From The President’s Desk

Marching into our 12th year

On December 13, 2014, we celebrated our 11th Annual Day, Every Annual Day, I unfailingly go down memory lane and relive the joy of the good old days. I really enjoyed these 11 years, learning many things, meeting extraordinary people, and overcoming challenges. I took each challenge as a new experience and learnt a lot from the process. The extraordinary people that I met are from all walks of life. The group includes our staff, volunteers, people from the corporate world, our donors, personalities from the social sector and the entertainment industry and, of course, our Trustees.

On the occasion, we published the first edition of our Operation Manual. I had been talking about it the last few occasions. The manual was released by Dr. Datta Kohinkar Patil, Chief Trustee, Vishwashakti Internal Foundation. This year, we completed writing the manual and released it. It was a difficult task to put what was in our mind on paper. However, with a lot of sustained hard work and effort, complemented by the thought process of many years helped us to complete this task successfully. I am sure the Operation Manual will help many organizations to put systems in place.

I am looking forward to the new year to begin new projects and introduce even better systems at Navkshitij, which together will help offer a more enjoyable life to our Friends. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who was with me during this memorable journey. I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.

True Spirit of Volunteering

This year’s Annual Day was planned and organized by volunteers. Currently, there are two residential volunteers from Germany and eight visiting volunteers – one from Brazil, one from Egypt and six from IIEBM College, Pune. I thought I could bring ten young heads together and give them the opportunity to organize our Annual Day function.

When I shared this idea with them, all the volunteers became very excited and started thinking about it immediately. It was their first experience in organizing such a program and plunged into it with great gusto. They divided responsibilities and formed sub groups to handle the different responsibilities. With this division of responsibility, there began a flurry of activities at Navkshitij.

Whenever an idea collapsed, they did not lose heart but started all over again. It was an even bigger challenge for them to coordinate with our Friends. The language barrier compounded the issue. Nevertheless, they rode the waves and presented a very good show. I am sure they will remember this experience for a long time to come. We enjoyed sharing the fresh perspectives and ideas that the young brigade ushered in. Their spirit touched our hearts. Their never-give-up attitude will remain with us for many years to come.

Three cheers to the group of volunteers who threw themselves into the task given to them in full earnest.

Upcoming Happenings:

• January 2 to 5: Setu Visit to Gharkul Hostel, Nashik
• January 3: Clean India, Clean Marunji Campaign
• January 5 to 9: Caregiver's course
• January 14: Makar Sankrant
• January 21: Traffic Awareness Program
• January 24: Trek to Taljai
• January 26: Republic Day Celebration and Van bhojan at Kusgaon

Month’s events

• December 3: Traffic Awareness Program
• December 13: Eleventh Foundation Day
• December 27: Trek to Rajgad
• December 22: Christmas Party with Rotary Club of Pune Central, Pune
• December 25: Christmas Party with volunteers from Sparsh A Healing Touch, the CSR arm of Infosys
• December 31: New Year Party at Marunji

Navkshitij now needs:

• Volleyball Net – Approximate cost Rs. 1,000
• 24 Broomsticks – Approximate cost Rs. 1800
• 24 Thick Brooms (kharate) – Approximate cost Rs. 1200
• 12 Bathroom Mugs – Approximate cost Rs. 840
• 24 CFL Bulbs – Approximate cost Rs. 4,800
• 24 Night Lamps – Approximate cost Rs. 7200
• 3 Medium sized Mirrors – Approximate cost Rs. 5250
• 3 Big sized Mirrors – Approximate cost Rs. 6000
• 12 Toilet brushes – Approximate cost Rs. 2400
• 12 Tiles cleaning brush – Approximate cost Rs. 3600

• Flextronics Technologies India Pvt. Ltd
• Praj Foundation
• Mr. Uma Kant Misra
• Mr. Ramani
• Mr. Abhay Khanapure
• Mr. Raghunath Khadilkar
• Raoji Construction
• Dr. Poonam Devgan
• Mr. Pritam Bhat
• Mr. Khire Chandrashekar Ramchandra
• Jakson Limited Plc Ac
• Dore Vibha Shailesh
• Mrs. Padma Venkatachalam Iyer
• Dr. Jitesh Kothari
• Mr. Sandesh
• Mr. S. V. Kanade
• Mr. Amit Nagpal
• Mr. Makarand Date
• Mr. Vikram Sakhare
• Sankalp Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd.
• Sujeet Pathak
• TCS SAP JLR
• Mr. Vikram Sakhare
• Ms. Shakuntala Zagare
• Mr. Venkatesh K.
• Mr. Vipin Shrivastava
• Mr. Murli Kannan
• Mr. Vikram Gupta
• Delhi Public School
• Rotary Club of Pune Central
• Ms. Minal Sinha
• Dr. Sucheta Sathe
• Mr. Prasad Sathe
• Mr. Sharatchandra S. Banhatti
• Mr. Vishwanath Gajanan Sathe
• Mrs. Lalita Sathe
• Mr. Sameer Kelkar
• Mr. Prasad Sevekari
• Dr. U.K. Misra
• Dr. Rachana Pandey

(A monthly newsletter published by Dr. Neelima Desai and edited by Kanaka Cadambi on behalf of Navkshitij)