Karur Angels promote Rotary
Neelavathy Gopalakrishnan, the First Lady of D 3000, does not want to be “just an ornament to the Governor. Instead I want to promote Rotary’s theme for the year and motivate Rotarians to achieve district goals.” Hence, when her club member Meena Subbiah suggested a unique motor rally, she grabbed it enthusiastically.
The two women, along with three more — Lakshmi Balaji, Vinitha Mohan and Shanmugavalli Nallasivam — all from the all-women club RC Karur Angels took out a scooter rally criss-crossing the entire district passing through major towns including Perambalur, Trichy, Ariyalur, Pudukottai, Madurai, Periyakulam, Theni and Dindigul before finishing off at where they all started in Karur. They set out after working out the finer details of their bike journey with DG P Gopalakrishnan, Assistant Governor and District Coordinators.
Riding TVS Zest scooters, the ‘five angels’ promoted Rotary’s community projects among the public in villages and small towns en route. They were received with fanfare by local Rotarians at pit stops and together they participated in rallies within the town. They distributed handbills to popularise Rotary’s programmes and seed balls to encourage a greener environment.
At Madurai DGE RVN Kannan, along with Rotarians and Rotaractors, arranged a traditional welcome with dance and music for the rallyists and joined them for a rally within the city.
The team was felicitated by the DG at a meet organised jointly by the local clubs at Karur, their final destination. They had traversed over 600 km for over a week from August 2.
Recalling the experience, Neelavathy said, “I think we achieved a lot with our maiden initiative of creating public awareness and look forward to such programmes in future.”
On a personal note, Vinitha said that she felt more confident and empowered to handle things on her own after the scooter rally. “Beyond Rotary, I’m happy I could motivate and inspire more people to do something like this in their life too. Thanks to Rotary for providing me with this opportunity and making a difference in my life.” she added.
