International Fellowship of Motorcyling Rotarians
Chapter India
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International Fellowship of Motorcyling RotariansChapter India |
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President
Dr.Prithvi Raval |
The motorcycling group in India is just now at Bangalore, RI District 3190 and we call it IFMR –Bangalore, India. It was Inaugurated in Jan of 2003, at the District Conference. As a National President / Chairman, I plan to extend this sport to more Rotarians in the country. The Chairman for the District is PP. Rtn. Zarryl Lobo who rides a Harley Davidson. We have now our own Constitution and Bylaws, and a nominal fee is collected from the members annually.
We ride out every first Sunday of the month for a breakfast and a fellowship meet. About 10 members usually participate in the ride. Some of us have longer rides over the weekends. In the recent past we conducted a campaign for making ‘wearing helmets compulsory’. Once a year we meet with families. We have brought out a Roster of members for our internal reference, created a color coded jacket and IFMR stickers.
I attended the parade and met Jorgen and his wife at the Chicago convention in June 2005. I also met other motorcyclists from USA. We exchanged banners.
I undertook a Solo motorcycle ride from August 03 to August 18, 2006 over the Himalayan passes to Ladakh. I crossed the 2nd highest mountain ‘Tanglang la’ at 17,600 feet. Total distance 2500 km. More details at: http://drprithviraval.blogspot.com and http://prithviraval.fotodock.co.uk
Last year around the same time, we IFMR’ ians Bangalore organized a Helmet Rally: In favor of making it compulsory to everyone using a two wheeler. It caught the eyes of the public as 150+ motorcyclists went around a 20 Km route. It made it in the press, but the government failed to implement it. Last Sunday July 16th the Bangalore Police officially organized a similar rally, with a lesser route distancebut had more number of participants, 400 motorcyclists. IFMR lead by Rtns. Zarryl Lobo, Akshai Mallappaand Devesh Agarwal participated with about 10 Rotarians in the Rally. It was a grand success and the government is set to implement it from 01 August.
This is our bit of effort working towards safety for the community. I was able to go late at night and capture a picture of the Sign Board put up at the corner and one Again of the street corner, early next morning. You can see the signatures of the Rotarians in the ‘Box’ left hand corner.
We are pleased to inform you that the Government of Karnataka has now made the wearing of helmets compulsory.
A Ride to Nandi Hills:
Today’s ride was great with 9 Rotarians on 8 motorcycles. Nice fellowship over breakfast.
We met at 6 .45 am sharp. Our Rotarians here are known for keep up time, and everyone was there by 7 am. Terrific surprise was Rtn. S.K. Manjunath, who showed by with his Red GSX Suzuki 1000 cc mo’bike! It was an absolute beauty. He was all geared by in pro racing style and actually joined the ‘red roasters’ (hope I got that right) who have pro sports bikes.
We left at 7.00 am sharp, filing up gas on the way. We now have a Devanahalli bye pass and turn left to Nandi Hills. Parked our bikes and walked up a good ¾ km to the hill top. Breakfast and coffee over conversations, such as
- Next Leh trip by RC Cant Rotarians
- My own Leh trip adventures
- Future trips in Jan and Feb 2007
- General topics and the usual humor.
Excellent weather for biking. All returned home by around 11.30 am.
A similar trip to Ramanagaram was made this month and pictures are below:
Pictures of corner of MG Road |
Brigade road junction, Bangalore |
with signatures of support |
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IFMR, Bangalore, India. Jacket |
Recent ride to Ramanagarm |
Recent ride to Ramanagarm |
District Governor 2007 - 08 Rtn. Rajendra Rai is our IFMR member since the inception and we are proud he will be leading the district in the coming year. At the District conference he was officially presented on Jan 21, 2007. He was lead by the IFMR team Rtn.Manjunath and Devesh Agarwal. Rtn.Zarryl Lobo ‘pillioned’ DGE Rai into the venue of the conference. This was a unique presentation and perhaps the first of its kind around the world in IFMR history !
District Governor (07-08) Rai being brought in by PP. Rtn. Zarryl Lobo - At the District Conference for the presentation. |
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District Governor Elect (07 – 08) escorted by IFMR at District Conference |
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The trip to Yercaud last Saturday and Sunday was really enjoyable. Weather was really good, for motorcycling.
We had only two bikes, Shankar and myself. Ramdas and Niranjan Begur backed out and also two friends of Rtn.William. But we had a lovely backup in Qualis with William’s family and Janardhan’s family. Two kids Nikki and Nimmi of former and Manasi of latter along with Annes: Mrs. Renu Williams and Kavitha Janardhan.
We left at 7.25 am from Nandi Toyota on Hosur Road, and had breakfast at Hosur. After a 30 minutes break. Thereafter-non-stop to Salem via Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Omlur reaching at about Noon. The four lane upto Krishnagiri is very nice and becomes a single lane after that. Many pot holes on the way. We had a Chai break and then left. Salem – Yercaud, about 30 Km and the winding road up is very pictureous and the weather gets cooler. We reached Yercaud by 1.00 pm.
Stay was at Tamilnad Tourism guesthouse. It is pretty economical, and located near the lake. There are several other places, but one must have advance bookings.
After lunch we moved around and saw the following
Yercaud Lake: The first thing that attracts a visitor is the lake. It is a picturesque pool surrounded by gardens and well wooded trees. Boating in the cold water of the lake is enchanting as well as refreshing. The Anna Park: Near the Lake. It is a lovely garden Lady's Seat: It overlooks the winding ghat road and provides a breath - taking view. This view is spectacular at night with the twinkling lights of Salem town in sight. The Tourists can have a panoramic view of the plains below through the telescope mounted at the Pagoda Point: Another vantage viewpoint. The Servaroyan Temple: It is situated atop Servaroyan hill. The tribals here celebrate their annual festival in May every year.
The Montfort School: The Montfort School and the Sacred Heart Convent are the two famous educational institutions at Yercaud imparting education to boys and girls respectively. Saturday night we had dinner at the Sterling Resort. It was lovely and Rtn.Ramdas, thought absent, sent us his jokes via SMS and we really laughed it out. Food was excellent and relatively cheap.
On Sunday we left Salem around 2 pm and back home by 7.00 pm. We made two stops on the way. All of us enjoyed it very much and as Shankar put it, “if we had one more car full and 2 more bikes, it would have been even better.”
Well till next ride then… Prithvi
Dr.Prithvi RavalDear Ifmr friends.
We had 8 bikers assembled at MG Road, and departed at 7.00 am, for the very first IFMR ride in 2005!
It was very foggy and visibility in some places was only a few meters.
Jacket, gloves, helmet must and very useful!
We Stopped at Kamat on the way for breakfast. We were joined by my friend whom I had met on the ‘net’ Mr.Rakesh Barua, his wife Pallavi and another guest couple. They joined us in their ‘Bolero’. Rakesh and Pallavi are bikers who take off on weekends, and they have a RE Bullet. They are a part of the Bullet group, which go long distance on bikes.
Three bikes returned to Bangalore after breakfast, as they had work. The remaining went to Bethmangala as planned but there was no lake there! It was totally dry! I am certain I saw an article in the DH newspaper with a lake and advising Bethmangala was a nice place to go! It is about 15 kilometers from KGF. Total ride was about 85 Km each way.
Not to be disappointed, there was one of its kind, “kotilingeshwara temple’ where there is a huge Shivalinga and several others in the temple are. There after, we returned to Bangalore, around 2.00 PM. I must say, everybody’s bike was really moving smoothly and we had a safe, enjoyable ride.
NOTE: Email is the only method of communication for this group. I have opened an Egroup especially for us. You may post your messages here.
The topic for discussion is our Centennial Ride for the Month of February? Any ideas?
Yours in IFMR
Prithvi
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