Newsmaker
Monday, November 10, 1997
Name: Indru Watumull
Age: 64
Education: Elphinstone College, Bombay
Position: Community volunteer
Interest: Raising awareness of India.
Indru Watumull's reputation for charitable fund-raising has spread across the Pacific. A tireless fund-raiser
The San Francisco Asian Art Museum asked her to help raise money for its Indian section. "I'm saying, 'Why me?' There are so many Indian people living in the Bay area."
Maybe it's because $3.8 million was raised under her leadership for the American Cancer Society's Hawaii Pacific Division. The goal was $3.3 million.
Maybe it's because of her efforts to raise money for the Honolulu Art Academy, where she's a trustee. Or her tireless work over the years to help many other community groups.
Watumull recently was chosen volunteer of the year by the Cancer Society's Hawaii Pacific Division. She also will be honored as volunteer fund-raiser of the year Nov. 21 by the National Society for Fund-raising Executives.
The cancer society designated a green order named "Nani," Watumull's family nickname, as a tribute to outstanding donors and volunteers. It means "glorious" and "splendid" in Hawaiian, "grandmother" in the Indian language.
Watumull said she hesitated when asked to help raise money for a cancer center. "I'm not very good with money. I have trouble even taking care of my checking account. Gulab laughs at me."
Gulab, her husband, runs the Watumull stores, a family business here since 1914. He joined the business in 1948, returned to India and brought his bride back in 1953. They had met playing tennis in India years earlier when she was in school and he was in college, she said.
Their sons, Vik and J.D. and daughter JoJo are involved with the family's stores. Another daughter, Chitra Wright, lives on the mainland. Spending time with the family, including eight grandchildren, is her favorite pastime, Watumull says.
Meanwhile, she "gets a big kick" out of her volunteer activities. "It keeps my adrenaline moving. I've been accused of being too busy."
She became involved with the Cancer Society as a breast cancer survivor in 1992. The cancer was discovered with a mammogram. "So I suggest everybody do mammograms," she emphasized.
"It was really very traumatic," she said, especially when she lost her hair from chemotherapy. "The only time I got tears in my eyes is when I saw myself in the mirror."
Her hair was long enough to sit on when she first came to Hawaii, but she gradually cut it short because it takes less care and time, she said. "I'm in the fast lane here. I just get up and get going."
To help islanders know her homeland better, she's working on a project to bring Indian dancers here from the mainland for the 50th anniversary of Indian independence from the British Saturday and Sunday. She has brought potters and weavers from India to the Art Academy.
She's been involved with the Hawaii International Film Festival, Diamond Head Theatre and the Honolulu Symphony, among other organizations.
"I've never sat down to play bridge," she said. "There is so much to be done in the community."
Helen Altonn, Star-Bulletin
