand hearts on July 29th, at Chowdiah Hall.

The entire hall was electrified by the little fairy, who played the part of ‘Matsakanya’.

This was a dance drama with a huge cast. It was a spectacular show, hosted by SIB and presented by the globally acclaimed dancer, Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and The Shivapriya Ensemble.

SIB organised the show as a huge fundraiser in order to support areas that explore educating, enabling and empowering women and children.

The dance-drama gave beautiful glimpses of a fairytale that also indicated miraculous offerings of hope and love. ‘Matsakanya’ lured almost a 1,000 visitors and opened the gates for new avenues that can encourage fundraising through team effort and sustained efforts.

It was a truly magic evening.

Fistful of grains

In the final week of July, SIB visited a privileged school to share some messages of goodwill and lessons on caring, sharing and loving.

SIB distributed its eco-friendly bags to a 100 children, who took the bags home for a month. Their project was to fill each bag with a particular grain everyday before supper. At the end of the month, SIB collected and transported the bags to underprivileged sections.

This ongoing project, which is an SIB idea, has received national acclaim and goodwill from all the clubs in India.

Distributing Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins

Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins are the centre of new and exciting projects.

On August 3, SIB distributed 3,000 sanitary napkins to 60 girls at Parikrama School.

On June 29, SIB gave sanitary napkins to inmates of four homes – Abalashram, Abhayashram, Mahila Dakshita Samithi and Ujjwala.

Rani Shetty, SIB’s Honarary Member, who runs Parihar, a social initiative at the campus of the Police Commissioner’s

Office, identified the shelter homes.

It was a programme that also drew in the partnership of Gallagher employees, who contribute Rs 50 every month to produce them in a machine set up by Soroptimist International Pune Metro East.

Plan B for Beautiful Bengaluru

Can one Plan make for a Green, Clean Bengaluru?

It can. Plan B is an exciting eco-social initiative has been designed to bring planners, green activists and concerned citizens together. It is a creative policy draft that visualises that trees would be blazing and a heady air would waft through the city …. someday!

The initiative was deeply debated on Environment Day, June 12, with panel discussions on urban landscaping, vertical gardens and their benefits, citizens’ issues and better eco-friendly environments, sewer water treatment and re-use of grey water and climate change. All these and more issues are important to usher in the Garden City of our Dreams.

  EVERGREEN PROJECTS

Theatre of the Oppressed: Live action and expressions through fluid movements…Theatre is creating some revolutionary communication in various parts of the city. Read about it in Recent Achievements, The Hindu and Deccan Herald.

Fistful of Grains: Bags bursting with rice and lentils and branded with SIB’s logo….These are rich collections of rice and lentils at many elite schools. They are the distributed to needy children by SI. Read more about it in Recent Achievements and in Deccan Herald.

Scholarships for needy children: SI locates meritorious but underprivileged students who need a generous supporting hand in order to complete their education.

Recordings for the visually challenged: SI members enable recordings of books for inmates of Mithra Jyothi, a special school for visually challenged students.