AFVOA Newletters of Year 2002

Page 5 of 84 over and conducted a Guessing Game. A bag containing a few items was passed around and the contestants were to estimate the correct weight. Apprehending that the weight would not be a round figure, the participants gave the weight upto two decimal points. Among the fortunate ones who bagged the coveted prizes were Smt Vathsala Prasad, Smt Jaya Subramanyam, Smt Sulochana Krishnaswami and others The gift hampers to the many winners were distributed by Smt Ammani Rajagopal, who by the way was celebrating her seventy fourth birthday! The occasion warranted the opening a bottle of champagne, which was duly done by Shri Rajagoplan. While the members were guessing the weights, we were joined by Gp Capt and Mrs Raji Raghavachari, who had motored down all the way from Tambaram. Maj Gen RPRC Naidu, the President formally welcomed the gathering and mentioned that the members could go around, gather their drinks (in case they had not done so till then) and explore the area. A Raffle for very attractive items such as a BSA SLR bicycle, Sumeet Mixies, and other items was being organised, and members were encouraged to partake in the same. Sale of coupons for the Raffle was efficiently managed by Brig NB and Mrs Vathsala Subramanian and Brig Muthulaxmi. Smt Raji then organised a group game, where representatives of each ‘family’ drawn from those born in one of the four quarters of the year lined up to complete a relay task. This included transferring green gram seeds from one container to another using a drinking straw, threading a needle, peeling a potato etc. The winners of this game were once again the redoubtable ones led by Brig Muthulaxmi. Meanwhile, while all this activity was taking place in the central room, some of the veterans who were bridge aficionados repaired to the chairs and bridge tables under the shade of the trees to indulge in their passion. Beer and soft drinks were available in plenty, but such was the interest generated by the games, and also probably because of the very pleasant weather, that Cols Subramanian and Narayanan, the Bar Officers, were virtually unemployed most of the time. A quiz contest was conducted by Air Marshal Naidu. The contest generated considerable interest, but it also brought out that was much that all of us still need to learn. The prizes were bagged by the knowledgeable ones, and included veterans such as Maj Gen Govindaswamy, Smt Chitkala Govindaswamy, Raji Raghavachari, Gp Capt Raghavchari. Lunch was served at 1330 hours and was a sumptuous affair. Apparently most of the members had possibly not gone through the article published in the previous issue on Sattvik foods. But the caterer possibly had done so. Hence he had ensured that, there were very tasty items, he had catered that the members only eat very little. The very pleasant weather, and the games had so whetted the appetite that those who were at the tail of the queue had to content with a frugal fare – as quite a few items ran short. The menu comprised of pooris, vegetable fried rice, raitha, dahi vada, paneer-mattar, salad, and papad, topped by moong dal halwa. After lunch, the Tambola set including a solid wooden board for placing the counters was presented to the AFVOA by Air Mshl RS Naidu. The inauguration of the board was done by the Air Marshall himself, by conducting the only house of Tombola for the day. The game was made more interesting because of the motivational touch of the Air Marshall, who coaxed people to play with a larger number of tickets at a time, and by his clear and inimitable calling of numbers. Thereafter, Brig Subramanyam conducted a quiz, to which answers had to be given in writing. The quiz was as interesting as it was unique, and all kudos to the Brigadier for the research work which had gone into formulating the quiz. A sample question- “The only freehold property of Her Majesty’s Government in India is at