News & Announcements

Dec 2009

• Muthu, Chittu, Chockalingam and V Pal organized this year's Pillayar Nonbu. The event was held at the Northwood Community Centre on Sunday December 27, 2009. Over 125 elais were distributed. Several Nagarathars from the US, India and Canada participated in this auspicious event. An auction was held after and V Pal performed the role of the auctioneer. A record sum of money was collected this year. Our President, Dr Kannan Pethaperumal provided a year-end update on the finances of this organisation and gave a vote of thanks. Before pot-luck dinner was served, there was an open forum for all members. The activities for next year will be published after the Executive Committee has finalised the dates. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Sala and Chinna Meyyappan hosted Indu Panaiappan's Baby Shower on Saturday, December 19, 2009. Around 15 Nagarathar families participated in this joyous occasion. Valli Kannan, our games expert conducted a fun game. The objective of this game was to choose a name for the baby. One of the rules of this game was that adults had to converse in Tamil only. Guests howled with laughter on hearing some talk in 'Sanga Kaala Tamizh'. Srini Chidambaram was declared winner of this game along with Panaiappan. Dinner was served after the event. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.

Nov 2009

• Annamalai Sathappan and Banu Annamalai hosted this month's bhajan.

Oct 2009

• Murugan festival was held at the Hindu Temple in Richmond Hill on Friday, October 30. An abhishekam and homam were performed on this day. CNS sponsored this event. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Nagarathars celebrated Deepavali at the Northwood Community Centre on Saturday, October 17. The event was organized by the Social Committee and was very well attended. Several Nagarathar families participated in the celebrations, a few of them from India. There were no fireworks but plenty of entertainment. The event started off with a welcome speech by our beloved President, Dr Kannan Pethaperumal. "Ramayanam" written and directed by Gandhimathi Nagappan, was acted out by Nagarathar kids. The adult Nagarathars acted in a play titled "Nagarathar Thirumanam - Andrum Indrum". This play was conceived and directed by V Pal with assistance from Mr Viswanathan. There were speeches by Muthuraman and Dr Kr Muthiah. A fun game was organised by Manivannan Sekkappan and finally, vote of thanks by our beloved Secretary, Subi Subramanian. Pot-luck dinner was served after the festivities. Photos / videos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Dr Yegappan and Dr Muthulakshmi Yegappan have been blessed with their first grandchild. Nya Rose Yegappan was born October 16, 2009 at 9:57 AM at St John's Newfoundland.

Sep 2009

• September's bhajan was held at Raj and Vasantha Valliappan's house.
• Vallikkannan (MVK) Maruthappan and Parvathy Vallikkannan are delighted to announce the birth of their second daughter Thayalnayaki alias Harini. Harini was born on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 at 4.55 PM.
• Mani Nagappan has started a professional full service software development company in Toronto with specialization in web design, software development and web/affiliate marketing. We wish him good luck! Click here to view his company website.

Aug 2009

• Several Nagarathar families got together at Pazhaniappan and Chittu's house on Sunday, August 30th, for this month's bhajan.
• Kannan and Sathya are proud to announce the birth of their new baby girl Iniya Meenal Kannan, born August 29th @ Toronto Mt. Sinai Hospital
• The C.D. Howe Institute has just released a study identifying Ontario's best public schools. If you have kids going back to school in September, this list may be useful for you and your spouse. Click here to view.
• The deadline for receiving CNS scholarship applications for this academic year was June 30, 2009. The Education Committee received 47 applications in total out of which 42 students were selected. Cheques have been mailed to the successful candidates. To view the 2009-2010 Scholarship Recipient List, click here.

Jul 2009

• Dr PL Kannappan BSc Hons, MA (Annamalai), PhD (Washington) has recently authored a book titled 'Functional Equations and Inequalities with Applications'. It took him nearly 4 years and a lot of hard work and perseverance to complete this book. This book is published by Springer Science+Business Media. Springer works with the world's best academics and authors. More than 150 Nobel prize-winners have published with Springer to the present date. Many of their publications are considered authoritative works in their field.
  
  Dr PL Kannappan is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where he taught mathematics from 1967 to 2005. He retired in 2005 and lives in Waterloo. He has published over 150 papers. He started his career as a Math Professor at Annamalai University and worked there from 1955 to 1967 after which he migrated to Canada. This is a voluminous book and a "must read" for all math lovers.
  
  Congratulations Dr PL Kannappan and we all wish you good luck!
• Toronto 'usually' enjoys long, hot days and sunny weather during the summer months ... not this year! It has been unusually cold and it rains almost every other day. However the weather did not dampen the enthusiasm and spirits of the 30 or so bhajan goers at Dr PL Kannappan and Renganayaki Kannappan's house on Sunday, July 26. The bhajan was led by Subi and was well structured. Everyone left after lunch.
• The 2009 CNS Summer Picnic was held at the Meadowvale Conservation Area Park on July 19. Srinivasan Chidambaram & Meena Srinivasan along with Manivannan Sekappan & Revathi Manivannan organized this year's event. Members started arriving at 10:30 AM. Some of our 'annans' started the coal-fired barbecue and cooked chicken and sausages. They turned out to be delicious and were an instant hit. Lunch was served at around 12:30 PM. Kids and adults (including achis) played a variety of games including soccer, cricket, badminton, frisbee, dog-and-the-bone and dodge ball from the afternoon till late evening. Dr Yegappan and Dr Muthulakshmi Yegappan provided a short talk on health topics. It was decided that next year's summer picnic will be organized by Dr Yegappan, Pal Subbiah and Valli Adaikappan at Niagara Falls. A group photo was taken and dinner was served. The weather was cooperative and the event memorable. Thanks to the organizers! Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Vallikkannan (MVK) Maruthappan was recently interviewed by Kathir Oli, a Tamil weekly newspaper published out of Scarborough, Canada.

Jun 2009

• Dr Yegappan and Dr Muthulakshmi Yegappan hosted a summer retreat for several Nagarathar families at their home in Niagara Falls. Guests started arriving at 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 27, 2009. Over 15 families from Toronto, Detroit and Chicago attended this retreat. The weather was very good. Kids and adults had fun in the pool and then ate lunch. The evening was spent in the park. The adults and kids walked along a wooded trail to the lake and returned for snacks and coffee. After dinner, the adults participated in a 'Paatukku Paatu' contest. A few families left Sunday morning whereas the others stayed back for the monthly bhajan and then left by 3:00 PM. The events were very well organized, the food was great and everyone who attended had a blast! Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• July's Bhajan (not June) will be held at PL Kannappan's house. If you plan to attend, please contact Kannappan Annan by phone or via email. Click here to view his address on Google Maps.
• Your educational donations make a difference! Click here to read an email that was sent to Kay Andiappan a few days ago from a Nagarathar student in India who received scholarship monies from us. It definitely has made a huge difference in his life.
• Sathya Kannan's Baby Shower was held on the afternoon of June 14 at Annamalai and Banu's home. The event was well attended. After the ceremony, there were games for the kids as well as adults. Kids played Bingo! while the adults had great fun choosing a name for the baby. Arthi, Meena Suppiah, Aruna and Valli Kannan conducted the games. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Nachu and Palaniappan have welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, born June 10th.
• Our own Nagarathar, Vallikkannan (MVK) Maruthappan was elected as President of Tamil Nadu Cultural Society of Canada on May 31, 2009 for a 2 year term. The announcement was made at the TNCSC Board Meeting that was held at the Council Chamber, East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Avenue. We wish him good luck!

May 2009

• Anand and Uma invited Nagarathars to attend the monthly bhajan at their house on Sunday, May 31, 2009. The event was well attended. We had pot-luck lunch after the session.
• The Youth Committee (Sindhu & Sindhu) organised Mother's Day on Sunday, May 10. Several Nagarathar families participated in the event. Dr Yegappan bought flowers for all mothers. The fathers and kids were tasked to cook food for the event. After lunch the kids along with their dads presented their recipes and six kids were chosen as winners. The winning kids mothers had their picture taken. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.
• Banu Annamalai and Solai Ramanathan hosted Nachu's Baby Shower on Saturday, May 09. Guests started arriving at 4:00 PM. The ceremony started at around 5:30 PM followed by fun games for children and adults and finally dinner. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.

Apr 2009

• On a cool Sunday afternoon, Chinnameyyappan and Sala hosted this month's bhajan at their house. Most of the regulars were present. Lunch was served shortly after the bhajan.
• A cultural event to mark Tamil New Year was held on Apr 20 at North York. Over 20 families participated in the celebrations. It was a fun-filled event with several activities including kids drama, song, dance, games, speeches and great food. Photos of this event have been posted to the 'Photos' section within this page.

Mar 2009

• Subi and Aruna hosted the monthly bhajan at their house on March 29. There were over 15 families present. For the first time there was tabla and harmonium accompaniment along with the singing.
• This Saturday, 28 March at 8.30pm Canada Nagarathars are encouraged to support Earth Hour by switching off their lights for one hour.

Feb 2009

• This month's bhajan was held at Hema Mani's house. Around 10 families were present.
• Karthik and Parvathy were married Feb 02, 2009 at Karaikudi. Karthik is the first son of Muthuraman Periakaruppan and Alagu Muthuraman of Toronto. Parvathy is the daughter of PL Lakshmanan and L Valliammai of Karaikudi. We wish the newly weds a life of happiness and contentment.

Jan 2009

• Manivannan Sekkappan and Revathi Manivannan have been blessed with a baby girl.
• The first bhajan for 2009 was held at Ramu and Solai's house.