Saturday, January 20, 2018

Security Systems


    I am sure many  NRI parents would have had the experience I am going to share. It relates to the security systems – both Burglar & Fire proof -installed in the homes of their kin in the USA.
 
I remember a visit to my cousin`s home in Washington almost 30 years ago.. My wife was with me on her maiden visit to America. On the first day of our visit,  after a hearty dinner we had retired to our bedroom on the first floor in the two-level, 4 bedroom home. In the middle of the night  I woke up very thirsty. Unfortunately I had forgotten to collect a bottle of water which I always keep next to my bed and consume first thing in the morning. My wife, who had also woken up, volunteered to go down to the kitchen to fetch the  water. As soon as she got down and entered the kitchen area, the security alarm started wailing aloud, waking up not only my cousin but I think the entire neighbourhood! I also rushed down. My cousin, who realised what had happened apologised to us for not warning us about the security system. It seems the system could also be connected  to the nearest police station when the family goes out of station, locking the home. If a burglar attempted to enter the house, the police station would get the alert and rush to the home to nab the burglar.

The next experience relates to the smoke/fire alarm installed at his home by my son in his one bedroom flat  in Tampa, Florida. During my short stays with him every year I would volunteer to cook  his daily meals, not only enough for us but also for a few of his close friends who used to barge in to partake the home cooked meals. I was a popular uncle because of the `Home Cooked Meal` service I provided for a few days every year. On the very first day of my visit I forgot the instructions my son had given me regarding the smoke alarm in the kitchen. So I was startled  when it went off making a loud noise when I tried to fry something in the Kadai.  I did not know what to do. It was a lonely neighbour hood and there was nobody nearby to help. I had to call my son to rush home to help me. To avoid a repeat performance from me, my son ensured that the alarm was covered with a wet tissue  paper during my stay at his home so that it did not  get activated by the smoke emanating from the items I was cooking. I was told that this smoke alarm is mandatory in any house in USA  (as most houses are built on wooden structures) and if found not working when officials come for surprise checks, the owner would have to pay a penalty.

Today such systems are available  in India too. Judging by the number of criminal cases that the police is able to solve thanks to the CCTV cameras installed in many residential/ commercial areas,   there is increasing demand for such  security systems. Senior citizens who stay alone will do well to install security systems in their homes for protection from strangers with malicious intent.

(This article has appeared in Adyar Times issue dt.7-10th January,2018 under my column Rajan`s random Reflections`)

Friday, January 5, 2018

Celebrating the memory of a dear one


      Today marks the fifth anniversary of the passing away of my dear wife . Though living without Prabha  has been   a reality,  I had  decided  to celebrate her memory  instead of mourning her death  by undertaking  a number of  activities under Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation( PRTF) which I founded in  2013. In 2017 PRTF continued  to sponsor writing contest  for women in a ladies magazine, published books of budding women writers, offered  talent scholarship to deserving students etc..


The two films based on Prabha`s short stories produced by PRTF which were first screened at the fourth anniversary function last year have been received well by viewers on You Tube as well as at private showings.  Impressed by the film `Thayumanaval`, my good friend R.T.Chari of the Tag group fame commissioned Rajeshwari  Anand, the talented director of the film to produce a film based on a short story titled `VEEDU`  written by Sahithya Academy award winning author, Indira Parthasarathy. It looks like Rajeshwari is likely to get more such assignments making her realize one of her dreams of producing more films  based  on fictions. One of the important objectives of PRTF is to bring to limelight talented women and I am glad 2017 witnessed Rajeshwari getting her due recognition from people who matter. 

Though no special programme has been planned for the Fifth Anniversary, the family intends to have a special feast  on 7th evening for the students  of  the Corporation School in Damodharapuram in Adyar & Thiruvanmiyur where PRTF is supporting the Prabha Rajan Bala Gurukool  by sponsoring special tuition classes  for the students  of the school, consisting of rehabilitated street children. This will be in addition to the regular activities of PRTF, planned for 2018.

Prabha is no more but I live with her memory every day of my life. I will do so until the Lord decides to unite me with her in heaven!

5th January,2015.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

S.I.W.S. School - Grand Alumni Meet



  An Event to Remember

“Immediately after obtaining my B.Sc & B.Ed degrees, at the age of 22 , I applied for a job of a teacher in S.I.E.S. School. I was rejected because of my young age.  However,  thanks to Krishnamurthy Sir, who hails from my village, I got a job in S.I.W.S School as Physics Teacher without even an interview. After 35 years of continuous  service,  which had its ups & downs, I retired as the Headmaster of S.I.W.S School in 1991”        Shri A.S.Varadarajan,  Varadarajan Sir to thousands of Welfarites, was in his elements recalling his long association with the School. 

He was the Chief Guest at the “ Grand Alumni Meet “ of the recently started S.I.W.S. School Alumni Association held on 17th December,2017 in Mumbai. Blessed with a phenomenal memory for names & dates  he was regaling the audience  consisting of over 200 ex- welfarites from all over the country and abroad,  with his  speech full of interesting anecdotes and incidents. The spontaneous standing ovation he got at the end of his talk was proof enough that the audience enjoyed every minute of his talk.
The Meet started with a sumptuous breakfast of Rava Kesari,  Upma, Bonda & Coffee on the terrace of the Mysore Association Building in Kings Circle, Mumbai . The auditorium of the  Association  was the venue of the Meet. Registered members started trickling in from 8.45 am. Lot of back slapping, hand shaking and hugging marked the occasion where batch mates were meeting after many years. You could feel  the nostalgia in the air!

The formal meeting, as per tradition started with an invocation song followed by the lighting of the `Kuthuvilakku` by the dignitaries occupying the head table. Welcoming the audience, the dynamic Chairman of the newly formed Alumni Association, Shri V.Sundaresan briefly outlined the background to the formation of the association and its objectives. This was followed by a brilliant talk by Dr.V.Rangaraj, the Chairman of S.I.W.S. Trust which manages the school who in his well prepared speech talked about his dreams for the school & College.

It was then the turn of the Chief  guest to mesmerize his  captive audience. Though he was allotted only 10 minutes, he spoke for more than 30 minutes.  The audience wanted more, but  the organising Team was tense as they had a  tightly planned schedule  to be covered before 1pm when the hall had to be vacated, making room for the next event scheduled at 2pm. 

Next item  on the agenda was the honouring of old school teachers with a special memento and a shawl  viz. Varadrajan sir, Alamelu teacher, Leelamma John, Nancy D’souza, Pavai Parvathy teacher, Ambujam teacher, Prema Hattangadi.  While every teacher received enthusiastic applause from the audience, maximum noise was reserved for Mrs. Nancy D’souza, commended as the most popular teacher of her time by the Chief Guest.
The much awaited ceremony to confer the Distinguished Alumni Award to five nominees chosen from the 1950 to 1969 batches witnessed the Recipients going up the stage to receive the citation and a medallion from the Chief Guest. You could see the happy faces of the recipients when their citations were being read out by the MC,  Dr. Usha Iyer. The first one to be honoured was N.Krishnamurthy (1958 batch), an Air force Veteran who had seen action  in the two  wars with Pakistan  in 1965 and 1971.  In his student  days  Krishnamurthy was also a National Table Tennis Champion. The next recipient was R.V.Rajan,  also from the 1958 batch, who was recognized as a veteran Adman and Rural Marketing specialist apart from being an active social worker through several voluntary organisations he was associated with. T.N. Sundar  from the 1959 batch  received the Award for scaling great heights in life without any academic qualifications.  Dr.V.Rangaraj  ( 1961 batch)  was recognized for his significant contribution to Indo- US trade relations and long association with the American Embassy.  S.Ramanujam ( 1965 batch) popularly known as `Jam` among friends was chosen for his brilliant academic record and for his significant contribution to the social & spiritual activities in Mumbai. The two minutes acceptance speech, spoken from the heart,  by each of the recipients reflected their joy in receiving the Award from the association.

The truncated bollywood entertainment programme that followed the Award ceremony  hosted by Laxmi Sharma(1992) started with a  recorded song on the theme of the association specially scripted and composed by R.Jayaraman Iyer (1964 batch) who also briefly explained the concept behind the song.  Alumni members  Venkatesh, Sunder, Geeta, Leela, Shobana, Brinda, Lata, Lakshmanan and Gopu accompanied by two professionals  Vipul on keyboards and Kalpesh on rhythm along with alumni members R.S Mani on accordian, Suresh Iyer on guitar and Gopu on dholak   belted  out famous film songs of yester years much to the delight of the audience, many of whom  could be seen singing along with the main singers or tapping their feet. Unfortunately because of shortage of time each singer was allowed to sing only one stanza.

The shortage of time and the urgent need to hand over the stage back to the management of the auditorium resulted in the organising team cancelling the   meticulously planned batch wise Group photo session. The batch wise seating arrangement also saw some alumni finding themselves to be the sole attendees from their batch- they had come eagerly looking forward to  meet some long lost class mates only to feel disappointed. Hope the next event will see greater participation from every batch.

The curtain call was given by the hard working Secretary of the Association, the ever popular & talented Gopu Raman (1971 batch) who not only gave a spirited vote of thanks but also sang a song as a part of the entertainment programme.

The Master of ceremonies was Dr. Usha Iyer  the Principal of S.I.W.S College who tried her best to speed up the proceedings in her inimitable style. Thanks to K.N. Lakshmanan ( 1968 batch) every guest received a gift pack consisting of a collection of nail polishes produced by his company `Clarion Cosmetics`.
On the whole it was a well organised event with lessons learnt for future programmes of the Association.