On D-Day, 10th January 2022 restrictions due to spiraling Covid cases in the city compelled Inner Wheel club of Bangalore I T Corridor to celebrate the 98th anniversary of our organization by transforming a scheduled physical meeting to a virtual one, which we did with as much fervour and gusto.
In view of that, District Chairman Veena, 17 Presidents and members of IT Corridor met at Rotary Hall of Friendship on 7th January and recorded the inaugural ceremony that included the traditional lamp lighting and cake
cutting, ahead of time.
Present at the venue on 7th Jan, PP Shubha Nagarajan shares, “A shrine for Margaret Golding, a rangoli
to place Presidents’ diyas, and a star themed stage! What more can one visualise! These aspects were
meticulously planned and executed by President Anu, under guidance of District Chairman Veena
Niranjan.
With traditional haldi, kumkum, arthi and garlands, the Club President, Secretary and members welcomed
District officials and led them to the stage, with 17 Presidents flanking the aisle.
It was a solemn moment when the District Chairman and her team and all Presidents paid tribute to the founder of Inner Wheel, Margaret Oliver Golding.
The event commenced with lighting of the traditional lamp. In a deviation from the norm, club presidents lit
their own individual diyas and placed them in a pattern on a colourful rangoli drawn specially for this
purpose. Presidents then streamed up to the stage and collared themselves; it was a sight to behold! The
RHF came alive with singing, laughter and applause when District Chairman Veena and President Anu cut a large cake
to celebrate 98 years of Inner Wheel.
True to the motto of the organization, the 4 hours of our presence demonstrated warmth, friendship and
camaraderie. Covid restrictions did not dampen our spirit to celebrate a significant occasion for Inner
Wheel sisters. We cleverly captured distinct moments of this special day on video for posterity.
Much as we would have loved to relish a sit-down meal, each invitee received a packaged snack box to
take home.”
The IIW Day project for the year 2021-22 was initiated and executed by Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore IT Corridor. After careful consideration of several options, the project selected was ‘FRUIT AGROFORESTRY’. It was a project which had the power of achieving three important goals of Inner Wheel year-
* Empower women – thereby Augment revenue in rural areas
* Earth care by creating green cover
Agroforestry is about growing more with less, in record time, by promoting long-term, sustainable, and renewable forest management especially for small-scale producers. Fruit-bearing trees are grown around or among crops or pastureland, doubling income for farmers.
With this premise in mind, Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore, IT Corridor collaborated with an NGO ‘SayTrees,’ experts in Organized Farming and Afforestation. The club President Anuradha Nambiar mooted the marvelous idea to District Chairman Veena Niranjan who in turn got the nod from the District Executive Committee. More importantly District Chairman Veena sought the buy-in from Presidents and members of clubs under District 319. Informative presentations listing pros and cons of the undertaking were shared with all stakeholders. Clubs supported the cause in spirit, belief, and subsequently contributed toward the project.
The idea was explained to the farmers, highlighting benefits that would accrue in the next 3 years, at NO COST to them. The farmers realized the enterprise would augment their earnings, in addition to their regular income, and eagerly accepted the venture. SayTrees identified the location, farmers and their farm land in Bagepalli Taluk, a semi-arid region about 100 kms from Bengaluru city. Once the project was approved, on behalf of District 319, SayTrees planted 1000 saplings for 11 farmers, across vast tracts of land in the vicinity of their homes. The hybrid variety of fruit included sapota, pomegranate, mango, jamun, guava among others. The special feature of this genre is that they mature in under 3 years and bear fruit, and that too in large numbers. This will give them an additional income of about 2 lakhs per acre.
SayTrees undertakes responsibility of nurturing plants for the following 2 years, by which time they would take root. They also guarantee they would replace saplings destroyed due to vagaries of nature. SayTrees also provides a dashboard of information by which Inner Wheel members can track growth and monitor the progress
On 15th December

Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore, IT Corridor arranged a site visit so that Inner Wheel members could see the massive, meaningful undertaking. They left Whitefield in a specially chartered bus at 7 am and arrived at Bagepalli around 11.30. They met with farmers who took them on an inspection tour of their farmland.
The trip to Bagepalli village was literally more fruitful and beyond imagination.
They trudged through fields, ramp-walked on bunds, and spent close to 2 hours with the farmers. They saw for themselves the fruit bearing trees planted in their fields, which would, in 2 years’ time bear fruit with the patience and care tended toward them.
The farmers, many of them women, were more than happy to share with them their hopes of benefiting from the Agroforestry project. They eagerly showed them the saplings planted and also the various drip irrigation methods they had put in place to successfully grow these trees. They were thankful for providing them with an opportunity to better their revenue and invited them to visit when the trees were bigger.
The fun-filled trip provided breakfast, tea/coffee, cooling juice packets, munchies and healthy cupcakes enroute, that kept tummies suitably fuelled. A late Dhaba style lunch at 4 pm on the way back capped the long day.
They interviewed the farmers about how they felt about the initiative. They were forthcoming with the joy at their future prospects. Their responses were video-recorded and shared with everyone on the zoom event on the International Inner Wheel Day -10th January 2022. The well-compiled video had relevant recordings of farmland, farmers and Inner Wheel members of District 319. The Fellowship was engaging, energising and the project, unique.
The club pays their Heartfelt gratitude to the District Executive Committee and to the 26 clubs of district 319, who whole-heartedly endorsed and supported this project!
Holding aloft our organisation’s twin goals of ‘Friendship and Service.’ and empowering women farmers was immensely satisfactory.