AFVOA Newletters of Year 2006

Page 67 of 77 member, Lt KA Rajagopalan, IPS. During her brief and crisp address to the Veterans, Mrs. Susheela Rajendran explained the origin of Nimmadhi. She said when Mr Rajendran was the Collector of Tirunelveli in the early sixties, the Rajendrans had first hand experience of the trauma of the destitute, young war widows in interior villages of Tamil Nadu. ( It may be recalled that the Chinese aggression of 1962 threw up a large number of war widows in Tirunelveli Dist, next only to Vellore.) Since then, the Rajendrans are determined to serve the cause of these hapless widows of Armed Forces personnel who have sacrificed their lives to the Nation. It goes to the credit of the grit and determination of Mrs Susheela Rajendran that this interest is being sustained for the last forty years, not withstanding many frustrating odds. This constant effort has resulted in the blossoming of Nimmadhi. At one stage, to support Nimmadhi financially, she had taken up painting of the Saura tribals of Orissa, organized an exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi where they were sold for over Rs.1.5 lakhs which she had donated to Nimmadhi. 19. Concluding her talk, she made the following fervent requests to the Veterans :-- (a) Nimmadhi can comfortably accommodate 55 inmates, whereas the current strength is only 23. She requested the Veterans to sponsor deserving cases, so that the facilities of Nimmadhi could be fully utilized. (b) As the inmates feel lonely and isolated, she requested the Veterans and / or their lady wives to volunteer to spend some time with them as often as possible, to encourage, keep them cheerful and happy. 20. Vote of thanks. The Secretary thanked the GOC, ATNK&K Area and his Staff Officers for their kind cooperation, the Officers Commanding Area Sig Coy, Stn Wksp, Sup Depot and Tpt Coy for providing the equipment support and manpower required for the meeting. He specifically thanked Lt Col NM Vasagan, Coordinator of Palm Grove Institute for organizing the venue for the smooth conduct of the meeting. He also thanked Mrs. Susheela Rajendran for her visit and enlightening the Veterans about the functioning of Nimmadhi. He thereafter requested all those present to proceed for dinner provided as usual by Shri Naresh Maharaj. To-day is the gift of God, that is why it is called the ' Present ' Matters Military 21. New Appointments. The following officers have taken over their new assignments recently as given against each:- (a) Lt Gen PR Gangadharan, AVSM, VSM and Bar, Military Secretary. (b) Lt Gen SS Dhillon , AVSM, VSM, Master General of Ordnance. (c) Lt Gen PS Chaudhary, AVSM, SM, VSM, Director General, NCC. (d) Vice Admiral Nirmal Varma, AVSM, Vice Chief of Naval Staff. (e) Maj Gen RK Swamy, VSM, Commandant, OTA (f) Maj Gen Raj Sujlana, Colonel of the Sikh Regiment. 22. Days to Remember. AFVOA offers its greetings and compliments to our Veterans