Knowing Our Members
Knowing Our Members
Interviewing Rtn. PP Ebe Chaney
By Rtn. Krishna Kumar
I had the pleasure of interviewing Rtn. PP Ebe Chaney over a cup of tea at the Turf club. This is where RCPC started in January of 1984. Here is how it went….
You are with RCPC since 1984. 41 years. Please share some memories from the past?
RCPC was founded by 3 Rotary stalwarts of RC Poona in 1984. Rtn PPs S.P.Malhotra, Phiroze Anklesaria and Bahri Malhotra. Ours was the 7th club in Pune. I am one of the 50 charter members of the club, I had the privilege of leading the Club as its 6th President in 1989-90. That year my son took over as president of our Rotaract Club and my wife of the Inner Wheel Club; a record of sorts.
The Charter Night on 2nd May 1984 was a grand event, and we were privileged to have the Chief Justice of India, Mr. Y V Chandrachud as the Chief Guest. Then our Club was part of District 314 that included Clubs from Mumbai. PDG Dr. Shireesh Seth from a Bombay Club also attended along with many other Rotary dignitaries. It was conducted in the ballroom of Turf Club followed by a seated dinner for 250. There was one bearer for every 4 guests. Plates were replaced for every course. For Turf Club this was the last such a dinner. That night 25 men were inducted as Rotarians. These may be called Charter Night members.
Rotary, in those days, was serious business. There was a rule that If you miss four meetings in a row, you terminated yourself. I became a board member in the very first year and had been on the board for 8 years with probably one-year break. In those early years I was on several District level committees. Immediately after my year as President I led a Group Study Exchange team to a then RI District 771 in North Carolina USA.
RCPC was very diversified and cosmopolitan. And I owe it to RCPC for giving me so many friends for life. Some I would not have met otherwise. Many alas are no more. I will always be indebted to Rtn. PP Phiroze Anklesaria the founder father of this club to literally force me to be become a member. I changed my social life forever.
Please tell me about your association with Pune?
My ancestor came to Poona 200 years ago this year. I am the 6th generation. I got B.com degree from Pune University. I stood first in my final year. Our family had an agency business and were in wholesale trading which as expected I joined.
Please describe your career trajectory.
I was in the trading business during the first twenty years of my working life. In 1973 I set up a small unit to manufacture special shaped refractories but I had to sell it in 1996 as I got full time involved in a property litigation I inherited. It took me 14 years to execute the decree of Supreme Court for vacant possession of ancestral land admeasuring 3.5 acres on Shankerseth Road.
After those gruelling 14 years I retired from business and indulged in a hobby of computer abstract Art. I sold several prints and donated the proceeds to our Club’s Eye project. Later I painted them in oil on canvass. I did not sell any of my oil paintings. I gave them away.
(I have a glimpse at some of Ebe’s paintings on his phone. They strike me as something unique, vibrant in colours, dancing away with rare abandon. I imagine shapes and things as I gaze at the painting. It is meditative.)
Paintings of Rtn. PP Ebe Chaney…..
What other interests did you pursue?
Since 2019 I started to focus on my poor health with the same passion as I had done everything else in my life. I have made good progress. Presently I am working on gut health which I believe is the root cause of our health.
(Recollect Ebe’s talk on gut health titled “Gut Health = Healthy Gut means younger you”, at our club on 15th February 2025, based on 15 years of research with personal experiences. Ebe’s mantra: Eat the right food. Avoid the wrong food. The body heals itself.)
What about Executive coaching? What was your experience with it?
In 2008-09 at the age of 66 I got the first certification as an Executive Coach. I invested whatever I earned to get 7 more expensive international certifications. I coached few hundreds Corporate leaders. Those dozen years were the most rewarding years of my life.
Would you like to comment on the new team for 2025-26?
I must say that the last Sunday morning meeting was a breakthrough. I have been lobbying for it for years. But my pleas fell on deaf years. Finally, President Lekha took the first small step on 5th July 2025. I think this small courageous step will change our Club. It is history in making.
One message to the RCPCians…
Set a target for yourself to meet as many Rotarians and R’Anns you have not known before and engage in a brief conversation. Find out a little something about them and put it in a journal. This will enrich your life and of our Club
The interview ended and I left home richer. Humbler. And wiser.
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