NANAL

Volume 13 Issue 1 March 2012

Cover: Design by Shanthi Chidambaram Cover: Design by Shanthi Chidambaram

An Evergreen Nagarathar Identity!

Need of the day: A museum to treasure our heritage...read more in our cover story.

President

Annamalai Periakrauppan
nsnapresident@achi.org

Vice President

Ram Nagappan
nsnavp@achi.org

Secretary

Vellayappan Narayanan
nsnasecretary@achi.org

Joint Secretary

Ramu Venkatachalam
nsnacosecretary@achi.org

Treasurer

Annamalai Sambanthan
nsnatreasurer@achi.org

Joint Treasurer

Kathiresan Lakshmanan
nsnacotreasurer@achi.org

Education Committee Chair nsnaedu@achi.org

Muthiah Sundarresan

Kaveri Kumarappan
nsnacoedu@achi.org

Education Committee Co-Chair

Fund Raising Committee Chair nsnafunds@achi.org

Venkatachalam Venkatachalam

Fund Raising Committee Co-Chair nsnacofunds@achi.org

Alagappan Thenappan

Health & Humanitarian Chair nsnahealth@achi.org

Chandrasekar Meyyappan

Usha Thenappan

Health & Humanitarian Co-Chair

nsnacohealth@achi.org

Ram Bhaskaran

Marriage Committee Chair

nsnamarraige@achi.org

Shanthi Nachiappan

Marriage Committee Co-Chair

nsnacomarraige@achi.org

Babu Nagappan

Membership Committee Chair

nsnamembership@achi.org

Ram Arunachalam

Membership Committee Co-Chair

NANAL Committee Chair

nsnacomembership@achi.org

Suku V. Sukumar
nsnaeditor@achi.org

NANAL Committee Co-Chair

Kathiresan Palaniappan
nsnacoeditor@achi.org

Retreat Committee Chair

Laks Meyyappan

Retreat Committee Co-Chair

nsnaretreat@achi.org

Sathu Solai

Web Committee Chair

nsnacoretreat@achi.org

Arun Somasundaram
nsnaweb@achi.org

Web Committee Co-Chair

Balaji Chockalingam
nsnacoweb@achi.org

Youth Committee Chair

Arjun Singaram

nsnayouthchair@achi.org

Aruna Chidambaram

Youth Committee Co-Chair

nsnayouthcochair@achi.org
Courtesy of Ram Nagappan, NJ

Youth Committee Advisor

Nachiappan Muthukaruppan
nsnayouthadvisor@achi.org

Culture & Religion Chair

Sithambaram Subbiah
nsnareligious@achi.org

Culture & Religion Co-Chair

TBD

nsnacoreligious@achi.org

Founder Honorary Member

Manickam Ramiah
mramiah@yahoo.com

P. Chockalingam

Founder Honorary Member

pclingam@hotmail.com

NANAL
NORTH AMERICAN NAGARATHAR NEWSLETTER
Volume 13, issue 1

March 2012

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Presidents Letter Business & Finance Cover Story Announcements Regional Digest Culture & Religion Home & Food Health & Yoga Children & Youth Committee Reports 2 4 6 12 16 30 36 40 42 46

FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK ...

Dear Readers,
Suku Sukumar & Pal Kathiresan Greater New York Region

ime has come for us to say good bye to all of you and good luck to the new unified California team that will be shouldering the responsibilities of the NANAL publication from the next issue forward. We had a fantastic two year term with the NANAL. During this period, as per our ECs slogan of Taking the NSNA to the Next Level..., we moved the bars of this very publication several notches up. Yes, we have indeed made a striking difference in the way our newsletter-cummagazine is being composed, edited, published, delivered, and read. Overall, you welcomed the changes enthusiastically, adapted to the new style rapidly, and gave us a nod overwhelmingly. In short, you were content with the content that we bring right to your homes! Pal and I take this moment to sincerely thank you for the concerted support that you extended to us during this entire period. On this final issue of the NANAL from our team, we are wrapping our theme on with NagaratharsA Journey through Time. Purnima Palaniyandi and Annamalai Natarajan have worked closely together, consulted many books written on Nagarathars, and gone all the way back to the roots of our origins. They have synthesized the then lifestyle, culture, and traditions with the current era, and have come up with a series of recommendations that this

generation could do to preserve our heritage. Their dream of conserving what is left of our culture in something like Chettinad Museum isin our opinion very much like the museum for Jewish or American-Indians in the United States. At the regional level, there are a number of changes of leadership and new representatives/secretaries have assumed the responsibility. Dont forget to get a glimpse of your new representative on the inside back cover of this NANAL. Our involvement with our NANAL publication in general and cover stories in particular, have made us read blogs and books on Nagarathars, ask intriguing questions to our ayyas appathas, and aayas, and discuss and exchange ideas on how to preserve the culture for future generations. In the process, we learned more about our identities, our culture, and the necessity of getting even more involved with the society to preserve our rich past and present. Lately, we have been seriously thinking of bringing the Chettinad Museum to reality and toward that goal, we are starting an initiative for creating a virtual museum first. If you are interested in contributing to this social initiative, please connect with us at this email address: suku.planner@yahoo.com. Happy Reading! Good Bye and Signing Off, Suku & Pal

Herbs of Healthy Cooking

by Alagu Vairavan on Page 32

Tamil Short Story

by SP. VR. Subbiah

on Page 34

Power of Being a
Bilingual Individual by Madhavan Thiyagarajan on Page 35

SisterhoodA Bond not

found in Chemistry by Priya Chidambaram on Page 43

Youth Contest on Page

44

PRESIDENTS LETTER
Dear Nagarathars, We would like to take this opportunity on behalf of NSNA 2010-11 Executive Committee Members to thank the entire Nagarathar community for giving us this exceptional opportunity to serve our community for the last two years. It has certainly been a very fruitful term and we would like to thank each and every one of our NSNA committee members and their family for their time and effort spent to strengthen our community for the future. Our focus was to take NSNA to the next level. We will leave that up to you to judge whether we have done that and to what extent. We took the EC term during a very difficult period of economic and financial condition. In spite of the economic and financial turmoil, we as a community came together and made this possible. The interest income from the endowment funds were not enough and we reached out to you. As a result of your selfless efforts and generous financial support, we were able to achieve numerous milestones over the past two years. As we write this letter we have completed the transition of our EC term to California. We thanks all our Donors, Sponsors, Yelam Sponsors, Vendors, NANAL advertisers, Regional Representatives, and the newly joined members of our

dr. a. periakaruppan, ny ram nagappan, nj

organizations who made all this possible. Each and everyone should be proud for your contribution over the years in keeping our traditions live in North America.

Our Term 2010-2011 in Review

We would like to thank all of you for your overwhelming support in making the North East NSNA region Executive Committee Term a grand success that exceeded even our wildest expectations. Before we pass the baton on to our friends in California, we thought we would take this opportunity to look back and highlight some of these accomplishments:

Completed many professional uplifts to the NSNA organization by establishing branding and standardization around Logos, Letterheads across committees, Audio and Video Conference facilities, Bulk email facility, Group collaborations and paperless operations. Achieved good membership growth. Added approximately 160 new members. Also the number of registered users went up from 1008 to 1902. Membership process was completely automated via web and was made online. Raised over $595,000 in contributions and other revenue. Managed the expense and increased the net asset of NSNA to $660,000. Added $140,000 to NSNA Endowment Funds. Finally cracked the nut in achieving non-profit and tax exempt status for NSNA in India. Streamlined and automated the application process for Education, Marriage, Health and Humanitarian assistance grant process. Improved the selection criteria for education grants and awarded over 400 students with educational assistance. Assisted more than 150 marriages, raised 30K and gave out 45 sarees to our donors.

Arranged for Mega Medial Health Camp at Golden Singar Mahal (Karaikudi), Childrens Medical Camp at Amaravathiputhur Gurukulam, as well as economic assistance for ailing seniors and under privileged Nagarathars in India. Hosted the largest ever NSNA Retreat with 1200 people from 19 NSNA regions in attendance. Managed the expenses and added significant savings to the NSNA funds. Organized a very well attended and well received Youth Cruise during the Retreat. Vastly improved the NANAL magazine to include more youth involvement and enriched content (e.g., the Y " esterday / Today" theme, Tamil short stories, and regular columns on Business & Finance, Home & Food, Health & Yoga, Culture & Religion). NANAL current issue and archives were made available online through web and other mobile devices like iPhone and iPad. Complete revamp of the achi.org website with a total self service features, a centralized NSNA member database, as a platform of better communication for the NSNA community, and the automation of most member services including online payment via PayPal. NANAL was self-sufficient by raising money via advertisement and did not dip into the general funds.

March 2012

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the new NSNA 2012-13 EC Committee Members who worked with us on the regions transition process. This will be the first time we were able to do the transition from one region to the other almost paperless. Our special thanks to Mr. Ramanathan Vairavan (President), Mrs. Alagu Vairavan (Fund Raising Chair) and Mr. Thirugnanam Subbiah (Joint Treasurer) from California team who were here in New Jersey to complete the transition process. All banking formalities have been completed which marks the beginning of the EC term by California region. Good Bye & Good Luck from, Dr. A.Periakaruppan, President Ram Nagappan, Vice President Vellay Narayanan, Secretary Ramu Venkatachalam, Joint Secretary Annamalai Sambanthan, Treasurer Kathir Lakshmanan, Joint Treasurer along with the rest of the NSNA 2010-11 EC Committee Members, their families and fellow Nagarathars of our region.

Volume 13, issue 1

BUSINESS & FINANCEUSD/INR CURRENCY CONVERSI ON

30 years analysis of USD / INR conversion rate is provided in this article with its technical support and resistance levels. Currently it is a good time to convert money from USD to INR conversion rate 52.23 as of Nov 25, 2011.This day high point is 52.40 which is an important historical event called two and half years Double Top. It matches with the conversion rate of 51.97 set on Mar 06, 2009 when the US Stock Market bottomed. This level is called resistance level for the short term. Here is the Historical chart of USD / INR Conversion rate for the last 30 years. During December 1981, US$ to Indian Rupee conversion was just around 9.2. The conversion rate stayed between 40 and 53 for the last 15 years. It would be very difficult for India to catch up the rally happened with US$ prior to 1997. The Indian economic growth is significant only in the last 15 years when computers started dominating the entire world. The USD / INR bottom retesting is already happened during December 2007 by touching 39.29. This mark would be considered as 10 years double bottom by comparing with December 1997.

kathi subbiah, ca

What would happen when conversion rate stays above 50 Rupees per US$
There are couple of things would happen immediately when the conversion rates stays around 50 rupees per US$.

currency fluctuation.

4.

Exporters in India would be happy as they can generate more profit because of local currency going down.

USD / INR Conversion Rate would peak near 60

However once we get used to be in the range of staying above 50, which is more likely to happen, we can see the conversion rate to peak near 60 rupees per dollar in the long term, which would be in another 1-2 years. How fast we can achieve this peak is completely depending on how much US$ reserve RBI has and how much liquidity is available in the market for buying US$ against INR. Other key factors which would affect the Indian rupee are the inflation and unemployment rate. When Indian economy slows down along with global downturn, Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) would pull back their investment from India and move on to US Treasuries. The major supportive point for US$ is Fed has kept its rate near zero for the last 3 years and the upcoming inflation in the coming years are fully priced into US$.

1.

Currency traders may cash out profits from their trades. Long waited Indian Residents working in USA might transfer money to India in bulk. Importers in India will feel the pain and request RBI to sell US$ from its strong dollar reserve to control the

2.

3.

There is no surprise even if we stay above USD / INR conversion rate of above 50 in the long term (5 to 10 years).

T he Origin of Chetti
The term, Chetti is traced to Etti, an honor conferred on affluent and leading merchants by Tamil rulers during the periods of Chola (A.D. 846 1279) and later Pandiya (A.D. 1190 1310). For example, we read of one Etti Sayalan , a rich merchant in Silappadikaram and another, Etti Kumaran also a merchant of Kaveri Poompattinam in Manimegalai . It is probable that the word, Etti evolved in the course of a few centuries into Chetti. A second view is that the word Chetti is derived from the ancient Tamil word, Chettee or Chettu, which means a margin of profit earned in business. Some believe that the word is derived from the Tamil word, Chikkanam , which means frugality or without waste. The third view is that the term is derived from the Sanskrit word, Shreshti. The root of the Sanskrit term Shresta means important or superior.
Extracted from the book, The Nagarathars of South India by S. Chandrasekhar (1980); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ

March 2012

NSNA Salutes The Alagappans for their generous contribution of $30,000 toward NSNA Education Fund

It is our vision to help students of modest means pursue their academic and professional ambitions through innovative programs and to promote new ways of thinking about access to higher education. To date, The Visalakshi Alagappan Scholarship Fund has contributed US $160,000 towards scholarships for motivated and deserving Nagarathar boys and girls.

C O V E R S T O R Y A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

purnima palaniyandi & annamalai natarajan, nj

, . , ! .. .
-

Two years ago, the present NANAL team began the Andrum Indrum cover story series with this poem. We open the cover story of our last issue with the same poem. In our previous cover stories, we examined different aspects of Nagarathars - literature, weddings, business, food, philanthropy, and so on. In this cover story, we hope to describe and examine the identity of our community. Our identity is a mixed bag of moral qualities, traditions, beliefs, customs, values, festivals, ceremonies simply put, our way of life. As the poem states, the branches can only be as strong as the roots, and as tall as the depth of the roots. The onus lies on us to dig into our roots, examine where we come from, to determine where we are headed. What have we learnt in the long journey of our growth? What have we lost? And the most significant question is, how can we preserve our heritage and legacy? Throughout this cover story we refer to sources listed under the References section to support our findings. To name a few - Caste and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston, Indigenous Banking In India by L.C. Jain, the Burma Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee Report (BPBEC), Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India by Davis West Rudner, Gender, Kinship & Property Rights. Nagarattar Womenhood in South India by Nishimura Yuko. We have focused our findings to the Chettiars in Burma for two reasons: one, due to abundance of resources available on Chettiars in Burma; and two, due to the scarcity of information on Chettiars who lived in other countries. If readers find credible resources with information on Chettiars who lived in other countries, please contribute to the Wiki project outlined under Preserving our heritage section in this cover story.

Origins of Nagarathars
The origins of our community have been transferred through folklore and legends; hence the veracity of this information cannot be verified by the authors. However, there is one common account narrated across many of the sources above. The Vaisyas of the Lunar race were living in Santhyapuri in Naganadu. They traded in precious stones and prayed to lord Vinayaka. On oppression from the local ruler they migrated in a body to Conjeeveram in Thondamandalam country. The king of Conjeeveram troubled them with heavy taxes and fines. This forced them to move again to Chola country, and they settled in East, West and South streets of Kaveripumpattanam. At this time, the Chola king
March 2012

bestowed upon them the privilege of placing the crown on the kings head during coronation. The Pandya king, Sundrapandya, asked the Chola king to induce some of the Vaisyas to settle down in the Pandya territory. These Vaisayas settled in a tract of land North of Vaigai, South of Vellar and East of Pranimalai. Those from the East street in Kaveripumpattanam settled in Ilayaththukudi. The members of the Ilayaththukudi area formed the endogamous group Nagarathars. Not satisfied with one temple, they requested for more. Thus organizing themselves into nine temples. There is a general consensus among anthropologists, socialists and elder members of our community that we as a community have transitioned. Let us look at the Nattukottai Chettis in the early 1900s and identify what are the factors that led to this transition.

findings. We were really interested in the fact that Thurston documented us under Nattukottai Chettis, rather than under the blanket Chetti category, which also had an entry in his book. What prompted Thurston to document us as a separate category? What was so unique about us a hundred years ago, that Thurston noticed and considered it worth mentioning? Below we summarize what Jain, Thurston, and the BPBEC committee had to say about us. For convenience we have organized the findings into five sub-headings. Personal qualities: We were generally considered to lead a simple life. Words used through-out these books to describe our ancestors included thrifty, frugal, penurious, open-handed, devout, honest, charitable, religious and self reliant. Few comments are also worth mentioning like The Nattukottai Chettis lead a simple life even if rich, Remarkable as European merchants, Born bankers, Jews of south India. One of the inferred qualities but not explicitly mentioned, is our law abiding nature. An example cited by Jain is that the income-tax returns from the Madura district (in 1929) appear to be much higher than the returns from most other districts in the Madras Presidency. This, according to the Madura District Gazetteer, is largely due to the presence of large numbers of the wealthy Nattukottai Chettis in the Tiruppattur and Tiruvadanai divisions of Sivaganga. Jain in his book, Indigenous Banking in India, summarizes, Nattukottai Chettis have a reputation throughout the land for their spirit of adventure and enterprise, for their natural shrewdness and ability, and for their acts of munificence. It may be said without exaggeration that they are the most charitable class in southern

India, well-known for liberally endowing temples and spending on religious ceremonies. Business principles: Despite the fact our ancestors had no education, they were known for their business acumen. Typically Chettiar boys (even those from affluent families) were introduced to money lending practices in the early ages of 10 - 12. Following their apprenticeship, they started at the bottom of an agency (as opposed to directly managing an agency) and worked their way to the top. This draws similarities to the Japanese work ethics which played an important role in the Japan post world war II economic miracle. Chettiar boys almost always worked under Chettiars. They even had their own trade language which was short hand for monetary quantities. Lifestyle: Our ancestors lived in a patriarch system. All sons and their families lived under one roof as long as the father was alive. The custom was one roof, multiple hearths. Every family was expected to cook its own meal, even widowed mothers were not an exception. This practice, Thurston and others claim, builds self reliance. Nagarathar women were known to be adorned with jewelry, but the surprising observation is that every woman only wished for a certain quantity of jewelry (typically 2% to 3% of their wealth) and after acquiring that certain quantity, they did not invest in jewelry anymore. In a way, the amount of jewelry did not correlate with the wealth. Though Nagarathar women were allowed to accompany men overseas the typical practice was to stay at home. Apart from these lifestyle descriptions, our wedding ceremonies, pregnant women formalities, funerals, and property rights were described in great detail. The BPBEC cites two reasons on why

Andrum: What was unique about Chettiars a hundred years ago?

This is where we heavily rely on the accounts of Edgar Thurston, Jain and the BPBEC reports. We believe these accounts are original and accurate, since these authors studied different issues (banking practices, ethnography), under different contexts in different geographical regions. Among these sources, Edgar Thurston was the first to report on our community. Thurston was the superintendent of the Madras Government Museum when he undertook an ethnographic survey of the castes and tribes of Southern India. He published his findings in seven volumes. He dedicated twenty pages to the Nattukottai Chettis. He studied somewhere between 30 to 60 individuals to write his reports. Apart from his personal findings, he also used essays written by prominent Indian authors to supplement his
Volume 13, issue 1

we lived in large houses: one, to accommodate large families and two, to secure valuables, since our money lending business was mostly based on liquid assets. Our community was also known to settle their differences outside of courts. Most of the cases were solved at the Kovilvasal Mariyal (temple panchayat) or the Madaththuvasal Mariyal (Matam panchayat). Punishments like no Kovil Maalai and excommunication were imposed by these courts. On the panchayat system Thurston, in 1909, commented that the give-and-take spirit among Chettiars is gone and they instead prefer to approach the Indian judicial courts. Philanthropy: It is not surprising that almost every report extolled our philanthropic activities. It has been recorded in the Gazeteer of Madura that a fixed percentage (Magamai) of profits was to be given away to charities by the Chettiars each year. The Chettiars levy rates among themselves for local charities. Apart from the contributions to the temples, Chettiars also contributed to the need of the hour. Two examples cited in these reports are the Pegu earthquake in Burma and the Albert-Victoria Hospital in Madura, which was supported mainly by annual subscriptions from the Nattukottai Chettis. Beliefs: This was a community with very strong religious believes. Our ancestors were ardent followers of Siva, Pillayar and Murugan. The BPBEC committee reports that our ancestors did not have a social life at all. Temples were perhaps the only form of social life. The number of temples in the Chettiar neighborhoods confirms this claim. One of the main reasons to build temples is that the rate of interest (in money lending business) is set in temples and is often dubbed as

the The Chettiar exchange (similar to the stock exchange). Thurston pointed (from the Gazeteer of Madura) that a Chettiar had come forward to provide funds to plaster the North tower in the Madura Meenakshi temple which at that time was made of bricks and stone -stories. Apart from the charitable act, this also highlights the nonsuperstitious nature of our community, since the prevailing belief at the time was that funding a Mottai-gopuram will bring bad luck to the family. These three reports together summarize what was so unique about our community a hundred years ago. We wanted to point out to the readers that the Thurston and the BPBEC reports are spaced 20 years apart; they are reported from two different physical locations separated by 2700 miles (Rangoon, Burma and Chettinad, India); one is studying the castes and tribes in south India while the other is looking at banking practices in Burma; Thurston studied small groups (30 - 60) individuals and the BPBEC observed Chettiars from approximately 1650 offices (exact numbers not mentioned). The reports originate from two completely different sources with different intentions, but are strikingly similar. Despite living thousands of miles apart, the Chettiar community was very similar. There is no denying that, within the community, there was a sense of collectivism as opposed to individualism. Before we examine what factors led to the transition of our community, let us first look at our community setup. Our ancestors did not separate religion and economics. They engaged in worship as a way of trade, and they engaged in trade by worshipping the deities of the customers. Rudner, very precisely, summarized the functioning of our society. Though he mentioned it for salt trade we believe it is the case for

the money-lending business as well. Rudner says, The system on the whole constituted a profit-generating circuit of capital Nagarathars invested profits from their salt trade in religious gifts. Religious gifts were transformed and redistributed as honors. Honors were the currency of trust. And trustworthiness gained Nagarathars access to the market for salt. Ideally, in a business environment competition is the norm, but rather than competing against one another we find the chettiars working together as a group. It is conceivable that this crop of traders were born and raised in a very traditional environment and being the first generation to set foot in a foreign land (outside chettinad), they were very conscious of their environment and their surrounding culture. In their eyes the world was carved into groups of people based on nationality, ethnicity, religion, caste, etc. This realization could have helped hold this group together. Every day, they constantly reminded themselves that business was the only reason that they are staying away from their family and home. The same sentiment is echoed in the BPBEC report - the Chettiars existence as a small alien group with frequent blood relationship and with common economic interests, descent, language, worship and caste associations, but divided in all these points from the population around them, was sure to generate a feeling of solidarity. Though the Chettiars were miles apart in physical space from their families, relatives and friends, they were close to each other in social space.

A Community in transition
Please bare with us while we take this tree analogy from the poem a bit further - The life cycle of the tree is
March 2012

determined by the internal and external conditions of the tree and its surrounding. If our community resembles the tree, then the joint working (solidarity) of the roots, trunks and leaves are crucial to its survival. But, what if this tree is threatened by external resources like temperature, water, sunlight, insects, de-forestation? The tree will definitely need to adapt to its new surroundings. Below, we are summarizing the factors that led to the transition of our community. These issues are discussed in detail in Sri devis dissertation. At the height of our money lending practice (1870-1930), we dominated the business and we were widely praised (Sean Turnell, Ramdas Menon papers) for our role in making Burma the breadbasket of the British Empire. On the other hand, we were also criticized for our money lending practices (Raman Mahadevans paper). Soon, our money lending operation wound down in Burma. One of the main reasons was the great depression, which caused a drop in paddy prices. As a consequence, the farmers were unable to repay the loans. By 1930, Burma Chettiars owned of all arable land in Burma, about three million acres of paddy fields (BPBEC report). These immovable assets were problematic for Chettiars, because they could not be converted into money lending capital. Around the same time the British colonial government imposed some tough land ownership and collateral laws, which worked against Chettiar interests. The Burmese majority were discontent with the Chettiar minority owning of the arable land, leading to anti-Chettiar and anti-Indian feelings. One other reason is the establishment of banks during the post-independence years, which offered loans with competing interest rates. All these factors combined, made the
Volume 13, issue 1

money lending practice a nightmare. The Chettiars were literally forced to abandon their livelihood and flee Bruma. Their decedents still hold on to legal documents that serves as evidence of ownership of the lands. The frayed, legal papers are all that is left of the flourishing trade we established in Burma. Following this harrowing experience, Chettiars preferred stable income jobs over high risk money lending practices. This triggered the exodus from Chettinad. Chettiars migrated along with their families to towns, cities and overseas for employment and livelihood. This migration is culturally different, since the women accompanied men and as a result, subsequent generations were born and raised in different cultures. Undoubtedly, cultural influence played a major role in transitioning our community. Also following independence, the Indian markets were open to investment by non-British businessman. Our Chettiars seized this opportunity to invest in a whole variety of industries. Investment in these high skill industries also implied that Chettiar boys were no longer taken in as apprentices to be trained in the family business. Instead, they were sent along with other children to regular schools. These days, the money lending business has taken another blow with prospective alliances shunning grooms involved in this trade. The diverse job interests meant the collapse of the Chettiar family structure as well. Since the family moved along with the said chettiar to his place of employment, there was no need for multiple hearths and a big home. Sadly, this triggered infighting among family members for control of properties. Chettiars started approaching the Indian judicial courts for justice, contrary to their local panchyats. In Burma, the Chettiar

money lending agencies usually operated out of a Kittangi (a communal structure). These Kittangis housed the communal Kovil and the rest-houses (Nagaraviduthi). This could perhaps explain why our ancestors were extremely honest - operating in a temple requires a clear conscience. New jobs also influenced the separation of livelihood and temples. The Chettiars did not see education as a factor that threatened their society. They understood the value of education and hence embraced it wholeheartedly. The number of educational institutions pioneered by Chettiars stand testimony to this endeavour. Since the job landscape has changed, the Chettiars had to be educated to qualify for good jobs. This also gave them a sense of freedom to choose a profession that interested them, rather than the constraint of shouldering the family business. It could also be the case that the educated generations did not view the world like our ancestors did. The only lines that divided the world to them were the geographical boundaries. Contrasting the pre-independence setting with the post-independence setting, we find that the diverse jobs, education and nuclear families have shut down the Chettiar exchange permanently. Subsequent generations treated economics and religion separately. There was no need for communal temples to set interest rates for their business. In the years that followed, many superstitious beliefs have been conveniently swept under religion and God. These changes, along with branding beliefs, may have not been well received by the tech-savvy generations, which relies on information and demands proof.

Indrum: Where are we today?

We live in a globalized world where any isolated entity is doomed to fail. We also live in an ever changing world where todays trends are age-old customs tomorrow. To quote late British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. On one hand, the repercussions of the decline of our money lending business were felt at the social organization of our community in the subsequent years. Our family structures have collapsed, weeklong weddings are impractical, and our traditions are being questioned. On the other hand, our jobs decide our lifestyle and the cultures we come in contact with. And this, in turn, influences our everyday lives. The more exposure we have, the more knowledge we gain. While we learn to accept the good things we come in contact with, we also begin to question the established beliefs of our community. We have learned to balance tradition with modernity, superstition with science and religion with spirituality. Thus we can see that both the factors: transitioning of old identity and acceptance of new thoughts, bring change. This is slowly changing our identity. If the very essence of our identity ceases to exist, does that mean that we as a community will cease to exist? Let us closely examine one aspect of our identity - we are still identified with money lending business, though most of us are not engaged in it today. But, if we look at the money lending business purely as a domain where Chettiars applied their business acumen to accumulate wealth and earn trust, then this is applicable to all forms of work and is not confined to money lending practices. In general, every individual earns money and builds

trust, this is not so unique to a Chettiar either. Let us take a different perspective on this issue - Money lending in general could have been the most promising enterprise during those days. If being a chettiar equaled being a money lender, then, following the downfall of money lending practice, our ancestors just did not give up the fight and slump in defeat. Instead, they ventured into unknown industries like fertilizers, films, manufacturing, sugar, textile, pharmaceuticals, banking, etc. For this we need to credit our ancestors for their spirit of adventure and enterprise. It is these qualities like the spirit of adventure and enterprise that should be transferred to the future generations, because that is our identity. Being driven out of Conjeeveram or Burma did not slow us down or stop us, we simply re-grouped and re-established ourselves. This takes us to the most crucial question - what makes us a Chettiar? We believe the answer to this question holds the key to our survival as a community. In the past, our uniqueness resided in core components like our lifestyle, beliefs, philanthropy, business practices, characters and traditions. It is for the same reason that Thurston decided to document us as a separate community in his volumes a hundred years ago. But now the very essence has dissipated. We are no longer associated with the traditional business practices or lifestyles, nor do we engage in large scale philanthropy. What we are left with are our beliefs and characteristics. We are seeing changes in lifestyle that are more subtle, but no less significant: weddings today are not restricted to palatial homes and can instead take place in wedding halls nor are they a week long celebrations; the

Thiruvadirai (function for unmarried girls) and Pudumai (function for bachelor boys) do not take place anymore. Nishimura Yoku writes that historically our community was opposed to inter-caste marriages since marrying an outsider implied flow of property to non-chettiar lineage and it was never the case with the purity of the caste! We are seeing cases of these nowadays. So, the question is, how do we determine what is our identity? How do we continue to promote and preserve qualities unique to our community viz. philanthropy, festivals, traditional weddings, cuisine, religious beliefs, etc.? At this juncture we should also mention that Tamil language is crucial to preservation of our culture. A looming question that appears instantaneously is - will these components stand the test of time? Ultimately, it is left to history to judge us in the years to come. Moral qualities can keep this community alive forever. Acts of philanthropy will leave a lasting legacy. For instance, the temples built by us in Rangoon stands tall when the people who built it (Chettiars) are long gone. Our ancestors went about their everyday life and yet they were recognized for their contributions to society in the years that followed, were they not? So what are we contributing, that will be remembered by the future generations?

Endrendrum: Preserving our heritage

The biggest obstacle that the authors experienced when writing this report is the scarcity of information. Literally, it is a information vacuum as far as our heritage goes. Perhaps this could be a leading cause for parents ineffectiveness in transferring information to their children about our community. To do an effective transfer, we will need to know who we
March 2012

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really are, how did we get here and what we are capable of. Unfortunately many of us are unaware of our ancestors, let alone our history. To write this cover story, the authors researched and stumbled upon a wealth of information on our community from 1909 till date. This triggered a separate line of thought on conserving what is left of our culture, something in the lines of a Museum.

We dream that someday we will have a physical museum

in the heart of Chettinad displaying arts, artifacts, motifs, historical records and portraits of patrons who have contributed immensely to our community.
A museum on that scale is an ambitious project: it would be a great effort to

But for this to happen with a modicum of success, we need to act fast, since everyday this project is delayed, we keep losing old, priceless, irreplaceable documents, photos, etc. Not only the documents are under threat these days, but also the Chettiar artifacts. It is common to find Chettiar artifacts (bed frames, wall-murals, balustrades, vessels, jewelry, etc) sold away for meager sums to pawn shops and foreign collectors. What we are advocating for is to photograph and document these items in Wikipedia. The need to preserve is immediate, the threat of loss is great. The above would be preserving at a community level. But at first, the change should start in within our homes. As parents, we are entirely responsible for making our children perceive the significance of learning our language, our customs, and our history. Our Nanal team brainstormed and has come up with ideas which are listed in a separate inset. These are some examples of how we can integrate our identity into daily routines, so that they become ingrained characteristics of everyday lives. Today, if Thurston were to re-conduct his survey by sampling Chettiars world -over, he will find many similarities and differences. This should most likely prompt him to view us as subgroups sharing the same ancestors but divided along our differences. Singapore-settled, Malaysian-settled and US-settled Chettiars might have common ancestors, but the environment has shaped us differently. But its the similarities that bind us together as Chettiars: Pillayar Nombu, Kalutheeru and Vellai paniyaram, no matter where we are, it will be with us forever!

Tribes of Southern India, Volume V, pages 249-271 [2] 1929, L C Jain, Indigenous Banking In India, pages 36--38 [3] 1929-1930, Burma Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee Report (BPBEC), pages 189-248 [4] 1978, Raman Mahadevan, Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Colonial Burma - An Exploratory Study of the Role of Nattukottai Chettiars of Tamil Nadu, 18801930, Indian Economic Social History Review, Vol 15, page 329 [5] 1985, Ramdas Menon, Banking and Trading Castes in the Colonial period: The Case of the Nattukotai Chettiars of Tamil Nadu, South Asia Bulletin, Vol. 2 [6] 1990, Davis West Rudner, Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India. The Nattukottai Chettiars [7] 1995, Nishimura Yuko, Gender, Kinship & Property Rights. Nagarattar Womenhood in South India [8] 2004, Sean Turnell, Fiery Dragons? The Chettiars in Burma, IUAES Inter Congress on Mega Urbanization, MultiEthnic Society Human Rights and Development, Volume 2: Urbanization and Multi-Ethnic Society, New Delhi [9] 2005, Sri Devi, Local Banking and Material Culture Amongst the Nattukottai Chettiars of Tamil Nadu, PhD Dissertation, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2005.

amass the artifacts, gather historical records, accumulate the funds it can be achieved only if it is a collective dream of our community, with everyone pitching in. This would also be a good opportunity to rekindle the give-and-take spirit that was so noticeable in us a hundred years ago, and place our collective interest above our individual interests. Until then, a more practical solution is a Virtual Museum. Wikipedia has a webpage on Nattukottai Nagarathars which had 704 hits in December 2011. What if this page can be expanded to a web portal with a wealth of information on our community? This could be an ideal platform to launch our virtual museum, since it is free, secure, without deadline pressures, catering to individual interests, and best of all - it preserves information in the form that the Facebook generation can relate to. Who knows, may be the future generations could relate to our ancestors better than we did!
Volume 13, issue 1

References
[1] 1909, Edgar Thurston, Caste and

11

ANNOUNCEMENTS - NEW BORNS

kavya sukumar, nj

Devi and Karthik Subramanian are very happy to announce the arrival of Subbu Subramanian, on 11/6/11. In the words of the mother, Devi: Subbu, sure, knew to time his arrival perfectly. I had a surprise Baby Shower planned by my husband and his family on 11/5/11. Many of our cousins and family flew to Boston and planned the event with help of our New England Nagarathars for nearly 2 months. It just so happened that Subbu surprised everyone by arriving the very next day. We had to rush to the hospital straight from the Baby Shower!

Karthik Lakshman and Nachu were blessed with the baby boy , Adhithya, on 10/15/11. Grandparents, LNL. Lakshmanan & Sivagami from Kandanur and M. Narayanan, & Karuppayee Narayanan from Karaikudi are excited to spend time with their paeran.

Sathappan and Uma were blessed with a baby boy Krithik alias Sathappan on 12/11/11. He was the youngest one to attend the Pillayar Nombu function (27 days old). Aaya and Ayya have come from India to bless the paeran.

From The Prasannas: The morning of 11/5/11, the day that changed our lives for the 2nd time in a pleasant way! Yes, The first was when our 1st son, Pranav entered our lives 5 years ago; and this time it was Shakthi AmritMuthusubbu Prasanna who came into this world! Our life revolved around Pranav for more than 4 years and we were so certain, we could never feel this way for any other being in this world until after Shakthi arrived. Our sons have made our love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller(!), home happier, family bigger, clothes dirty, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for!

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March 2012

ANNOUNCEMENTS - WEDDINGS & GRADUATIONS

valli palaniappan, nj

IL

Muthappan Annan and Seetha Achi held their Shashtiaptha Poorthi celebration with family and friends in a grand manner at the Ilayatrangudi temple on October 24, 2011.The function in India was followed by a reception in Elmhurst, IL on Nov. 20, 2011 for local friends and family. Their daughter, Annam Annamalai, came from Tiruchi to attend the reception as well as friends and family ranging from Boston to Houston. Congratulations to Muthappan Annan and Seetha Achi!

MD

The wedding of Dr. Arun Alagappan (son of Mr. S. Alagappan & Mrs. Meena Alagappan of Ellicott City, Maryland) and Hema, O DA, (daughter of Muthiah Karuppan Chetty & Vadivulal of Perth -Andover, New Brunswick, Canada) took place on 7th November, 2011 at the brides residence in Kottaiyur. The pen azhaippu took place at the grooms residence in Pallathur. Friends and family members attended the wedding and blessed the couple.

CANADA

MD

IL
Nagappan (Kannan) Radhakrishnan Masters Degree Graduation Party Congratulations to Nagappan (Kannan) Radhakrishnan on his Masters degree Graduation in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology. Proud parents Nachal & Radhakrishnan hosted his graduation party at Masala Restaurant in Naperville, IL. Friends, family and Chicago Nagarathars attended the party, congratulated him and wished him Good luck.

Volume 13, issue 1

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ANNOUNCEMENTS - BIRTHDAY

valli palaniappan, nj

PA

Ramaswamy and Indumathi of West Chester, PA had a party at their house, to celebrate their son, Kavin's 2nd birthday on December 4th, 2011, with friends and family. All the attending guests enjoyed lots of delicious food and were entertained by family games. The highlight of the evening was Kavin saying thank you to everybody who attended his birthday party.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - MOVED!
AR>OR
Muthuakruppan, Muthumeena & Archita have moved from Bentonville ( AR ) to Beaverton ( OR) on Dec 12th 2011. Sigappi & Annamalai family has moved from New England to Phoenix area.

MA>AR

India>OR

Muthuvalli & Manikandan Chockalingam of Devakottai moved from Bangalore, India to Beaverton, Oregon. Sathappan/Uma, Singarakannan/Mangai, Sivakumar and Pandikannan/Seetha have recently moved to Florida. We welcome these wonderful families to our community

Moved to FL

Krish Enclave - Proposed 16 Units of 2 BHK Luxury Apartments in Sriram Nagar (Opp. Sriram Nagar Bus Stop
Between Karaikudi Railway Jct. & Kottaiyur Railway Station

Close to Alagappa University, Karaikudi)

ONLY 12 units available!

Booking Open Now Contact: MV Foundations, Karaikudi Tel: 91-965-976-3241

(India) (NJ)

Meena Babu - Tel: 201-945-0235

Email: mvfoundations@gmail.com www.mvfoundations.com

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March 2012

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T N O R T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A
Pillayar Nonbu 2011 in San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area Nagarathars met on Saturday, December 24 at the Windemere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, CA to celebrate 2011 Pillayar Nonbu. The Function started with a cultural event at 2:30 PM in which kids sang devotional songs, performed dance events, and played musical instruments. Around 575 elais were taken, which was a 6.5% jump over last year.

thirugnanam subbiah

The organizing team handed over the sponsor funded Silver Kuthuvilakku (2 nos.) for use at the community event. They also discussed and presented a call for action to build a Nagarathar Heritage Center in Bay Area. NCNA and NSNA are committed to working together to make this happen. Nagarathar Marabum Panpadum, a comprehensive and well researched book written by Ma. Chandhiramurthi, published by Manivasagar Pathipakam was launched by Thiru. Venkatachalam Natarajan (of NCNA) & Thiru. Vairavan Ramanathan (NSNA President-elect 2012-13) at the event and the book was given as a gift to all registrants. Traditional Pillayar Nonbu food prepared by participating families at homes was served. Organizers thank all the families, sponsors, and volunteers who participated in the function. Our special thanks to all the elders who patiently sat down for close to two hours and offered elais and their blessings. Organizers wish the next years Pillayar Nonbu 2012 organizing team the very best with their term!

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A
Pillayar Nonbu
Kicking off the New Year to a bright and prosperous start, the Nagarathars of Southern California gathered to celebrate Pillayar Nonbu on New Years Eve, 31st Dec. 2011 at the residence of Latha & Bala Vairavan in Simi Valley, CA. The function was well attended by Nagarathars who came from San Diego to Irvine, Los Angeles to Portersville and Las Vegas. The hosts created a festive atmosphere in their new home for this traditional event.

alagu vairavan

The function started as scheduled at 3pm with devotional songs sung by children and adults. Solos, bhajans and group prayers gave it the needed atmosphere for such a traditional function. Jeganathan Manickam and Meyyappan Annan gave the elais to all the families which exceeded almost 80 adults and about 40 children. Family introductions were followed by a solo dance performance from Deepika Palaniappan and Lord Ganesha. Chettinad cuisine prepared by all the participants was served with one dish surpassing the other, adding to a delectable dinner in a customary ambience making this an enjoyable Nagarathar night. With a total of 125 elais, that was happy New Years Eve for all of us. With California assuming the responsibility for NSNA for the next two years, its new president Ramanathan Vairavan addressed the gathering, introduced the team, stated the immediate goals and requested for active participation from the regional Nagarathars in all the planned activities.

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T N O R T H C A R O L I N A
Diwali 2011

uma lakshmanan

North Carolina, Raleigh region nagarathars celebrated this year's Deepavali at Priya-Chidambaram's home. The place was filled with beautifully dressed kids, women and men, a wide variety of food, fire crackers and lots of happiness, joy and Diwali spirits.

A Warm and Cozy Carolina Pillayar Nonbu

Scientists say that global warming has put the planet in peril. The need of the hour is to work together to bring about a sustainable future. But in the meantime, its ok to enjoy the byproduct of this A Warm and Cozy Carolina Pillayar Nonbu in the middle of the winter. On this pleasant January 7th day the Carolina Achis with their Chettiars and the gadget generation in tow raced towards Suhanti and Kameshs home that is just a stones throw away from the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway. Nagarathar families slowly started to trickle in after 3 PM. As the men settled with their conversations and coffees, the customary elai making process started. Since the eldest member of our community couldnt make it to Charlotte this year we were put into a quandary of finding out the second eldest. With the young in heart hesitating, the host was gracious

enough to step up. The event proceeded with paatu padital, children performances, elai eduthal and family introductions. There were about 55 elais taken. The main event culminated in a delicious Chettinadu feast. Nutrition facts were on nobodys minds when they were indulging on the exquisite Kandarappams, smiley idlies and the zesty kaara chutney. After dinner, all families enjoyed dumb charades on nagarathar jargon and a Jodi Porruttam game conducted by Lakshmanan and Umayal. Special thanks to Meena Sukumar for doing the heavy lifting by coordinating the whole event and our hosts Suhanti and Kamesh for their southern hospitality. Uma Velappan passed on the regional representative baton to another Uma (Umayal Lakshmanan). Umayal will hold this responsibility for the next 2 years. Thanks to Uma and Velappan for agreeing to host next years Pillaya Nonbu.

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T N E W E N G L A N D
Deepavali 2011
Deepavali Celebration was organized by Muthalagu and Elango (as regional representative) at the Polish National Home in Grafton on November 13, 2011. This Deepavali Celebration was unique in many ways whether rescheduling due to event flawlessly all the way from organizing, cancelling and rescheduling. Solai as usual did a marvelous job entertaining and engaging the audience that included excerpts on how Deepavali came about. The program started with prayers sung by the kids namely Kathir, followed by Shakthi followed by the brothers Ramviknesh and Ramkarthic. This was followed by tamil songs music played by Meenu on the piano. Next was the dance by Kathir, Sudar and Dhanush that was thoroughly enjoyed by all the kids and adults (choreography by Sujatha Saravanan). The much expected dance, choreographed by Meena Ram followed. The kids Varun, Ashwin and Rohit hit it big. Siddu made his special appearance in the midst of the performance. Next, 6 men in black suit and jeans, sang two evergreen songs without any background music (Idea by Sethu Meyyappan and lead by Raajan). The others in the team were Ram(Viji), Mani (Nachu), Mark(Priya) and Ram(Meena).

sethukkarasi sethuraman
Oru Kalakku Kalakitaanga Ponga! Impromptu performance of Koli Dance (Marathi Folk dance) by Monica and Meyya was refreshing and lovely. The much awaited Jeopardy organised by Amru, Divya and Monica was a big hit. The questions were very thoughtful, tough yet attemptable. The categories included chettinad culture, random, Dares, Charades, Team Challenge and name the tune. 4 men (Elango, Mani, Swami and Saravanan) and 4 ladies (Chittu, Thenu, Uma and Viji) were picked. Final jeopardy (a riddle with a twist) was won by the chettiars. The Achis gave a close fight and a remarkable team performance whether, wrapping a gift in one hand or passing the ball across to the other end. Kannan (Uma), Swami and Saravanan etched the event in our memory by their awesome photography. Delicious home cooked food by the achis was not only tasty but also surplus. Cleanup happened like a miracle in a few minutes and everyone was ready for the much awaited open floor dance. Dance music and songs chosen by Meyya got all the kids and adults dancing (including the famous and unforgettable Macarena). I would like to thank all the nagarathars who attended and helped in many ways to make the event a success.

snow in October, or being held on a Sunday, or guests arriving as early as 2.15pm. Over 25 families attended the event in spite of the short notice and it being a Sunday. Special mention needs to be made of Solai and Odayappan for their help in arranging and executing the

Pillayar Nonbu 2011

Pillayar Nonbu 2011 was celebrated on December 31st at the Trinity Church in Northboror. Pillayar Nonbu was jointly hosted by Uma & Kannan, Muthalagu & Elango. Ilai making started at ~4.30pm followed by prayer, ilai eduthal, Yelam and Dinner. Weather was very supportive making Pillayar Nonbu 2011, one of the rare Boston Pillayar Nonbus that happened without a hint of snow. Pillayar had a lot of modhagam and kolakattai for prasadam all of which disappeared very quickly, thanks to our volunteerteens who handed out the prasadam. The appetizers included samosas, cookies and tortilla chips. Usha Vellayappan got the flowers and made the malai for Pillayar with help from Deivanai Chokku and the other achis and girls. Alamelu achi, mom of Devi Karthic, made and brought the ilai maavu for the ilais. All chettiar were involved in the making of ilais. Raajan helped
(Continued on next page)

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T T O R O N T O
Pillayar Nonbu 2011

ramanathan sethuraman

The final event of the year, Pillayar Nonbu, was held at the Northwood Community Centre on Friday, Dec 30, 2011. This event was organized by Sathya and Kannan & Chitra and Annamalai. The event started off with bhajans perfomed by both kids and adults. Our President, V Pal provided an update on the organizations finances as well as gave a vote of thanks. Over 125 elais were distributed this year to Nagarathars from Canada, the US and India following which an auction (yelam) was held. As usual V Pal performed the role of the auctioneer. We collected over $10,000 this year. The collected monies will mainly be used to fund Nagarathar kids education in India. The event came to a close with some delicious traditional Chettinad potluck dinner prepared by our achis. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.

Deepavali 2011
Nagarathar families celebrated Deepavali this year at the Northwood Community Centre, Toronto. Sathya & Kannan and Valli & Iyyappan organized this fun-filled event. Over 80 people were in attendance to witness several cultural events. Children dressed up and spoke like Indian leaders, politicians, and other famous personalities. Their script was written by Sathya Kannan. Sindhu, Lakshmee, Shanghavi and Alagu entertained the audience with brilliant dance performances. Sathya Kannan organized a talk show for the adults and Kannan Muthiah conducted a game The Youth Committee raised money for the Education Committee by selling Jasmine flowers. The flowers were donated by Banu and Annamalai. Dr. Andiappan and Kay Andiappan donated $250 towards this fund. The evenings festivities concluded with delicious pot-luck dinner.

(Continued from previous page - New England Region Digest)

with audio set up and lead the prayers. Sweety Prasanna's dad and Devi Karthick's dad gave out the ilais. Solai conducted the Yelam helping raise money for a good cause. Everyone still remembers "inimae melaikku thaan! Funds raised this pillayar nonbu reached a record high of $9001. This was the first pillayar nonbu, when volunteers were requested for the special items such as vellai paniyaram, Kandarappam and vadai. To everyones surprise and amazement, all items were taken by the volunteers in less than 24 hours. Achis brought the traditional menu items in plenty and helped with setting it up as well. As usual, Swami and Kannan (Uma) took awesome pictures.

The regional secretary for 2012-2013 was picked during the event with help from Aarthi Kutti (1 year old daughter of Kannan and Uma). Sethukarasi & Sethuraman took over as the New England regional representative from Muthalagu Elango. Both Muthalagu & Elango and Sethukkarasi & Sethuraman were congratulated by all. Sethukkarasi Sethuraman was selected as the new regional secretary for the New England region during the Pillayar Nonbu event. Sethukkarasi and other fellow Nagarathars thanked Muthalagu Elangovan for her excellent job as regional secretary for 2010 - 2011. Sethu Meyyappan who has volunteered as the fund raising director/contact person for the New England region. She will help raise funds from the region for NSNA.

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T M I S S O U R I
Nagarathars from Missouri and Illinois had a great Pillayar Nonbu celebration this year on December 30, 2011. The event was held at the Ballwin Pointe community hall in St. Louis, MO. We started at 4:00 PM with registration, elai preparations and other preliminary set up activities. This year we had 58 elai in total. Things went as per schedule, it was a very divine and spiritual atmosphere when kids and adults participated in Bhajans and shloka recitals thanking Lord Ganesha. Dr.Murugappan distributed the Elai to everyone followed by family introductions. Then came the time for the awesome traditional Chettinadu dinner including all paniyarams, vadai, thirattupaal etc etc to mention a few ...thanks to all our achis !!!

shiva solaian

Then came our game time....Kids had a musical chair game and Adults had "oru vaarthai oru pillayar" (Similar to VijayTV game show oru varthai oru latcham ) by Annapporani Kannan and "Maathi yosi" (another Vijay TV game show) by Vidya Arunachalam .Winners were given small pillayar vigrahams kept in the pooja. The event came to an end at 10pm with a group picture and we said our good byes only waiting more eagerly to meet again. Once again a commendable job by everyone in our area for putting up a great show.

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T F L O R I D A
Florida regions Pillayar nombu was celebrated on January 7th, 2012. It was hosted by Kumar and Sujatha in their house in Tampa, Florida. Thanks to Dr.Chockalingam Annan and Mallika Achi for guiding throughout the function. The function started around 6:30 PM with everyone singing Pillayar songs. Chitra and Annam Achi sang devotional songs in their melodious voice. Selvan Shiva also sang a devotional song. The elais were distributed by Dr.Chockalingam Annan. Pooja was followed by dinner. It was a good turnout since there were new additions to FL Nagarathars, we had 45 elais in total. After the elai distribution, authentic delicious Chettinad Potluck dinner made by our Achis was served which included kandharappam, vellai paniyaram, paal paniyaram, vadai and all other chettinad special mouthwatering dishes. After having scrumptious dinner, kids entertained the group with various performances. Arthi Solayappan gave a wonderful dance performance followed by Uma Kumars piano performance. Dhanvita entertained Volume 13, issue 1

sujatha kumar
everyone with her cute rhymes and Akshita by her Thirukural. Arun and Arjun regaled everyone with their mazhalai language. There was a game for kids to find out the meaning of chettinad words like Thadukku, Vatti, Kinni etc which has become rarely used words now-a-days in our community. Also, there was a game for elders to find about the chettiar functions and sadangugal. Chettairs vs. Achis played dumb charades which went throughout the night. All annan, achis and kids actively participated in dumb charades and it was a great participation for all age groups. Most of the families stayed overnight and had fun. Kids enjoyed the most and called it as sleepover party. It was fun and memorable event. It was a nice occasion for FL Nagarathars to interact with our own people as well as for future generations to know and retain our culture and tradition. Thanks to Valli Achi for the support and service rendered in her term as Regional Secretary for Florida Region.

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T N O R T H W E S T Seattle Diary
This quarter's report comes to you from another one of our young Seattle Nagarathars. I am proud to introduce Arun Palaniappan (age 13, 8th grade, Odle Middle School), who is a very calm and quiet teen, but is very good at expressing his thoughts, when it comes time to do so. One can see it very well in his report. families prayed and took them. It's surprising how little it hurts when you eat with fire, I tried it this time. Afterwards we all settled down for a delicious dinner, prepared by the ladies. As usual, the food tasted exceptionally good (however, the food has been so consistently good, it isnt exceptional anymore). I always devote myself to the idlis, so I never really fully enjoy the rich variety. During the event, our young volunteers Sreya and Niveda conducted a survey to figure out if we should have three or four events during the year and which ones. The majority wanted to have three events, those being Tamil New Year, Deepavali and Pillayar Nonbu. We then introduced the new families, and promptly continued to the social part of the event. After a good hour or so of talking, talking, and talking, Lakshmi aunty distributed the goody bags, in which a Pillayar and some fruits resided. After clean up everyone began to migrate out the door.

seetha gandhi, or

Pillayar Nonbu 2011

(Reported by Arun Palaniappan, Grade 8) For once, Mother Nature served up favorable weatherover here, that translates to light drizzles and temperatures in the mid forties. With New Year's Day looming, an impressing 31 families' worth of people, most clad in Indian garments, crowded the hall in the waning days of 2011 for our annual Pillayar Nonbu. UWs thrilling loss the night before didnt pollute the events positive ambiance, as smiles were plentiful. First on our agenda was to sing Pillayar songs, led by Ram uncle. Then the elais, painstakingly made by the men, were given by the eldest person present. All the

The expert architects behind this event are Muru uncle family, Lingeshwaran uncle family, and Selva uncle family. All thanks must go to them.

Portland Diary
The 2011 Deepavali was celebrated at Karumbunathan & Laxmi's home on Oct 15th. There were many parents during the occasion and it made it special. Everyone enjoyed fireworks and great food. On Thanksgiving day we met for a Turkey-less South Indian lunch at Muthu and Kavitha's house and spent a wonderful day filled with laughter.

Pillayar Nonbu was hosted by Venkat and Priya at their home in Camas, WA, on New Years Eve. Kavitha and Muthiah coordinated the event very well. In addition to all the festivities we welcomed two new families Muthumeena & Muthukaruppan Sekkappan and Muthuvalli & Manikandan Chockalingam to Portland that day. This year attendance. 15 families were in The chettiar youth
(Continued on next page)

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T G R E A T E R N E W Y O R K
Pillayar Nonbu 2011
Going to the Pillayar Nonbu function has been a thrilling experience in the recent past for us with the snow showers and storms. This year was a wonderful change with a pleasant weather. Around 75 families gathered at The Hindu Samaj center,NJ on December 17th. The young children enthusiastically participated in singing Vinayakar songs. The little ones were occupied with coloring and drawing Pillayar pictures. A child even remembered the activities from the previous years and said that she loved being in such functions. The adults actively participated in the Yelam and the efforts of Pulavar Nagappan Annan yielded a good result. Thanks to all the families who got the Yelam items and hope the blessings of Lord Ganesh brings peace and smile in your families. When the food was served one could hear children saying, My mom made this one, I got this one from my home. Thanks to all the achis for the delicious Paniyaarams and palakaarams. Also, Thanks to all the Annans who gave a hand in making around 300 elais. The organizers Dr. Peri and Alagammai, Nagappan and Vasantha, Muthiah and Vallikannu and Kumarappan and Kaveri had put in lot of efforts to make the function a feel at home. Festivals and gatherings are always wonderful to bring the community closer and show the younger generation that we have significant traditions to follow. Also, at the function the new regional secretary was announced. Kannan Valliappan will be the

kannan valliappan, nj

Secretary for 2012-13. Kannan is a native of Nattrasan Kottai and has been a part of NSNA since 2001. He works for Colgate Palmolive Company and lives in nts in 2012. Ramasamy Baskaran will be organizing the summer picnic, Palaniappan Kathiresan has taken the responsibility for the Diwali and Vellayappan Narayanan team will host the Pillayar Nonbu. Looking forward to a fantastic year ahead.

Iyyappa Bhajan
On December 31, 2011, Kannan Valliappan and Visalakshi Kannan had an Iyyappa bhajan at their house. An Iyyappan idol from the NJ Iyyappa Group was brought and abishekam was performed followed by Sahasranamam and Bhajans. Around 20 families and 15 mala-wearing swamis participated in the bhajan and got the blessings of Lord Iyyappa. On January 14th, about 77 swamis prepared irumudi from the Bridgewater temple, NJ, and went to the Shiva Vishnu temple in Maryland. The next dayi.e., on the day of Makara Shankaranthi, the swamis climbed the 18 holy steps and had a blissful darshan of Lord Iyyappa and completed their viratham.

(Continued from previous page - Portland Diary)

actively participated in preparing the elai. The pooja was elaborate with solo and group songs, tabla, Keyboard, followed by classical dances. Mr. C.V.CT.S.CT.Alagappan (Meenus father) gave elai to everyone. We all enjoyed the sumptuous food prepared by the achis. Following the Nonbu dinner, we brought in the new year together. It was a fun -filled late evening with several dance performances and enjoyable games. We merrily toasted for the New Year and laughed our hearts away. Happy New Year to all of you!!!

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T W A S H I N G T O N D C A R E A
Pillayar Nonbu 2011
Pillayar Nonbu was celebrated in the DC Region on the 30th of December 2011 at Lakelands Park Middle School in Gaitherburg, Maryland. Despite being a work day (Friday) lot of enthusiastic DC Nagarathars were on time for the event. In total there were 215 attendees representing 72 families. The event was organized by Nagappan Palaniappan & Revathy Nagappan, Chidambaram Kandasamy & Alagumeena Chidambaram, Manoharan Chidambaram & Muthulakshmi Manoharan. The DC Nagarathar Teens were an active participant, they were in charge of MC'ing & other volunteer activities for the event and did a wonderful job. Once again the DC Nagarathars showered their generosity during the Yelam resulting a whopping collection of $15,100. DC region has been one of the forerunners in Yelam money collection and have always sent the entire amount collected to NSNA for the charitable causes, this year will be no different. The DC Nagarathars savored the authentic delicacies prepared by the Achis and the event concluded on time with all the Nagarathars helping out in the final cleanup. DC Nagarathars would like to wish their fellow Nagarathars a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

meena thenappan

New Regional Secretary

Saravana Sundar is the new regional representative of DC region. He is practical and a fun loving person. He is proud to belong to Nagarathar community and an active person who would like to get associated with activities that would foster the rich tradition and culture of Chettiar community.

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T O H I O

s u d h a k u ma ra p p a n

Ohio Nagarathars celebrated Pillayar Nombu on Jan 7, 2012 at Alagappan and Sathus residence in Plain city Ohio. The event started around 4.00 P.M with tea and snacks. As usual chettiars took care of preparing the Ellai while our Achis were busy in making the garland. After all the prep work was done, the bhajans were sung by the kids and adults. Manickam annan handed out 51 ellais with Mani Periakaruppans help. We had Yelam with 5 items and it was a huge success this year too! Following the family introduction the dinner was served with the delectable assortment of chettiar pallagarams and kudos to all our achis. The games were the big hit and I bet everyone on their way back home must be talking about the games .We had a variety of games ..Nagarathar quiz, curtain raiser, 90 second pure Tamil competition, dumb charades. Adair stole the show with his 90 second talk about chattier pallagarams. Everyone had a very good time and looking forward for the next gathering!

24

March 2012

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T M I D W E S T
2011 Pillayar Nonbu
Chicago area Nagarathars celebrated the 2011 Pillayar Nonbu on 01/01/2012. The venue was at Naperville Stillwater HOA club house from 6 to 11 PM. Due to nice weather (snowless) the function was well attended. Gandhi Annan and Sabapathy Annan gave the Elai. We ended up with 199 Elai, this was record. Which was followed by a homemade sumptuous chettiar cuisine prepared by all Achi. Many Achis, Annans and Kids sang several prayer songs. Elam event was well participated which helped to raise over $2000. After clean-up, the function ended around 12 midnight.The Highlight of the programs was the series of dance performances by the Rocking Achis they sure did rock the crowd and the stage w/their "complementing" and well choreographed performance which was also only fitting that the grand finale was a Once More request from the Audience for the same program.

muthu a. sekkappan
This years Diwali Function is only the next step in bigger and better things for the years to come!

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T M I N N E S O T A
Pillayar Noonbu
Vineeth Thirunavu, a ninth grader, who recently moved to the Minneapolis region with his family, summarizes the Pillayar Nonbu celebrations from his point of view. He is an outgoing, talented boy who plays for the freshman soccer team at his high school. He also writes actively for NANAL .

chidambaram chidambaram
The 2011 Twin Cities area Pillayar Nonbu was hosted at Mohan Uncle and Meena Auntys place on January 7th, 2012. The event started right on time, thanks to the wonderful weather (a bit atypical around here)! The evening commenced with children singing Pillayar songs and reciting Ganesha stories that was well received by everyone. Bhajans, such as Pillayar Pillayar, were also sung by the group as a whole. After the songs, the elais (a total of 83) were distributed, and all of the families introduced themselves. We then ate a luscious and flavorful dinner consisting of exquisite items from chettinad, including: vellai paniyaram, karupatti paniyaram, vadai, thirattupaal, and more. After the food (and some Saturday night football), everybody was organized into 6 teams. Teams competed against each other in many games, with the most popular being Dumb Charades and Taboo. Prizes were given to members of the winning team, and the night ended with many new friendships and smiles all around.

Owing to their wealth and money lending, Nattukottai Chettis have been called the Jews of South India, but their kindliness and charity deserve more recognition than the description accords.
Extracted from the book, Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston (1909); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ

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NSNA sincerely thanks Mr. Mark Chockalingam, Priya Sethu Chockalingam, and family From Arlington, MA for their contribution of $3,001 toward the NSNA EducationYes Fund

Shri. SP. Murugappan Chettiar Devakottai

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T S O U T H C E N T R A L
Pillayar Nonbu 2011
From the view point of Preethi Kannan, a seventh grader...

meena subramanian, tx
challenging questions and even the audience got to join. After a long day of shows, culture, delicious cuisine and socializing everyone went back to their rooms for a good nights sleep. I woke up the next morning eager to get dressed and head to the breakfast area. After the breakfast, the banquet hall was abuzz about the lively game show that many of you may know, Oru Varthai Oru Latcham. The program really connected with the audience as teams guessed Chettinad specific words and had a good time enjoying together. The last event of the day was a discussion on guidance for our college-seeking children; should the parents choose the college for their children or should the children be allowed to decide for themselves? Grand parents, parents and the young participated equally and expressed their views and opinion in this meaningful discussion. It was a perfect end to the perfect weekend. Soon afterwards suitcases were packed, rooms were checked out and goodbyes went all around. It would be a year until we see some of these friends again, but we had memories to take with us forever. These friends were like our extended family, they make us feel at home away from home. It was relaxing to take a break from the world around us and just focus on having fun and creating memories. Furthermore, it makes me proud to carry on the Chettinad tradition here in the USA surrounded by friends and family.

Family it means different things to each of us. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Friends, neighbors, and community members. But the most memorable moments in our life can be those few hours or days that you actually get to cherish together. Being a Chettiar child in America, I dont have the privilege of spending weekends with my grandparents or visiting my village for weddings and functions as often as my cousins in India. For this matter I look forward to Pillayar Nonbu every year because it is one weekend of the year that I really get to connect with Chettinad culture. This year Houston chettiars hosted the annual South Central Pillayar Nonbu. Early Saturday, Dec 24th, morning, South Central Nagarathars loaded up their cars and made their way to the hotel in Houston. When you reached the hotel you could feel the thick atmosphere of excitement spreading through the air and rooting itself in all of the guests. Hugs and hellos were exchanged as friends from far and near greeted each other. Everyone bustled up to change into traditional veshtis and saris after checking in and receiving room keys. The childrens program started immediately after everyone gathered in the auditorium and settled down. Many young kids performed by singing cultural songs and dancing to cinema tunes. There were

kutty-mandrams and skits which were humorous and well done. Even I got a chance to play my violin with my friends. It was nice to see everyones talents shine that night on stage. The second portion of the evening was the special prayer to Lord Ganesha and the Chettinad tradition of taking Ealai. 320 Ealai is taken this year in Houston. We lined up organized by kovils and were blessed by Ganesha as well as the elders at the function. After the blessings, we lined up once more for dinner and had an authentic Chettinad feast thanks to the talented aachis of SouthCentral. All the dishes had unique flavors like sweet kandrappams , vellai panniyaram with the savory vara millagai chutney, Chettinad special mallipoo idli, vadai and pongal. My all time favorite is the thirratu paal made during Pillayar Nonbu and I always make sure to get an extra serving of it. As the crowd settled after dinner, the adults program started with two remarkable plays about the whims and wonders of Chettinad marriage; it was entertaining to see parents, uncles and aunties from our everyday lives to perform on stage. The highlight of the evening was Mangatha, a parody of the original movie by the Dallas Nagarathars. It was outstanding from start to finish and everyone enjoyed watching it. The evenings final program was a Jeopardy game show directed towards the youth attending the night. The college kids got their share of holiday review through the

It has been said that the Nattukottai Chettis in organization, cooperation, and business methods, are as remarkable as European merchants. The simple but strict training which they give their boys, the long and tedious apprenticeships which even the sons of the richest among them have to undergo, make them very efficient in profession and methodical in whatever they undertake to do.
Extracted from the book, Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston (1909); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ

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R E G I O N A L D I G E S T P H I L A D E L P H I A A R E A
Pillayar Nonbu 2011

nagammai bhaskar

About 20 Nagarathar families from the Philadelphia region met on 30th Dec., 2011, at Nellis new residence in North Wales, PA for celebrating the annual tradition of Pillayar Nonbu. Nellis family had made grand arrangements for the evening and all the guests had a wonderful time. Visvanathan Annan along with Nellis father, Alagappan Annan, distributed the 81 elais, as each family introduced themselves. Elai distribution was followed by dinner, which included various scrumptious Chettinad Palakaram. All the guests had put in great efforts to prepare their respective menu items and everything tasted so delicious. Nellis family had arranged for 5 items to be auctioned off at the Yelam. All though it was late in the night, the yelam conducted by Somalay Annan was so much fun and with all the generous donations from the families, we managed to raise $1601.00. All of this money along with the Pulli Panam collected will be forwarded to NSNA so it could be put to use for the various humanitarian projects. Before we knew, it was time to wish each other a Happy New Year and disperse. Thanks to the hosts for having us all over and for their impeccable hospitality.

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T A R I Z O N A
Pillayar Nonbu and New Year 2012 Celebrations
Pillayar Nonbu was celebrated on Dec. 31 at the residence of Uma and Lakshmanan. We all gathered around 5:00 P.M and started with bhajan, followed by puja and distribution of (60) elais. Then, kids showed their talent with their cultural and extra -curricular performances such as dancing, singing and playing piano. Then we had a delicious Chettinadu dinner including paal paniyaram that was prepared by Sala Achi (Thanks Sala Achi for the lovely paniyaram). Followed by the dinner, we enthusiastically participated in the game, Jeopardy, prepared by Meyyappan Annan and Rathna, which went on till five minutes to the New Year! We welcomed 2012 with the cake. Overall, we had a great time at the home of Uma and Lakshmanan and we have started the New Year with a great smile, warm feelings, and a sweet cake!

nithya karuppiah

Other Events
Congratulations to Anitha and Muthu Sundar on their wedding and upon starting their new lives together. We had a memorable and loving Thanksgiving party at the house of Chellappan and Uma.

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March 2012

R E G I O N A L D I G E S T A T L A N T A
Pillayar Nonbu 2011
From the view point of Divya Chidambaram

thiagarajan natchiappan

It is always an amazing experience to participate in Pillayar Nonbu celebration and follow our ancestors custom to thank Lord Ganesha. This year the celebration was hosted by Sampath Uncle, Malai auntie at their residence. As the Chettiars, achis, and kids in their festive outfits started to pour in, they were welcomed with the aroma of bhel puri. While families where arriving, preparations for elai where going on. This year we took 65 elais. Once people finished their appetizers, everyone started to settle down in the main hall. There in the main hall was Lord Ganesha beautifully decorated with flowers, deepams, and even a focus light. Then one by one all the children and adults sang Pillayar songs. After the bhajans, aarathi began. Following aarathi my favorite part came, watching people chickening out

while trying to eat the elai with the fire. This year elais were handed out by Nagappan Uncle. While each family took the elai they introduced their family with their kovil and ooru. After the pooja, everyone waited to eat the delicious dinner prepared by the aachis. There was a wide variety of traditional chettinad food. Dinner was a good time for friends to catch up on what each of them was up to. After dinner, we had some interesting games organized by Raja uncle. The first one was called Name that Song. In this game, there were 3 teams: men, women, and children. The purpose of this game was to name and answer a couple of questions to a tune of a song. The next game was called commercial slogans. The objective of this game was to find the company name of each slogan written on a paper. As it became late, families started leaving with a lovely goody-bag made by Malai auntie. A big thanks goes to the host Sampath uncle, Malai auntie, their daughter Devi akka, and our former regional secretary Peri Nagappan uncle.

Congratulations to our new regional secretary Natchiappan uncle and our Youth Activity coordinators, Subramaniyan M. Chetty & Devi Sampath.

NSNA and the NANAL Team

sincerely thank for sponsoring the postage of the NANAL March 2012 issues to the members living in the 48 contiguous states of the U.S.
YUVA NATYA SAKTHI (YNS Foundation)

YNS is a non-profit venture that provides a platform for the youths to continue their passion for the art of Bharathanatyam and keeping our traditions alive.
Founders: Ashwini Nagappan, Niveda Ponmudi and Sanjana Krishnakumar Email: ynsorg@gmail.com Website: www.yuvanatyasakthi.org

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CULTURE & RELIGIONNAGARATHAR NAYANMARS

ram sundaram, nj
greatly upset the Nayanar. He searched throughout the day for a little sandalwood to offer his worship. He could not get any. With a broken heart, he went to the temple: and he had a wonderful idea. He began to rub his own elbow (in the place of sandalwood!). The hand was bleeding profusely. Lord Shiva was highly pleased with his devotion. A heavenly voice said: Oh noble soul, I am immensely pleased with your devotion. Kindly stop rubbing your elbow. All your grievances will be redressed. Kindly take up the reins of the kingdom. After ruling the country justly and wisely for a long time, you will come to My Abode. Nayanar was amazed to hear this and to see that his elbow regained its original shape. Murthi Nayanar did not aspire for kingship, but it was the Lords will. That night the cruel king died. The next day, the Ministers sent the palace elephant to choose their king, in accordance with an ancient custom. The elephant bowed at Murthy Nayanar and placed him on his back and returned to the palace. Nayanar ruled the country justly and wisely for a long time, and eventually attained Shivas Abode. Karaikkal Ammaiyar was born to Danadathan, a wealthy merchant. Danadathan and his dutiful wife, who were virtuous as well, prayed to the Lord for a child, and they were blessed with a girl child named Punithavathy. From her childhood, Punithavathy had an intense love for Lord Shiva and His Bhaktas. She was married to Paramadattan, a wealthy Vaisya. Both of them were leading an ideal married life. One day, Paramadattan sent two mangoes to his house. Punithavathy kept them safely so that she could serve her husband with them at mealMarch 2012

he Nayanars or Nayanmars are Saivite devotional poets from Tamil Nadu who lived between the 5th and 10th century of the Common Era. Periyapuranam, the great Tamil work for Saivites, narrates the history of 63 Nayanmars in greater depth.

Nayanars wife came to know of the whole story and were furious. Nayanar fought with them and chopped off their heads. When they reached the temple of Tiruchaikadu, the Brahmin asked Nayanar to leave them and return. Nayanar prostrated to the Brahmin and turned his steps homeward. As he had hardly proceeded a few yards on his homeward journey, the Brahmin again called Nayanar aloud. Thinking that there might have been another attack on the party, Nayanar hastened to Nayanmars were from varied backgrounds and castes where the Brahmin was: but, to his and amongst them were Nagarathars as well. It was amazement, found that he had not fully recorded in the history of our literature how disappeared and that his wife was many of these were actually Nagarathars, but it is standing alone there. He searched here said that there are at least four of them are from our and there for the Brahmin, and was community. On this edition of NANAL, we will worried when he could not be found. briefly touch the lives of the three Nayanars: Lo and behold, Lord Shiva and Mother Iyarpahai Nayanar, Murthi Nayanmar, and Parvathy appeared in the sky and Karaikkal Ammaiyar. blessed Nayanar and his wife: Oh noble souls, I am immensely pleased Iyarpahai Nayanar was a native of Kaveri with your devotion to My Bhaktas. Poompattinam. To him, Shiva Bakthas were the Both of you will very soon reach My Abode. With these words, the Lord living manifestations of Lord Shiva himself. Men of disappeared. The Nayanar and his wife reached His Abode and rejoiced there. , Nayanars relatives who died at his hands also attained the lotus feet of the . Lord. good birth graciously give, Never uttering the wretched excuse, "I have nothing." He had taken a vow never to say no to what a Shiva Bhakta wanted. Lord Shiva was pleased with His devotee. He wanted to reveal his devotees true greatness to the world. So, the Lord, in the disguise of a Brahmin, with sacred ashes smeared all over his body, came to Nayanars house and asked as gift his wife. Nayanar had no difficulty at all in granting this! Nayanar did not hesitate to fulfill the Bhaktas wish, on the plea that it involved unrighteousness: for, to him worship of the guest (Athithi Devo Bhava Guest as God) was greater Law than all the moral codes. His chaste wife agreed to follow the Brahmin-guest as his wife. The Brahmin, however, feared the wrath of the wifes relatives and asked Nayanar to accompany them till they were safely out of the town and out of danger. In the meantime the relatives of

Murthi Nayanar was born in

Madura in Pandya kingdom. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Daily he used to adore Lord Shiva with sandalwood paste, smearing it all over the Lingam as this was regarded as a great form of worship. At that time, the city was invaded and captured by a Karnataka king, follower of Jainism. He wanted to exterminate Saivism and to spread his religion. He began to persecute Saivas. Murthi Nayanar also had to bear a lot of sufferings. But, he was undaunted. He continued his worship of the Lord, with sandalwood. The king, with a view to convert Murthi Nayanar forcibly to Jainism, made it impossible for anyone in Madura to obtain sandalwood. This

30

time. In the meantime, a Siva Yogi appeared before her. He was hungry and completely exhausted. Punithavathy worshipped him and offered him Bhiksha. She had nothing to give him, except the mangoes. She gave one to the guest. At midday Paramadattan came to the house. The wife served him with one mango. He liked it, and asked for the other. She was upset. She appealed to the Lord for help. When she finished her prayer, mysteriously a mango fell on the palm of her hand. She gave it her husband. He tasted it. It was exceptionally sweet. He asked her to tell him from where she got it, as he was quite sure it was not the mango he had sent. Punithavathy told him the whole truth. Paramadattan, however, would not believe this and challenged her to produce another. She prayed again to the Lord. Another mango appeared on her palm. She gave it to him. But, at once it disappeared from his hand. He was astounded. He understood the greatness of his wife. He felt that it was a great sin to live with her as her husband. On the pretext of going to a foreign country for trade, he sailed with a ship load of goods. On return, he established himself in a big city in the Pandyan kingdom. He married a Vaisya girl and lived happily. He had a daughter by her and he named her Punithavathy, after his first wife. Punithavathiyars relatives came to know of her husbands whereabouts and took her also there in a palanquin. When Paramadattan heard that Punithavathy was coming to him, he, with his second wife and child, went forward, and fell at Punithavathys feet. When the people demanded an explanation, he revealed that he regarded her, not as his wife, but as a Goddess. Punithavathy understood his mental condition, and prayed to the Lord: In that case, Oh Lord, deprive me of the present physical charm and let me have a demonaical form. Her prayer was immediately granted and her charming body was transformed into a skeleton. Then she went on a pilgrimage to the holy Kailasa. Feeling that it would be a great sin to place her foot on those sacred grounds, she made the last part of the journey on her head. Mother Parvathy was surprised to see Punithavathys strange form and her wonderful devotion. Lord Siva told her of Ammaiyars greatness. When she went near Him, Lord Siva welcomed her with extreme love and granted a boon to her. She fell at His Feet, and prayed: Oh Lord of Mercy, give me sincere, pure, unalloyed, eternal and

overflowing devotion unto You. I want no more birth. If, however, I have to take birth here, grant me that I should never forget You. Whenever You dance, I must be at Your feet singing Your praise. This is my only wish. Lord Siva granted the boon and asked her to proceed to Tiruvalangadu to witness His dance. She went to that place and spent her life singing the praise of Lord Siva. ... Nagarathars are involved in religious services all around the globe, be it in the USA, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore or in their own native villages. Kavadi Attam and Paal Kudam during Thai Poosam, Vaikasi Visakam and Panguni Uthiram in Malaysia, Singapore and for that matter, in every region in the USA has become part of our lives today. These values and traditions are the seeds of our culture and religion that we are leaving for our future generation to flourish on. Most recently Chettiars donated the Swarna Lingam to Kasi Visalakshi Temple made of 24ct. gold, with contributions of gold overflowing even after the Lingam was made. With His divine grace, Nagarathars will continue their service to the Lord, His devotees, and communities that they live in forever!
.

! ! !!

Nagarathars set apart a portion of their income from their businesses for charity. This custom, called Mahamai in Tamil, is akin to that of ancient Jews and certain present day Christian groups who believe in giving regularly a share of their monthly income to the maintenance and support of synagogues and churches to which they belong and the worthy causes which these religious entities may espouse.
Extracted from the book, The Nagarathars of South India by S. Chandrasekar (1980); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ

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HERBS

FOR

HEALTHY COOKING
against heart failures, for purpose of this reason alone we should add more garlic in our cooking produced suitable caretaker of our health. It is a natural remedy against inflammation and stomach upsets, helps to adequately control vomiting and increase appetite.

alagu vairavan, ca
pepper seeds 3or 4 tablespoons of water along with a pinch of salt. this mixture is to be taken everyday in the morning empty stomach.

Herbs have traditionally been used in daily cooking to provide a rich aroma, spice flavoring and therapeutic value. Do you know what benefits you are gaining when You +1'd this publicly. Undo cooking with these herbs? Better yet, do you know the value and power of these herbs that are naturally grown? Herbs contain therapeutic elements capable of providing protection against various illnesses. These herbs when taken as a part of our daily meals help to safeguard our body against different kinds of diseases. Here are some of the more important herbs when used with everyday cooking will contribute to improved health:

GREEN MINT
Mostly used as a digestive enhancer, the intake of mint leaves provides a cooling sensation to our body, mint aids in digestion by releasing gas from the digestive system and it also a highly utilized expectorant.

ONION
By properly utilizing the medicinal properties of onion blood clotting can be prevented. It also controls blood sugar levels, prevents bodily infection and also works against appetite loss. Its healing effects onion possesses certain expectorant, wound healing and diuretic properties for which it has become an indelible part of our daily life. In summer season raw onions should be consumed with our daily meals as it provides prevention against heatstroke. Also protection against viral fever.

BASIL
Basil is a perfect regulator of our blood sugar level as well as a stress remover, it is extensively used in health care for its perspiration inducing and stimulating properties and also for being an expectorant. If you take Basil regularly are prevented against all types of stomach upset problems, it cures heart diseases too, cancer, viral fever and malaria too, take everyday 4 fresh basil leaves, along with some black pepper seeds, crush and grind them nicely and make small tablet, and swallow it with glass of water everyday in the morning, u can take throughout the year long.

GARLIC
Fresh garlic has many active constituents including Alliicin and unique sulfur compounds that gives it potency as an antibiotic, anti-viral and a fungicide. It is used for treating high blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, and for helping to prevent certain types of cancer, as well as its use as an immune stimulant. To prevent cold, a little amount of garlic is sufficient when taken twice or more times a week in or with two. It also increases the flow of blood in the whole body and there by protects the body

NEEM
As a super blood purifier Neem detoxifies our body, any kind of bodily inflammation can be cured through the proper utilization of Neem. This herb also contains certain anti fungal and anti bacterial properties. Raw Neem leaves is seven freshly grounded soft Neem leaves , seven grounded black

The Nagarathars original home is believed to be either Kanchipuram or Kaveripoompattinam. From Kanchipurama, as a result of heavy and unjust fines and punishments imposed upon them (the reasons for such unjust treatment are not clear), the Chettiars moved to the Chola kingdom. According to one story, Manunidhi Cholan, a righteous ruler of the Chola Dynasty of the day, enquired of the Chettiars the reason behind their sudden mass immigration in to his realm. On hearing of their past affluent history and their current tale of woe in Kanchipuram, the King was kind enough to permit them to settle in his kingdom. He then bestowed certain royal honours on them. He is believed to have told them, We regard you as Pradhana Vaisyas [important traders] and you will be given the rare honor of placing the crown on the head of the prince who succeeds to the throne. As such, you will be called Makuda Vaisyas (makuda means crown).
Extracted from the book, The Nagarathars of South India by S. Chandrasekar (1980); compiled by Selvi Annamalai, NJ

32

March 2012

S H O R T S T O R Y :

S P . V R . ,

. , , ' ?' . . - -. . . , ' ' . . , . S . V . . . . , . . . . , , , ! . . , . ' ' . ,

. . . . ! ! ! . . . . , 28 . . , . . . , . . , . . . , . , , ,

. ? ! ? - - ! . . , . . . , . , , . . ? , . . . ? . , . ! . ? ? , ? . .

7.45.

34

March 2012

POWER

OF

BEING

BILINGUAL INDIVIDUAL

madhavan thiyagarajan, ca

The term bilingual means "two languages". A bilingual individual is one who can use 2 different languages with equal or nearly equal fluency [1]. Its definitely not new to us. As an expatriate adult every one of us practices it on a daily basis in both walks of our life, namely, professional & personal, with ease. During our childhood, back in India, at school we had English as medium of instruction and used our mother tongue to converse with our peers and family outside the school. In my opinion this could have prepared a foundation for our todays survival overseas. Effective communication is equally important in both walk of our life namely, personal and professional. Our inherent bilingual skills come in handy here. Now as an expatriate parent are you depriving this basic yet powerful survival skill to your child? There are few common parental concerns with raising bilingual children, to list few [2]:1. 2. Using multiple languages may confuse the Child. Bilingualism may result in language delay for the child.

multilingual and thus flourished in business. We do know many explicit advantages of being bilingual or multilingual. Lets see the implicit or less known advantages:1. Brain imaging showed that being multilingual leads to denser gray matter in brain compared with being monolingual [5]. Which means the brain power is boosted for multilingual individuals. Multilingual children/adult are slightly better in imaging thoughts of other people, this is called as Theory of minds. This is an important component of empathy too [4]. Bilingual child/adult could connect to bigger social circle. Particularly for childrens, Aiya/Ayya/Apatha back at home could easily converse with the kid and imbibe more cultural values into them.

2.

3.

There are quite few references in Internet which suggests that there is no proven scientific evidence to support the above said concerns [3] . I dont want to emphasis more on this because most of us would agree to the fact that we as a child could cope up successfully to two different languages and could excel reasonably well in our academics & social life. Actually to the contrary, the ability to learn new languages is more during the early years of a childhood. A child can acquire new language skills pretty easily before 7 years of their life [4]. It doesnt mean learning new languages after 7 are impossible [4]. We as Nagarathars do know that our forefathers learnt and mastered the local languages while trading in South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore & Burma very late in their adulthood. Our forefathers well understood the need for being

Lets feel proud to be being bilingual and lets pass on this tradition to our next generation too as well. Your comments and critics are welcome. Email to madhavan.thiyagarajan@gmail.com. Online References:[1] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bilingual [2] http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/ bilingualkids2.htm [3] http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/raisebilingchild.html [4] http://www.scpr.org/programs/madeleinebrand/2012/01/09/21303/your-childs-brain-understanding-itcan-help-you-pa/ [5] http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20041013/beingbilingual-boosts-brain-power
, , .. . ,

(Continued from page 34 - Tamil Short Story)

? : .- . , . - - ! , , . !

, . . . . , , . .

, , !

Volume 13, issue 1

35

H O M E & F O O D MA K E

YOUR OWN

E DI B LE A R R A N G E ME N T S

shanthi chidambaram, nj

'Aal Paathi Aadai Pathi' is a true statement even for food. Presentation is very important be it food or people. While a neatly set table makes the food inviting, a creative decoration of food makes dining a pleasant experience. A swan carved out of a pumpkin or a rose flower carved out of a water melon at a salad bar leaves us in awe. On those lines, how about making a fresh fruit bouquet yourself ? And what time better than spring for fruits? Above all, we have it right here for you - the steps to making it. It is simple and easy; does not require any intricate carving skills. All you need to do is to cut and arrange the fruits. So make a beautiful arrangement that is edible too! Make that a special gift with your personal touch for a dear friend. Or make it the centerpiece for the dinner you host next. It could serve as a healthy dessert that everyone enjoys and is fun for the kids! Our goal is to make some leaves, vines, flowers and buds. It is important to get fruits that would stay fresh for longer after cutting. I have chosen to make cantaloupe and honeydew melon leaves, blueberry vines (nice and dark grapes are even better if in season), strawberry buds with kiwi stalks and pineapple flowers with raspberry centers. Things you need Basket , cabbage, polythene wrap, Styrofoam , flower-shaped cookie cutter, skewers (long and short ones) and fruits like pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (or grapes). Prepare the basket Take the basket and line it with polythene sheet or cling wrap. Place the cabbage inside the basket removing a few layers if needed to fit it into the basket. If a flat top is preferred, place a Styrofoam disc on top of the cabbage and secure it with a couple of brochettes (small skewers).

Prepare the fruits For vines: Wash the blueberries or grapes and string them onto the skewers. For leaves: Remove the peel and seeds from the cantaloupe and honeydew. Then cut them into half crescents. Insert one piece each on the brochettes and 2 or 3 pieces each on the longer skewers. For buds: Insert a gum drop (so that the fruit does not slip off the skewer) , then a kiwi slice and then a strawberry. For flowers: Cut the pineapple (need not be peeled ) into slices and then cut out a flower shape from each of them using a cookie cutter. Insert a gum drop, a couple of cantaloupe/honey dew pieces (for the long ones) and a pineapple flower onto a

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March 2012

skewer. Add a raspberry at the top. Arrange the fruits Poke the brochettes into the cabbage in a circle starting from the periphery alternating cantaloupe and honey dew. Put some long ones with 2-3 cantaloupe/honey dew pieces in the center. Fill in the gaps with the strawberry buds and pineapple flowers. Tips and Alternatives The blunt side of the skewer itself could be used to insert the fruits - the sharp side could be used as such to poke the skewer into the cabbage or styrofoam. Also, it will be safer when picking the fruits from the arrangement to eat. A porcelain flower pot could also be used instead of the basket. There is no need to even place a cabbage as the pot by itself would provide the support. Just placing a styrofoam disc at the bottom to hold the skewers would do. Cantaloupe balls (scooped out using a melon baller ) could also be used for the centers to make the pineapple flowers look like daisies. The strawberries could be dipped in chocolate to make it extra special. Fun-shaped cookie cutters could be used. It is only limited by your taste and imagination! Write a greeting , cut it out , paste to a skewer, and stick that in too to make it personalized.

T H A L I K K I R A P E T T I V E N T H A Y A M (FENUGREEK SEEDS )
Venthayam is an important constituent of the thalikkirapetti especially the one in a chettinad kitchen. We use it in all varieties of vegetarian and non-vegetarian kolambu. It is ground along with rice and ulunthu when making dosai and aappam batter to give a special aroma and the nice browning for dosas. It is used in making sambar powder, curry powder, pickles. When roasted, powdered and seasoned to give a special flavor to puliyodarai. Venthayam paste is used as a conditioner for the hair and is believed to keep the body cool. Also fenugreek tea is highly recommended for lactating mothers for better secretion of milk and also good to resist the common cold and asthma . The leaves of the plan producing the fenugreek seeds called venthaya keerai or methi in Hindi is highly nutritious. The masiyal is the most common in our cuisine but in combination with potato makes a good side dish for chapathi. They are also used in the dough to make methi parathas and pooris. The dried leaves called kasuri methi are used for seasoning like curry leaves.

COOKING TIPS
We all had Paniyaram not too long ago. There are some women who can make good looking Paniyaram just like a flower, but for others it does not come the same way. The tip is, you have to pour the batter in to the oil holding the ladle a bit higher. Now you have pretty looking Paniyarams. On the picture below left most is the one made using this tip.

Any time I make Cesar salad, a firm tofu works great. Make cubes of Tofu. Toss over a pan with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & some Garlic spread & seasoning (Mediterranean). Cook them in a medium heat till golden color and toss over the salad.
seetha gandhi, portland, oregon

Volume 13, issue 1

37

RECIPES

FROM OUR

R E A D E R S ...

Chettinad Curry Leaves or Coriander Thokku ...by Alagu Vairavan, CA

INGREDIENTS
To grind: Kariveppillai, curry leaves or kothamallli leaves, 2 cups; tamarind- a small size; fresh ginger- small piece; To powder: Gram dhal- 1 tablespoon; Uraddhal1 tablespoon; Black pepper- 1 tablespoon. Jeera- 1 tablespoon; fenugreek seeds -1tablespoon; Asafetida- a small berry size. Red chillies-8 pieces, Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon; To season: Gingerly oil- half a cup; Mustard -1 tablespoon; Turmeric powder- half teaspoon, Curry leaves few only; salt 1 teaspoon or as per taste

PROCEDURE
First grind the curry leaves or coriander leaves, add tamarind & ginger paste. Fry the items to be powdered with a oil separately, cool it teaspoon of

Powder it and pour the oil and when it is hot, add mustard, When it pops add curry leaves paste along with turmeric powder and salt. Fry the paste for 5 to 6 minutes on low flame then add the ground powder and fry again for few minutes. The oil will float on top. Switch off the stove and cool it store in the jar. You can have it with bread toast, or rice. Healthy thokku is now ready to eat.

Wheat Dosai by Gnanambal Kannappan, NJ

INGREDIENTS
Cracked wheat Ulunthu (urad dhal) Brown rice Salt Water 3 cups 1 cup 1/2 cup To taste For grinding

PROCEDURE
Wash the cracked wheat and brown rice together and soak it for 3-4 hours. Wash the ulunthu (urad dhal) and soak separately for 3-4 hours. First grind the ulunthu, then the cracked wheat and rice together. Mix both together with salt and ferment it overnight. Make dosai or kuzhi paniyaram with the batter.

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Compiled by Suku Sukumar, NJ

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March 2012

NSNA sincerely thanks the following regional sangams for contributing their Pillayar Nonbu Yelam collections to the National Fund:

Washington DC Region $15,351

New England Region $9001
Ohio Region $7787
Michigan Region $2369
Chicago Region $2315
Greater New York Region $2314.50
Philadelphia $1607

H E A L T H & F I T N E S S DAILY HABITS

Our health depends on many factors including the food we eat, daily lifestyle, and even the placement and transit of various planets. Our universe is made up of five basic elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. Any disproportion in these elements brings discomfort within the human body. We may not feel this immediately, but the change in the systems of the body makes us realize that something is wrong. Some people try to bring balance by equalizing techniques such as Meditation, Reiki, Pranic healing, Kundalini awakening etc. It is often overwhelming when we hear too many holistic healing processes, but if we incorporate few habits in our daily life, we can lead a healthy happy life.

OF

HEALTHY LIFE

mala sukumar, nj

According to Yogi Amrit Desai, everyone should begin a day by taking just five minutes after waking up sitting up on the bed with eyes closed meditating (I can picture you sayingyeah, right! Are you Kidding) See yourself healthy and happy in your minds eyes. Remind yourself that it is natural for you to be healthy. Health is your natural state. Be appreciative of your life, your health and whatever you have. Gratitude is good for your soul as well as your health. Good health entails not only physical well-being, but good thoughts and a happy, enriched and positive lifestyle as well. It is the inside-out approach happiness from within leads to a clear mind and a sound body.

With a mouthful of water, close the eyes and splash the face with water. It is an excellent remedy to relieve tiredness of eyes. I even read that this can removes wrinkles! J Start off the day with a glass of water. Water not only hydrates the system after several hours of no water consumption, but does it cleanse the digestive tract and stimulate the metabolism. Take at least ten minutes to do some form of yoga. Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation gives energy to the body by activating all of its organs. The 12 postures of Surya Namaskar give the body strength coupled with mental peace, at the same time curing many ailments. We are simply lifting our own body weight which helps strengthen our bones. Basically, breathing improves, concentration power increases, and the entire physiology gets invigorate. Constant practice builds self-confidence and develops reverence for the almighty! Skipping breakfast is a big NO. Even the days we fast, I believe it is important to drink juice, milk or even eat a piece of fruit in the morning as it can help boost the metabolism. Drink at least a cup of green tea every day. Studies show that green tea has abundant nutrients coupled with number antioxidants. When making regular tea, be sure to add crushed cardamom, ginger and a small piece of cinnamon. This keeps diabetes and cold at bay. Adding lemon wedges to a cup of water can help your body greatly. Lemons are rich in vitamin c help prevent many diseases. They even increase the bodys digestive power as they assist in cleansing the system of impurities. Find things to laugh about on a daily basis. Laughter releases endorphins, boost your immune system, increases blood flow and relaxes your body.
March 2012

40

Five everyday must-do techniques for deep sleep

Reflexology:
Massage the soles of the feet back and forth 1015 times with a thick-bristled hair brush before going to bed. This will activate all the reflexology points, thereby inducing relaxation and wellness. shorter time period as per convenience and capacity.

Affirmation/ Positive thinking:

End your day with an affirmation/positive thought. The universe is based on the 'law of attraction'. What you think about the most is what you get.

Meditation:
Meditate on the incoming and outgoing breath (with eyes closed) for 5 minutes without trying to alter or manipulate the breathing pattern. Become an observer of the breath.

Last but not least, fasting once in a while is a good way to detox the body and give the digestive system some time off. Fasting not only helps in purification and maintaining soundness of mind, but does it play a vital role in the successful completion of ritual adoration. Fast or UPVAS in hindi derives from two words i.e, UP and VAS. Where UP implies near and VAS to live near GOD which implies that it is a period when an observer of the fast lives near the Alimighty. When life is hectic, it is indeed difficult to observe a fast, hence the spiritual leaders advice us to do a partial fast or at least abstain from grainy food items for 4 to 6 hours.

Breathing:
When ready to sleep, focus on your exhalation and exhale 8 times lying on your back, 16 times lying on the right side and 32 times lying on the left side to calm down and balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, inducing balanced and deep sleep pattern.

During meditation and spiritual sessions, Swami Tadatmananda from Arsha Bodha center, NJ emphasizes on life modifications. As many of us get through a winter of chills and shivers, we readily welcome the warmth and color of spring in our lives. Let us also discover a kinder, gentler, healthier and more forgiving us, in our mind, body and soul!

Harish reading NANAL Our youngest NANAL Reader!

Courtesy: Kathiresan Lakshmanan, Joint Treasurer, NJ

Mudra:
Hold your hands in Akash Mudra for a few minutes. Akash Mudra activates the ether element, removes unnecessary thoughts from the mind and releases tension. How and when: Join the tip of the middle finger with the tip of the thumb, keeping the rest of the three fingers straight. One may perform this mudra anytime of the day for anytime. One may start with a
Volume 13, issue 1

41

YOUTH & CHILDREN

deepa ramanathan & kritika sukumar, nj

. Yo u are ab ou t to lea ve for the hing cks ! fis ays , bu t yo u for go t so ons fish, ho lid eir s 1 m, bu t th Yo u rac e ba ck to yo ur roo ught ook ers t d son ca o camp ath lig hts are off ! Yo u op en ed t wo f r an ld all the n T u g the re fathe retur How co yo ur dra we r, rem em be rin Each hen they h. re cks , 10 3 fis are 10 pa irs of wh ite so h we but w ere only e fis 11 pa irs ) w of th pa irs of bla ck so cks , an d ack. there ? (None wn b mi xed o be of blu e so cks , bu t are all r thr this st, o u ne ed n, lo up . Ho w ma ny so cks do yo eate to ha ve at lea st
to tak e to be su re on e ma tch ing pa ir?

A man wants to cross a river using a boat which can fit himself plus either a wolf, a goat, or a cabbage. If the wolf and goat are alone on a shore, the wolf will eat the goat. If the goat and the cabbage are alone on the shore, the goat will eat the cabbage. How can the man bring the wolf, the goat, and the cabbage across the river? Answers on page 56!

What do to?? What do you need? Fill the bottle with water to the very 1. Plastic bottle top. Keep the plastic 2. Water card on the top of 3. Cardboard/ Card the bottle. Make sure there is a little water on the mouth of the bottle when you do this. Carefully remove your hand and flip the bottle upside down into the sink. The water stays in the bottle. The card acts like a lid. How did this happen?? How come gravity is not pulling the card and the water down???

What happened? The air pressure is pushing up the card. This creates a seal that is more powerful than gravity. Modifications Fill half the bottle with plain water. Fill the bottle full with soap water. Try to wet the card in plain water before using it to cover the bottle.

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March 2012

SISTERHOOD
A Bond Not Found In Chemistry

priya chidambaram, nj

-An Ode to Sisterhood-

o amount of heat, pressure, or radiation can break natures strongest bond the bond of sisterhood. Its unique: a bond with no definition. Its an unexplored field of academia that garners a small following. Its an abstract phenomenon with no visible function. For the few people that do fully understand it, its difficult to explain. One night, I found myself awake. I tried going back to sleep but a thought kept me awake. It told me to get out of bed and walk around. In my half-conscious state, I dragged myself into the hallway. Midway through my seemingly pointless journey, I realized the reason for my interrupted slumber. The muffled sobs of my sister in the dark would have been nonexistent to anyone else but they were sirens blaring in my ears and a spear piercing my heart. Fear swelled in me with a superhuman roar and immediately extinguished any inklings of fatigue that remained. With a sense of urgency Id never felt before, I flung her door open. The unrecognizable form sitting on my sisters bed had a swollen nose and red, watery eyes. After seeing me, her mouth transformed into her trademark beautiful smile and beckoned me into the empty space in her bed. We huddled under the covers and a shield of love and laughter protected us from the darkness of the world that encased us. We sat together, talking away, for our demons and fears had no power against us when we were together with our words of assurance and profound insights. We swept over the highest of summits and skimmed the billowing, foaming sea, feet never touching the earth. Our conversations took us to the uninhabited and unexplored corners of the world. Finally, dawns golden robes shone through the window and heralded a new day. We slowly descended downward and let a harsher reality take

us over. A tacit agreement followed me as I silently skimmed the floors of our hallways back to my room. The details of that night would remain in the cover of darkness that we had trapped it into. They would be secrets for us to treasure and for outsiders to envy. Lets be clear. In no way are all of the interactions with my sister positive ones. A childhood riddled with hair pulling, name calling, and petty competition brings forth the idea that even when we hate each other, we love each other. Oh, the stories I could tell about the car rides we have had. Heres what you need to know. Fifteen minutes into any car ride, the two of us begin to get restless. Arguments break out over the smallest of actions and screaming easily ensues. Anger becomes all-consuming and, eventually, irrational when it is directed towards a sibling (a sentiment which Im sure many of you understand). And then finally, silence. Time is slow, but we both eventually pass out in exhaustion. My head falls on my sisters lap and she doesnt fight it. Instead, I feel her fall on my back and let her fatigue get the best of her. None of the anger is resolved but sisterhood grants you a power to put it aside and live outside the touch of time for a little while. Sisters are guide posts throughout our lives. Its inevitable. Sisters will have a profound effect on your life because they offer a kind of freedom that is not available to just anyone. We are allowed to share our inner most thoughts, ask for an infinite amount of favors, and be our unfettered, fundamental self. The ties that bind you together fasten not to your wrists, but rather to your hearts. Its an inseparable fusing of two personalities into one. They are our counselors, fellow conspirators, and diaries. While most believe love to be the strongest force in the word, I believe it to be sisterhood.

Volume 13, issue 1

43

YOUTH CONTEST Should we learn to live with natural calamities?

The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami left millions stranded and displaced The to from great have their home, demolishing property from Africa to Thailand. estimated earthquake, released the which generated the tsunami, is energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, sending waves at the speed of a jet airliner. Hurricane Katrina oversaw one of the deadliest hurricanes and social humanitarian crisis in the United States. It ravaged nearly 93,000 square miles and caused the citizens of New Orleans to have a rate of posttraumatic stress that was ten times higher than the general public. In the 2009 almost Haiti all Earthquake, officials for a calamity and providing disaster relief. For example, a coastal community may be completely focused on fishing to provide means of living, but a hurricane will ruin the ecosystem. To avoid a breakdown, the government should have immediate housing in a nearby city for citizens. Simultaneously, they must be available to providing credit to allow citizens to revitalize their businesses. This assistance from the government keeps the economy in check and prevents looting and

by kailash sundaramam, mo

human race each and every time. When man needed to hunt for meals, he learnt how to make spears. When man needed faster methods of copying than by hand for quicker learning, he invented the printing press. When man needed to travel long distances quickly for business and war, he invented the plane. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we will find ways to prevent cataclysms in the future. We should begin our campaign to halting natural calamities by not contributing towards climate change. This begins by drastically altering

$75 Contest Winner

our economic system, which currently rewards production without regard to the environmental impact. The world has become a materialisticoriented place, where we claim that we sincerely care for the environment, when we continue to

commercial building fell due to poor earthquake preparedness. Aid workers had trouble getting into the city as a result of poor communication systems in Haiti. None of these calamities could have been avoided. But the magnitude of these damages could have been reduced if the citizens and communities were prepared. Thats why we must learn to live with natural calamities. Preparedness is the key to minimizing damage during a crisis. Preparedness prevents loss of life. For each life we save, we save a family. Moreover, being prepared means having plans for the economy of an area after a natural disaster. Governments, communities, and citizens should set aside a segment of their budget towards preparing citizens and But simply learning to live with natural calamities is only a temporary solution; we must prevent catastrophes from natural events in the future. Throughout history, man has invented things as his need for them arose, and has advanced the The state government needs to discern what disasters are most common in the area and urge citizens to prepare for the calamity in advance. Citizens should implement a family plan, identifying emergency routes and places to meet each other following the emergency. vandalism among citizens.

buy plastic water bottles when we have fine tap water and reusable bottles in our houses. We need to boycott goods such as plastic water bottles, and enforce regulations that products be or classified disastrous as: to environmentally friendly, harm to environment, environment. People who continue to buy items of harm or items that are disastrous will be taxed a significant price of the item by the federal government. Next, we need to reduce global reliance on coal the enemy to the human race. This begins While with the President Obama.

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March 2012

president has made it clear that we must find a renewable resource, he has yet to do much on that topic. The President must implement numerous grants available for the research of renewable resource and prevention of natural cataclysms. Additionally, each college must have a certain number of graduates focusing on identifying various alternatives to coal and stopping natural catastrophe. We c an als o reduce g lo b al

used the same industrial urgency they used to produced tanks and bombers in World War II. In addition to reducing human-

Humans have to learn to live with natural calamities, minimizing the damage it creates. This is something we cant avoid, and if we arent prepared, were going to pay the price of our misbehavior in the form of lives and a destabilized economy. Any person in this world can make a significant difference no matter their race, creed, or origin. A person who could be the next President of America, a quarterback in the Super Bowl, or a non-profit organization founder could perish in the series of unfortunate events. We should definitely learn to live with natural calamities for the time being; in the long term, we need solutions to these disasters that have the capacity to affect the world.

induced natural catastrophes, there seems to be a way we can foil a couple of naturally occurring disasters. In the past twenty years, scientists have figured out what temperature and pressure disturbances in the atmosphere will divert an incoming hurricane. Floods can be prevented by the creation of flood plains and winding streams, as they provide a route for the drainage of water. By working on conserving our wetlands, to we are a allowing natural ourselves maintain

dependency on coal by pumping out new wind turbines. According to Lester Brown, founder of we the could Worldwatch Institute,

generate 3 million megawatts (40% of the world's energy needs) of wind power by 2020 if the United States

drainage system.

The NANAL Team sincerely thanks the following budding Nagarathars for their participation in youth contest
Abinaya Thenappan, CA Arun Palaniappan Seattle, WA Ashwin Ramanathan, CA Babloo Palani, MO Kailash Sundaram, Cupertino, CA Karthik Meyyappan, Seattle, WA Keerthana Velappan, NC Perry Alagappan, TX Ramupriya Vaithi, Atlanta, GA Ramya Palaniappan, MO Sreya Sevugan, Seattle, WA Vineeth Thirunavu, Appleton, WI

Participated in the Youth Contest? Need a Community Service Recognition Letter? Please send your complete postal mailing address to suku.planner@yahoo.com by no later than April 30, 2012 and we will send you the letter within four weeks of your email receipt.

Volume 13, issue 1

45

NANAL COMMITTEE REPORT

suku v. sukumar, nj

ime passes by rapidly! It is already two years since my team and I took over the reins of our organizations only publication, the NANAL. No doubt that our newsletter-magazine interlaces us with our friends and relatives across the regions, enables us to learn of Nagarathar events happening in this continent, and thereby, brings all of us closer to our hearts and minds. On this first and final report of the NANAL Committee, Id like to reminisce the key changes that my team brought to bear to you. Also, I take this opportunity to thank those individualsincluding my dear team memberswithout whose continual support, we would not have reached the heights that we ascended today.

content, we introduced the theme, , and published cover stories that are of interest to our community. We carried regular columns on Business & Finance, Home & Food, Health & Fitness, Culture & Religion, and Children & Youth. We also introduced Tamil short stories. We sincerely hope that you are really content with the current NANAL content. Of all the committees in the NSNA organization, the only committee that has a steady outflow of expenditure is the NANAL. During our term, we have made a conscious effort to raise funds and to tow the expenses under the revenue line. In an effort toward accelerating the revenue, we booked ads for multiple issues and canvassed actively for sponsorships. Our efforts have paid off and the NANAL revenue exceeds expenditure by $700.

Thank You Sponsors

I take this moment to express my gratitude to those sponsors who have supported generously through (repeat) ads and other means. Specifically, the following people need special mention:
Dr. P. Chokalingam, FL Venkatachalam Veerapan, DC Dr. A. Periakaruppan, NY Kannan Arumugam, NJ Chandrasekar Meyappan, NJ Annamalai Sambanthan, NJ Siva Singaram, NJ Ramu Venkatachalm, NJ

Thank You Columnists

To make sure that we provide varieties in terms of content and style, we have reached out to Sethuraman Sathappan of AGM Operations, Scotia Bank, Mumbai, for writing articles related to NRIs and investments. Mr. SP.VR. Subbiah of Coimbatore was kind enough to allow us republish his short stories from his wellreceived book,
.

Our Accomplishments
When we assumed our responsibilities back in 2010, our NSNA President and Vice-President said that the new team would raise the bar and take the organization (NSNA) to the next level. I hope that my team has done its part, raised to the occasion, and has lived up to their expectation. During our term, we have indeed made a striking difference in the way the newsletter-magazine is being composed, edited, published, delivered, and consumed. First and foremost, with the help of the Web Committee, we have made the content submission easier and faster through our website, www.achi.org. Next, as a step toward encouraging our budding Nagarathars, we have rolled out a youth contest on current/hot topics that concern our youngsters. We promised that they would get a credit of volunteer hours for their community service which can be used toward their college application. On the look-and-feel, we standardized the font style, color scheme, page layout, and topical sections. As part of enriching the

We are proud to share that NANAL has become fully self-sufficient and didnt draw any money from the NSNA General Fund. In fact, we are handing over to CA Team with a surplus! To contain the rising postage costs, we have registered the organization with the US Post Office for bulk-mailing under the non-profit status. Since March 2011, we ship all the printed copies to one location and then mail the 550+ copies individually by following the strict banding and bagging guidelines enforced by the USPS. The switching of mailing has resulted in a net saving of about $800 per quarter. Also, with the active support from the NSNA EC, we limited the mailing of quarterly issues only to members of the NSNAwhich resulted in a saving of another $500 per quarter. In truth, this bold step (of limiting to members only) has forced some non-members to become members and has helped the Membership Committee to drive the membership campaign even more convincingly than before.

Besides the above two, we have seen Kathir Subbiah and Alagu Vairavan both from CAcontributing regularly to the NANAL.

Thank You Jury

You might recall that every contest essay that has been written by our Nagarathar youth has been evaluated for their content, context, syntax, and semantics. The Nagarathars behind the assessment who have come from different walks of life and age, have taken extra care to objectively evaluate our childrens essays. They are:

Dr. M. Thenmozhi, IIT, Chennai Geetha Alagappan, TX Siva Singaram, NJ Ram Arunachalam, NJ Nithya Vaduganathan, OH

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March 2012

Thank You My Team

The NANAL in its current form and format would have been simply not possible without the innumerable hours of work expended by my team. Several times, during the past two years, they have set aside their personal chores and volunteered their time for this selfless cause. Since we wanted that every aspect of publishing from content capture and assembly through printing and deliveryis fully covered and well supported, very early on in the game, we decided to add our spouses as well into the team. The girl behind the NANAL covers is our creative specialist, Shanthi Chidambaram. With her imaginative touch, she elevated the standards of the NANAL cover to that of a professional magazine. Besides the cover, our cover girl has taken over the section, Home & Food, and brought out very interesting perspectives and contrasting stories on our cooking and lifestyle under our theme,
.

coordinating the Children & Youth section including the youth contest and volunteer hours. She has been the one who followed up with youth contest jury and made sure that essays are assessed impartially and awards are distributed as promised. Announcements was one of the sections that was acclaimed by many readers. I take pride in announcing the name behind this column: Valli Palaniappan. She did an amazing job of presenting a consolidated view of births, graduations, weddings, and other events across the regions. In todays world where both the spouses have to work for a comfortable living, our lives have become more stressful than that of our ayyas, aayas, and appathas. Thanks to Mala Sukumar for bringing out relevant topics and useful tips under the section, Health & Fitness, for leading a healthy life in todays environment. Ram Sundaram brought out varieties of stories under the section, Culture & Religion. His story on Ravanas previous births was worth mentioning here. At the same breadth, I need to note that Akila Elango and Meena Chidambaram have captured the hearts of many through their Ask Achis column. Chidambaram Lakshmanan and Arun Muthukaruppan have taken the role of content coordinators and were instrumental in gathering the content in a timely fashion and sorting them into topical sections to facilitate content assembly.

Any print publishing flow doesnt end with just assembly. Once the content is fully laid out and QCed, it is time for printing. Chidambaram Palaniappan, our liaison with print-vendor, worked with printing staff in India, sat on top of the issues, and made sure that printing and shipping happen as scheduled. Since he is a C.A., he has been volunteered to act as the CFO for the NANAL. He worked closely with the NSNA Finance Team and made sure that (NANAL) receivables are collected and accounts are reconciled. Annamalai Natarajan and Selvi Annanamali were useful additions to the NANAL Family. Midway during our term, we felt the need of adding a new family to the team due to the increased workload. Since their induction, the newly weds have helped us in several wayscontributing to our cover story, collecting tidbits, covering the Retreat events, and many more. I would do injustice to the team, if I fail to recognize my co-chair, Pal Kathiresan, who has been shouldering the overall responsibility of the NANAL publishing along with me. He has been there for me when I needed the mostbe it when I was away for a prolonged business trip or when I was busy assembling the issues he was there at critical times interviewing cover story celebrities, providing pertinent context to content, resolving missing and duplicate addresses, giving guidance to the team, and above all, personally handling the laborious process of sorting, banding, and bagging the printed copies prior to mailing them through the USPS. Since our first meeting on November 1, 2009, the NANAL Teams meetings have become more of a family get-together and we have become ONE family. I have to say this to you: our engagement with this selfless social work has brought us only closer and relationships have grown thicker. In fact, we are even thinking of getting involved in something bigger and greater for the betterment of our Nagarathar community.

Our technical needs are amply fulfilled by the enthusiastic Nagarathar, Elango Chidambaram. Because of his practical prowess on technological tools, rest of the team was able to focus on their content publishing flows and activities. He was our conduit to the Web Committee and took care of the NANAL section of the site. As he is naturally inclined toward Tamil literaturewhich is evident from naming his son as Mukilanhe also helped us with Tamil transcriptions and translations. While the overall cover story work was split amongst many individuals, Purnima Palaniyandi has taken the lead role and written key parts of the storyline for several editions. She eloquently brought out the nostalgic aspects of our ancestors traditions () and contrasted against todays fastpaced lifestyle (). Deepa Ramanathan has taken the sole responsibility of Volume 13, issue 1

47

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT

Dear Nagarathars, Wish you all happy and prosperous New Year & Happy Pongal 2012! We would like to thank NSNA for giving us an opportunity to serve our Nagarathar community for the 2010-2011 term. In past two years with support of Regional secretaries and Nagarathar members, NSNA membership has increased more than 20%. We have added 83 new Life members and 70 new Annual members totaling of 153 members during our term. The jump in new membership has surpassed prior terms and has far exceeded our initial goals and expectations. Total registered members at achi.org grew from 1008 to 1902. Our sincere thanks to all the Regional Secretaries for their active cooperation and spirited work during the 2010-2011 term to make these memberships possible. Annual members dont forget to renew your membership for this year or better yet upgrade to Life membership as it is a onetime payment. Non members - Did you know that your membership fee is tax deductible? Sign up now and become a NSNA member and support the community. Once again, thank you for your participation in serving Nagarathar community and together we can do more. We want to congratulate the new EC Team. We hope you will extend the same support to the new team! Sincerely, 2010-11 NSNA Membership Committee

babu nagappan & ram arunachalam

Life Membership Trend

Membership Data by Region for 2010-11

Periakaruppan (Babu) Nagappan, Membership Chair

Ram Arunachalam, Membership Co-Chair

48

March 2012

NSNA sincerely thanks

Mr. Annamalai Sambandhan, Alamu, Vignesh, and Kailash

from New Jersey

for their contribution of $2,500 toward the NSNA General Fund

NSNA sincerely thanks

Mr. Yegappan Lakshmanan from Michigan

RM.Y. CT. Y. Chinthamani Achi

for his contribution of $2,500 toward the NSNA EndowmentGreater Chettinad Fund

WEB COMMITTEE REPORT

arun somasundaram
sending it using postal mail. This also helped education committee to screen the applicants more effectively. Marriage Assistance Application Nagarathar applicants in India are now able to apply electronically for marriage assistance in achi.org. They are able to upload their details such as marriage invitation and recommendation letters on the web immediately rather than sending it using postal mail. This also helped marriage committee to screen the applicants more effectively. Nagarathar Wiki & ForumThese social networking features are used for communication among Nagarathars. Currently the wiki has information on Nagarathar history/customs/recipes etc. The forums were mostly used for communicating regional events. We believe that both of these features have a lot of potential to grow in the future. Regional Sangam PageUsed for providing updates to members in a region (such as Pillayar Nonbu, Diwali updates etc.). The regional reps have special privileges to download the details of members from their region. Nagarathar download for other executive committeesThe members of certain executive committees can download member and non member information from the web. This feature is

wo years ago, web committee and even other North American Nagarathars, had one dream. Connecting Nagarathars via achi.org. We would humbly say, not for mere publicity, we've progressed towards this dream. The web committee would like to thank the fellow Nagarathars for helping us in racing through every milestone. Taking a ride in reverse gear and going back two years ago, it has been a challenging journey to come to where we are now. Nagarathars always like challenges. Don't they? Yes, web committee was exposed to content management system (CMS), Drupal, for the first time. After doing substantial analysis and research, the web team decided to redesign the achi.org using this CMS. There was a steep learning curve involved for many team members, but the effort didn't go in vain, as the website is populated with abundant content than ever before. How about slice and dice the Nagarathar database maintained in excel spreadsheet and bring on board the new system? We responded, Yes, it can be done. Within few months, we created an information system to centralize all Nagarathar information in one place. In addition we had an opportunity to work with almost every committee to automate some of their manual processes more efficiently. Overall, achi.org got renovated and came out with a big bang!!! This report doesn't do justice to the web team, unless we list the interactive features that

were added to achi.org. Membership Registration using PaypalThis feature helped Nagarathars to register and pay their membership dues on the web thus reducing the need for sending membership applications using postal mail. This feature also helped Nagarathars to manage their profile (e.g., address, emails, etc.) in one centralized location. Nagarathar SearchHelps to search and contact Nagarathars in North America. NANAL on the WebThis application provided an additional option for Nagarathars to submit NANAL articles using the web. This app also helps the NANAL team to manage the workflow for the articles that are submitted on the web. Retreat ApplicationNagarathars around the world were able to register and pay for the 2011 retreat on the web. They were able to register for retreat cultural programs and order retreat DVD on the web. It would not have been possible without the retreat application. Education Assistance Application Nagarathar applicants in India are now able to apply electronically for education assistance in achi.org. They are able to upload their details such as mark sheets, tuition receipt, income proof, scholarship letters on the web immediately rather than

50

March 2012

MARRIAGE COMMITTEE REPORT

baskar ramasamy
goals periodically and have set higher goals and have fulfilled them also. Once again, I have to thank the Marriage Committee Members and their families for making this happen. We knew we were taking on a noble task when we accepted our roles. But actually working for the Marriage Committee, reading the applications submitted to us, calling references to validate applicants and finally receiving the heart felt Thank you notes and the Marriage pictures sent to us have somehow brought a change in us. We have come to realize the priorities and values in life. We would like to sincerely thank the NSNA Selection committee for giving us such an opportunity. Being part of Marriage Committee has changed us for the better! We have learnt to appreciate the value of Money, help each other in times of need, take on responsibilities and fulfill them successfully, develop lasting friendships, interact with Nagarathars from other states and most importantly have fun. We have come to love this so much that we are almost reluctant to let go of it! But it is only fair that others should also have a turn in experiencing it. We welcome Team California with warm hearts! We are there for you to ensure a smooth transition and for any other help you may need.

here did the years fly by? It is hard to believe that it has really been 2 years since our Marriage Committee was organized. And what a wonderful time this has been! Please join us as we take a walk down memory lane. When we decided to become the Marriage Committee the two facts constantly pointed out to us were fund raising and the amount of work involved. We have to say that these feats loomed before us like mountains!! But any task becomes simple with Plan and Execution (The P and E of the business world!) We decided to apply that to our new roles and responsibilities. We started with Task 2 Tackling the volume of work! What we needed was a capable and hardworking team. And boy, did we get it!! I cannot stress my appreciation for the team members and their families. Our Marriage Committee would not have been this successful without each and everyones valuable contribution. The monthly meetings have gone much further than a usual Marriage Committee meeting. We always have wonderful food, friends to hang out with (cannot forget shopping for local goodies) and chat, chat, chat away to our hearts content! The most interesting fact here is that our kids love these meetings more than we do!! Thank you NSNA for giving us this memorable opportunity!! Tackling Task 1: Fund Raising. Looking back, we now have a hearty laugh for even considering this a task! Our most innovative Saree Drive caught everyones attention and brought funds pouring in from all directions! Honestly the Drive enabled us to reach out to so many of you which we would have found almost embarrassing otherwise. We are also truly indebted to all the regional Pillayar Nombu Yelam contributors for generously donating towards the Marriage Committee. We now realize that we have achieved our goals so fast that we have re-evaluated our

General Statistics:
Marriages Assisted (as of Dec 2011) : Approximately 150 Fund Collected (as of Dec 2011) : Approximately $30,000 Sarees Distributed to Donors (Saree Drive) : Approximately 45

(Continued from previous pageWeb Committee Report)

helpful for gathering statistics about the members and non members and in downloading addresses for mailing NANAL. The snapshot images below are taken from the weekly Google analytics report on achi.org. The snapshot reflects website traffic during a week in the recent past. Sharing this information, we didnt want this report to be a success story, but more of an inspiration for volunteers to hop on and serve Nagarathar community. On a concluding note, We wish the new web team, all success. There is no doubt, the new web team under leadership of Mr. Manikumar Nagappan will take achi.org to newer heights. Arun Somasundaram, NJ

Volume 13, issue 1

51

EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT

We would like to highlight important changes we brought in this year. Increased the scholarship amount to match higher cost of education The present structure gives: 30,000 for a professional candidate No change in scholarship amount for returning (2nd, 3rd &4th year) students Improved the selection process to choose the best candidate. Focus is on Quality and Not Quantity Total number students selected for 2011 is 238. the eligible, deserving candidates but also everyone from other committees especially the fund raising committee helped us to raise funds to achieve our goal. We have built a transparent selection process and this process ensures that the deserving, eligible students are supported from our community. I would like to point out the help provided by our treasurers, Annamalai Sambanthan and Kathiresan Lakshmanan to overcome the issues we encountered during the disbursement because of the bank issues, the effort by Kaveri Kumarappan, Uthaman Chitsabesan and Kathir Meena in reconciliation of the selected candidates for postal address, Nachiappan Muthukaruppans great help in eliminating the duplicate applications and

muthiah sundaresan
selection process, Sivagami Swami and Ramu Ganapathys help in overall selection process was commendable. With very aggressive time line, Kathir Meena and Uthaman Chitsabesan were instrumental in working with the treasurers in getting the checks disbursed. It is important to recognize that everyone in the EC committee had a greater influence in generating the funds. We also like thank our entire donors for their support and without their support, we could not have done this. Thanks and hope this continues in the following years.

Not only we recognize the good, sincere effort by all committee members to select

NSNA Education Committee sincerely thanks

NSNA Education Committee sincerely thanks

Mr. Nachiappan Muthukaruppan and his Family from New Jersey

for their contribution of $1125.57 toward the NSNA Education Fund

Mr. Kumarappan Annamalai, Kaveri, and Keerthan from New York

for their contribution of $1001 toward the NSNA Education Fund

52

March 2012

FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Dear Nagarathars, We would like to thank you all for providing a great opportunity for us to serve our community. We also would like to thank the previous Texas treasury team for doing a great job. We had a two great years with all of your support. Here are highlights of some of our accomplishments during the term.

annamalai sambanthan, nj & kathiresan lakshmananan, nj

NSNA asset to $660,405 during our period. All these would not have been possible without the help of lot of our folks in all the regions. We would like to take this opportunity to thank few individuals who helped us during the two year term.

Total Assets Received from Previous Term 2010-11 Contributions/Revenue 2010-11 Expenses 2010-11 Increase in Net Assets Total Assets as of Feb, 2012

$506,581 $594,824 $441,000 $153,824 $660,405

Non-Profit Status in India

NSNA is registered as a local entity in India opened two Accounts in ICICI. One for receiving donations in India and another one to receive foreign contributions (FCRA Account) We have applied with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in India to get approval for transferring funds from USA bank accounts to ICICI FCRA account. We are expecting that we will receive the prior/temp permission from MHA in next couple of months. Once we receive this prior permission, we can operate this account in India. We have applied with Internal Revenue Department in India to get tax exemption status, and we are expecting to receive the exemption certificate in May 2012.

Mr. Sevugan Chetty, New York , served as a joint treasurer for a year and helped us in various treasury activities Mr. Selvanathan Lakshmanan, New Jersey for Internal Audit Mr. Chidarmabaram Palaniappan, NANAL Team, New Jersey for overseeing the NANAL Financials. Mr. Subu Ganesan, Retreat Team, New Jersey for overseeing the Retreat Financials. Mr. Venktachalam Venkatachalam & Mr. Thenappan Alagappan, Fund Raising Team, New Jersey for helping us with Fund Raising. Special thanks to Mr. Sundar Chockalingam, Washington DC, for expediting the ICICI account creation for NSNA local entity in India Mr. Kathiresan Solaiappan & Mr. Uthaman Chitesabesan for helping us with Education Committee Check Issuance Process. All Regional Secretaries for helping us raise funds and keep track of the local contributions to NSNA Last but not least, we would like to thank all 2010-11 EC committee members for their phenomenal support and co-operation for the past two years. Once again thank you all and signing off Annamalai Sambanthan & Kathiresan Lakshmanan

Accounting Maintenance
We have improved the account keeping process to capture greater detailed information by tracking all our accounts and transactions using Non-Profit accounting software. To avoid reinventing the wheel, we have created a treasury manual to capture all treasury related work and processes to the make the transition and work of Future Treasury teams much easier.

Financial Snapshots
Despite of the economic slowdown, we received donations from all of you very generously. Thank you all and as our community tradition, we have proved that giving is part of our culture When we took over the term, we received $506,581 as NSNA Financial asset. We are glad to announce that we have increased the Volume 13, issue 1

53

FINANCE REPORT

by annamalai sambanthan and kathiresan lakshmananan

Past Period Current Period Accrual Basis Nov. 2011Feb. 2012

Statement of Financial Position2012

Accrual Basis Mar. 2010Oct. 2011

ASSETS Checking/Savings Bank of America CD Capital One Checking Capital One Money Market ING Savings SBI-Savings Accounts Receivable Total Checking/Savings TOTAL ASSETS $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 51,617.35 274,347.24 125,633.39 242,363.17 455.98 694,417.13 694,417.13 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 51,682.28 93,190.40 265,799.78 242,733.21 7,000.00 660,405.67 660,405.67

LIABILITIES & EQUITY FANS Accounts Payable - Other Answer Scholarship Special Projects - Restricted Karaikudi Educational Center Fund Total Liabilities Permanently Restricted Net Assets Dynamic Scholarship Fund Greater Chettinadu Fund Health & Humanitarian Fund Marriage Fund Merit Scholarship Total Permanently Restricted Net Assets Unrestricted Net Assets Net Assets as of July 2011 Change in Net Assets (Aug -Oct 2011) Net Assets as of Oct 2011 Change in Net Assets (Aug -Oct 2011) Total Unrestricted Net Assets $ 319,473.51 $ $ 328,228.47 (8,754.96) $ $ $ 319,473.51 (167,838.72) 151,634.79 $ $ $ $ $ $ 146,347.00 79,250.00 46,072.00 47,000.00 42,500.00 361,169.00 $ $ $ $ $ $ 195,347.00 130,750.00 67,072.00 68,000.00 42,500.00 503,669.00 $ $ $ $ $ $ 2,551.88 2,210.74 3,500.00 4,512.00 1,000.00 13,774.62 $ $ $ $ $ $ 2,551.88 50.00 1,500.00 1,000.00 5,101.88

TOTAL Liabilities & Assets

694,417.13

660,405.67 March 2012

54

Statement of Activities2012
Revenues, Gains, Other Support Contributions Income Education General Health & Humanitarian Marriage Religious Special Projects NANAL - Ad Revenue NANAL - General 2011 Retreat Total Contributions Income Membership Dues 2009 Retreat Sponsorship Currency Gain/Loss Interest Income Total Revenues, Gains, Other Support Expense Program Expense Education Assistance Health & Humanitarian Assistance Marriage Assistance Special Projects Special Projects Admin Fees (Transfer to Income) Religious 2009 Retreat 2011 Retreat Total Program Expense NANAL Expense Printing Charges Postage Charges Youth Contest March 2010 Issue (Balance Paid by NY-NJ-CT Team) Total NANAL Expense Other Expense Address Book Printing (Balance Paid) Bank Service Charges Credit Card Fee International Wire Transfer Fee Pay Pal Transaction Fees Software Postage and Delivery Donor Recognition (Awards) Regional Expense NJ State Government Fees Professional Fees Marriage Fund Drive Expenses Refund Write Off Stale Checks General Liability Insurance Total Other Expense TOTAL Expense Endowment Funds (Transfer) Dynamic Scholarship Fund Greater Chettinadu Fund Health & Humanitarian Fund Marriage Fund TOTAL Endowments (Transfer) Increase (Decrease) in Unrestricted Net Assets

Past Period Accrual Basis Mar. 2010Oct. 2011

Current Period Accrual Basis Nov. 2011Feb. 2012

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

95,815.32 29,679.25 10,906.00 26,106.25 4,200.00 34,743.00 10,637.50 2,826.00 231,867.49 446,780.81 18,175.00 250.00 (390.32) 7,176.59 471,992.08

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

54,552.50 16,282.03 1,379.00 4,657.00 28,325.43 3,425.00 11,876.25 135.00 120,632.21 3,600.00 (2,001.15) 601.36 122,832.42

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

35,607.00 3,605.74 16,548.82 33,508.45 350.00 2,251.00 499.00 160,371.33 252,741.34 13,699.53 9,905.00 500.00 3,363.22 27,467.75 1,681.61 451.29 786.09 115.00 760.37 439.98 479.11 1,139.38 1,525.00 325.00 6,430.00 704.60 225.00 (3,051.34) 609.00 12,620.09 292,829.18 5,000.00 2,592.00 7,592.00 171,570.90

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

101,700.47 2,285.00 8,933.69 27,381.65 752.85 72.88 141,126.54 2,554.72 1,476.75 600.00 4,631.47 39.70 185.95 831.22 150.00 3,385.00 182.00 (2,360.74) 2,413.13 148,171.14 49,000.00 51,500.00 21,000.00 21,000.00 142,500.00 (167,838.72)

Interesting Facts
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church.
Dolphins sleep with one eye open!

A hummingbird weighs less than a penny! Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying! No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable!

The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.

Answers to Childrens Puzzle

The man takes Goat across (leaving the wolf and cabbage behind) He returns alone He takes Wolf across He returns with Goat We now have the man, the Cabbage and the Goat on one side and the Wolf on the other side He takes Cabbage across He returns alone He takes Goat across He has accomplished taking all three to the other side! :) March 2012

The grandfather, father and the son went fishing. They were only 3 but they are 2 fathers and 2 sons.

The answer is four. Although there are many socks in the drawer, there are only three colors, so if you take four socks then you are guaranteed to have at least one matching pair.

56

Illustration on the map by Shanthi Chidambaram

Deadline for all the articles and regional reports for the June 2012 Issue April 15, 2012
For article submission guidelines, please refer to www.achi.org/faq/nanal-faq

Add some spice to your life!

Birthdays, Graduations, Wedding Receptions: We cater all occasions!

Anjappar Chettinad 2186 US 130 North Brunswick, NJ 08902 732-297-FOOD (3663) www.anjapparusa.com Anjappar Express 849 Green Street Iselin, NJ 08830 732-636-2552 www.anjapparexpress.com
NJ 08540 7 Lexington Court Princeton,

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