Category: News and Events

Venue: Bromley Parish Church, Church Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2 0EG
Time: 5:00 PM to 10:30 PM Dec 30th 2017

The LNS Pillayar Nombu was held as per the LNS tradition at Bromley Parish Church, Church Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2 0EG. Members started arriving from 4:30 pm onwards and the event lasted until 10.30 pm. The meeting was attended by 66 families (nearly 130 adults and 60 children), which was an amazing turnout.

As new a initiative, our Sangam children were involved in doing the “Nadu Veetu Kollam”. Kudos to the team for for drawing such beautiful kollam. Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram welcomed all the LNS members for coming. The LNS children were given the opportunity to talk about our Nagarathar temples and traditions. Thereafter the event was initiated by lighting the kuthu vilakku by Mrs Annapoorani Achi along with Mrs Vasantha Achi and Mrs Sivagami Achi. This was followed by a prayer song by our children. Following the prayer song, Pillaiyar Nonbu ellais’ were given by Mr Thiagarajan, Mr Shanmugam and Dr Manibabu.

After all the members had the ellai, our traditional yellam was conducted by Mr Karuppiah ,Mr S. Senthilnathan and Mr Sendhil Ramanathan. This year our yellam amount reached a new target of £4653. Details of yellam items is as follows:

• Nattu chakkarai – Mr & Mrs. Thenappan, £101
• Karkandu – Mrs. Sivakami Achi, £201
• Rock salt – Mr & Mrs. Kumar Muthalagappan, £501
• Table salt – Mr & Mrs. Karthik Swaminathan, £101
• Manjal – Mr & Mrs. Kumar Muthalagappan, £1001
• Coconut – Mr & Mrs. Lakshmanan Somasundaram, £101
• Lime – Mrs. and Mr C.Nachiappan, £101
• Pattu Saree and Vesti – Mr & Mrs. Valliappan Ramanathan, £101
• Kamatchi vilakku – Mr & Mrs. Sendhil Ramanathan, £101
• Silver tumbler – Mr & Mrs. Manikandan Chidhambaram, £181
• Silver house – Mr & Mrs. Senthil Panayappan, £241
• Silver Tulasi Madam – Mr & Mrs. Muthiah Muthukumar, £75
• Silver Pillayar – Mr & Mrs. Karthik Swaminathan, £401
• Silver Kukumachimil – Mr & Mrs. PL.Ramanathan, £201
• Silver Kukumachimil – Mr & Mrs. N.Palaniappan , £151
• Silver Kulavalam Pillai – Mr & Mrs. Karthik Swaminathan, £351
• Silver Cow & Calf – Mr & Mrs. Saravanan, £271
• Gold Coin (1gm) – Mr & Mrs. Senthil Solayappan, £251
• Gold Coin (1gm) – Mr & Mrs. Venkatachalam Subbiah, £221

The committee would like to thank all the members who won the yellam items and raising money for noble causes to be donated through the Sangam. Members who obtained the yellam items are requested to kindly make their payment by the 20th January to the LNS account (once payment has been made, please advise the LNS Treasurer, Mrs Uma Valliappan), thank you. The Sangam account details are:

Bank: HSBC A/C
Name: London Nagarathar Sangam
Sort Code: 40-06-21
A/C No: 41561847

This year our LNS achi’s had arranged to wear a common saree (coordinated by Mrs. Kaveri Lakshmanan). Nearly two thirds of our Sangam ladies who purchased these sarees (48 sarees) asked to retain the balance amount of £3.50 per saree contributing this to our Charity fund. Thanks to all those members, this resulted in additional charity collection of £168 (apart from yellam collection amount).

The new members introduced themselves. LNS welcomed:

• Mr. Chellappan & Mrs. Usha – Devakottai
• Mr. Somasundaram – Aravayal
• Mr. Muthuraman Alagappan
• Mr. Balaji & Mrs. Meena – Sirukudalpatti
• Mr. Chellappan – Arimalam
• Mr. Karupaiah – Karaikudi
• Mr. Muthaiah & Mrs. Unnamalai – Devakottai
• Mr. Sriram Chokkalingam – Panayapatti
• Mrs. Maruvoor Umaiyarasi – Karungulam

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the Pillaiyar Nonbu events. As a token of appreciation, all the children who participated were awarded with a certificate and gifts.

Singers for Prayer songs

•  Vijay Somu Lakshmanan
• Krithiga Arumugam
• Meenakshi Valliappan
• Manimegalai Rama Chellappan
• Nikitha Palaniappan
• Nagalakshmi Valliappan & Nandhini Sethuraman
• Vignesh Karunamoorthy
• Nithyashree Alagappan
• Janani Shanmugam
• Sanjana Meenakshi SubramaniyamNadu Veetu Kollam
• Varsha – Manikandan Chidambaram
• Nikitha – Palaniappan (Senthi) Ramaswamy
• Nachammai – Manikandan Ramanathan
• Shalini – Sharmila Subbiah
• Nagalakshmi – Valliappan Ramanathan
• Nithya – Chockalingam Natarajan
• Meenakshi – Venkatesh.K
• Veena – Selvaganesan Ramanathan
• Priya – Muthiah M
• Lakshmi – Lakshmanan Somasundaram
• Nachammai – Venkatachalam Subbiah
• Nandhini – Sethuraman

Nagarathar Kovil & Traditions – Young Speakers

•  Veena – Selva Ganesan
•  Nivedha – Manikandan Ramanathan
• Akshay – Lakshmanan Alagappan
• Dakshin – Karunamoorthy Karunanithi
• Ram charan- Chockalingam Natarajan
• Jothi – Kavitha Shanmugam
• Ajay – Raam Palaniappan
• Vijay – Lakshmanan Somasundaram

Thiagarajan annan thanked the existing committee for all their work during the events taking place in this running year of 2017/18. Annan then selected the new committee for next year (year 2018/19) with consensus from all LNS members present at the event. Congratulations to the new committee and we wish them all success:

President Lakshmanan Somasundaram
Secretary Lakshmanan Alagappan
Treasurer Sharmila Subbiah
Committee member Vijay Narayanan
Committee member Kavitha Shanmugam
Webmaster Ashok Chellappan

After this, dinner was served. There was a variety of food items (which included some traditional Nagarathar dishes like vellai paniyaram, karupati paniayaram, masala seeyam, vadai etc) that was a relish. Following dinner, we had group photographs – for children, ladies (great to see with common saree) and gents.

LNS Committee would like to sincerely thank:

• The achi’s (and chettiars) who prepared the delicious food in sufficient quantity
• Mrs Sivagami achi’s effort in preparing the tasty ellai maavu, very much appreciated
• The chettiars who helped to make the elai piddithal on the day and also the volunteers who helped with distributing the ellais’
• The support of Mrs Annapoorani achi for bringing swami pictures and poojai items
• Mr Venkatesh Kanagasabai for helping us bring over the calendars from India
• Mrs Uma Valliappan in purchasing the yellam items
• Mrs Saraswathi Annamalai & Mrs Meenatchi Ashok for coordinating the Nadu Veetu Kollam
• Mr Ashok Chellappan and Miss Kavitha Shanmugam for coordinating the young speakers for the Nagarathar Kovil and Traditions speeches
• Mrs Kaveri Lakshmanan and Mrs Uma Valliappan for helping the kids with the prayer songs
• Mr Annamalai Chockalingam for event registration
• Mr Ashok Chellappan for Photography
• Mr Valliappan on overall help on event registration, ellai pidithal and yellam
• Also a BIG thank you to all members who voluntarily helped to clean up the hall, thank you so much _/\_

Tamil monthly calendars for 2018 were distributed to all the members. We had a calendar voluntary donation of £15 from the members at the event.

Special thanks to our sponsors:

• Mrs Vasantha Shanmugam for the Flowers (Malligai)
• Dr Mani Babu for contributing towards the children’s gifts
• Dr Manickam and Mrs Meena Manickam for the Calendars

Our LNS Pillaiyar Nonbu concluded at 10.30 pm

Our NEXT LNS EVENT – Tamil New Year will be on the 14th April, (Saturday)
Venue and other details will be announced soon.

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Youtube: https://youtu.be/x1re5bNRGLc

Signing off for the final meeting minutes from the current LNS Committee.

Annamalai Chockalingam
LNS Secretary on behalf of LNS Committee 2017-18

Venue: Adeyfield Community Centre, The Queen’s Square, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 4EW
Date/Time: 21st October 2017/2:00PM to 9:30PM

The LNS Deepavali event 2017 was a great celebration in Adeyfield Community Centre. Members started arriving from 2:00pm onwards and the event concluded around 9:30 pm. The event was hosted by our Nagarathar children Nachammai Sekkappan, Lakshmi Lakshmanan, Nagalakshmi Valliappan & Meeakshi Venkatesh with a Live DJ, Magic Show and Caricature artist along with Nagarathar Performances. Around 145 members from across the UK attended this function and made it a grand success.

The event started off with Sivagami Achi & Vasantha Achi lighting the kuththu vilakku followed by a prayer song by our achi’s (Mrs Nithiyakalyani, Mrs Geetha, Mrs Sujatha, Mrs Sivagami and Mrs S. Geetha). This was followed by a welcome speech from the President, Mr. S. Lakshmanan. President introduced the Magician Mr. Steven Brown and the Tamil Live DJ/Singer Mr. Majuran. The Magician started to mingle with our members in small groups, surprising us all with his tricks. Live music and singing by Mr. Majuran and his co-singer entertained the group with lots of melodious songs and Raaja hits from the 80’s/90’s.

Around 4 pm, there was a selection of Vada’s and bhaji’s with masala tea/coffee for snacks. After the snacks break, the Raffle draw started and it continued every half hour, announcing the winners whom won some exciting prizes, those lucky winners were:
• Selva Muthalagappan and family
• Sekkappan and family
• Ashok and family
• Saravanan and family
• Valli Chockalingam and family
• Palaniappan and family
• Dinesh and family

LNS Sangam children showcased their talents and performed beautifully, well done all:

• Dance performance by Nikitha Palaniappan & Priya Muthiah
• Dance performance by Anishvar Ashok & Adharsh Lakshmanan.
• Rubix Cubes performance by Krishnan Selva Muthalagappan
• Violin/Recorder performance by Damayanti Selva Muthalagappan
• Music medley by Lakshmi Lakshmanan (Keyboard), Nagalakshmi Valliappan (Violin) & Meenakshi Venkatesh (Vocal)
• Song Instrument music by Lakshmi Lakshmanan (Veenai) and Vijay Somu Lakshmanan (Miruthangam)
• Solo dance performance by Veena Selvaganesh
• Solo dance performance by Hari Subramaniyan

As a way of encouraging our children to do more performances and participate more in the forthcoming events, the LNS Committee awarded certificates for all those who performed and anchor team. The certificates were handed out by our chettiars and achi’s.

Whilst the Live DJ and children were performing, the Caricaturist Mr. Mick Wright started drawing/sketching for adults and kids, this was a fun experience.

LNS happily welcomed our new Nagarathars’:
• Mr. Sundar – Nerkuppai
• Mr. & Mrs. Ramasamy – Pullankurchi
• Mr. & Mrs. Solai Arumugam – Kothamangalam
• Mr. & Mrs. Kasi Viswanathan – Devakottai

On behalf of all the Nagarathars’, the LNS Committee wished Mr. Lakshmanan Alagappan a very Happy Birthday.

The Deepavali feast arrived and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Food menu included: Gobi Manchurian, Chilli Chicken, Vegetarian Briyani, Mutton Briyani, Panner Curry, Chicken Chettinadu Curry, Chapatti, Katrikai Curry, Curd Rice and Gulab Jamun.

The DJ team performed with our LNS super-singers Mr. Venkatesh, Mrs. Sivagami Muthiah and Mrs. Meenakshi Ashok, this was a wonderful treat.

LNS event participants lit the night sky with bright fireworks display in the park next to the hall; all children including the very little ones had fun with sparklers.

The event ended around 9:30pm with all the members helping to clean and tidy up the hall, a big thank you to you all.

Special thanks: to Mr. Kumar Muthalagappan for sponsoring £500 towards the event; Mrs. Vasantha Achi for sponsoring for the jasmine flowers and Mrs. Meenakshi for sponsoring £30 with setting up a ladies’ garment stall at the venue.

Members can still sponsor the event, we welcome any contribution towards the food, fireworks, entertainment & drinks/snacks – please contact us. These sponsors will be mentioned in the next event.

LNS committee is thankful to all members who came forward voluntarily to help in serving food, helping with fireworks, setting up the Hall and cleaning venue at the end – it would not have been possible to run such a big event without the kind support from the Sangam members, our family…. ”Thank you _/\_”

Overall, it was a great, successful event and the Committee is extremely happy to have received positive feedback from the members who attended and from those who couldn’t attend.

The next LNS event: Pillaiyar Nombu – to be held on the 30th December 2017 from 5pm to 10pm. Venue – Bromley Parish Church Hall.

Photos1

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Youtube: https://youtu.be/GoFsWZRjN2g

Thank you.
LNS Committee 2017/18

PS: A polite request – Last minute cancellations after event registration impacts overall event planning, logistics and finances, therefore we kindly request you to please be more considerate whilst cancelling participation on the last day, thanks.

Venue: Valentines Park, Ilford
Time : 1:30 PM to 6:00 PM Sep 23rd 2017

Sports / fun day event started with delicious Lunch prepared from home by all Aachi’s. Thanks to all who did bring food for the event.Late afternoon was all fun / laughter with playing cricket, Women’s and children enjoyed playing kho-kho, duck duck goose game, children at Park Kids play area.

Following the fun games everyone relaxed with evening snacks.Later evening all members headed back home with the cheerful memory and joy.

Click for Photos and Videos

Date: Saturday/Sunday, 8th/9th July 2017,
Venue: Academy Newland Park, Buckinghamshire

Our annual Summer Trip – Aatam Paatam Kondattam – was a grand success!

The committee team started reaching the venue from 14:30 on Saturday 8th July, with the members coming to the venue from 16:00. The pre-dinner  events were held in the Space Room, which was located in LC Building. This room was very large, large enough for the younger members of our Sangam to cycle and scoot around having plenty fun.

The evening started off with lovely Chettinad snacks (ைக க், மணேகாலம், ேதன்ழல், ப்
ைட) followed by samosas, mutton rolls, kesari along with tea, coffee and soft drinks.

A welcome speech was given by our LNS President Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram. The members were given paper to state facts about them. At around 17:30, a fun round of introducing ourselves were done as a game based on the facts given by the participants. The game was to identify true and false facts about participants by family members including children and other sangam members. Before heading off for dinner, Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram announced the Bingo game will follow after dinner (stating rules, tickets and prizes) and he requested the participants to purchase the tickets at registration.

At 19:00, dinner was awaiting at the dining hall in main building. Along with venue provided food, there was delicious home-prepared food made by the committee team (Puliyogare,Potato Poriyal, Vegetable Fried Rice, Vegetable Briyani with Kurma). After dinner members headed back to the LC Building.

The Bingo game commenced with the help of Mrs Kaveri Lakshmanan, Mr Valliappan, Mr Chidambaram, Master Vijay and Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram. The following members won the game (prize amount given next to the names):

1. Miss Nandhini Sekkappan and Mrs Uma Sekkappan – £5 giftcard
2. Mrs Sharadha Meenakshisundaram – £10 giftcard
3. Shanmugan Annan – £20 giftcard

Thiagarajan Annan distributed the prizes for the winners, well done all.

As the members had so much fun, we didn’t have time to change for the Disco. We started setting up the Disco with everyone helping with connecting the audio player to the speakers, thanks to Mr Senthil Panayappan and Mr Sekkappan. Lets’ go party Disco started off with a kuththu pattu, the young kids were on dance floor immediately showing off their steps. Even when time was going beyond 22:00, all the members wanted to stay back, enjoy the music and have more fun games: Musical chairs. Pass the ball and Chinese whispers.

Thiagarajan Annan made a touching speech, he said: ”He really loves this trip, very well organised, the venue is very nice and the members being altogether like this reminded him of the olden days, i.e. a family gathering”, he thanked the current committee for putting this trip together – thank you annan.

Past mid-night, we all decided to head to our rooms. All members had individual rooms with an en-suite. All rooms were located in same block for convenience, also each apartment had a communal area. So most of the members grouped together in the communal area to play cards with laughter and such kondattam, it was fun until 02:30, then we fell asleep.

Sunday morning was bright and sunny, all members were ready for breakfast at the venue at 08:00. Some members walked to the dining hall from the accommodation block.

Following breakfast, the members started with outdoor games. Cricket, football, other games were played. LNS Tendulkar, Dhoni, Kohli talents were exhibited. Also Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar talents were shown. There was a refreshing water cum drinks break.

Group photograph was taken.

Thiagarajan Annan gave another small speech, he said “We all thoroughly enjoyed the event. The event was like a kalyana kara veedu with families grouped together. This committee was hosted and organised like a traditional wedding gathering in chettinad, well done to all members and the committee”.

Mr Mohan Subbiah invited all the members for his daughter’s wedding in Kallal, taking place on the 27th August.

Sports continued after a small break. Cricket with ladies, children joining in. Also Indian games Pallanguli, Kho-Kho were played. Around 12 noon, members moved into the indoor sports hall. Here we played basketball, badminton, throw ball. Active participation from children during the all sports.

As time crossed 13:00, the members started walking over to the dining hall for lunch. After lunch, we grouped together in the green landscaped area, under the huge trees where Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram thanked all members who joined us in the Summer Trip, cooperating and making the entire 2 days a memorable event. Also for active participation in all activities including the Bingo. He gave a special thanks to his committee for good team work and making the event successful. He announced that LNS will organise a day trip for members on Saturday 16th or 23rd September (as many members requested this since they couldn’t join us for the Summer Trip due to a busy July month – Kovil Kumbabishekam, AR Rahman Show, India trip etc). LNS members to watch out for further communication on this.

Summer trip members left venue around 14:45 with cheerful memories and joy.

SPECIAL MENTION & THANKS:

Special thanks to Thiagarajan Annan and Aachi, Dr C. Nachiappan, Shanmugam Annan and Aachi for joining us and spending time until Sunday participating in all the games actively and having fun.

Venue organisation, co-ordination and management: Kavitha Shanmugam, for finding such a great place with individual event spaces, play areas, sports hall, comfortable rooms, all bookings (incl. Event room, Disco room, Playground) purely dedicated for our LNS event alone

Mr Valliappan for updating the contact details for our existing and new members.

For the home-made food items:

Puliyogare rice and potato poriyal – Vasantha aachi
Vegetable fried rice – Uma Valliappan
Vegetable briyani and kurma – Meenakshi Ashok
Kesari – Kaveri Lakshmanan
Chettinad snacks – Saraswathi and Annamalai
Chettinad snacks – Uma and Sekkappan
Samosa and mutton rolls (purchase) – Siva Chockalingam
Cricket set purchase – Ashok Nachiappan
Bingo and Pallanguli purchase – Lakshmanan Somasundaram
Audio master – Annamalai Chockalingam
Registration – Uma Valliappan

Click forPhotos 1  and Videos

For those who missed out, please join us for the next event 🙂
Thank you,
LNS Committee 2017/18

This year the Tamil New year function was celebrated on Saturday 15th April 2017 by the LNS sangam. The new 2017-18 LNS committee took over as office bearers on this occasion. This years function was a fun packed event .Thanks to the members for their presence at this year’s Tamil new year function. With all their help and presence the function was a successful one.

Saturday, 15th April 2017 (2 Chithirai 2048), Methodist Church (IG1 3PP)
The meeting was attended by 70 members (51 adults and 19 children). Function/event started off with the Sangam members gathering at the hall from 1:00 PM.The event kicked off with delicious lunch from Anjappar restaurant.

After lunch, the outgoing Committee President Mr S. Ganesh Kumar started the meeting. As per our Sangam tradition, the event was initiated by lighting of Kuthu Vilakku by Mrs Vasantha Shanmugam. This was followed by a prayer song by Mrs Valli Lakshmanan, Mrs Nithayakalyani, Mrs Sujatha and Mrs Nirmala.

Mr Ganesh Kumar gave the welcome speech and thanked his committee for their outstanding efforts over the past year and for making all the events successful and memorable. Next, the outgoing Secretary Dr R. Palaniappan gave a brief summary on all the events they had conducted in their period.

Mr Ganesh Kumar along with Treasurer Mrs Annu Alagappan read the income and expenditure details for the past year including the details for our charity account. The final accounts including the Tamil new year event expenditure will be handed over from the outgoing committee treasurer to the incoming committee treasurer by next week.

The new members were given the opportunity to introduce themselves. LNS happily welcome the following members:

Mr Swaminathan from Koppanapatti
Mr Meenakshi Sundaram from Vendhampatti
New born daughter of Mr K S Somasundaram along with his parents (visit to UK)

Mr Mohan Subbiah and Mrs Sharmila delightfully announced the engagement of their daughter Miss Sheila who will be married in Kalla on August 27th. All LNS members are cordially invited to attend.Invitation and e-Invitation will be send over the summer.

The event also included special performances by the Sangam members’ children. Well done to the kids,it was nice seeing the younger generation perform:

Nithyasri Annamalai – Bharatanatyam
Lakshmi Lakshmanan – Keyboard
Vijay Somu Lakshmanan – Miruthangam

We will like to see more performances in the upcoming events by all the Sangam members.

Mr Ganesh Kumar formally handed over the committee to the incoming President Mr Lakshmanan Somasundram. Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram gave the inaugural speech as the new President by thanking the previous committee. He introduced the new committee team as follows:

Mr. Annamalai Chockalingam as Secretary
Mrs. Umarajeswari Valliappan as Treasurer
Mr. Sivaraman Chockalingam as Committee member
Miss. Kavitha Shanmugam as Committee member
Mr. Ashok Chellappan Nachiappan as Web Master

Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram announced the planned events, starting with the Summer Trip at Academy Newland Park on July 8th-9th, inviting all members to participate.He explained the highlights of this Summer Trip:

• Events/Activities includes all sports, leisure and our own dance floor For A ‘Party Til Midnight’Tamil Disco
• Accommodation & Food: Full Board – Overnight stay plus Full Dinner, Breakfast and Lunch
• All this for just…£47 per head (children under 5 years stay and enjoy for FREE!)

The date for the next main event after our Summer Trip, has been tentatively scheduled as:

• Deepavali: 21st October 2017 (Saturday @ Adeyfield Community Hall, Hemel Hempstead)

Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram briefly mentioned few more ideas that will be considered with the Sangam member’s participation during the year:

• Separate Sports Day for our children (tentative in September 2017)
• Bhakthi trip to Birmingham or Skandavel temple
• Kids involvement (Kolam, Ellai Nool etc) during Pillaiyar Nombu
• Society contributions like blood donation, charity fund raising
• Supporting existing initiatives like Young Nagarathars, IBCN etc
• Appreciation and Motivation of achievements in any fields by Sangam kids or Sangam members (members are requested to share the details with pictures and videos to the Sangam committee so that it can be published widely)

The new committee thanked the outgoing committee by presenting trophies as a memento in appreciation for their hard work over the past year. Mr N. Shanmugam presented these trophies to the outgoing committee for their excellent contributions to LNS 2016-17.

Click here for Photos and videos taken during the event.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/3Rlx-xdTsOQ

Snacks/Tea/Coffee was served to all the members around 4:30 PM.

Towards the end of the meeting, there were interactive games conducted by Mrs Valli Lakshmanan and gifts were given to the winners.

Special thanks Mrs. Vasantha Shanmugam for sponsoring Flowers and the members who helped with serving the food, bringing swami items and other items, cleaning up the hall, etc.

The meeting concluded at 6:00 PM.

Next step: Email regarding the Summer Trip (confirmation of attendance) will be sent out within the next couple of weeks.

Thank you
Annamalai C
LNS Secretary on behalf of the LNS Committee 2017-18

The LNS Pillayar Nombu event was held as per LNS tradition at Petts Wood Memorial Hall, Petts Wood, Bromley, BR5 1LA. Members started arriving from 5 pm onwards and the event lasted until 10.30 pm. The meeting was attended by 54 families totalling 172 members (120 adults and 52 children).

The meeting was initiated by lighting of kuthu vilakku by Mrs Annapoorani Achi. This was followed by prayer song by Mrs Valli Lakshmanan and Hema Nagappan and ladies (Mrs Nithya Palaniappan, Mrs Uma Valliappan, Mrs Geetha Selvaganesh and Mrs Valli Lakshmanan). Ms Priya Muthiah sang a beautiful Pillayar song in Sanskrit and all members joined in singing more Pillayar songs led by Mrs Valli Lakshmanan.

Mr S. Ganesh Kumar welcomed all the members and prior to electing the new committee, Mr Thiagarajan annan spoke about the importance of members voluntarily coming forward to take up committee positions. After this, new committee was selected which consisted of

President Lakshmanan Somasundaram
Secretary Annamalai Chockalingam
Treasurer Umarajeswari Valliappan
Committee member Kavitha Shanmugam
Committee member Sivaraman Chockalingam
Webmaster Ashok Chellappan

The incoming president, Mr S. Lakshmanan briefly thanked the current committee and mentioned that the new committee will work hard to the satisfaction of members. The current president, Mr S. Ganesh Kumar congratulated the newly elected committee and wished them the very best of luck and support for the next year.

New members’ introductions took place next and this was followed by members queuing familywise and prayed Vinayaka peruman before partaking elai. The elais were given by Mr Thiagarajan, Mr Shanmugam and Dr Mani Babu annans assisted by Mr Ashok Chellappan and Mr Sivaraman Chockalingam.

After all the members took elai, Mr S. Ganesh Kumar briefly detailed the disbursement of the charity account. This year London Nagarathar Sangam has disbursed £2000 for charity (£1000 towards education assistance and £1000 towards marriage assistance). LNS charity team consisting of Mr K. Karunamoorthy (as permanent member), Mr S. Ganesh Kumar (as current president) and Mr M. Sethuraman (as previous president) also coordinated the education assistance in partnership with MA PL Ramanathan Chettiar Trust, Pallathur, which meant that the LNS charity team were able to double the number of people supported through the charity work. A total of 10 marriages and 21 students were supported this year (details were distributed earlier through email). The president thanked all the members who contributed to the Sangam to make this possible and encouraged members to take part in the ???? to allow more charitable assistance in the coming year. LNS charity team coordinator Mr S. Senthilnathan was also thanked for his work in reviewing and shortlisting the multitude of applications.

ஏலம் took place next, led by Mr Raja Alagappan and assisted by Mr K. Karunamoorthy and Mr S.Sentilnathan. The following items were taken by
மஞ்சள்– Mrs and Mr Kumar Muthualagappan for £301
தேங்காய் – Mrs and Mr Lakshmanan Somasundaram, £31
சக்கரை – Mrs and Mr R. Valliappan, £101
கல்கண் டு – Mrs and Dr C. Nachiappan, £61
எலுமிச்ரச – Mrs and Mr Raja Alagappan, £31
உப்பு – Mrs and Mr Kumar Muthalagappan, £201
கல் உப்பு – Mrs and Mr Lakshmanan Alagappan, £131
வெள்ளிப்பிள்ரளயாை்– Mrs and Mr K. Venkatesh, £211
வெள்ளி விளக்கு – Mrs and Mr N. Thiagarajan, £301
வெள்ளி பசு கன்று – Mrs and Mr Lakshmanan Alagappan, £311
வெள்ளி குங்குமச்சிமிழ் – Mrs and Mr S. Ganesh Kumar £181
வெள்ளி துளசி மாடம் – Mrs and Mr K. Karunamoorthy, £311
வெள்ளி குலொழும்பிள்ரள – Mrs and Mr Subramaniam, £151
தங்க காசு – Mrs and Mr S. Senthil Panayappan, £301
தங்க காசு – Mrs and Mr R. Selvaganesh, £301

Overall, the ஏலம் items came to £2925 and Mrs and Mr N. Palaniappan donated £75 to round the total ஏலம் collection to £3000. The committee would like to thank all the members who won the ஏலம் items and raising money for good causes to be donated through the Sangam. Members who obtained the ஏலம் items are requested to make the payment by 1st February to LNS account (once payment has been made, please advise the Treasurer, Mrs Annu Alagappan):

A/C Name: London Nagarathar Sangam
Bank: HSBC
Sort Code: 40-06-21
A/C No: 41561847

Members then took dinner and commented on the variety of food items (which included some traditional Nagarathar dishes like vellai and karupati paniayarams) that was a relish.

Tamil daily calendars for 2017 were distributed to all the members.

Special thanks to the achis who prepared the delicious food in sufficient quantity. Mrs Sivagami achi’s effort in preparing the very tasty elai maavu is appreciated (thanks to Mrs Geetha Vijay for bringing the maavu) and thanks to the chettiars who helped to make the elairapidly on the day. Committee acknowledges the support of Mrs Vasantha Shanmugam for sponsoring the malligai flowers and Mrs Annapoorani achi for bringing swami pictures and poojai items. Mrs Nithya Palaniappan for sponsoring and bringing the calendar cakes from India and Mrs Dhevi Senthinathan’s assistance in purchasing the ஏலம் items are also acknowledged.

Thanks to all members who voluntarily helped to clean up the hall.

The meeting concluded at 10.30 pm. Link to the Photos: 

The next LNS event will be to celebrate Tamil New Year. Venue, date and other details will be announced closer to the time.

Signing off for the final meeting minutes,

Dr R. Palaniappan
LNS Secretary on behalf of LNS Committee 2016-17

For the first time LNS sangam organised a live music troupe for the Deepavali celebrations which was held on the 30th of Oct 2016.

Thanks to the members for their attendance at this year’s Deepavali function. It was one of the largest gathering of Nagarathars in the UK, all age groups throughly enjoyed the event.

The LNS Deepavali event 2016 was held with great gala in Manor Park Hall, Malden Road, New Malden, KT2 7AZ. Members started arriving from 12 noon onwards and the event lasted until 8 pm. Diwali function this year hosted a live music event, which was a first for LNS, the committee continued the first attempt following the away summer trip which was also a first for LNS, and to put LNS committee’s fear at bay, LNS members came forward resoundingly and with one of the largest Nagarathar participation of 218 (144 adults, 56 children and 18 infants) from all across the UK, the event was indeed a grand success.

While waiting for the lunch from Anjappar to arrive, the event was initiated with Sivagami Achi lighting the vilakku followed by special prayer song invoking Lord Krishna for healthy life sung by the ladies lead by Mrs Valli Lakshmanan. This was followed by welcome speech by the President, Mr S.Ganesh Kumar and chocolate cutting to celebrate Mrs Nachu and Mr Raj’s son, Master Hari’s birthday.

The wait for food was worth the time as the members had delicious lunch comprising gobi and chicken 65, mutton and vegetarian briyani, chettinadu chicken and ennai katrikai curries, paratha, vegetable kurma, potato masala, curd rice and gulab jamun. Various refreshments accompanied the lunch.

After having sumptuous meal, the members were entertained to a beautiful dance by Ms Valikannu Ramaswamy and the introduction of new members took place. The highlight of the event, the performance of Nisari music troupe began with the lead singer, Mr Rajesh singing the carnatic based song, Sankara. LNS was fortunate to have Mr Sridhar, a famous drummer from Chennai who won Limca Book of Records for 24 hours non-stop drumming, as visiting member of the troupe. Mr Rajesh’s beautiful singing was matched by melodious female voice by Mrs Vani. The pair sang many songs from 80s to recent songs with medley of songs, mostly Tamil but some Hindi songs too. Mr Sridhar also entertained the audience with his solo drumming and another member of the Nisari troupe showcased wonderful mimicry talent. There was also a song by the talented daughter of Mr Rajesh who sang the song Ooru Sanam Thongiruchu that received wide applause.

Members took a break around 5.30 pm for tea with samosa, vadai and cakes. There were delicious brownies too made by Mrs Valli Arumugam. The kids had fun next with the night sky being made colourful by bright fireworks display in the park next to the hall; the little ones too had fun with sparklers. Members returned to the hall for a final hour of music performance. The event ended around 7.30 pm with all the members helping to clean and tidy up the hall and leaving by 8 pm.

The support of corporate sponsors, Lebara (£300) and Union Bank (£250) and our members as below is greatly appreciated as otherwise, it would have been difficult to manage the finances for the event (special thanks to Mr Annamalai, for the sponsorship even in absentia):

•  Mrs Meena and Mr Annamalai Adaikappan, £51
• Mrs Nachu and Mr Manikandan Ramanathan, £51 (to celebrate the birth of their son)
• Mrs Lakshmi and Mr Lakshmanan Alagappan, £50
• Mrs Valli and Mr P. Arumugam, £50
• Mrs Nithyakalyani and Dr R. Palaniappan, £50
• Mrs Sivagami and Mr S. Ganesh Kumar, £50
• Mrs Kalaivani and Mr Karthik, £40
• Mrs Meena and Mr Siva Sockalingam, £30
• Mrs Vasantha and Mr N. Shanmugam, £30

In addition to the sponsors, the committee is grateful to the help of many members: Mrs Valli Lakshmanan for bringing swami picture and pooja items; Mrs Nithya Palaniappan for compiling the song list; Mrs Sivakami Ganesh for finding the music troupe; Mr M. Muthiah for capturing the beautiful moments with his SLR camera; Mr Raja Alagappan and Mr T. Karuppiah for collecting the money.

Many members also came forward voluntarily to help in serving food, decorations, firework’s marshalling, hall set-up and cleaning (in time for handover!) and the committee is indeed grateful for their kind help – it would have impossible to run such a big event without these kind support.

Overall, it was a successful event and the committee is happy that their and their families’ efforts over the past few months have been fruitful noting the positive feedback from the attendees.

The next LNS event will be to celebrate Pillayar Nombu on 7th January, 2017 from 5-10 pm. Venue and other details will be announced closer to the time.
LNS Committee 2016-17

Links to Photos and Videos

The summer trip this year was held over a weekend (two days) instead of the usual day trip.Walnutree Manor was the decided place located in a village called Haughley deep inside the Suffolk County. As the event was first of its kind to be held by LNS, the committee was worried on the participation but LNS members came forward resoundingly and with the participation of 69 members, it turned out to be a success. The weather too was supportive of our initiative and was sunny all through the event (except for a slight drizzle during early hours on Sunday, which actually cooled the climate a bit) and allowed a lot of planned outdoor sports activities to take place.

The committee arrived around 1 pm to complete the safety tour and other formalities, followed by gradual arrival of members from 3 pm onwards. The members were shown to their respective rooms and settled-in with their luggage. Refreshments with samosas and cakes were served with tea and coffee to the members in the evening. While the sports hall was being set-up with the projector and PA equipment, members took the opportunity to play some games in the field with the gents playing football and ladies playing dodge ball.

Around 6 pm, all members assembled in the sports hall and prayer song was sung by the ladies followed by welcome speech by the President, Mr S. Ganesh Kumar. A nice initiative of introducing parents of several members by their grandchildren took place, which was then followed by introduction of new members.

This was followed by cake cutting for those having birthdays in July. Mr Mohan Subbiah anchored the Family Fortune game among ladies and gents, where the gents won. Mrs Geetha Karuppiah announced her son Dr Arun has got engaged and wedding is likely to be next year. In this regard, LNS would like to congratulate them and wish them very best of luck.

Around 8 pm, members had a variety of delicacies for dinner prepared by achis in the dining room. After dinner, Ms Abirami Ganesh Kumar and Ms Shalini Mohan Subbiah painted mehendi and nail art for the kids as well as adults and donated the proceedings to the Sangam. Mrs Devi Annamalai set the boutique stall, which proved to be hit among the ladies.

After this, gents joined together and collected some logs in the nearby woods and set a camp fire while ladies played Pictionary. Surrounding the camp fire, members sang Paattukku Paattu songs and enjoyed the twilight under the open sky. Close to midnight, some members retired for the night to their rooms while the gents played trump card game and the ladies played dumb charades until wee hours of the night.

Several groups of ladies and gents went for a walk in the nearby green pasture and farm in the early morning the next day. After breakfast, some members took up archery while others (including kids) played badminton and tennis. Football again seemed a popular game and gents took up the opportunity to play a couple of games. Ladies played bluff game of cards. Lunch was ordered from Anjappar and members enjoyed the sumptuous food around 1 pm. Members packed and checked out of their rooms around 2 pm. Game for parents and kids were conducted in the open green field where parents were asked on knowledge of their kids such as their friend’s names and ambitions. All the variety of games was prepared by Mrs Annu Alagappan.

Just before the group photos were taken around 3 pm, the president and secretary thanked the attendees for their support that made the trip possible, and with a heavy heart, members slowly departed the venue to head home.

The committee would like to thank Mr Sekkappan Alagu for arranging and collecting chapattis and channa, Mr Ramananathan Subbu for samosas, Mr Thenappan Gnanasambandham for several Costco items, Mr Karunamoorthy Karunanithi for buying milk, Mr Selvaganesan Ramanathan for buying water and Mr Senthil Panayappan for returning the Anjappar vessel. All members also came forward voluntarily to help in setting up and cleaning the premises throughout the two days as if it was their family function and the committee is grateful for their kind help. Overall, it was an indeed
a very successful event and the committee is happy to note the positive feedback from the attendees on the arrangements.

Link to Photos LNS Summer Trip 2016

We from London Nagarathar Sangam (LNS) have been participating in Race for the kids 5k charity run for a few years now and this year’s edition happened today (15/05/2016) at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. Below are the highlights

Weather: Largely dry day with some sunny spells, feeling pleasant in the sunshine with light winds – perfect for a 5k run.

Team: LNS Hotwheelz team went in with its largest ever representation of twenty two registered participants which was augmented by on the day participants. When the team assembled for the start we were 30, doubling in size from 2015. Included thirteen children and seventeen adults – aged from 26 months to 50 plus years.

Performance:

Fastest runner – Kanishka Senthilnathan beat his personal best and team best to finish at 21 mins – fantastic performance – Kudos

Fastest adult runner – Vijay Narayanan beat his personal best and finished the run in 27 mins – another adorable performance

Fastest lady runner: Shivagami Muthiah having participated for the first time, finished the run in 33 mins.

Fastest first time runner – Ganesh Kumar, after not having run for 20 years finished the run in 33 mins – commendable performance

Three ladies who need to be mentioned for running/walking 5 kilometers with young children – Sindu Sendhil, Uma Valliappan and Lakshmi Thirunavukkarasu, – Hats off to you

Foreign runner: Nice to see Ramesh Ramanthan from the UAE (IBCN 2017 fame) finish the run and receive the medal. Sets a precedence for the coming years 🙂

I was able to maintain my last years timing of 33 mins. I can go on adding all the runners but for a lengthy blog, will stop it here.

Funds:

Raised – £ 439 so far

Highest individual fund raiser – Senthil Thiagarajan annan at £157

Highest family funds raised – Laks and Lakshmi at £ 144

Congratulations to all finishers (every participant) and thanks to sponsors and cheer leaders. This run serves multiple objectives – Motivates people to run (Sethu started going to Gym after last years run and finished today at 38 mins), a great day out for the entire family (with goodies and medals), raise funds for a great cause and networking opportunity, among others.

All in all a great day – Lets go next year with an even stronger team (as Sethu says double in size every year ie sixty 2017) – Already looking forward to next year.

 

The traditional “Chithrai Tamizh Puthandu (Durmukhi Varudam) vizha” was celebrated on the 16th of April 2016 at the Bromley Hall.

The new 2016-17 LNS committee took over as office bearers on this occasion.
Thanks to the members for their attendance at this year’s Tamil new year function. With all their help and presence the function went on very well.

Minutes of LONDON NAGARATHAR SANGAM

Tamil New Year Meeting Saturday, 16 April 2016 (3 Chithirai 2047), Bromley Parish Church (BR2 0EG)

The meeting was attended by 80 members (52 adults and 28 children). Mrs Sujatha Sethuraman conducted the meeting and it was initiated at 7 pm by lighting of kuthu vilakku by Annapoorani Achi. This was followed by prayer song by Mrs Sivagami Muthiah, Mrs Uma Venkatesh and Mrs Sujatha  Sethuraman.

The outgoing president, Mr M. Sethuraman gave the welcome speech and thanked his committee for the efforts in the year that made the events to be successfully conducted. He also wished well for the incoming committee. Next, the outgoing treasurer, Mr K. Venkatesh read the income and expense details for the past year including the details for charity account.

Thiagarajan annan spoke briefly thanking the previous committee and also wished well for the new committee. At this juncture, the members gave huge applause to the previous committee. The incoming president, Mr S. Ganesh Kumar was handed over the committee with Dr R. Palaniappan, taking over as
secretary, Mrs Annu Alagappan as Treasurer, Mrs Dheivanai Senthilnathan and Mrs Valli Lakshmanan as committee members. Mr Venkatesh handed the Treasury accounts to Mrs Annu Alagappan.

Dr Palaniappan thanked the previous committee and hoped that the new committee will be able to follow suit of the previous committee and meet the increasing expectations of the LNS members. He thanked Mr N. Shanmugam for sponsoring the flowers and the achi margals for the wonderful Chettinadu dinner. He also expressed gratitude to the sponsors in the previous year and hoped for continued support from them and all LNS members.

Mr Ganesh Kumar gave the inaugural speech as president by thanking the previous committee. He described the planned summer trip at Walnutree Manor on July 16-17 and encouraged more members to participate in the exciting overnight stay trip (a first for LNS) as there is still capacity to accommodate another 40 members. Live music arrangements (another first for LNS) during Deepavali was also mentioned. The dates for the following year events have been tentatively scheduled as:

• Overnight summer trip: 16-17 July 2016 (Sat-Sun)
• Deepavali: 30 October 2016 (Sun)
• Pillayar Nombu: 10 Dec 2016 (Saturday)
• Tamil New Year: 15 April 2017 (Saturday)

Mr Ganesh Kumar mentioned about LNS sporting activity: cricket league where teams are based on local areas and indoor league (such as badminton) where teams are divided based on Nagarathar Kovils.

Meiyammai Achi, mother of Mrs Sujatha Sethuraman and Mrs Priya Mani gave an aspirational talk on living. This was followed by new member introduction. The first was Mr C. Sriram from Panayapatti with his wife, Mrs Kavitha and son, Sai Krishav. The other new member was Mr AR. Chidambaram from Rayavaram and his wife, Mrs Vinodhini and daughter Aishwaryaa Kannammai.

The raffle tickets were won by Mr N. Vijay and Mr R. Valliappan. Photo sessions took place next for gentlemen, ladies and children. Games were conducted for young and older children. The smarties straw pick up game was won by Sachin and the English-Tamil word game was won by group comprising Nikitha, Nagu and Shalini. The games were conducted by Mrs Sujatha Sethuraman assisted by ladies.

Dinner was served and members commented on the variety of food items (including some items from (Anjappar) that was a relish. Special thanks to the members who helped in the food serving and clean up of the hall. The meeting concluded at 10 pm.

Link to the photos:  LNS Tamil new year 2016

Apologies if anyone or any details have been missed (kindly let me know).
Dr Palaniappan, LNS Secretary on behalf of LNS Committee 2016-17