AFVOA Newletters of Year 2008

Page 46 of 56 Newsletter 4/2008 of 18 Aug (pages4,5) in which AFVOA can make a beginning in building up Special Interest Groups of like minded individuals (both the Senior and the younger veterans) in areas as Medical Counselling ,Motivation and capsule guidance of the youth regarding Defence as a career. Special Groups on Home Security, Defence and Strategic Studies ( interaction of Veterans with Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras), cultural , Maintenance and Engineering (through ESM enterprises), Defence Services Officers Institute (under consideration) and other areas of interest. I have elicited views of many of our esteemed veterans who have evinced interest. May I request each of our Members in their individual capacity to indicate willingness to contribute to such group initiatives to further knowledge in areas of expertise in the context of current technologies and their impact on our lives. Depending on the response and areas of interest we can make a beginning and also envisage bi-monthly meetings of individual/joint groups to exchange ideas. 10. Members may like to write in their Willingness, Area of speciality / interest, Personal Particulars ( Name, Address, Contact ) Suggestions ( Methodology, Areas for study etc) and kindly drop into the suggestion box at the AFVOA Desk at the ensuing Meeting on 2 Nov 2008. I would be grateful for your response and shall endeavour to follow up. Looking forward to meeting you on the 2 November 2008 ! My grand point in preaching is to break the hard heart, and to heal the broken one. - John Newton Meeting Gone By – A Resume 11. The pleasant evening programme promptly commenced with the stentorian voice of Brig VA Subramanyam calling the audience to order for starting the much sort after game of Tambola. He was ably assisted by two charming ladies – Mrs. Lalitha Mohandas and Mrs. Usha Sundar. Prize winners for the first house were Lt Col Bhaskar Rao, Mrs. Rajan Sundara Rao and Col Ramachandran. The full house was won by Mrs. Abida Shaukat Ali and the second house by Mrs. Malathi Ramaswamy. The prize winners of the second house were, Col Rajmohan, Brig TS Satyamoorthy, Brig (Miss) CA Durga Bai, Mrs. Shobana Ravindran. The full house was won by Mrs. KS Raja and the second by Mrs. Shashidharan . 12. The August meet is to celebrate our raising day. It reminds our veterans that every year we are growing stronger as an organization and are contributing towards their welfare and their families’ in some way or the other. Our raising day – 07 Aug 1994 was 14 years ago. We are indeed proud of that fact. Our achievements so far have been praiseworthy. Let us all resolve to continue the good work. The Patron had the honour to cut the raising day cake which was shared and relished by one and all. 13. The next event was the release of the much awaited publication of “Navodhaya” brought out by the specially constituted Editorial Team. The book which is intended to be a guide for veterans and their families to lead a peaceful and happy retired life was very well compiled with a tremendous amount of hard work. The Editorial Team comprising of Maj Gen R Karthikeyan, Brig NB Subramanian, Brig SP Balachandran, Col A Krishnaswami, VrC, VSM & Bar was detailed to ensure that the book was released on schedule during the August meet of the Association. A time bound plan with clear cut directives and distribution of work was the hallmark of the Team. 14. Our President, Maj Gen A Balasubramanian introduced the editorial committee to the audience and requested them to the centre stage for the book release ceremony. The