AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 79 of 167 privacy of our houses. Her daughter is a reputed dancer and thus she is well versed in singing for dancers also. She teaches music to a select list of students. She carries herself gracefully, and till recently she and Gen Balasubrahmanian took on modeling assignments on TV for quite a few products. Jaya Subramanyam is a graduate of music. She entered the services, on her marriage. She has a rich mellifluous voice and has sung in many services gatherings. For quite a while, in Services programmes in the Corps of Signals, she donned the role of opening batsman, for it was felt, that a good start will serve as a tonic for the rest of the artists. In the AFVOA, she has had the privilege of beginning the proceedings when our “Hello Veterans” were released, wherein we began with a prayer to the Gods above. Having received the blessings from the heavens above and the good wishes of everyone present, Smt Rajam Rao, was invited to come over to the stage and inaugurate the function. Traditionally, one would have expected her to cut a ribbon and say that she has great pleasure in opening the Musical Nite. But then, she being what she is – hailing from one of the well known artistic families of Madurai, and being a trained and accomplished singer and dancer, she decided to open the function with a short Bharata Natyam piece consisting of abhinaya and nritta. Even though she has had a pace maker for over a decade and had recently broken her ankle she wanted to show that age is no bar for music and dance. Not to be outdone, her accompanists were also almost her age group!! Smt Kalpakam Balasubrahmanian wielded the nattuvagam or cymbals, and also sang. Smt Jaya Subramanyam provided vocal support, while Maj Gen Balasubrahmanian gave rhythmic support by playing the khanjira. Gen Balasubrahmanian, is a graduate of the then Guindy College of Engineering. He was commissioned into the Corps of Signals as Technical graduate entry officer. He was one of the first few officers to attain expertise on computers, and as such was seconded to the Defence Research and Development Organisation. He was also one of the founders of the Computer Society of India (CSI). He has an abiding interest in music, and is actively associated with a number of Sabhas in Chennai to promote the causes of music and dance. In spite of the limited availability of time at his disposal, he continues to play the khanjira. With such accomplished veterans as examples, it should motivate a lot of other members to re- orient attitudes and involve themselves in greater set of activities and make better use of time for the benefit of others as well as themselves. Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent ~ Victor Hugo The next itemwas an old English number titled “Summer Wine”. The song of was written by Lee Hazlewood in 1966. It was made famous by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood in