The third annual meeting of RAANA was held on April 8th 2006 at the auditorium of First Presbyterian Church of New Hyde Park, 16th South 9th Street, New Hyde Park, New York 11040. The members started to arrive by noon from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Chicago. Everyone showed a great enthusiasm to attend this reunion of Ramakrishna alumni, and took the opportunity to greet and meet with everyone else. With alumni and their families, there were about 80 people attended the gathering.
The meeting started with a silent prayer at 3 PM. Mr. Rajeev Rajgopal was the Master of Ceremonies, and he welcomed all to the meeting. Roshan and Ria, children of Aby (Pharmacy), performed American National Anthem, and Berverly, daughter of Jaya (Nursing), performed Indian National Anthem.
Then the President, Mr. Thayilparampil Varughese John addressed the audience. In his speech, he emphasized the role of RAANA, and the importance of its website to keep everyone connected. He reminded everyone that we had a responsibility to help and guide the new comers when they come to this foreign country. Also, he thanked Babloo and Rajeev who worked hard to put together our web site, and all other members who made the efforts to contact others through phone calls and emails. With a sad note, he invoked the remembrance some of the alumni who passed away during the previous years.
Mrs. Thankamani Aravind (Nursing) addressed the audience with an inspirational speech. Thomas Idikkula (Pharmacy) described the birth and history of the RAANA, and emphasized the importance of preserving our friendship. Also, he acknowledged Thomas Illil for his initiative to form the association. Suneetha (Pharmacy) acknowledged the help and comfort that she received when she contacted some of our members during her difficult times.
Dhanya, daughter of Aji (Pharmacy), sang a melodious Malayalam song. Then the meeting was opened for discussion and suggestions on how to improve the association. The President announced that he was going to conduct more regional meetings of RAANA in the future.
Jeno James (Pharmacy) performed an old popular movie song with music track, and it really uplifted everyone's good old memories of College life. We had hired a DJ to keep everyone entertained with music during the meeting, and the children enjoyed it very well, and even danced with the music. They were all very excited to have goody bags at the end. The annual general meeting ended at 5 PM.
After the meeting, members continued to share their good old memories, and their new life experiences in this foreign country. Also, many took lots of pictures and videos of the program. A delicious dinner, catered from a nearby restaurant, was served to all at 6 PM. Everyone enjoyed the meal with their family, and started to depart.
After the dinner at 7 PM, the committee members had a round table meeting to discuss the future programs of our association. Some members suggested having a yearly get-together, and also having the meeting on a fixed date in order to plan ahead. Most of the members agreed to this idea, and the Committee decided to have the next annual meeting in Philadelphia. It was also suggested to have a summer picnic this year, and many showed their interest in it.
Committee also discussed on how to improve our website. One of the suggestions was to include the department and batch year with alumni names to make it easy for new comers to contact others. The Committee meeting lasted about an hour with a very fruitful discussion. It ended at 8 PM with thanks to the chair.
Maya Thomas
Secretary
