AFVOA Newletters of Year 2002

Page 32 of 84 a lot. We now that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.” Meeting Gone By - “An Impression” by Wg Cdr Ravi Mani The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. ~ Mark Twain ~ (1835-1910, American Humorist, Writer) The second meeting of the year was held on Sunday the 21 st April 2002. We met at a new venue - OTA Golf Hut. Permission to host the meet was accorded - kind courtesy, Maj Gen Sudhir Mohan, Commandant OTA. The different setting for the meeting, was a pleasant change from our beloved home ground at the Youth Hostel. In spite of the distance, as many as 145 members graced the evening. The golf ‘hut’, was located in the centre of an open area, free from the hustle and bustle of the city and of the adjoining GST road. The occasion was made festive, as it was well lit up and adequate seating provided thanks to the usual organisational efficiency of the senior service. Members arrived to the venue between 1800 and 1830 hours. Maj Gen Viswanathan, the President, welcomed the gathering. The General handed over the microphone to Col A Krishnaswami, VrC, VSM**, the Secretary, who invited Brig VA Subramanyam to update the gathering with information that he had collected during his three week sojourn in the North East Sector. Brig ‘VAS’ mentioned that a number of useful publications were compiled and published by the ARTRAC (Army Training Command) at Shimla. Among the publications was one relating to the Educational Institutions details of which are given included in this Newsletter. Col Krishnaswami, welcomed the new members and requested them to introduce themselves. The new entrants were - Col R Chellam of the APS, Col I Jayakaran of the Corps of Signals, Mrs Sarojini Kanthanathan, wife of the late Lt Col Kanthanathan of the Corps of Engrs, Fg Offr TK Lalith, a pilot of yesteryears, who had been commissioned in the then Royal Indian Air Force, Col Satish Nigudkar and Lt Col Sujit Lala, both of the Corps of Signals, and Lt Col G Ramesh (Arty). The next item on the agenda; was the privilege of honouring four octogenarians, each with a very colourful and no mean life behind them. During the early part of post- independence era, the Armed Forces had greater scope for individual initiative and leadership to wrest the maximum from the opportunities that were available. This was made possible due to the outward looking, newly independent country facing numerous early challenges, while yet contributing a lion’s share to peacekeeping operations the world over under the aegis of the UN. With relatively smaller numbers that constituted the services, and the wartime camaraderie and the never say die spirit that had not yet been subdued by the bureaucracy and the “babucracy”, a large number of the octogenarians of today were able to achieve, whilst in uniform, very much that is highly inspiring. Their achievements are worth recollecting, not only for their intrinsically interesting nature, but as they also remind us of values that are still ours as members of the brotherhood of arms. AFVOA will recount as many as possible such lives in each Newsletter, so as to serve as an inspiration. Those honoured on the 21 st at the OTA Golf Grounds were: a) Cdr VSP Mudaliar b) Maj Gen V Rangaswami, Vr C **, AMC c) Lt Col S Sampath, AMC