AFVOA Newletters of Year 2005

Page 24 of 75 crowd. Notwithstanding that one portion of the hall was bathed in glaring sunlight, the Meeting commenced as scheduled, at 1700hrs, with the first event of the day being the Tambola, conducted by Brig VA Subramanyam and Brig SP Balachandran. Two houses of Tambola were played and the second house saw more Veterans making a beeline for the tickets as the venue got filled up progressively. Meanwhile, Brig NB Subramanian was kept busy all through the evening apparently, registering participants, collecting the Annual Subscription for the next financial year and saying a hello here and there. It was a smooth start in a fairy tale like locale! 8. At 1815 hrs the Tambola got over and everybody got a little time to exchange pleasantries. By 1830hrs Brig Balachandran took the floor in his capacity as Secretary. He welcomed the gathering and thanked the GOC ATNK & K Area for having permitted the use of this Institute. The Secretary mentioned that two veterans had e-mailed him about the excellent services at the Institute when they had come to view the fortnightly film shows. Their plea was that more veterans should avail this facility. He added that Veterans could contact Lt Col S Narayanan who is the co-ordinator for the Institute so as to become members of the Palm Grove Officers Institute. His telephone numbers are – (office) 2531 6178, and (residence) 2531 6179. 9. He mentioned that due to the Principle of Mutuality, our Association would be exempted from Income Tax. Hence there was a need to amend the Bye-laws suitably. 10. He called out the names of officers who had joined the Association recently. However none of them were present to be introduced. 11. Silence for a minute was observed in memory of those had passed away since the last Meet. 12. It was extremely gratifying to learn that one of us – Cdr Mudaliar - the only Nonagenarian was invited to attend a function at Moscow. The Veteran got a big applause from one and all present. 13. Brig Balachandran then informed the gathering that a Presentation on Service in the Cause of Disability by AVM Krishnaswamy, VSM and Mrs. Jaya Krishnaswamy would follow. He read out the impressive bio-data of both AVM and Mrs. Krishnaswamy, who besides giving an insight about the Institution they helped nurture - the Maduram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children (MNC). He then requested the President Maj Gen C Govindaswamy to address the gathering. 14. Maj Gen Govindaswamy again welcomed everyone, including our Patron and Mrs. Sundara Rao who had then joined the meeting. He went into the details of the amendment of the Bye-laws, so painstakingly being dealt with by a team of members headed by Maj Gen R Karthikeyan. He complimented AVM Krishnaswamy for having initiated the creation of the Bye-laws during his tenure as the President. He requested the Patron Lt Gen C Sundara Rao PVSM to say a few words, before the Presentation by AVM. 15. The Patron welcomed the new members in absentia. He mentioned about the committed and dedicated present Committee continuing for a second year, for which there was a good round of applause. He also thanked the GOC for this exotic venue. 16. AVM Krishnaswamy commenced his presentation with a short film on the MNC, which would speak for itself. He added that once the film was over, he and Mrs. Jaya Krishnaswamy would try and clarify doubts that the audience may have on the presentation. 17. One would feel bereft of words to describe the kind of work being done by both .What was being witnessed on the screen kept everyone spell bound and as the magnitude and