The
Inner Wheel Club of Madras South is the very first Inner Wheel club in all of
south India. It was set up in 1963, thanks to the vision and foresight of the
late Rtn PDG S.R Govindarajan. The Charter President and Secretary were Mrs
Annapoorni Veerappan and Mrs Sankari Das respectively.
We
are fortunate that three of the Charter members are still active – May George,
Ulagammai Veerappan and Sugandhi Muralidhar.
During
the past 50+ years, we have carried out
service projects worth Rs 50 lakhs benefiting more than 50,000 people. We have
also helped set up an Inner Wheel club in the Rotary Club of Adyar. Three of
our members have held high office. Suman Karpur has been President of the Inner
Wheel Association for all of India, while Sita Laxminarayana and Shanti Kannan have
served as Inner Wheel District Chairman.
Some highlights
of our projects over the years:
•
During the mid-1970s, we helped Beatitude Institute by constructing twin
buildings in Madhavaram for centre to rehabilitate cured leprosy patients. The
centre now houses some 75 persons. It also encourages self-help: the women earn
money through useful occupations like envelope-making and bag-making.
•
In 1995-96, the Egmore Eye Hospital renovated its children’s ward. We helped
furnish the ward by providing cots, beds, cradles and other utility items. The
dump yard for medical waste was cleaned and converted into a beautiful garden
and play area for children. The child inmates and their parents enjoy the
utility. This project was possible with the help of members Viji
Jinadas,Vasanthi Mahendran and Manjula Pragasam.
•
During the 1990s, in association with Mukti – an organization in Chennaithat
provides artificial limbs and calipers free of charge to polio victims and
victims of amputation – we helped children at the orthopedic centre of the
Andhra Mahila Hospital, Adyar, with calipers. This project went on for six or
seven years.
•
Some modest service projects are ongoing – like donation of rice for the Birds
Old Age Home and donation of milk for inmates of Goodwill Foundation, a
placement centre for visually challenged girls. Many of our members provide
reading services for blind students and writing services during examinations.
•
We try to help cancer-affected children to overcome the trauma of the disease
and recover quickly. We visit the pediatric ward of the Cancer Institute,
Adyar, and give the children enjoyable outings – taking them to the beach, to
the circus, to magic shows. We entertain them with cartoon films. We have
donated curtains to the hospital and apparel and footwear to the kids. We have
repaired the wash area of the ward, provided now sinks and taps and renovated
the flooring.
•
The building at the NKT National Boys High School, Triplicane, was in a poor
shape. We gave the school a new look by organizing new tiled flooring,
laboratories and a borewell. We also donated an Aquaguard machine to make
available safe filtered drinking water for the children.
•
We made a small effort toward the greening of Chennai, by planting avenue trees
in the 3rd Seaward Road at
Valmiki Nagar and also in Besant Nagar. The owners of the houses were more than
happy to take care of the trees. Those
streets are unrecognizable now – with huge trees that provide shade and shelter
and visual relief.
•
We have organized three major fund-raising programmes. In 1999, when Mrs
Nirmala Madhu was the president, we held a concert at Narada Gana Sabha,
featuring four top Carnatic music vocalists – S Sowmya, Sudha Raghunathan,
P.Unnikrishnan and Sanjay Subramaniam.
•
Four years ago, during the presidentship of Mrs Anjana Vengatesh, we organized
another musical programme – 40 years of SPB – at which the great singer
performed, besides a few other music and film celebrities. Mrs Vijaya Thayanban
of our club, who has excellent contacts with the film industry, was one of the
architects of the show. We collected about Rs 11 lakhs, and used the money to
help Vivekananda Vidyalaya with a laboratory, a play area and toilets. These
amenities enabled the school to win affiliation to the CBSE system.
•
In January 2010, in co-operation with the Rotary Club of Madras South, we
organized Singing Stars, a grand fund-raising programme at the University of
Madras auditorium. Movie stars Sarath Kumar and his wife Radhika were the chief
guests. Several bright young singers regaled the audience. The programme
enabled us to donate Rs.10 lakhs to the VHS Hospital at Taramani, to repair and
rebuild its geriatric ward. Once this block is ready, club members will visit
the inmates every week and offer them home-made food and magazines.
•
In the year 1999-2000, we organized Bal Utsav 2000, a programme under which
medical camps were held for 2,000 children of various orphanages in Chennai.
•
High school education for young girls who can’t afford school has been a
priority. Example: Tuition was financed for 25 children from Oorurkuppam. Many
of them passed the exams.
•
Another simple but useful service: organizing talks on health and hygiene for
schoolgirls from standards 5 to 10. Dr. Sheela Mohan and Dr. A Srivatsa gave these talks. They won the
trust of the girls, who opened up and asked them many questions to clear doubts
they had.
Fellowship
has been strong throughout, with frequent picnics. Our members make a mark in
music, and stand out at cultural programmes or contests, often winning the
first prize. When Doordarshan started out in Chennai, the Inner Wheel Club of
Madras South was prominent – a garbha dance at the inauguration by our members
was telecast live. We are keen and sharp at quizzes too. Neela Govindaraj,
Shanthi Kannan and Sita Laxminarayana have invariably won prizes in every quiz programme.
•
On its 45th Charter Day (August 1, 2007), the club held a seminar on alternative
systems of medicine. Dr Lalitha spoke on reiki and aromatherapy, Dr Mohana
Krishnaswamy on music therapy. TamilNadu’s Minister for Health, Poongothai
Aladi Aruna, presided. On the occasion of the 47th Charter Day, on August 18,
2008, a seminar was held on “Carnatic and Western music – yesterday, today and
tomorrow.” Madurai G S Mani spoke about Carnatic music and beautifully demonstrated
some ragas. Satish Chakravarthy, pianist and composer and son of Vijaya
Thayanban, spoke about western music. Nalli Kuppuswamy presided.
•
0n October 15, 2008, a seminar was held on “The furious earth”. The former dean
of Anna University, Mr. A.R. Santha Kumar, spoke on “Natural disasters” (earthquakes,
tsunami, tornados, hurricanes and
volcanoes)
and safe techniques for building construction.
\•
The ISO programme of our club is very popular in the Inner Wheel fraternity. We
have conducted two Antakshari contests, they have drawn many members from other
clubs. Our members Kalarani, Bethica Das and Prabha Rajan have won prizes in
cookery, fancy dress and other competitions. Many illustrious speakers have
addressed our club on an array of subjects.
•
Our club functions like a close-knit family. We enjoy serving society and each
other’s company as well.
