Dear Nagarathars

At the outset let me wish you all a very happy 2005. May the blessings of all out Deities be with us in all out endevours this year.

The Pilliayar Nonbu meeting was held at Cannock was well attended and there was a total of arounf 97 'elais' taken this year.

The meeting was started with a prayer song sung by Manisa Mathi and Manishaa Vairavan.

A short meeting followed -

Apologies were received from

• Mr S S Manian - London
• Mr Ganesh Kumar - London
• Mr & Mrs V Meyappan - Cheltenham
• Mr & Mrs Nachiappan - Stoke-on-Trent
• Mr & Mrs Nachiappan - Bromley
• Mr & Mrs Mohan - Kent
• Dr & Mrs Shanmugham - Durham
• Mr & Mrs Kannan (Shanthi) - York
• Dr & Mrs Shivalingam - Wigan
• Dr & Mrs Subramaniam - Halifax
• Mr & Mrs Senthil Thiagarajan - Kent
• Dr & Mrs Thiagarajan - Aberdeen
• Mr & Mrs Karuppiah Thiagarajan - Bromley
• Mr & Mrs P Vairavan - Eastbourne
• Mr & Mrs N Shanmugham - Eastbourne
• Mr Subramaniam Nachiappan - Surrey
• Mr & Mrs V Palaniappa Chettiar - Kent

New Members were asked to introduce themselves

• Mr & Mrs Ramanathan (Indumathy)
• Dr Subramaniam
• Dr Muthupalaniappan
• Dr M Nachiappan - Bolton
• Miss Vaishnavi

A vote of thanks was given to Bamah and Mathi for having organised a very successful Tamil New Year get together in London.

All letters were sent out for the Pilliayar Nonbu by email and it was noted that almost all members had responded. Hence the system works and it be the main mode of communication in the future. However all of you are kindly requested to keep the secretary informed of any change in addressses - email or postal.

The Sangam website, started by Ganeshan and Valliappan Lakshmanan and subsequently maintained by Mr Selvaganesan and Mrs Shanthi Kannan has been dormant and inactive for some time due to work pressures. On behalf of all the Sangam I wish to thank all the above for the owrk that thay have put into this. A wb presce is a must. Fortunately we have a willing volunteer - Anand veerappan, Has agreed to take on this running and maintenance of the website. Many thanks to him for stepping forward. Out best wishes to him.

The food for the Pilliayar Nonbu as you are well aware is provided by our Achis and it hjas always been a magnificent spread of traditional Chettiar delicacies. This year was no different. However it was decided to trial a new way of allocating various food items by a ballot system. All were agreed and a ballot was conducted to decided who should be cookiong what for Pilliayar Nonbu for 2005.

The data and venue for the Tamil Ney Year meeting was decided - Saturday 16th April in London. The timings and exact venue will be communicatioed oto you by the new secretary.

The new secretary 'team' for the year 2005 was introduced - Dr Bala and Mrs Jeyanthi Kalairajah. Out best wishes to them.

Prior to the ilai eduthal, bhajans were sung by Mr Sethuraman and his friends who had come all the way from Aberdeen.

Mr Sethu, as the senior member present handed out the elais.

I would like to record my thanks to :

• All for your continues support of the Sangam
• All for coming and making it an enjoyable evening
• The Achis for the delicious food
• Dr Selvem for arranging the hall
• Saraswathi Achi for arranging to send the elai maavu
• Mrs Thiagarajan (Blackpool) for helping to coordinate the food items
• My wife Sethu for all her assistance and coordinating activities

Finally I wish to thank all of you for having fiven us the opportunity to be the secretary (not one but for two years!!). Just as during a long a safe flight were there are pockets of turbulence, it has been on the whole an enjoyable experience and has given us the opportunity to know all of you. We wish Bala and Jayanthi all the best for the coming year.

With best wishes to you all and God Bless.

Dr Vairavan and Sethu

Secretary Designates for the coming years

2006   Dr Kumar - Cardiff
2007   Dr Sanmugham - Durham
2008   Dr Nachiappan - Newcastle
2009   Dr Manickam Thiagarajan - London
2010   Mrs Geetha Karuppiah - London