AFVOA Newletters of Year 2009

Page 28 of 37 MS Branch. History has not recorded the name of that Captain. But the image of 42 EC Captains dressed in lounge suits marching in perfect threes up the road to South Block is indelible in the memory of those of our brethren who were at that time in service. Since then there has been a simmering desire among veterans to protest injustices by street action. This burst into reality with the anomalies of 6CPC. The embers then kindled are s mouldering yet. Nearer home, in Chennai, in April last year we veterans took part in a protest march from Munroe Statue to the Government Estate at the Anna Circle. Officers, PBOR and families from all three Services from Chennai, Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur and Avadi took part in large numbers with great enthusiasm. It is perhaps a pity that we have not been able to capitalise and take forward to other issues this desire among Veterans to be active on the street in the service of a cause. What then is street activism in our context? In his magnum opus The Audacity of Hope Barack Obama provides us the answer. “I talked”, he says, “to any one who would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty parlours and barber shops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them campaign literature.” No wonder therefore that within a year-and-a-half he went from being a mere person to become the President of America. So let each of us, in our own small ways, work with the public. That said, let us now look at the affairs of our own Association. Firstly, the office of the AFVOA is now fully shifted to the Old MH Complex at St. Thomas Mount. Arrangements are being made to staff it. The Area HQ had promised us two years back that we would get a telephone connection at our office. With that and our computer in action we would have completed our phase of consolidation. Now comes our time for growth both in membership as well as in activities. The projects taken on thus far are sailing smoothly. The good news is that the awesome work of compiling the new edition of our Directory is completed and it will be released during our next BiMonthly Meeting to be held on 15 Nov 2009. It will be a day time meet starting a 1030h. The main event, naturally, will be the release of our Directory. That and the our Raising Day Celebratio. We all ought of be present at that meeting to make much of those indomitable members who put in a stupendous amount of effort to make the new Directory a reality. The Editorial Committee is sure you will come. Stop worrying about the pot holes in the road and celebrate the journey. Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan A Special Request to Members: In case you are changing your address, phone / cell number or your e-mail ID please do let us know so that we can update your information. From the President’s Desk We, the newly elected Committee Members, once again thank our Veteran Members in reposing their continued faith in us and we assure that we shall live upto the expectations of everyone. We all would have had a wonderful and enchanting Dasserah, and a delightful Deepavali. Our Muslim brethren would have celebrated the Holy Ramzan. We now look forward for our last Bi-monthly meeting of the Year on 15 Nov, a lunch session. Our new era of bi-monthly meetings in the next year, 2010, will commence with a