A Look Into RCUPG's World

Rotaract Club of Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management, RID 3140

RCUPG… one club, five letters, yet, innumerable connotations! An object of envy for an outsider, a yearning for an aspirant, a source of beautiful memories for its members, a channel to the passion of its board of directors, a sense of pride for its alumni, a way of life for its core team, and LIFE itself for its presidents!

And most importantly, an IDENTITY for all RCUPGites.

RCUPG is the UPG counterpart of the prestigious worldwide Rotaract fraternity, with a well-established network in more than 206 countries. Rtr. Husena Painter's unwavering resolve and relentless perseverance were responsible for this club's inception in UPG College in the year 2010, and well, the rest is history. With every passing year, the club has witnessed an unwavering skyward-bound progress graph.

We’re not just making tall claims, when it comes to that one. At the end of year 2011-12, under the leadership of Rtr. Juhi Shah, RCUPG was sitting atop at rank No. 13, amongst 138 clubs operating in our district. It is indeed competing in the league of some of the most dynamic and powerful clubs in Mumbai- the likes of The Rotaract Clubs of HR, Jai Hind and NM College, and was awarded the coveted title of “The Most Upcoming Club” at the District Level Award ceremony. And what’s baffling is that most of its peers have been in the movement since 20 years, while RCUPG is just three years old!

CLUB CULTURE

This enthusiastic and ambitious lot swears by their club cheer:

"Out to create history,
        Minds are fresh and Souls are free,
 Take a wild guess who are we,
Rotaractors of U-P-G!"

This can be the very definition of their spirit!

The motto of the movement reads, “Self-development through fellowship and service”, which entails that the club offers a platter of delicious dishes that ensured that its members had an enlightening journey of self-fulfilment and satisfaction, coupled with an exemplary, all-round, power-packed experience.

The year 2012-13 was spearheaded by Rtr. Binjal Shah, fiercely passionate, ambitious and unstoppable in her resolve to take this club to the pinnacle. And under the tutelage of her and her livewire Board of Directors, the club has surged into the league of the BEST and most sought after clubs around. This year, the club has undertaken a mind-boggling NINETY SEVEN events, all round the year. 

 

Here’s an insight into some of our most grand initiatives, that make for the brightest jewels in our crown.

MAUJ-E-MANCH 2012

...Because we believe everyone needs food, clothing, shelter and mauj! This was the inspiration behind the Rotaract Club of UPG College's event 'Mauj-e-Manch'. Simply put, Mauj-e-Manch is a cultural extravaganza, the largest in all of Mumbai, for the orphaned and underprivileged children of Mumbai—a rare platform for them to show their hidden talents! Inviting about 700 children—from five to fifteen years of age, to exhibit their excellence in all spheres of talent—literary, performing as well as fine arts.
      With a long list of sponsors and PR tie-ups, this was nothing short of a glamorous college festival, where the children also got the chance to meet people they had ‘always wished to meet’, as some celebrities graced the occasion with their presence. Lesle Lewis and Dolly Bindra were courteous enough to come and spend time with the kids. Upbeat Dolly Bindra energised all the children. Lesle Lewis even performed for them, which had them truly spellbound!

FOOD BANK

It's amazing how pervasive food is. Every second commercial is for food. Every second TV episode takes place around a meal. In the city, you can't go ten feet without seeing or smelling a restaurant, but somewhere, very nearby, there are people out there who have no job, no food, nowhere to live. We initiated Food Bank, wherein we adopt 60 families in 6 months and provide them with food grains enough for them for at least a month, in Mumbai’s most downtrodden area, Malwani, Malad. A phase two is also going to follow, where we tie up with restaurants to make good use of their leftovers every week.

Nanhe Haathon Se Maa Tujhe Salaam

We know what we have when we see what others don’t have. What is Diwali for the ones at the border? They celebrate Diwali throughout their lives on the sound of gun shots! We approached over 300 differently-abled children at St. Teresa’s Convent Special School, Dilkhush Special School and Shishu Bhavan and made Diwali greeting cards, diyas, lanterns etc and sent them to the jawans at border to make them feel special and remembered on such an auspicious festival.

PROJECT N.A.I.L. 2 – Nip It At Its Larva 2

N.A.I.L. 2 was a week-long project executed to create awareness and prevent life threatening diseases like malaria and dengue amongst people in Mumbai’s most critically malaria prone area, Madanpura and the Slums at Reay Road (Kawla Bunder).

      Approximately 5000 houses were covered in the initiative, with a population of over 15,000 people were met with personally and explained about the ifs and thens and the dos and don’ts  in case of such diseases. Also, for prevention of the same, we distributed Odomos- mosquito repellant creams, mosquito nets and All-Out machines and most importantly, purified the stored water in drums with abate solution in each dwelling in the area.

Glee

While it was a household full of celebration for us, it was the depressing ambiance of a hospital for some. While it was colorful crackers for us, its colorful pills and medicines for some. Those are the children suffering from CANCER. We flashed the human streak in us and joined hands to organize a whole day event with a magic show, a puppet show and an entire entertainment package for the kids suffering from cancer at TATA Hospital. We ended the event by giving goodie bags to each of them consisting of apples, tiffin boxes, books and chocolates to more than 200 kids suffering from cancer at TATA Hospital.

SCAVENGER TRAILS

The club services team organized an adventure packed trek for RCUPGites to enjoy, as they scoured through Sanjay Gandhi national park like scavengers completing tasks on the way up to Kanheri Caves. They bonded over the sweat they shed to emerge as the Toughest Scavengers!

Hijinks

After all the toil and the burning of the midnight oil during exams, it was time to breathe free and fly like a free bird. After the first half of the 2012 semester, RCUPG organized a 2 day trip to Nagaon which is a 2-hour journey from Mumbai. RCUPGites had the time of their lives sportingly availing the water sports that were there on the beach.

Behind Closed Doors 

This is the second time Behind Closed Doors happened, in a greater scale and it was highly successful yet again. The campaign was organized as an attempt to curb the annoying Public Display of Affection in our city. It took place at the spot most notorious for the cause for concern: Marine Drive. The most striking part of the event, apart from its sheer character was the catchy one-liners which were employed, like:

“Bhaiya kuch toh sharam karo,

Ye sab apne ghar pe karo!”

“You and your hottie, stop being naughty!” 

      
The media presence like TV9 and the supporting crowd only added to the offenders' embarrassment.

Oye Birdie, Birdie Oye

Oye Birdie Birdie Oye is a month-long three-dimensional project to celebrate World Bird Day! The RCUPG team had gone to Gujarat to save the little birds and cure those who get tied up in between the strings during kite flying. Along with that, we had bought several caged birds and released them in the sky where they are supposed to be. And finally, we distributed bird feeders to the birds all over Mumbai.

Nuts over Nutella

Nutella – God’s gift to mankind! To celebrate World Nutella Day, RCUPG came up with a perfect event that includes an International twist! Each team where given countries along with a jar of Nutella and other confectionaries like bread, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate sticks, milk etc, from where they had to hunt down a famous monument and create it with all the things provided.

Zauber—The Hunt for 3140's Human Dictionary

Zauber was a literary (language, to be more specific) event to determine ‘3140’s Human Dictionary’! Editors and members from Rotaract Clubs across the District were invited to participate. We had three rounds, from a straightforward spelling round to a Scrabble game to the final Anagrams round. It saw about 38 participants fight for a trophy over different difficulty levels that tested their skill and quick thinking.

Any Time Memory

A good memory is always hailed and RCUPG brought forth a workshop to enable little tricks to make this ordeal a lot simpler.

Boogie Nexus

Drawing from the principle that dancing is one of the activities that polishes an individual from the core, we aimed at providing students a chance to develop their personality through this art form. The workshop was conceived in the manner that each month will bring to the students a new art form right in the college. 

Viva Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas was an exuberant and elite Casino and Lounge party where the RCUPGites had the time of their lives from spinning their luck in the roulette to quoting bets on the poker table. It was an evening where their luck could take them places... And well, if it did not, they could still dance their sorrows away to the most happening numbers!
      After a thumping round of games ranging from Poker, Black Jack, Roullete, Craps, Jackpot to 7 up 7 down, RCUPGites let their hair down to commercial house music with all the strength left.