Chairman, Mr. Vivek Jain’s speech at the inauguration of Green Circle – an RWITC Foundation
Honourable Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Respected Dr. Rajendera Pachauri, Director General TERI, members of the club, members of the media and friends, a very warm welcome!
As our club celebrates an historic event, the 130th Anniversary of Mahalaxmi race course, the green emerald of Mumbai, it is but fitting that our first step towards making this momentous landmark is the launch of The Green Circle – an RWITC Foundation. And we are honoured, privileged and grateful to both, Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Pachauri for lending their support to this great initiative of the RWITC, by their august presence.
The physical property of Mahalaxmi race course that we manage is the last living lung of the city and as responsible Mumbaikars we were keen to preserve and sustain this city, and support a case for a greener Mumbai. Our objective is to bring more people to experience the beauty of this space and ignite an interest not only in our sport of horse racing but also in the openness of the course from a totally different perspective.
Few places in congested Mumbai are as unexpected and as uplifting as the race course, a 226 acre expanse located near a sweep of coast line in the island city. Built on the swampy flats of Mahalaxmi in 1883, the one and a half mile race track is world famous, but it is the oval green and the walking tracks within that brings people here every day for a dose of open sky and earth.
The Club is often associated with glamour and fashion. However, social causes is now almost becoming our second face. Whether supporting under privileged children, a concert for AIDS, associations with Indian Cancer Society, the Red Cross, and the Rotary, the first ever live concert by Jazz singer Norah Jones to spread awareness about Breast Cancer, an exhibit with Citispace on open spaces and the list of such activities is virtually endless.
The Green Circle Foundation is being launched to bring all our social, cultural and public purposes under a single banner. Over the past few years we have encompassed culture, charity, wellness and environment as activities that co-exist with racing and indeed gaining centre stage. We now go further with environmental sustainability and energy conservation as core focus areas as we march towards achieving the “green dream”.
We propose to collaborate with institutes such as TERI and other public & private organizations to further the cause of sustainability. A bio park, nature trails, solar lighting and conversion of waste – horse, paper, food have been identified as our initial activities in this partnership with TERI. We are proud that TERI comes on board as our knowledge partner.
It is a dream come true for me personally and for the Club, for what we are seeing is the magnificent transformation of our Club from being purely racing centric to one that envelops and is inclusive and relevant to Mumbai as a whole. We thank you for being part of this path breaking endeavour.
