AFVOA Newletters of Year 2006

Page 5 of 77 emergency abdominal surgery. One of our elderly Members became a “Loner” after the demise of his wife with whom he had spent 50 yrs of married life. With sons gainfully employee abroad and the age factor causing problem for visa and medical insurance etc, our veterar obtains solace and comfort from brother officers in the neighborhood, whom the veterar member calls, “Pillars of Strength”. 8. Let us all therefore realize that we ought to take another resolution that is Resolution No.2 - “We will help our brother officers and their families in their hour of need” . If we do good things to others, we shall certainly be looked after in our own hour of need. Let us press on Long live the AFVOA Let us progress as we march on. “We build too many walls and not enough bridges”. ~ Isaac Newton From the President’s Desk 9. Let me start my musings by wishing all our members and their families a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. We had the good opportunity of starting the New Year on a joyous note with the picnic outing on 8 th January. It was an occasion to “ let our hair down” as mentioned by our MC for the day, and be as informal as befitting an outdoor jaunt. The mood was reflected in the attire worn by most participants including the patron!! 10. This brings me to the main theme that I wish to dwell on in this Newsletter – Appropriate Attires . After airing my views on this subject I also wish to touch on the general environment in which we live and the hype generated by the media, Ad agencies, and MNCs using sportspersons. 11. The other day there was an interesting episode of “ We The People ” on NDTV compered by Barkha Dutt, held with the San Thome Cathedral as the back-drop, on the subject “Is Chennai the Most Conservative Metro?” . As is usual in this talk show, Barkha, the glib talker that she is, latched on to just a handful of the more rich and famous, arrived at some cliches (which may be quite at variance with the subject on hand!) to try and elicit some consensus in the short time that was available!! In the end everyone came out that Chennai is the best city to live in. ( Note the subject and see where we ended up!!) If you ask a Bong, Kolkata will be the best; for a Ghati, Mumbai will be the greatest; a Punj will swear that Delhi is the epitome of culture --- so on and so forth. The episode started with the so-called inappropriate utterances of actress Khushboo (a foreigner?) crossing swords against the high mores of Tamil culture. She aired her grievances on the Fourth Estate. The audience then shouted in unison that they apologise for all that had happened, and Barkha lost no time in recording this as an endorsement on behalf of all Chennaites, coming out with a dig “Where were you all when she was in agony?” 12. The talk-show then zeroed in on the appropriate dress code in colleges and use of cellphones on campus. As usual, except for a couple of sane citizens(one a respected senior Police officer and the other a Principal of a Women’s College) who dwelt on the need to regulate both, in temples of learning, the overwhelming crowd of youngsters, film personalities and the like including a senior lady politician, were vociferous in their protests at the curtailment of liberties!! One young engineering student in a bright red T-shirt even had the audacity to pooh pooh the Senior Police officer who was dressed soberly for the show. Barkha seized the mood of the largely motley crowd to endorse its stand that the ban on improper dress and use of cellphones imposed by Anna University, should go. After all the media has more to do with popularity than reason!! 13. As a veteran, I could only feel sad at the goings on. The apathy of the parents, the culture of film-dom all have their effect on youth. Most of our veterans have taken uniform for