Here's the First Lady

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Compassion comes naturally to a woman. And helping people is in her blood. For only that kind of commitment could have made Minna Kapur the first Indian president of Innerwheel International, the women''s wing of Rotary. In town for a brief visit, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chandigarh Times</span> meets up with a woman whose charitable streak runs just as strong today as it did all those years ago.<br /><br />"It was natural for me to get involved.My father had been a Rotarian, and my husband Amar Kapur joined in 1964," she says. It was her efforts that resulted in the establishment of the first-ever Innerwheel Club in the northern region. "At that time, women did not become members of the Rotary, they has a separate club. And our club started its activities in 1968," she recalls.<br /><br />Having helped out with several projects, from health programmes, rehabilitation of lepers and the physically challenged, to education schemes for the underprivileged, it wasn''t an easy start.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">"We would go to slum areas, trying to work with affected inhabitants. But the response we got was <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">''apne aap</span> ko Indira Gandhi <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">samajhti hai kya</span>?'' It took a long while for these people to trust us," Minna recalls.<br /><br />It is with satisfaction that she looks back on her 36 years of service. "Becoming the international president in 1986 was indeed an honour, and since then projects like the polio drive, cancer hospitals and blood centres all over Delhi, and the self-contained community centre that my club runs is heartening," she avers.<br /><br />Attributing much of her success to her husband, Minna affirms that both of them are deeply involved in the rehabilitation of drug abuse patients and starting the ''Kids Against Tobacco'' Clubs in schools. Ecstatic about Innerwheel turning 50 this year, she''s flying to Kolkata to be part of the celebrations.</div> </div>