AFVOA Newletters of Year 2005

Page 5 of 75 Meeting Gone By - A Resume 5.. Every meeting is special in itself. In that respect, the Meeting of the 09 th January 2005, was far more special – in that, it was never held!! The reason, as all of you would be aware, was the unprecedented Tsunami tidal wave, which took a very heavy toll of men and material, of which the major portion was from this State. The much awaited Picnic was thus re-scheduled to the 06 th February 2005. 6. The “Much awaited-but-delayed Picnic” that was announced on the 10 th October 2004, by Maj. Gen. Karthikeyan the Vice President of AFVOA during the last meeting held at Youth Hostel, Indira Nagar, was well attended at Camp Gloria. A total of 135 members confirmed that they would attend the Picnic, which resulted in the organisers frantically running round to cater for an additional bus, which they did. But then, when the roster was called on the bright, sunny Sunday morning at the Youth Hostel, for members to board the bus, it transpired that about 50 of our honourable members, decided against attending, sending the organisers again in a tizzy, and they utilized only two of the three buses which reported, and sent back the third bus! One does hope that the ‘honourable’ members will realise the plight of the organisers by their ‘see-saw’ attitude. The loaded buses took off as scheduled by 0830 hrs and reached the location by around 0930 hrs. On arrival all the 85-odd members, were welcomed by Shri Nair and Shri Antony of Camp Gloria with a glass of ‘welcome drink’. 7. The pleasant weather, combined with the cool ambience and drive on the ECR, had whetted the appetite of the members, who after hastily exchanging ‘hellos’ made a beeline for breakfast and did more than ample justice to the sumptuous spread of idlis and vadas, and the accompanying hot sambar and cool coconut chutney. Complementing this was a steaming hot “ Cuppa’ which capped the wholesome breakfast. 8. Once the pangs of hunger had abated, everyone was requested to move to the Auditorium so as to commence the rest of the packed programme that had been planned for the Day. Brig. SP Balachandran - the Secretary, took the floor once the members were ensconced in their seats. Welcoming the gathering he hoped that each one would enjoy the events that was so meticulously planned by the core Committee. 9. During his opening remarks, the Secretary mentioned that regrettably the Picnic which was slated for 9 th Jan 2005, had to be postponed due to the magnitude of the Tsunami on 26 Dec 04, that had caused widespread devastation and destruction in its wake. 10. He mentioned that Camp Gloria—the venue of the picnic was the property of Maj. George Thomas, who is a nonagenarian and was with the Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk, till a while ago. Maj Thomas served with the Indian Army Medical Service (IAMS) from 1942 to 1947. At the request of Government of Madras to head the Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk, he was released from the Army and became its first Indian Director in 1947. After his retirement from Government service, he started the Bethel Rehabilitation Centre which takes care of mentally challenged people. Camp Gloria is a place where they can unwind and regain sanity!. The Officer is 96 years old and his wife over 80. As his name has not been included in our Directory, it has been decided to not only include his name but also honour him as a Nonagenarian. In view of his advancing age, his son Mr. Thomas George manages this Camp. 11. Brig. Balachandran welcomed Air Marshal S. Raghavan PVSM, AVSM, VSM, the President Air Force Association and Mrs Sudha Raghavan, who joined us for this function. The younger members, should admire the spirit of the sole nonagenarian of AFVOA - Cdr VP Mudaliar, and two other octogenarians – Capt GS Bhaskaran and Shri KA Rajagopalan, IPS had also taken the effort to spend the day with us.