President

Secretary
Nair Service Society, Kuwait Nair Service Society, Kuwait

Nair Service Society Kuwait is remembering Sri. Mannathu Padmanabhan,

who is acclaimed as Samudayacharyan, on the occasion of his 134th birth
anniversary, on 28th January 2011.

It is not necessary to descent into the details of Mannam as his life is

an open book. His struggle was not only for the upliftment of Nair
community, but for all communities who lived in that era and hence he
was known as Bharatha Kesari, a title conferred on him by the people of
Kerala.

On this auspicious occasion, we are greeting all members and well

wishers of Nair Service Society(NSS), Kuwait for the continued support
in conducting this function as a memorable event.

Jai Hind Jai NSS

 Dr. G Madhavan Nair

Born on October 31, 1943 at Neyyattinkara near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Graduated in Engineering from
College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, (Kerala University) in 1966 and underwent training at Bhabha
Atomic Research Center (BARC), Bombay.

Dr. Nair joined Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1967. Since then, he has held various
positions posting illustrious milestones on his way to the position of Chairman, ISRO. During his tenure as Chairman,
25 successful missions were accomplished including Mission Chandrayan.

In his tenure as the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre from 1995-99, Indi’s efforts towards indigenous
development of cryogenic technology took concrete shape and vital infrastructures were built and critical technologies
were developed.

In his role as the Director of VSSC from 1999 till he took over as Chairman, Dr. Nair led VSSC, the largest Centre of
ISRO with about six thousand employees working in various engineering and scientific disciplines towards the
development of India’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – GSLV. He was also responsible for charting the
road map for future development of ISRO’s activities, especially in the launch vehicle area targeting low cost access to
space.

He has taken initiatives towards development of futuristic technologies to enhance the space systems capabilities as well
as to reduce the cost of access to space. He has given major thrust for evolving application programmes such as
tele-education and telemedicine for meeting the needs of society at large. As on today, more than 31,000 classrooms
have been connected under the EDUSAT network and telemedicine is extended to 315 hospitals. He has initiated
schemes for Village Resource Centres through satellite connectivity which aims at improving the quality of life of the
poor people in the villages.

In the international arena, Dr. Nair has led the Indian delegations for bilateral cooperation and negotiations with many
Space Agencies and Countries, especially with France, Russia, Brazil, Israel, etc.

Dr. Nair’s focus has always been to achieve self-reliance in the high technology areas and to bring the benefits of space
technology to the national development, specially targeting the needs of the rural and poor sections of the society.

Many honorary awards, doctorates and fellowships were conferred on Dr. Nair from different Universities and Scientific
Academies of India. National recognitions received include Padma Bhushan in 1998 and the Country’s second highest
civilian award Padma Vibhushan in the year 2009.
Thiruvizha Jayashankar
Belongs to a traditional family of musicians. His father Raghava
Panicker and grandfather Sankara Panicker were professional
nagaswaram vidwans. He was initiated into music by his
grandfather. He performed his debut nagaswaram concert at
the age of 14. He won first prize in the All India Radio (AIR)
National Contest. He joined RLV Academy for Ganabhushan-
am, Chittoor College, Palakkad for BA degree in music and Swati Tirunal Academy of music for Gana
Praveena. He served AIR as a program announcer for three decades and he says with gratitude that
opportunities to meet great musicians, to listen to their performances, chances for hearing old gems etc
influenced him and nurtured his taste. After retirement, he restarted painting which was his second
love. His portrayal of ragas in acrylic are different and are well received. Jayashankar was conferred
the title of Kalaimamani Isai Perarinjar, Kala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award and Fellowship and

Karunamoorthy
the Guruvayoor Puraskaram.

Karunamoorthy started learning Tavil at the age of ten from Narayana

Panicker of Haripad. After three years of initial learning, he started his higher
lessons with Tanjavur Govindaraj and later moved to Tiruvidaimarudur Venkatesh.
Karuna was accepted by maestro Valayapatti Subramanian who helped him
learn the advanced lessons in Tavil. He was later under the tutorship of
another maestro Mannarcudi Vasudevan. After playing with many maestros in
India, Karuna shifted to a more global perspective in Music and performed
in various prestigious concerts in India and abroad. He has also conducted
several workshops for drummers and percussionists while in Europe. As a Tavil
exponent, Karuna blends well with the multi-genre, multi-discipline music and
dance shows organized in various countries by Soorya Cultural Society.
Karuna has the distinction of having played in over 1500 stages around
the world. In 2008 he was bestowed with the prestigious honour
Asthana Vidwan of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetom for his meritorious
service to the traditional Indian music. Apart from his Indian
students, Karuna teaches several foreign students who were attracted
by the mesmerising power of Tavil that he played.

Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan
Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan was born on June 1, 1969 in Chathannoor village,
Palakkad District. Being a member of a family of artists, he had the added advantage
of obtaining basic lessons of dance form at the very tender age. After his primary
education, he joined Kerala Kalamandalam for learning Ottamthullal. He had
the opportunity to undergo training and practice under various veteran artists
in the field in Kalamandalam. After his studies, in April 2002, he joined as Ottamthullal
teacher in Kerala Kalamandalam. He is a post diploma holder in Ottamthullal
and has been performing Ottamthullal in India and abroad for the past 22 years.
During his long stint in Ottamthullal, he had also visited and performed in
various countries like UK, Scotland, Ireland, UAE etc. He has opened an
Institute in 1997 for performing and other arts and teaching jointly with his
wife Kalamandalm Bindu. They are also conducting classes to students
for Ottamthullal, Bharatha Natyam, Mohini Attam, Kutchipudi, musical
Instruments etc.