The Vibrant Siliguri Round Table 220 was inaugurated on 12th Feb 2011 with Tr.Anand Kr Goyal as the Charter Chairman, and the legacy of a sponsor table like CMRT 113 . Blind Man’s Car Rally has been an annual event of Siliguri RT 220 which has always garnered huge publicity and mileage for Round Table India and at the same time fostered fellowship and team spirit into the tablers .
As always we had the most experienced and passionate convenors of the rally Tr Manish Golyan and Tr Rajesh Dalmia who had arranged the most wonderful and successful car rally for us.
The day was also historic because it marked the day as the Land mark 100th Meeting day which had the induction of Tr Prateek Garg into the movement,
TrManish Agarwal who is at the helm of the table as the current chairman has shown his leadership skills in doing and delivering the best of events which has made 220 .. a rocking table
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
. It was 9th meeting of the Year of SiliguriRT 220 which was held on 9th Nov wherein we decided to go ahead with the most awaited event of the year that is the Blind Mans Car rally. Tr Manish Agarwal entrusted his most passionate tablers Tr Manish Golyan and TrRajesh Dalmia the task of BMR Convenors. Chairmans foresight made this event a huge success. Right from day 1, Tr. Manish Golyan started his meticulous planning and divided the work into several committees namely Merchandise, Advertisement, Sponsor-ships, Post Event Management, Route and several other teams.
PREPARATION STAGE AND PLANNING
Continuous meetings, follow ups, early morning route surveys, communication and finalizing with BMSCI, NAB, getting rally permissions and every aspect was very carefully taken care of. A beautiful sponsorship proposal was made which covered about Round Table, Siliguri round Table and the benefits to the sponsors.
A lot of impetus was put on publicity for the Rally as well as of Round Table India. The most tedious job was to get the visually impaired navigators. The rally convenors meticulously followed up with the blind schools and arranged for the blind students who were well versed in Braille and could read the tulip provided to them for the route.
TrChanchal and TrRajesh ensured the care and attention for the blind children. They arranged the trasnsportation from their remote schools like Bhimbahar, Kolkata, coochbehar and Kalimpong and ensured every bit of detailing right from their transportation , to their meals, their goodies to their comfort….everything.
AT THE FLAG OFF
The Guest of honor, ACP Madam O.G.Pal flagged off the Rally Cars one by One. The Rally started precisely at 9.30 am. Most of tablers from Siliguri RT220 and SART 232 along with their spouses and sporting their catchy Red T Shirts were at the venue by 8 am early morning. The Flag off was attended by several dignitaries from the town, Close to 150 people, including the participants . The crowd was mermserised by the Siliguri Metropolitan Police brass band who played beautifully on the band. We also had the presence of many media persons and FM radio channels reporters . To get the rally completed on time and to make the computations of timings precise, it was important that the rally cars moved precisely on time. The Flag off that started at 0930 hours sharp and all the other cars were flagged off in a gap of two minutes . We had 3 all ladies team as well and they were cheered and greatly encouraged, especially by the spouses of the tablers.
POST RALLY PRESENTATIONS
The post rally presentation was a huge publicity and mileage for RTI as we got the opportunity to do our post rally award ceremony in the most happening centre of Siliguri , City Centre which is thronged with people on Sundays. With hundreds of hundreds people standing in the galleries it was indeed a proud moment for us as we presented an RTI video and MOC TrManish Golyan was at his best . We also had the presence of TrManish Shah who travelled all the way from Kolkata to pep up the tablers.
WINNERS AND AWARDS
All the participants were given merit certificates , gift vouchers from Moncher, Lifeline Opticals and 50%off on room tariff from Summit Hotels including the navigators.
-The 1st 2nd and 3rd winners were given trophies (drivers and navigators) and free stay at Summit Hotels for 2 nighs.
-Special awards to all Ladies TEAM
Bags to all the Blind navigator
Participation certificates were given to all the participants as well as navigators.
Tr. Manish Golyan then thanked all the participants, navigators, guests, tablers and sponsors for the support and wishes they had given for the rally.
PERFORMANCES AND THE CROWD
As the event unfolded, the crowd was mesmerized by the wonderful dance performance by school kids and 4 rounds of glamorous fashion show by INIFD. A presentation of the projects under-taken by Siliguri Round Table 220 was also played on the projector and it won a huge round of applause from the audi-ence.
The Chairman of 220 addressed the audience and told how he was honored to be at this unique rally and congratulated all tablers, participants and navigators. Being a mega publicity event of Siliguri round Table 220, Foresight rally was publi-cized in the best possible way. No stone was left unturned to spread the name of Round Table India.
PUBLICITY ALL ACROSS
- Press Conference was held. The press conference was published in at least 8 leading regional news papers . · Quarter page Ad insertions were made in 3 leading news paper for 5 days leading up to the rally date.
- 9 Prominent standees were placed at City Cente the hub of Siliguri metro crowd.
- Red FM 93.5 was the radio partner of the event . RJ mentions and jingles were played through out the day for 7 days leading up to the Rally day.
- Social Media publicity was also used to spread the word . A Face book page of fore-sight was designed and regularly updated with photos and events of Siliguri Round table.
- Post event the rally was extensively covered by the local media. · On the flag of day, City centre was colored in the theme of Round table India. A huge gate with Round Table India Logos was put up along with a podium at the start point.TrManish Golyan kept the audience tied to their seats for next one and half hours with his oration skills.
FEEDBACK AND RESPONSES
Foresight – was certainly a mega hit and the feedback and response of a few peo-ple have been put in words…
- I would have missed something in life if I had not attended this event. The concept of the Rally, Superb team work of the tablers of Siliguri Round Table 220 and professional handling of the event with military precision was a treat to watch. – Mr Sanjay Singhal,Participant no19 and winner of the rally
- We have attended and sponsored several events but have never seen an event of such high quality, professionally managed and amply justifying the sponsors, beside attending a social cause. – Mr Anil Agarwal, title sponsor Upwaan Projects
- How can we associate together with Siliguri Round Table 220 for more events – MrMahesh, City Centre Coordinator
- Great efforts of Round Table India team for a social cause – Keep Going ahead. – MrPrabin Agarwal, participant
- It was an Amazing Experience— Uttam, one of the blind navigators
- One of the most unique events I have participated in.– MrR.K.Choudhury (partciant past three years)
Feedback and Response…
Foresight—car rally for the blind was a megafund raiser and mega pub-licity event for Siliguri Round Table 220. Just 3 years since its inception it was of pent amount importance that Round Table India be highlighted in the society of Siliguri and the people know what Round Table India stands for. Round table India has now come into the mainstream of the society and is the talk of the town. Saluations to the team of 220 and special mention of TrManish Golyan and TrRajesh Dalmia who led from the front.
Foresight – was certainly a mega hit and the feedback and response of a few peo-ple have been put in words…
- I would have missed something in life if I had not attended this event. The concept of the Rally, Superb team work of the tablers of Siliguri Round Table 220 and professional handling of the event with military precision was a treat to watch. – Mr Sanjay Singhal,Participant no19 and winner of the rally
- We have attended and sponsored several events but have never seen an event of such high quality, professionally managed and amply justifying the sponsors, beside attending a social cause. – Mr Anil Agarwal, title sponsor Upwaan Projects
- How can we associate together with Siliguri Round Table 220 for more events – MrMahesh, City Centre Coordinator
- Great efforts of Round Table India team for a social cause – Keep Going ahead. – MrPrabin Agarwal, participant
- It was an Amazing Experience— Uttam, one of the blind navigators
- One of the most unique events I have participated in.– MrR.K.Choudhury (partciant past three years)
Feedback and Response…
Foresight—car rally for the blind was a megafund raiser and mega pub-licity event for Siliguri Round Table 220. Just 3 years since its inception it was of pent amount importance that Round Table India be highlighted in the society of Siliguri and the people know what Round Table India stands for. Round table India has now come into the mainstream of the society and is the talk of the town. Saluations to the team of 220 and special mention of TrManish Golyan and TrRajesh Dalmia who led from the front.
The event has garnered unprecedented mileage and publicity for RTI and at the same time empowered the visually challenged people and brought smiles on their faces.
Tr Dhiraj Kr Golyan
Secretary Siliguri RT 220
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LMF Tr Sai Madhukar Rathi (RT 213)
National Blog Committee Member
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