AFVOA Newletters of Year 2005

Page 65 of 75 services case. The verdict went in favour of the services and we kept our say over the affairs of the club!! (I only hope that it continues in the same vein now!) I am sure our veterans would have personal knowledge of a few such clubs which have preserved their entity as before. 10. Some of our members would perhaps feel unhappy that the Brits have come in for much praise by me, but there is no gainsaying the fact that the time honoured institutions left behind by them have done very well as long as there was no tinkering by persons or groups in the name of popular sentiment. Let us hope that the future generations of service officers will uphold what we veterans hold dear, like messes and service clubs, as they do promote espirit- de-corps and camaraderie among the officer corps and their families. 11. My attention has been drawn to an excellent article by Suhel Seth in the Deccan Chronicle of 3rd October 2005, titled “The Gentle World of the South” dwelling on the North- South Divide regarding social niceties. Some excerpts which make us feel good and proud are as follows:- (a) “The audience in Chennai was very receptive, and as receptive as any intelligent audience anywhere in the World”. (b) “What is it that makes the average South Indian so very decent? There is gentleness which is calming for those of us who live in the cesspool called Delhi. There are old-world which just never fade away; like keeping time, being civil to people...” (c) “South Indian women also make for very real people: there are no pretensions. There is a sense of reality and academic virtue which are so much a part of them” 12. I cannot wholly agree with the author on the first two views as he has based his first opinion on the audience watching a play staged as part of Kolkata Adda at a five star hotel. One must understand that the South Indian equivalent of the “Kolkata Bhadralok” watch such plays and some erudition and sophistication is expected of them I Shri Seth would have perhaps had second thoughts on Chennai audiences had he gone to see a first day, first show of a movie starring some hot stars in a middle level cinema hall!! 13. Regarding the second, listening to conversations among students of any of the age-old colleges like Presidency or Pachiappas or even QMC as they are today, would perhaps have elicited a different response from him. 14. I of course fully agree with his views on South Indian women. (I can hear the ladies saying “Aha! now you are talking like a veteran!”.) As I sign off, I am sure that most of our veterans hold similar views on the above topics. “The power of a true word is such that it leads one from selfishness to selflessness”. ~ M K Gandhi Meeting Gone By – A Resume 15. The bi-monthly meeting held on 28 Aug 2005 was a significant occasion in that it was the 11 th anniversary of the AFVOA. The gathering was over 120 Members and families. The Secretary welcomed all the Members & families and gave out the agenda for the evening highlighting the importance of the occasion. It was Tambola as usual to start the proceedings of the evening. Two houses were played with lot of enthusiasm. The first house was announced by Mrs. Chitkala Govindaswamy and the second by Mrs. Prameela Rajan. The prizes were won by Maj Gen Chattaraman, Mrs. C. Govindaswamy, Mrs. Usha Subramanian, Mrs. Kasthuriraj and Maj Gen C Govindaswamy. The Snowball is still safe as there were no claimants.