Rotary Wheels and Reel Deals: An Installation to Remember
Picture this: It’s my installation day as the new President of Aarch city, and I’m faced with the age-old dilemma – what to give as mementos? Pens? Paperweights? Booooring! Then it hit me like a flash of Rotary inspiration – movie tickets!
Not just any movie, mind you, but “Indian 2,” starring the one and only Kamal Hassan. Talk about perfect timing – the movie was releasing the day after my installation. It was like the cinema gods and Paul Harris himself had conspired for our entertainment!
So, there we were, 100 Rotarians strong, marching into the theatre like a service project on steroids. I felt like the Pied Piper of Chennai, leading my merry band of do-gooders to a cinematic feast.
Now, about the movie. Remember “Indian,” where Kamal played both the freedom fighter dad and the corrupt son? Well, he’s back as Senapathi, aka Indian thatha, and boy, does he know how to make an entrance! A worldwide trending hashtag #ComeBackIndian, and boom! Our hero ends his vanavaas faster than you can say “Rotary wheel.”
Kamal, bless his heart, is still doing stunts that would make youngsters break a sweat. There’s even a shirtless scene that had some of our senior Rotarians reaching for their glasses! But let’s be honest, at this point, Kamal’s makeup artist deserves as much credit as he does.
The movie has got everything – corruption, idealistic youngsters (led by Siddharth, who’s aged as gracefully as a well-maintained Rotary project), and more plot twists than a district conference agenda. There’s even a hashtag war – #ComeBackIndian vs #GoBackIndian. It’s like Twitter meets Tamil cinema, with a dash of vigilante justice thrown in for good measure.
But here’s the kicker – the movie actually makes you think. It’s not just about bashing the baddies; it’s about the aftermath of being the good guy. Lives lost; families broken – it’s heavier than a Rotary manual on protocol!
Was it perfect? Well, let’s just say it had more artificial moments than the smile on my face during board meetings. But watching it with my fellow Rotarians? Pure gold! It was like a service project, but instead of cleaning up the streets, we were cleaning up our entertainment quota for the month.
As we filed out of the theatre, discussing the movie with the same fervour we usually reserve for membership drives, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Not just for pulling off this unconventional installation gift, but for bringing us all together in true Rotary spirit.
In the immortal words of Tolstoy (because what’s a Rotary speech without a profound quote?), “We live for ourselves only when we live for others.” Well, on that day, we lived for Kamal Hassan, for Indian thatha, and most importantly, for each other.
So here’s to “Indian 2,” to Rotary, and to the power of cinema to bring people together. May our service be as impactful as Senapathi’s vigilantism, and may our fellowships be as entertaining as this movie night. After all, in Rotary, as in Tamil cinema, the show must go on!
