Women Social entrepreneurship is vital for our future. Collectively we can make a change by closing the gap between men and women in the workforce.
entrepreneurs are those adventurous, daredevils who drive deep into the pressing problems of society and try to find solutions to them, not by leaving the responsibilities in the reins of the government or business, but by trying to change systems as a whole and persuading societies to take new initiatives
In our Inner Wheel Social Entrepreneur series in this episode We are introducing you a very dynamic and popular face of International Inner Wheel Dist.320 who always believes in Women Empowerment and social entrepreneurship . Yes we are talking about Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan District Chairman of Inner Wheel District 320 , she shared her Inner Wheel journey with Hello Womeniya.com Correspondent Priyanka Yadav
Hello Womeniya : First reaction and feeling on being District Chairman of Inner Wheel.
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : I consider that moment when I was installed as District Chairman of our District as one of the most beautiful moments in my life. Goosebumps, excitement, a sense of great responsibility ..a mix of all that.. The very thought of managing, balancing and executing this big assignment along with domestic and professional commitments gave me lot of tension..and I still am.
However the happiness can never be taken away.
Hello Womeniya : What will be your priority in the growth of your District?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan :I believe that growth of our District is interlinked with bringing in more women to join our organization and using this platform to equip themselves better. As we know the main motto of our organisation is Friendship and Service..More the merrier. With more members, new ideas, new thought process, new bonds and better quality of work
Hello Womeniya : What are the challenges your District is facing due to this post pandemic situation?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan :Needless to mention, there were many challenges. Initially members couldn’t move out for their activities. We had to send our representatives to the project areas. Meetings and project activities had to be cancelled or postponed. Many initiatives that were planned got delayed due to non availability of work force, not able to move out from houses as often as we used to go earlier etc… However, I can say with pride that our clubs found new methods to get things done, thanks to technology. Virtual meetings, Google pay, NEFT mode, Power points and many latest apps helped them move forward and slowly and steadily they kept the wheel moving. Members never let these problems effect their community service projects.
Hello Womeniya : What is your future agenda to solve these problems?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : We have to understand that things are not going to get normal anytime soon. We have to learn to carry on our work with the facilities that are available and also adapt to the new technologies that are coming in front of us.
Virtual meetings have become the norm. We are conducting online awareness classes on varied topics of social importance like Drug abuse, Women health, Domestic Violence etc, members are taking turns and visiting project areas so as not crowd there, projects are managed over the phone and by sending the essentials to the beneficiaries..
We have gathered the resilience to fight back and continue the good work that we are doing in the best possible way.
Hello Womeniya : Share your Inner Wheel journey with us.
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : I am happy to say that I am a third generation Inner Wheel member. My grandmother was District Treasurer( 1976-77) and District Vice Chairman (1985-86) of our IW District 320, My mother is a Senior Member and Past President of my home club. Hence my entry into Inner Wheel was natural. Having seen grandparents and parents involved in Rotary and Inner Wheel right from very early years, I too developed interest in service, public activities and organization. So I joined Inner Wheel in 2010. From then on it was an interest to know more and learn new things, and hence I continued my journey from Club to District.
Hello Womeniya : Could you please share your lockdown experience and how your District performed during this difficult time.
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : Frankly speaking the exact impact and difficulty of the Covid lockdown was experienced by my predecessor IPDC Deepti Anoop and her team of Presidents. It was a shock to them as at the time they had to begin their respective tenure, the whole situation changed. That’s how we all tried the Online meetings, Templates, Posters, and tried different permutations and combinations to keep the momentum alive in the members. Slowly our members too responded and we were able to transform our vision into action. This year we were prepared little more as we had already seen last years’ trouble and kept ready back up plan at every stage. For my Official Visits, I clearly gave the clubs option of physical or virtual meetings so that they are not under pressure. The attendance at events where restricted to max 30-35 and clubs agreed even though many members had to join online.
So it was a combined effort of all our members and District Executive Committee; coupled with guidance of our seniors, Past Association Presidents and Past District Chairmen.
Hello Womeniya : What is your appeal and Message to Inner Wheel Women?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : It is heartening to see that all our members are actively participating in all activities- both service and friendship oriented. I would only urge them to continue the good work they are doing and rededicate themselves for the cause of this organization which has given us the great opportunity to serve the needy.
Hello Womeniya : Do you agree this pandemic brought lot of changes in out personal and professional life?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : Absolutely. Our lives have changed completely. Personally, the initially lockdown brought the families together and we could spend lot of time at home with our loved ones. Slowly with the start of the online classes and work from home, everyone got fixed to their respective gadgets inside their rooms..We have learnt to live with this too. Everything is now arranged online professional work, meetings, projects and we have learnt to make our events colorful with different and new ideas. So it has it’s own negative and positive aspect. We have learnt to create the best from the opportunity that’s available to us, at the same time, we are missing that personal touch and interaction. We are striving to keep moving forward inspite of all odds..
Hello Womeniya : Can you highlight some important service projects you did during the pandemic.?
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : As Chairman, all the projects- big or small done by our clubs are very close to my heart and I will cherish their work forever..
However few of them to mentioned here –
IWC Coimbatore North provided 23 walking aids to special children who had undergone corrective surgery to help them take their first steps at mobility. IWC Coimbatore has been continuously supplying Sanitary Napkins at different girls’ homes and presently they have covered 420 girls and provided 7120 Napkins. IWC Trichur donated Solar power hot drinking water heater of 330 litres capacity to the Government Medical College Thrissur along with delivery consoles at all floors.
IWC Kalamassery provided Sewing Machines to ladies from financially strained background who also had relatives under palliative care so as to help them earn a living. Apart from this many clubs – IWC Cochin, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore West and Udumalpet have initiated projects to provide livelihood for Women entrepreneurs to give more facilities to them. IWCs of Cochin, Cochin West, Coimbatore South, Parur and many other clubs have provided essential and highly useful machinery to General Hospitals and Primary Health Centres.
As mentioned earlier it will be injustice on my part to leave out others as all our clubs are putting heart and soul to do projects and make an impact.
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan : As social entrepreneurs we have had the opportunity to meet people from various quarters and interact with them. This has made us realize that all is not well. On the one part we are enjoying our life with all facilities while on the other side there are people not having even a square meal, not able to afford education, undergoing abuse, addicted to tobacco and other harmful substances and suppressed in life and much more..
Being in the first category by God’s grace it is our responsibility to work towards alleviation of all these issues. It is an uphill task and will not finish in a day or a week or a month. It is a long journey with combined effort from all of us.
As Mother Teresa has said, we can show compassion in two ways – by listening and sharing. Let’s listen to others problems, calm them with our love and share whatever we can and help make their lives better.
Brief Introduction of International Inner Wheel :
International Inner Wheel Club is an international women’s Social organisation to create friendship, service and understanding. It has clubs in over 100 countries with over 100,000 members.IWC has very strong presence in India. It has more than 3000 thousands clubs in Urban and rural India. Since the Covid 19 Pandemic breaks out Inner wheel club launched charity campaign worldwide. In our Inner wheel Social entrepreneur series in this Episode we are introducing very popular face of IWC, she doesn’t need any kind of Introduction.
About District 320 :
District Chairman (for 2021-2022) :
Adv. Alamelu Sivaramakrishnan
Alamelu hails from Palakkad, the gateway to Kerala. Born into an illustrious family on September 28, 1986, she is the first born to Rtn. CA. K V Vasudevan and Smt. Kamakshy.
Alamelu’s impressionable years were spent in the projects, Installations and DG visits of Rotary Palghat East. She joined Inner Wheel Club of Palghat East in 2010 and after serving all the posts in the Club, entered the District in 2017-18. She participated in the South Zone Meet at Mysore in September 2019, the Incoming Chairman’s Institute ‘Saadhya’ at Coimbatore on April 9,10 and 11, 2021 online and the International Inner Wheel Convention 2021 on April 17 and 18, virtually.
Bright in her academic and extracurricular activities, Alamelu was the school topper in the English language, CBSE Grade 12 Exam. Alamelu graduated in Law from Government Law College, Trichur. She stood First at the College level and Second at the University [Calicut] level.
Music is an integral part of her life and she has performed both classical and light genre at various events. A language enthusiast, she successfully completed all the five levels of the Sanskrit language course, conducted by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai. Alamelu is a keen observer of politics, current affairs and a bibliophile with a good collection of books on her varied interests.
Happily married to Dr. Sivaramakrishnan, a Dental Surgeon, who she says, is a pillar of strength and support in all her endeavours. The couple is blessed with a son, Dharshan, studying in Grade 5. Currently she is Faculty for Law at the Palakkad branch of Chartered Accountants of India.
