Dakksh 3rd anniversary celebrated

[nandkumar]

Dear Members,
early morning rain and slight chill failed to
deter our members from participating in the 3rd anniversary
celebrations. The proceedings opened with prayers. A tribute was paid
to Mr K M Raja, father of members Mini Raja Varma, Supriya Sathe and
Indira Haridas, who has recently shifted to New Delhi from
Tiruchirapalli. Vijayan Punnathur referred to the loving care given by
the three children to Mr Raja, who was suffering from Alzheimer's
disease, in his final days. He said in these days when cases of
neglect of the elderly are on the rise, this was a fine example to
follow.

President C S Rajan, in his address, referred to the progress made by
Dakksh during the past three years due to the enthusiasm and
cooperation of the members, who despite their various preoccupations,
manage to find time to participate in the activities.

The cultural programmes that followed evoked good participation from
the members, adults and children alike. In fact, the entire point in
having an association like this is an interaction in an informal
atmosphere so that people get to know each other better. Thus we had
Arnav, younger son of Archana Balagopal, Ashwin, son of Suresh-
Sindhu, Pallavi, daughter of Rajan-Poornima, Geetha Nandakumar and
Usha Krishnakumar and Usha Prakash, regaling us with several songs.

In the memory quiz for small children, ten items like pencil, eraser,
clips etc. were kept on a table and participants allotted just 2
minutes to have a close look at them and then jot down the items they
had seen. Vaishnavi, son of Raju and Mini, walked away with the prize
in this event.

The pedigree quiz for children started off with the relatively easy
questions of Mother's name and Father's name before going on to
uncles, aunts and to grandparents on both sides. Arnav, Akhila,
Vaishnavi and Aparna emerged winners. In the senior quiz, first
position was captured by Archana Balagopal (35 marks), second spot by
Saju (20 marks) and C S Rajan.

;The Educational achievement award went to Amokh, son of Archana
Balagopal, for scoring 95 % in his 10th standard exams.

"Antakshari' as the concluding programme, evoked much merriment and
not a false note. It was men on one side and women on the other. Since
the women's side had a profusion of nightingales, it looked to be an
unequal contest. But the menfolk made up for their lack of talent with
high spirited rendering, to the extent that even those songs sung by
females in the original version were taken up with gusto. With both
forces equally matched, it was declared a draw. No prizes for guessing
who won !

Saju, as treasurer, expressed concern at the dwindling financial
condition with only about Rs 3500 remaining in the bank. He appealed
to everyone, those who are yet to remit the annual membership fee of
Rs 1500 to loosen their purse strings and give generously.

The annual general body meeting also elected office bearers for the
year. Following is the list.



OFFICE BEARERS, 2011

President : P. Vijayan

Vice-President : Mini Pramod

Secretary : Arun

Joint Secretary : K.C. Ravi Raja

Treasurer : Saju

EC Members :

A. Reghunath
Nandakumar Varma
Mukunda Varma
Suneethi Raja
Prakash Varma
Sanal
C S Rajan (ex officio member)
Praksh Varma (ex officio member)

That's all for now.
regards,
Nandakumar

[nandkumar]

A small correction. Ashwin is son of Sanal and Sindhu. I had
inadvertently referred to Sanal as Suresh. The error is regretted.
Nandakumar