Photo Identity Card for members of Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham

M. Gopalakrishnan receiving the Identity Card from Dr. P. S. Raman. (from Left to Right) T. R. Ganesan, Adv. A. K. Seshadri, T. K. Narayanaswami, J. Subramoni, P. K. Ramachandran, M. Jayashankar

The Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham has taken an initiative to issue a photo identity card for all the members. The official launching of the Identity Card was held on Saturday, 23^rd July 2011. Dr. P. S. Raman, State Vice President, Kerala Brahmana Sabha was the Chief Guest for the function. In his address, he has mentioned that no Samooham has taken such a good initiative in Kerala till date. He also suggested for having tie-ups with business establishments for getting discounts using this card. He congratulated the office bearers of Gramajana Samooham for the efforts taken for issuing such a card.

The first card was issued to M. Gopalakrishnan, a senior member of Gramajana Samooham. Adv. A. K. Seshadri (President, Granajana Samooham) presided over the function and T. K. Narayanaswamy (Secretary, Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham) spoke on the occasion.

Merit Evening at Ernakulam

The Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam City Unit and Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham jointly organized a “Merit Evening” to honor the meritorious students of 10^th & 12^th Standard in CBSE and State syllabus. The function held on Saturday, 23^rd of July 2011 at the Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham Hall. The cash award and mementos for the state syllabus students were sponsored by the Gramajana Samooham and Kerala Brahmana Sabha sponsored for CBSE students. 28 students, 23 from CBSE and 5 from State syllabus were given awards.

P. I. Sheik Pareeth IAS, District Collector of Ernakulam was the Chief Guest of the day. In his key note address, the District Collector expressed his views on value of education and the need to excel in academic sector. B. S. Warrier, Career Consultant and columnist delivered a motivating and thought provoking address.

Adv. A. K. Seshadri, President of Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham presided over the meeting. M. Vanchiswaran (Secretary, Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam City Unit) delivered the welcome speech and T. K. Narayanaswamy (Secretary, Ernakulam Gramajana Samooham) said the vote of thanks. Adv. A.K.Seshadri and J. Subramony (President, Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam City Unit) presented mementos to guests.

Padmasree Kalamandalam Gopi selected for First K. Harihara Iyer Memorial Award

Padmasree Kalamandalam Gopi

The first K. Harihara Iyer Memorial Award jointly instituted by Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Perumbavoor Upasabha and Adv. K.Harihara Iyer Foundation was announced here on 25^th of July 2011. Eminent Kathakali artist, Padmasree Kalamandalam Gopi was selected for this award by a three member jury appointed by Kerala Brahmana Sabha. The jury members - N. Ranganathan (State Committee Member, Kerala Brahmana Sabha), K. Gangadharan Nair (Retired Headmaster and Ex-President, Kathakalai Club, Perumbavoor) and Kalamandalam Sumathy - said that he is the most deserving person who is an ‘evergreen hero in Kathakali stages’. The award carries a citation; memento and cash prize of Rupees Ten thousand. Kalamandalam Gopi learned Kathakali form from Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, Kalamandalam Ramankutti Nair and Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair. Padmasree Kalamandalam Gopi retired as the Principal of Kerala Kalamandalam and has won many awards and fellowships from Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy. He has performed in many foreign countries and has numerous disciples all across the World.

N. Hariharasubramania Iyer (Vice President, Vadarkutti Brahmana Samooham), N. Ramachandran (President) and K. Hari (Secretary) of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Peumbavoor Upasabha declared this award on the occasion of the 26^th death anniversary of Adv. K. Harihara Iyer. A commemorative meeting was also organized at Nagamangalam Madom by the Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Perumbavoor Upasabha. N. Ramachandran presided over the meeting and K. Gangadharan Nair (Retired Headmaster and former President of Kathakali Club of Perumbavoor), Kalamandalam Sumathi, Prof. P. S. Ramachandran (former Secretary, Perumbavoor Upasabha), K. Krishna Iyer (Secretary, Brahmana Samooham), Kamala Hariharan (Convenor, Narayaneeyam Seva Samithy), N. Hariharasubramania Iyer, K. Hari, H. Balakrishnan (Treasurer), J. Lalitha (President, Vanitha Vibhagam) and H. Vanchiswaran (President, Yuvajana Vibhagam) were present in the meeting.

K. Gangadharan Nair lighting the Vilakku. (from Left to Right) N. Ranganathan, Prof. P. S. Ramachandran, K. Krishna Iyer, N. Rmachandran, K. Hari, Kalamandalam Sumathi, Kamala Hariharan

Adv. K. Harihara Iyer was the first Municipal Chairman of the Municipal Council of Perumbavoor in 1953. He was the first President of Perumbavoor Bar Association and continued in the office for 25 years, the first President of Swathi Thirunal Sangeetha Sabha and the first President of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Perumbavoor Upasabha. He was the Patron of Kathakali Club and Akshara Sloka Samithy of Perumbavoor. He also served as the President of the Congress Committee of Perumbavoor Constituency. Wife: late. Janaki Hariharan. Son: H. Krishna Sounder (Abu Dhabi) Daughter: Hamsalatha Hariharan (Chennai).

Ernakulam District Committee elected for the year 2011-2013

V. Krishnaswami (District President), Ganesh Venkitachalam A. G. (Secretary), R. Hariharaputhran (Treasurer)

N. Ramachandran and K. R. Chandran (Vice Presidents)

Mohandas S. and V. Hariharakrishnan (Joint Secretaries)

 V. Parameswaran and S. Naganathan (Organising Secretaries)

Committee Members: H. Narayana Iyer, S. Sankar (Aluva), V. Sreenivasan, Sivaramakrishna Iyer, Sreenivasan N. J. (Edappalli), M. Ramachandran, S. Narayanan, Ananthanarayanan R., T. R. Ganesan (Ernakulam), V. R. V. Iyer (Kalady), K. Sreenivasan, Adv. V. Devasikhamoni, Venkitasubramanian R. K., Raman S., S. Parameswaran (Mattancherry), A. S. Balasubramania Iyer, T. N. Krishna Iyer (Muvattupuzha), Dr. M. N. Venkiteswaran (Parur), H. Ramanathan, V. Krishnan, N. Hariharasubramania Iyer (Perumbavoor), S. Ramakrishnan, S. Vaidyanathan, R. Hariharan (Thripunithura)

VANITHA VIBHAGAM

K. Annakalshmi (President), Rajeswari Raman, Mangalam Subramaniam (Vice Presidents), Kala Varadarajan (Secretary), Jaya Sivaraman (Treasurer), Lalithambal H., Kalyani G. Murthy (Joint Secretaries)

Apart from these elected members, all Presidents and Secretaries of eleven Upasabhas in Ernakulam District will be ex-officio members in the District Committee.

Annual General Body of Ernakulam District held on 24th July 2011

V. Krishnaswami lighting the Vilakku. (from Left to Right) N. R. Parameswaran, P. Veeraraghavan, Ganesh Venkitachalam, N. Ramachandran, Dr. P. S. Raman, K. Annalakshmi, Dr. V. Ramalingam, K. R. Chandran, R. Ramakrishnan, S. Naganathan, K. G. V. Pathy, P. Ananthasubramaniam

The Annual General Body of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam District was held on Sunday, 24^th of July 2011. V. Krishnaswami, District President presided over the meeting held at Aluva Brahmana Samooham Hall. The meeting commenced with the official prayer of Kerala Brahmana Sabha by K. Annalakshmi, District President of Vanitha Vibhagam at 10.00 a. m. Delegates from all eleven Upasabhas of the district were present for the meeting.

V. Krishnaswami draping ponnada to Prof. Dr. S. Sitaraman and R. Ramakrishnan presenting a memento

K. P. Anagha and Ambika Gopalakrishnan receives Cash Award from Dr. V. Ramalingam and Dr. P. S. Raman respectively

V. Krishnaswami, in his presidential address said that it was an eventful year for the Sabha. He urged the office bearers of Upasabhas to have a membership campaign. The office building complex of Thripunithura Upasabha is a pride to Ernakulam district and Edappilly Unit is planning to have one of its kinds which are really appreciable. These are the icons of our community. We, as a community organization, have to travel a lot to achieve the goals in real time environment which requires more involvement of our members and whole hearted support, he added. He expressed his sincere thanks to Aluva Brahmana Samooham for the venue and Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Aluva Upasabha for the beautiful arrangements made. The official proceedings followed and the discussion on the Annual Report and Annual Accounts were held. Later, elections were held to the District Committee for the period of 2011-2013. A committee in the leadership of V. Krishnaswami was declared unanimously elected by the Returning officer.

V. Krishnaswami and Dr. V. Ramalingam planting saplings

Padmini Ganesh (Koovappady), T. K. Narayanaswami (Ernakulam), Ganesha Sharma (Koovappady), Hariharasubramania Iyer (Perumbavoor), Vancheeswaran (Ernakulam), T. K. Gopalakrishnan (Aluva), P. Veeraraghavan (Ernakulam), C. S. Venkiteswaran (Edappalli) expressed their views and opinions in the discussions.

Thripunithura and Perumbavoor teams receiving trophies from N. Ramachandran and Dr. V. Ramalingam

Ernakulam and Mattancherry teams receiving trophies from V. Krishnaswami and Dr. P. S. Raman

Dr. V. Ramalingam (State President), Dr. P. S. Raman (State Vice President), P. Ananthasubramaniam (State General Secretary), K. G. V. Pathy (State Treasurer), N. R. Parameswaran (State Joint Secretary), K. R. Chandran (District Vice President), Ganesh Venkitachalam (District Treasurer), Mohandas S., R. Hariharaputhran (both Joint Secretaries), S. Naganathan, V. Parameswaran (Organising Secretaries), P. Veeraraghavan, N. Ranganathan (both State Committee Members) and K. Annalakshmi (District President, Vanitha Vibhagam) were present on the occasion. N. Ramachandran, District Vice President delivered the welcome address and R. Ramakrishnan, District Secretary said the vote of thanks. Earlier, V. Krishnaswami and Dr. V. Ramalingam planted saplings near the Aluva Siva Temple.



Renowned environmental activist Prof. Dr. S. Sitaraman was honoured in the meeting. V. Krishnaswami draped him with a ponnada and R. Ramakrishnan presented him a memento. Ambika Gopalakrishnan, who won first place in the Sargam 2011 of CUSAT and K. P. Anagha, who won second Rank in the ICWAI exams were also honoured in the meeting. Dr. V. Ramalingam and Dr. P. S. Raman gave away the cash prizes of Rs. 1000/- to each. Mohandas S. introduced Prof. Dr. S. Sitaraman, Ambika Gopalakrishnan and K. P. Anagha to the audience.

A view of members attending AGB

The winners of the Cultural Competitions held at Thripunithura on 17^th July 2011 were also given certificates and cash prizes in the meeting. A cash prize of Rs. 1000/- and 500/- were given to the winners of first place and second place in individual events. For group events, the cash prize was Rs. 2000/- and Rs.1000/- respectively for first and second place winners.

The Annual General Body of District Vanitha Vibhagam was also held on the same day presided by K. Annalakshmi, District President. Thangam Ramakrishnan, District Secretary welcomed the gathering. The official proceedings followed and the Annual Report and Annual Accounts were passed after discussions. Elections were held to the District Committee for the period of 2011-2013. A committee in the leadership of K. Annalakshmi was declared unanimously elected by the Returning officer. Ambika Gopalakrishnan and K. P. Anagha, the recipients of cash awards for musical and academic excellence sung two beautiful songs as requested by the members.

R. Venugopal inaugurated the District Cultural Competitions 2011 at Thripunithura

R. Venugopal inaugurating the District Cultural Competitions 2011. (from left to right) K. Annalakshmi, N. R. Parameswaran, N. Ramachandran, K. G. V. pathy, Dr. V. Ramalingam, Dr. P. S. Raman, V. Krishnaswami, R. Ramakrishnan, M. Vanchiswaran

The cultural competitions of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, especially designed to make the youth enthusiastic on the rich tradition of the community was held here at Thripunithura Upasabha on 17^th of July 2011. More than fifty participants competed in the events. R. Venugopal, Chairman of Thripunithura Municipality inaugurated the competitions by lighting the Nilavilakku. The inaugural meeting was presided by V. Krishnaswami, District President and Dr. V. Ramalingam, State President delivered key note address. Dr. P. S. Raman (State Vice President and President of Thripunithura Upasabha), N. R. Parameswaran (Secretary, Central Zone), N. Ramachandran (District Vice President), R. Ramakrishnan (District Secretary, Ernakulam), K. Annalakshmi (District President, Vanitha Vibhagam), K. Venugopal (Secretary, Thripunithura Upasabha), M. Vanchiswaran (Convener, Cultural Competitions and Secretary, Ernakulam City Unit) were present on the occasion.

The competitions were held in four disciplines – Bhajana, Kolamidal, Slokam Chanting and Manthram Chanting – each in Group A (age 7 to 11) and Group B (age 11 to 15). The Slokam Chanting and Kolamidal competitions are restricted for girls and Manthram Chanting are for boys. The judges observed that all the participants rendered a performance of good standard.

R. Ananthanarayanan (Vice President, Ernakulam City Unit), S. Narayanan (Joint Secretary, Ernakulam City Unit), Ganesh Venkitachalam (District Treasurer), H. Vanchiswaran (District Vice President, Yuvajana Vibhagam), Ramachandran M. (District Committee Member), R. Hariharaputhran (District Joint Secretary), P. R. Sankaranarayanan (Joint Secretary, Ernakulam City Unit), J. Subramony (President, Ernakulam City Unit), T. V. Krishnamani (Vice President, Ernakulam City Unit) and Mohandas S. (District Joint Secretary) were behind the screen for the smooth conduct of the events. The hospitality of the volunteers of Thripunithura Upasabha was really commendable.

The Winners names are given below with their names of Upasabhas in brackets.

KOLAMIDAL (for Girls)

Group A

1^st – Harsha V. (Mattancherry)

2^nd – Saikripa S. (Mattancherry)

Group B

1^st – Aparna S. (Mattancherry)

2^nd – Pavithra C. V. (Thripunithura)

BHAJANA

Group A

1^st – Vegdhanathan S. & Party (Mattancherry)

2^nd – G. Shradha & Party (Ernakulam City Unit)

Group B

1^st – K. M. Subramania Iyer & Party (Thripunithura)

2^nd – Rohit Krishna & Party (Perumbavoor)

SLOKAM CHANTING (for Girls)

Group A

1^st – Saikripa S. (Mattancherry)

2^nd – G. Shradha (Ernakulam)

Group B

1^st – Pavithra C. V. (Thripunitura)

2^nd – Anuradha K. J. (Mattancherry)

MANTHRAM CHANTING (for Boys)

Group A

1^st – Vengdhanathan S. (Mattancherry)

2^nd – Shravan Venkateswaran (Ernakulam)

Group B

1^st – V. N. R. Subramanian (Thripunithura)

2^nd – V. Ramakrishnan (Ernakulam)

Bhajana (Group A) 1st - Vengdhanathan S. & Party, Mattancherry

Bhajana (Group A) 2nd - G. Shradha & Party, Ernakulam

Bhajana (Group B) 1st - K. M. Subramania Iyer & Party, Thripunithura

Bhajana (Group B) 2nd - Rohit Krishna & Party, Perumbavoor

District level Cultural Competitions at Thripunithura on 17th July 2011

The District level Cultural competitions of Ernakulam District will be held at Thripunithura on Sunday, 17th July 2011. R. Venugopal, Municipal Chairman of Thripunithura will inaugurate the competitions. V. Krishnaswami, District President will preside over the inaugural meeting and Dr. V. Ramalingam, State President will be the chief guest of the day. Dr. P. S. Raman, State Vice President and President of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Thripunithura Upasabha and P. Ananthasubramaniam, State General Secretary will attend the meeting. 

The competitions will be held in Kolamidal (Girls only), Manthram Chanting (Boys only), Slokam Chanting (Girls only) and Bhajanai disciplines, each in Group A and B categories. Group A is children between the age group 7 and 11 (from 01/06/2000 to 31/05/2004); and Group B is children between the age group 12 and 15 (from 01/06/1996 to 31/05/2000). Those who stand in the 1st and 2nd positions for individual items and who stand in the 1st position for group items (Bhajanai) in District level competitions will be qualified for State level competitions. State level competitions will be held at Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the State Annual General Body this year. M. Vanchiswaran, Secretary of Ernakulam City Unit, Convener of Cultural Competitions briefed the details and requested to contact him for any clarifications in 9895454182. Also it is informed that the proof of birth has to be produced by the participants duly attested by the corresponding President or Secretary of their Upasabhas to participate in the competitions.

10th Rank for Jayanth Ramesh in All Kerala Engineering Entrance Exam

Jayanth Ramesh, son of  S. Ramesh, Deputy Director - General(Engg), Doordarshan Kendra,Trivandrum and Latha Ramesh, Asssistant Administrative Officer, LIC, Chennai has secured 10th Rank in All Kerala Engineering Entrance Examination. Jayanth Ramesh studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya Anna Nagar, Chennai. He is the Grandson of S. Subramanaim and P. V. Meenakshi of Chennai and R. Krishna Iyer and Thankom Krishna Iyer of Perumabavoor. The following are added to his credits and Congratulations to Jayanth for his extraordinary performance.

1. IIT JEE 2011 (Admitted in IIT Madras - Chemical Engineering, B.Tech.)
2. AIEEE 2011 (State Rank 7th and All India Rank 155. Got admission in NIT, Trichy, Electronics & Commn. Engineering)
3. IIST (All India Rank 352 and selected for Course at IIST, Trivandrum)
4. IISc, Bangalore (Selected for Under Graduate BS Program starting from this year)

5. BITSAT (Selected in BITS, Pilani for Mechanical Engineering)
6. Secured 100/100 in Maths CBSE Class12 Exam

Upasabha level cultural competitions at Ernakulam City Unit

The Kerala Brahmana Sabha, Ernakulam City Unit conducted Upasabha/Unit level cultural competitions on 26th June 2011. R. Ramakrishnan, Unit President and District Secretary of Ernakulam District inaugurated the competitions by lighting up the vilakku. The names of the winners were announced in the sameday itself.

Winners are qualified to attend the District level Cultural Competitions to be held on 17th of July 2011 at Thripunithura. The winners are:

Kolamidal (1st: Parvathy V., 2nd: Shradha G.)
Slokam Chanting (1st: Shradha G., 2nd: Parvathy V.)
Manthram Chanting/Rudram-Chamakam Sookthangal (1st: M. Krishnamoorthy, 2nd: V. Ramakrishnan)
Manthram Chanting/Sandhyavandana Manthrangal (1st: Shravan Venkiteswaran R. S., 2nd: M. Parameswaran)
Bhajana/Group A (1st: Shravan Venkiteswaran R. S., V. Parvathy, Sreelekshmi K. I. and G. Shradha)
Bhajana/Group B (1st: M. Krishnamoorthy, M. Parameswaran, Ramakrishnan V., Vaani Shanker and Harikrishnan K. I.)