The Convention was held in Bangkok, Thailand.

It was a grand opening ceremony with the Princess of Thailand gracing the occasion. About 40,000 Rotarians from different parts of the world attended the convention.

I had the opportunity to listen to the speeches of distinguished speakers like RI President Kalyan Bannerji, Noble Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus who spoke about Micro Credit and Poverty Eradication , Mrs.Rajashree Birla the Director on the board of Aditya Birla Group, Dr. Bruce Aylward Asst. Director General for WHO for Polio Eradication. He spoke about Polio Eradication in India and the impact of polio eradication through Rotary across the globe.

I also had the opportunity to speeches and experiences shared by people who have made a difference within the global community by serving humanitarian projects.

Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project was one of the speakers whose speech had a major impact on the audience and on me especially.

I visited stalls and got to know quite a lot of information on Jbay Recycling Project, Sustainable Development, Eco school and the green flag award for schools, Child Slavery, Providing Sight to the blind, Anti Malaria Campaign, End Polio Campaign , Water purification, Providing clean drinking water and How social media like Facebook, Twitter can be used to spread and solicit support for projects like this.

It has been an eye opener for me on Service above Self and how to maximize our immediate support group of friends, relatives and business contacts and provide this community where we live a better life and environment.

I also visited the Interact Club of District 5170 (Northern California) which is the largest district and spoke about Millennium Interact Club and also got a lot of information about the projects which they had undertaken.

I met up with Rotary Club of Madras district 3230 and spoke about our Millennium Interact Club.

I also spoke about our MIC and the projects we are involved in and the Eco Club with Mrs.Rajashree Birla and RI director Shekhar Mehta.

And I am also happy to mention that  I had taken photos along with Mrs.Rajashree Birla, RI President Elect Sakuji Tanaka , RI director Shekhar Mehta. And I also had the opportunity to interact and learn a lot from major donors and exemplary business owners and leading Rotarians like Rtn. N.G. Patel, Dr. Viral Purohit, Suman Ramesh, CNN hero Rtn.Budi.

It was a wonderful experience and lots to share in the coming meetings with my fellow interact club members. I am sure our club and our school can gain through some of these learnings and implement a few projects which can take our school to a global platform.

I learnt a lot about cross cultural experiences. It has given me lots of hope and belief in saying that Every Individual Can Make A Difference To The Community And Make It A Better World.

Nikitha Ramesh - 12B

Earth Day

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22^nd every year.  It is designated for the appreciation of the earth’s environment and awareness of the issues that threaten it.

Simple things which we can do to protect Mother Earth are:

·      Plant a tree every month.

·      Switch off lights, fans and other appliances when not in use.

·      Stop using plastic bags and start using jute or cloth bags.

·      Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

·      Pick up trash and throw it inside the bin.

·      Stop buying disposable water bottles.

·      Use both sides of a paper.

·      Subscribe for e-statements, bills.

·      Waste vegetables, fruits can be used as compost for gardens.

Every Day is Earth Day. Anything to help our environment is a perfect thing to do on earth day and every day. Don’t restrict yourself to just one day a year, learn about how you can make a difference to environmental protection and put it into practice every day.

By

Nikitha Ramesh

12 B

Earth hour is a global event that is organized by the WWF (World Wide Fund) for nature.

It is held on the last Saturday of March every year. Earth Hour translates to encouraging households and businesses to turn off their lights for an hour with an aim to raise awareness on climate change.

This year it comes on March 31^st from 8:30PM – 9:30PM.

Traditionally people switch to using candles during earth hour. But let me tell you an interesting fact here. Candles are made up of Paraffin Wax which emits Carbon dioxide when burnt.

Research studies indicate that approximately 7000 million tones of Carbon dioxide is released if every citizen lights a candle. Let us not contribute to global warming again.

Instead please use conventional lamps also called as diyas or deepam and solar lamps.

An hour on a global scale has a massive impact on energy savings, on life on earth, on you and me.

When we heal the earth we heal ourselves. I hereby urge you to be a part of this movement.

Thank You

Nikitha Ramesh - 12B

Some interesting and revealing incidents from the life of Albert Einstein who was recently honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century.

1.  One day during a speaking tour, Albert Einstein's driver, who often sat at the back of the hall during his lectures, remarked that he could probably give the lecture himself, having heard it so many times. Sure enough, at the next stop on the tour, Einstein and the driver switched places, with Einstein sitting at the back in his driver's uniform.

Having delivered a flawless lecture, the driver was asked a difficult question by a member of the audience. "Well, the answer to that question is quite simple," he casually replied. "I bet my driver, sitting up at the back there, could answer it!"
 
2.  Albert Einstein's wife often suggested that he dress more professionally when he headed off to work. "Why should I?" he would invariably argue. "Everyone knows me there." When the time came for Einstein to attend his first major conference, she begged him to dress up a bit. "Why should I?" said Einstein. "No one knows me there!"

3.  When Albert Einstein was working in Princeton university, one day he was going back home he forgot his home address. The driver of the cab did not recognise him. Einstein asked the driver if he knows Einstein's home. The driver said "Who does not know Einstein's address? Everyone in Princeton knows him.  Do you want to meet him?. Einstein replied "I am Einstein. I forgot my home address, can you take me there? "The driver reached him to his home and did not even collect his fare from him.

4.  Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.
The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.'
Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.'
Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'

Such was the simplicity of the genius!