jtäxájtäxájtäxájtäxá (NEWS LETTER OF PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK RETIRED OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION- Kerala)

(Affiliated to Retired Bank Officers’ National Confederation)

Volume 4 Issue 2 Date: 07.08.2012

ONAM CELEBERATIONS 2012

DATE : 08 -09 - 2012

DAY : SATURDAY

VENUE : ALAKAPURI

CALICUT

TIME : 10.00 A.M TO

03.00 P.M

Farewell on : Sh S Babu

Retirement Circle Head

ITEMS : Light/Instrumental

Music

For members : Dance

& family, Recitation

Children Mimicri

Skill/ Fun Games

Special : honouring

feature Members above

75 years

In Search of : Musical programme

Harmony by Dr Mehroof Raj &

party

WISH ALL THE MEMWISH ALL THE MEMWISH ALL THE MEMWISH ALL THE MEMBERS AND BERS AND BERS AND BERS AND THEIR FAMILYTHEIR FAMILYTHEIR FAMILYTHEIR FAMILY

A VERY HAPPY AND A VERY HAPPY AND A VERY HAPPY AND A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS ONAMPROSPEROUS ONAMPROSPEROUS ONAMPROSPEROUS ONAM

FROM THEFROM THEFROM THEFROM THE EDITORIAL BOARDEDITORIAL BOARDEDITORIAL BOARDEDITORIAL BOARD

GRAND ONAM SADHYA

&

VARIETY ENTERTAINMENTS

Members contribution:

Single : Rs 150/-

Family : Rs 300/-

Sub Committee

Sh C Haridas Convenor

Sh O Aravindakshan Jt Convenor

Sh A Sasidharan

Sh K T Viswanathan

Smt K Sabeeda

Please register your name for

participation in Onam Sadhya

and

entries for enteratainements

with

C Haridas K P Radha

Asst Secretary Reg Secretary-Calicut

9847485895 9447239016

P Krishnamohan M P Mallika

Treasurer E C Member

9446259420 9995875865

O Aravindakshan

Jt Convenor

9447653909

On or Before 01.09.2012

EDITOR: Smt REMA MENON 28/1097 Rajadhani PO Chevayur .Email: remamenonin@gmail.com

Gen Secretary :B G Raghavan Bemplasseri House,Thali Calicut 673002Email:raghavanbg@yahoo.in

-1-

Editorial Board

Editor

Smt Rema Menon : 9495979624

Smt N K Balamani : 9446338640

Sh A P Prakasan : 9446325721

Sh N E Narendranathan : 9446521324

Convenor

Smt Indira Mohan : 9447059597

Key Office Bearers of PNBROA

President

Sh A V Venugopal : 9447244729

Gen. Secretary

Sh B G Raghavan : 9446547799

Treasurer

Sh P Krishnamohan : 9446259420

Through the Pages

Onam Programme 1

Editor’s Desk - Smt Rema Menon 2

Points to Ponder 2

Grandma’s Tips 2

President’s Message 3

Association News - Secretary 4

Reminiscences - Smt Indira Mohan 5 -6

Nattuvishesham – A P Prakash 7- 8

Kanamarayath - Sh K G Valsalan 9

PNBROA FAMILY – New Members 10

ENBL SHARE 11

Wedding Bells 12

Q & A Corner 12

Readers Corner 12

Quotable Quotes 12

Sardar is back 12

Never chase love, affection or attention. If it

is not given freely by another person, it is

not worth having.

DA RATES AUGUST 2012 TO

JANUARY 2013

70.20 % OF BASIC PENSION

From the Desk of the EDITOR

When tragedy strikes, we look at life from an

altogether new perspective. All the things which we

took for granted become suddenly unstable. We lose

our equanimity. We search for solutions of problems

from within and our perception undergoes a sea

change.

It is on such occasions that we realize the strength of

our family bonds. Our true friends also come to us

and we realize that we are not alone in this world.

While nobody can prevent unpleasant things from

happening, the spirit of fraternity expressed by our

kith and kin help us to regain composure and move

on.

But have we lost our inner strength in our rather

unbalanced search for power and success in life? We

should especially be concerned about the erosion of

values in our society and the rapid transformation

our younger generation is undergoing .The present

society values success over everything and we want

our kids to become successful robots rather than

genuine human beings. Consequently, in the present

nuclear family set up, youngsters become absorbed

only in them and lose the type of emotional support

they would have got in the olden days of greater

societal bond. We forget that we ourselves are to

blame if they tend to be self centered and

emotionally shattered when crises grip them.

As senior citizens, we have a very important role to

mould our next generation .We must focus our

attention on this. Though we may have retired from

our official duties, we cannot afford to resign from

our concerns and obligations.

Kerala is gearing towards the celebration of Onam. It

is time for reunions and celebrations. Best wishes on

the eve of the festive season

POINTS TO PONDER

You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and

staring at the water.—Rabindranath Tagore.

GRANDMA’S TIPS

Reduction of

cholesterol

Regularly eating

oatmeal for breakfast

Removes potency from

the oil

Smoke mustard oil

before cooking into it

by heating to a point till

white smoke emerges

from it

He is most welcome who knows when to go

-2-

ASSOCIATION NEWS - SECRETARY

MEMBERSHIP

Membership 31.03.2012 : 175

New Members from 01.04.2012 : 32

Life : 152

Ordinary : 55

Membership as on 31.07.2012 : 207

Ladies : 25

Conversion : 8

Associate Members : 4

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

04.4.2012, 01.05.2012, 07.05.2012, 01.06.2012,

01.07.2012 and 01.08.2012.

Retirement Function:

1. 29.06.2012: Sh P K Narayanan, Manager, BO:

Court Road, Palakkad.

2. 30.06.2012: Smt T R Thankam, Manager, G B

Road, Palakkad.

Sh P Unnikrishnan, Reg .Secretary attended both

the functions, felicitated and presented

memento.

Picnic: Pre visit to make arrangements at Coorg

for the proposed picnic. Gen Secretary and

Treasurer visited on 28/29 June 2012.

Membership Campaign:

1. 04.06.2012 : Trichur : KGValsalan and Gen

Secretary: met 4 persons – All joined as Life

Members

2. 12/13.06.2012: Ernakulam : PKMohan and

Gen secretary : Met 6 persons. 5 Joined as Life

Members

3. 24.06.2012: Calicut : NRavindran, PKMohan

and Gen.Secretary : Met 2 persons – both joined

as Associate Members.

4. 3.07.2012 : Palakkad: PKMohan,

PUnnikrishnan and Santhanakrishnan P along

with Gen.Secretary. Met three persons. All

joined as Life Members.

26.07.2012: Calicut : PKMohan, BGRaghavan,

PKRajagopal & Indira Mohan – Met three

persons. Two joined as Associate Members. One

converted to Life.

RBONC(National) : Sh N Ravindran our Vice

President nominated as Vice President of

National Executive as per RBONC by law.

-----------------------------------------------------------

ENBL SHARE: Please contact Sh A S Joseph and

furnish details.

O495 2771653 9048003555

RBONC (State) : Committee meeting on

05.08.2012 at Ernakulam

ENBL SHARES: Sh A S Joseph entrusted with the

task of collecting data of share holders of ENBL

and report. Circular for all members given

elsewhere.

AIPNBOA Newsletter

May 2012

1. Chief Economic advisor, to FM, Sh Kaushik

Basu indicated that there could be a third global

crisis coming in 2014 in quick succession to the

financial crises of 2008 and 2011. This could

have an impact on the Indian economy as well.

2. Denial of 2nd

option on Pension: Letter dated

08.04.2012 to IBA on this issue.

June 2012

1.UFBU letter dated 21.05.2012 to Hon.Finance

Minister regarding denial of 2nd

option on

Pension to VRS, Resignees and compulsory

Retirees etc

July 2012

1. AIBOC letter dated 18.06.2012 to IBA

regarding non extension of pension option

facility to VRS and resigned staff.

2. UFBU strike call on 25th

and 26th

July 2012.

3. AIBOC letter dated 18.06.2012 to Secy. Deptt.

of Financial services, GOI regarding

improvements in pension scheme on the lines of

Government scheme, non extension of

pension option facility to voluntarily retired and

resigned staff.

4. 22 nd General Council meeting of AIPNBOA

to be held on 15th

and 16th

September 2012 at

Kochi.

5. Com Rishabdas co-opted as Gen secretary of

AIBOC in the vacancy caused due to retirement

of Com G M Nadaf.

Banking:

17.04.2012: Repo Rate reduced from 8.5 % to

8.00 %

SLR reduced from 24 % to 23 % from 11.08.2012.

General Information

Inter City Super fast Express from Mangalore to

Palakkad extended to Coimbatore from

10.07.2012

The trick to keep lipstick in place and to keep lip liner

from feathering is to apply a gel blush to the lips as a base

-4-

REMINISCENCES It was on the wedding eve Hema saw Laxmi

and Mini arrive. The family was overjoyed to

see them especially their daughter Anu as Mini

was her childhood friend. Laxmi had informed

with distress a week back that she had waited

eagerly to take part in the wedding

celebrations but due to her mother’s illness

she had to stay back. Now her sister had

agreed to relieve her and it was a happy

reunion for all of them. Three days later while

returning after seeing them off on a train to

Palakkad, Hema’s thoughts went back to those

days when her husband, a Bank Officer, was

transferred and posted to a remote village

named Shivapuram in Palakkad district as

Branch Manager.

Born and bred in cities it was with a sceptic

mind Hema joined him with their kids. The

only relieving feature was an English medium

Higher Secondary School in the next village.

Shivapuram was a small village and nature had

showered it with abundant scenic beauty.

Traditionally built houses with a temple

dedicated to Lord Shiva in the centre,

surrounded by paddy fields and a couple of

ponds made it a haven. The vacant space

under the huge Banyan tree in front of the

Temple where the men folk assembled in the

evenings (thara) served as a playground to the

village children. Occasionally you would find a

lone villager lying under the tree gazing up

above as if trying to find a solution to his

problems from the cluster of leaves and

branches of the tree. There was also a

U.P.School adjacent to it, the annual day

celebrations of which were an important event

to the villagers.

At least a few village elders rued that the road

cut across the fields to connect Palakkad and

Nemmara (a village famous for Nemmara-

Vallanghi Vela and entry point to

Nelliampathy) had stolen the beauty of the

place. Apart from the Bank and Post Office, a

hotel cum provision cum vegetable shop, a

ration shop, a tailor and a barber were the

other commercial units in the village.

The Bank Manager and his family were

welcomed with open arms by the villagers. The

simple and straightforward village folks with

their caring ways won their hearts. The kids

loved the place especially their son Achu. He

was fascinated by everything from swimming

in the temple pond, playing around the banyan

tree, roaming in the fields, the harvest, the

bullock cart, the temple festivals, the pot

maker, the rice mill, Kanyarkali (a colourful folk

dance performed by the men in the village at

Bhagavathy temples or tharas) and going to

school on an idyllic winding road feeling the

gentle breeze from the fields on both sides

unlike the ride in the city jammed in between

screaming vehicles with their screeching

horns.

Hema noted with surprise that most of the

people in the village knew each other and took

keen interest in each other’s happiness and

sorrows. They were basically agriculturists and

led the traditional way of life following a set

pattern. She was reminded of Thomas Gray’s

verse from “The Elegy ………..”

“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife

Their sober wishes never learned to stray

Along the cool sequestered vale of life

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way”

Hema became quite comfortable with the

villagers and developed a good rapport with all

of them. Soon she and her family found

themselves attending all their functions from

the 28th

day celebration of the newborn to the

16th

day ceremony of the deceased.

Laxmi was introduced to Hema by a local Bank

employee to help in her daily chores. She was

the eldest daughter of Krishnan Nair and

Ammini amma. She had lost her husband a few

months back. In spite of spending a

considerable amount of money for his

hospitalization and treatment he had

succumbed to a prolonged illness and now she

and her five year old daughter Mini lived with

her parents in Shivapuram. Her father used to

manage the paddy fields of an NRI relative. But

due to old age and falling health he was

unable to go to the fields regularly. Her only

brother worked in a mill and lived in Pollachi

with his family. Her two younger sisters were

married and lived in nearby villages.

Laxmi was efficient in household work and

gave no chance for any type of complaints. She

went about doing the work allotted to her in a

quiet way. Within a few weeks Hema found

out that Laxmi was a very good cook. Her

dishes were extremely tasty and the kids

adored her snacks. Even her simple pickle was

mouth watering. Soon she became a close

associate of Hema and the kids also loved her.

Many times when there was no school Mini

would accompany her mother to Hema’s

house and play with her children. Gradually

Anu and Mini became close friends.

As time passed Laxmi began to feel

apprehensive about Mini’s future. She wanted

to educate her daughter to enable her to stand

on her own feet. She would always discuss

various plans with Hema to supplement her

income. It was during these discussions that

the idea of making pickles and snacks in which

she was an expert and selling them in the

market started taking shape. Hema

encouraged her and she along with her

husband promised all possible help. Laxmi

was able to secure a loan from the Bank under

the Integrated Rural Development

Programme. Helped by her mother she initially

made a few bottles of mango and lemon

pickles and a few packets of snacks. She

marketed these in the village itself and they

were sold out easily. She earned some profit.

Her confidence started building and she

increased the quantity in the next batch. A

bakery owner who belonged to the village

volunteered to buy her products. This was a

great relief to her as she did not have to find

buyers. A well wisher helped her to get the

bottles and covers needed for packing at a

nominal cost from Palakkad. Gradually she

started getting more orders and she became

very busy. It was very tough for her but she

would never complain. Instead she enjoyed

being occupied throughout the day. She never

compromised on the quality and not even

once did she default in remitting her dues to

the Bank. With her head firmly on her

shoulders she went ahead with determination,

overcoming each and every hurdle that came

her way.

Hema continued to stay in Shivapuram even

after her husband was transferred to different

branches until her children’s schooling was

complete and left the village with a heavy

heart to their hometown with memories of

respect, love and affection the rustic folk had

showered on them. They saw the advent of

urbanization in the little village as many

villagers went to the cities and abroad in

search of employment. Laxmi had almost

established herself by now. She had no

difficulty in finding buyers for the pickles and

snacks she made. The households also started

engaging her to prepare feasts for minor

celebrations which she did efficiently with the

help of her mother and another woman.

It was the happiest day in her life when Mini

passed the SSLC with a first class and she was

in the seventh heaven when Mini graduated

from college. Her father had passed away a

couple of years back. Mini was now working as

a clerk in a private hospital in Palakkad and

was engaged to a distant relative who was also

employed in Palakkad.

As Hema entered her home and sat on her

favourite chair the words of Mother Teresa

came to her mind-

“Life is a struggle, accept it

Life is a challenge, meet it

Life is a duty, complete it

Life is luck, make it”

Indira mohan

WIFE: I wrote your name on sand it got

washed.

I wrote your name in air, it was blown

away.

Then I wrote your name on my heart

& I got HeartAttack.

HUSBAND: God saw me hungry, he created pizza.

He saw me thirsty, he created Pepsi.

He saw me in the dark, he created

light.

He saw me without problems, he

created YOU Editorial Board appeals to all the members

to contribute to the Charity Fund and remit

their contributions to SF a/c

434600108066178 of PNBROA (Please

mention your name.)

-6-

PNBROA FAMILY PNBROA FAMILY PNBROA FAMILY PNBROA FAMILY

HEARTY WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Sh Purushan Vava

A - 1 Gayathri

37/3392 VIP Road

Near Stadium Kaloor

Kochi 682017

Sh Somanathan M

B 1 Dream Castle

Trikkanapuram Temple Road

Edappally 682024

Dr N P Kurup

Indivaram

Kaitharam

Ernakulam 683519

0484 2446586

Smt Saraswathy Kunjamma T K

Seanto Square

Vidya Nagar

Kochi 682020

0484 2320470 9946453989

Sh Balakrishna Pai K S

XXV / 94 Koneri House

Mahesh Nagar

N F Gate

Tripunithura

0484 2781168 9895214962

Sh C S Abraham

Chackuthara Planthottathil

West of Railway Station

Mavelikara 690101

0479 301133

9446065050

Sh Narayanan P K

H No.60 Shreyas

PVR Nagar

Pallipuram PO

Palakkad 678006

0491 2543871 9446543871

Smt T R Thankam

Nav Cheth

Armughan Garden

Chandranagar

Palakkad – 07

0491 2573713 9446593713

Sh Ramachandran V

Yadukulam

Malampuzha PO

Malapuzha Road

Palakkad

0491 2555454 9495341489

Sh Venugopalan R

Sreepadam

Villadom

Ramavarmapuram

Trichur 680631

0487 2694184 9446461184

Venu_share@rediffmail.com

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Santha Menon

w/o Late Sh P V G Menon,

1/4512 B Sreelakshmi

Bilathikulam Calicut

0495 2369030

Padmaja P

w/o late Padmanabhan Nair,

Shobhasree

PO Kuthiravattom,

Calicut 16

0495 2741409

Balasankari Menon K 33/4808 C Varaveena

Pachakkil, Malaparamba P O Kozhikode -9

0495 2372548 9142077888

T Balamani Revathi Bilathikulam Eranhipalam

Calicut -6

0595 2380104 9744499104

WEBSITE ON MALABAR launched on 30.06.2012 – www.malabardictionary.com

-10-

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK RETIRED OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION (KERALA)

CIRCULAR NO: 1/2012 16-07-2012

TO ALL MEMBERS

Reg: ENBL Share holders

Our Association is receiving enquiries regarding the present position of ENBL Shares from

our members as well as from outsiders. A reference was made in the last Annual General

Meeting held on 09.05.2012. Sh N V Unniraghavan, also spoke on that occasion promising all

help in this regard.

The matter came up for reference during interaction between Sh A S Joseph and the

undersigned on several occasions. You volunteered to take up the matter in right earnest

and bring it to its logical end.

This issue was discussed in detail at the E C Meeting held on 01.07.2012. It was decided that

Sh A S Joseph be entrusted with the task of collecting as much details as possible of ENBL

Share holders, consolidate them and submit so that we can take up the matter at the

appropriate forum.

All members who are having ENBL Shares are requested to furnish the details in the

following format or contact Sh A S Joseph over telephone.

0495 2771653 9048003555

You may also collect the details from your friends also and furnish the details as above.

B G RAGHAVAN

Gen Secretary

FORMAT FOR SUBMISSION OF SHARE DETAILS

NAME of Member

Address with Telephone/Mobile/email

ID

PF /PPO No.(In case of ENBL employees)

FOLIO NO

CERTIFICATE NO

NO OF SHARES HELD

DISTINCTIVE NUMBERS

DATE of Share Certificate

I/we hereby authorise ........................................................................................................

to take up the matter in the appropriate forum.

Date: Signature

Page 11

Q& A CORNER

Q. Whether booking of Gas cylinder can be

done on line ?

A. Yes.

Petroleum Ministry along with three state

run oil marketing firms, IOC, HP, BP launched

on 22.06.2012 the www.petroleum.nic.in.

Consumers can also be able to track on the

status of their booking.

LPG portal can also be accessed through

respective oil company websites.

www.indane.com.in

www.ebharatgas.com

www.hindusstanpetroleum.com

( Indian Express dated 23.06.2012)

------------------------------------------------------------------

READER’S CORNER

WAVES JUNE ISSUE : Very Informative

: has come out well.

: English language is good.

Articles and other contributions keeping high

standard. Literary Contents are excellent.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Quotable Quotes

Keep on Knocking, Keep on Asking, Keep on

Seeking

It’s never too late to decide to never give up.

Teach your mind intentionally to use respectful

words. And you just might find that life begins to

feel a lot nicer - because people aren’t angry at

you anymore

WEDDING BELLS

Sathya married Prasanth d/o K R Sreenivasan

&

K Soudamani

on 10.06.2012

Arun weds Sruthi s/o M T Ravindran

and

Smt M Shobhana

on 26.08.2012

Raghu weds Sumitha s/o Vijayaraghavan P

and

Smt Geetha P V

on 02.09.2012

Pradeep weds Shruthi

s/o Smt Rema Menon

and

Dr.C Rajendran

on 02.09.2012

Sardar is back Sardars and scooter

Three Sardars were going on a scooter. Traffic police showed them his hand. One

of the Sardars told: We are already three, sorry, there is no space.

Lion and Sardars

Two Sardars were in a forest, when a lion came roaring towards them. One of them

throws sand into its eyes, and runs. Second one stays unmoved. When asked why

he is not running, another Sardar tells: "Why should I be running? It is you who

has thrown the sand "

A NEW COLUMN – READER’S CORNER - PLEASE CONTRIBUTE YOUR

SUGGESTIONS/VIEWS/CRITICISMS

Page12