S Radhakrishnan’s granddaughter Aparna elected club president

Advocate Aparna Kanampalli, recently elected the first lady president of Rotary Bangalore Vidyaranyapura, is excited to be in charge. She is the granddaughter of India’s second president S Radhakrishnan.

Speaking about the philosopher-president, she says, “Genes can play a vital role — whatever I am today is because of the values my family carries and thoughts instilled by our elders, which help me serve the society above self.”

She says Radhakrishnan’s philosophy was based on an idealistic vision for society. “This means that life has a purpose, and ideals and values are the dynamic forces that give direction to life and help it achieve its goal. Philosophy helps to understand the truth of life or existence. I feel that my purpose in life is to serve the needy,” she says.

Radhakrishnan was one of the founders of Helpage India, a non-profit organisation for underprivileged elderly people in India. “I remember collecting money from donors for the NGO during my school days,” she says.

Women empowerment is Aparna’s main focus as club president. She aims to raise funds for helping children with their education and is keen on helping children with special needs. “I want to inspire women and tell them that to achieve something, they just need to make up their mind. Why to wait for someone to empower you when you are already empowered?” she says.

A cancer survivor still on maintenance chemotherapy drugs, Aparna says her motive is to serve society till her last breath.

Other members

The 2022-23 office bearers for Rotary Bangalore Vidyaranyapura are Rotarian Cecily Mathew as secretary, Rotarian Rajkumar as treasurer, and Rotarian Sreekanthan N as vice-president.