She says it is a great honour for her to be selected for the position and that she will do her best to serve the multicultural city that has a large number of people of Indian origin.

She plans to wear a sari for the historic occasion.

“I came here in 1970 and since then as a teacher and in other roles I have always taught people the Indian values of respect and understanding towards fellow human beings. I will always respect all faiths,” she said.

As Leicester’s first citizen, the Lord Mayor has a high-profile role to maintain and promote the interests of the city and its people. Her term in office at the Leicester City Council will be for a year. This year will mark the 800th anniversary of the Lord Mayor’s office in Leicester.

Sood has also been Britain’s first Asian woman High Bailiff. There have been Asian Lord Mayors in British towns, but this is the first time that a woman of Indian origin will hold the post anywhere in the United Kingdom. The only other Lord Mayor of Indian origin in office is Harjit Gill in Gloucester.

Sood has appointed a Hindu and a Christian as her spiritual advisers for her role in the council. They are Ramanbhai Barber and Reverend Jackson.

“Today, Leicester is a very different place from what it was when I arrived here on 18 December, 1970. It was snowing, dark and cold and I didn’t really want to stay here. But I stayed on and today I am equally proud of my Indian roots and values and my adopted country,” she says.

A teacher for several decades, Sood entered local politics after her husband, councillor Paul Sood, died in 1996.

She contested the by-election and won with an impressive victory to become Leicester’s first Hindu woman councillor.

A devotee of Sai Baba, Sood says she and her sons carried her husband’s ashes to Haridwar.

A mother of two sons, Sood has been actively involved in projects involving the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities. One of her sons, Manish, 33, is a councillor from the Fosse ward and works closely with his mother.