Dr. Sheeba Lourdhes who is the former Miss Tamilnadu.
“Generally, Beauty Pageants are not only about beauty but also about brains, inner self and your role in social awareness. Beauty pageants have a lot of social responsibilities attached to it and that is why contestants work towards a cause. Apart from this, it is also very important to look into social issues and work towards the betterment of the society.
Beauty Pageant contestants must have a heart for service. There are numerous beauty pageant winners across the globe who turned to more socially minded activism after their victories. Both pageants and social work have tested my limits and have made me become a more resilient and better-equipped individual. This testing has been key in making me a more competent social worker” said Dr. Sheeba Lourdhes who is the former Miss Tamilnadu.
“People mostly focus on the beauty part, but it goes beyond that. Beauty queens represent a whole lot of things but most importantly look out for the good of society” added Dr. Sheeba Lourdhes who is also a Cognitive Psychologist.
Every citizen of our country and people across the globe are always full of praise for our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for not only his stint as the First Citizen of India but also his socially awakening thoughts and actions.
What “Birthday” according to our former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is: “The Only day in your Life…Your mother smiled when you cried.”
No one can give such a great emotional explanation about “Birthday”. My birthday falls on this great man’s Memorial Day, July 27. Before the death of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, my birthday was a usual affair. But after his death, my instinct moulds into “FINDing people who are in need of support and RESCUE them to a better environment and RECOVERing them from their plight”. This is our United Samaritans India Foundation’s motto “FIND-RESCUE-RECOVER”. After that my birthdays become meaningful in these years.
I have been associated with various social activities for the past few years on Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Day as Founder Of United Samarians India Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Kanchipuram district. United Samaritans India aims to spread peace and love to the society by focusing on animal, women and children welfare. I am focusing on Women Empowerment and Children Welfare this year.
This year as part of the “Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Day”, we arranged a day-long event concentrating on the welfare of the vulnerable sections of the society.
In the morning, we distributed welfare measures viz donation, fruits, biscuits, sanitizers, masks to patients at the Lions Activity Centre, Dialysis and Diagnostic Centre in Mylapore. We also handed over donation money to Treasurer of Lions Dialysis Centre. Cine celebrities including Thiru. Riyaz Khan (Actor), Lions International Director Thiru R. Sampath and Lions 324 A5 District Governor Thiru R.M. Thiagarajan graced the occasion.
As I am also the President of Lions Club of Chennai United Samaritans, I was forced to cut the birthday cake arranged as surprise by my Lions Club members maintaining social distancing. Though I did not intend to cut cake amidst the corona outbreak, I did not want to break hearts of service-minded Lions who were delighted to honour me on this event.
Then we went to the Sithalapakkam Government Higher Secondary School for planting 1,000 tree saplings as a sign of students’ participation. The programme was supposed to be inaugurated by the Chengalpet District Collector Thiru A. John Louis I.A.S. But due to his last minute official commitment relating to Corona-related measures, the Collector could not turn up. Thiru Ramanathan, Assistant Director, Magalir Thittam, Chengalpet District Collector Office, Thiru Siva Kalaiselvan, BDO, Chitlapakkam, Thiru Panju, BDO, Chitlapakkam graced the occasion.
Chengalpet District Indian Red Cross Society Chairman (IRCS) Mr.Ram Jeevan Mundra,IRCS Secretary Thiru Pulavar R. Manickam and team as well as Lions Group District 324 A5 team of Past/Current/Vice District Governors & team.
We distributed Dr. Abdul Kalam books to JRC (Junior Red Cross students Head & team) who gave awareness speech about Young Leader Dreams of Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. The JRC team of young leaders had taken pledge to follow Dr.Abdul Kalam’s Policy on his Memorial Day.All participants had been gifted with Thulasi plant which is excellent herb to protect participants’ family.
Every year I have the habit of spending time with Children for their welfare on Dr.APJ.Abdul Kalam’s Memorial Day. But the current pandemic situation has hampered my presence being with children this year, I still went ahead creating a green environment for children which fulfilled the misses.
Finally, the welfare measures including distribution of donations for Educational Needs, School Uniforms, Sanitary items and Lunch to the Children of the Adhanur Helping Hands were done without visiting the home for Corona pandemic.
All the events are organised by adhering to Government’s advisory on Social Distancing Measures.
One final word is: our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the legendary Missile Man, had a vision for India. He strongly advocated two main points: Education and Information Technology. I strongly believe that we will conquer the deadly Corona virus with these two key features, said Dr. Sheeba Lourdhes.
