Rtn Nirmala Raghavan

By Yadav Sankaran

As they say, the Gods like them young and Nirmala apparently was one such who left for a different world too soon.

She was a colleague in my erstwhile Rotary District 3230 and a member of the Rotary Club of Coromandel. I had known her and of her prodigious and versatile talent, which I came to get to know more intimately with the IITM connect and which led to my introducing her to WHEELS. She relocated to Mumbai and became the prime member of the Rotary Coromandel Satellite Club in Mumbai.

From being a table tennis champion in high school to being a passionate educator, having moulded thousands of students through reputed institutions such as DAV Group of schools, PSBB, British Council, Chennai, Stella Maris College Chennai, ICAI institute if chartered Accountants of India and IIT Bombay, to publishing books she did them all, in addition to being the pathfinder for her family. She dedicated over a decade of her life to teaching the underprivileged children, holding workshops for and training teachers from underserved communities through Rotary as well as WHEELS, where she spearheaded numerous projects to benefit rural and underprivileged populations in different parts of India. She believed everyone deserved access to better opportunities.

After taking over the Education portfolio in WHEELS she engaged with all WGF leaders, created podcasts, webinars and was perseverance personified.

Her daughter says, and I quote, “she was my first Guru, the one who gave me the gift of music, my best critic, my inspiration, my source of strength and support, and my best friend. She was the one who sowed the seeds of devotion in me. My love for languages, love for art and my smile were all gifts from her.”

It saddened me to note that she fought a really painful last couple of months like a lioness and had even prepared for this day.

The entire WHEELS family misses her infectious charm and feel deprived that a prized possession was snatched away too soon…..

OM SHANTHI