COMA Newsletter January 2017

Hello Friends!

Happy new year from COMA News Desk!! Warm welcome to the first edition of this year’s newsletter!

It has been an exciting and eventful holiday season –Christmas and New Year celebrations, Election results and run up to the inauguration, demonetization and its impacts in India, floods in Chennai and much more! I am excited to say that the new EC team has taken over charge and is already on their job. Meticulous planning is underway for more than a month to make 2017 a fantastic year for COMA members! 2017 EC team’s vision is to “make COMA more than a cultural organization”

2016 was a significant year for COMA; Onam program saw the largest ever gathering attending a COMA function – almost 500 people! Yes, our small organization is leaps and bounds. The team led by Ajoy has done a fabulous job steering the organization last year overseeing this significant growth. This year’s team is committed to continue the hard work to meet your expectations!
There are several exciting programs lined up for this year, kicking off with the colorful Valentines Family Night event on February 18th! With the goal of “making COMA more than a cultural organization”, the team is also looking to provide additional value add services to the community, which will be communicated in the due course. We are looking forward to the continued support from you for the success of our events!

Anu has done a fabulous job with collecting, collating and publishing the newsletter last year. While the pattern of the newsletter will remain pretty much the same, some new sections will be added this year – news on other Indian associations in Central Ohio, event calendar (major events of interest in both local and from Kerala), a section on photography etc.

Your valuable suggestions and contributions are welcome @ coma.officials@gmail.com

Executive Committee 2017

Ajayan Janardhanan, President

Ajayan hails from Kochi and has been a resident of Columbus since 1997. He resides in Hilliard with his wife, Anuja, and their children, Arya (10 years) and Anjali (6 years). He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The Ohio State University, and a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science & Engineering from College of Engineering, Trivandrum. He is currently employed as Director, IT Applications with Nationwide Insurance. Anuja is also employed with Nationwide. During his spare time, he loves spending time with his family, traveling, reading and catching up on the news.

Naushad Pasha, Vice President

Pasha is from Malappuram and has been living in Columbus since 2002. Currently he is working for Nationwide as Director in Personal Lines Research and before that he worked for The Ohio State University as a Lecturer. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from OSU and a Masters from IIT Madras.

Pasha’s wife Shameema is working as a Data Scientist for the Ohio Super Computer Center of OSU and has a PhD in Chemistry from Indian Institute of Science. In his spare time, Pasha likes to do coding, fishing, and biking but lately both Pasha and Shami are busy with raising their 9-month-old daughter Hazel.

Sindhu Rajgopal, Secretary

Sindhu came to Columbus in October 1999. She lives in Dublin with her husband, Raj Panicker, and two daughters – Aishwarya and Sahasra. Both Sindhu and Raj work for Nationwide Insurance and have been attending the programs put by our organization since 2000. Sindhu is from Hyderabad and her parents come from Kollam. In her spare time, she loves to read, spend time with her family doing anything related with classical music and dance, watching TV shows or movies.

Austin Pereira, Joint Secretary

I am from Kannur and can speak unadulterated Malabar Malayalam. I came to US in 1993 to pursue my Masters in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Ohio University. When I first came to Columbus in 1996, I searched for a Malayalee association, found none, started searching Malayalee last names and found the email address of Rajan uncle. Rajan uncle graciously invited me and my wife Deepa to his house and made us feel at home. Rajan Uncle was our COMA then and I believe now that our current COMA will be the one that invites and makes all of us Malayalees welcomed.

I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve COMA this year.

Deepa and our three kids – Asha, Dhiya and Aedin live in Powell. I manage the North American Service provider accounts for F5 Networks. We also run a small business in Columbus and I am one of the founders of Alumni Charities in India. In my spare time I love to run, spend time with family and watch Malayalam comedy movies. And personally, I have an incessant tendency to find humor in everything.

Anup Janardhanan, Treasurer

Anup is from Kochi and has been a resident of Columbus since 1998. He resides with his wife Smitha and children Adit (12 years) and Adwin (5 years) in Lewis Center. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, Eugene and Bachelor of Architecture degree from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum. He is a Board Certified and Registered Architect in India and the United States. He is currently employed as Architecture Project Manager with Moody Nolan, Columbus. His professional interests include sustainable design, housing and historic preservation. During his free time, he loves to spend time with his family, reading and painting

Valsan Palika, News Letter Editor

Valsan and Family has been in Columbus since 1998. Very active in community activities, Valsan was instrumental in planning and executing several community events even before COMA became a formal organization. Valsan hails from Kannur. He holds a Master of Physics degree from Kozhikkode university and has worked as an air traffic controller for several years in Mumbai before migrating to USA. He is currently working with Chase. He temporarily moved to India between 2010 and 2015, and help set up Chase operations in Hyderabad. Valsan lives with his wife Vijaya and children Hrishikesh and Niranjan at Lewis Center. Valsan loves to travel, read and he maintains a close connection with his hometown.

Training Classes

COMA is planning to facilitate the following classes/sessions.

• Python programming
• Toastmasters
• Yoga

If you are interested in joining any of these classes, please contact us at coma.officials@gmail.com

Youth Club

The Youth Club will be formally set up next month. All youth members are encouraged to join the youth club and avail the opportunities for community involvement, leadership development, and have some fun. Please convey your interest by sending an email to coma.officials@gmail.com

COMA Events Schedule for 2017

Date	Event
18-Feb	Family Event (Valentines)
15-Apr	Professional Development (Corporate Networking)
17-Jun	Family Event (Picnic)
26-Aug	Cultural Event (Onam)
14-Oct	Professional Development (Kids or Business focused)
02-Dec	Cultural Event (Christmas)

Kairali Cup

Kerala Cricket League of Michigan is organizing a cricket tournament called Kairali Cup. For More information please visit their website of Facebook page.

ചിന്താശകലങ്ങൾ

– ഹരി നാരായണസ്വാമി

ചെക്കൻ

ട്രൗസറിട്ടു നടന്നൊരു ചെക്കൻ
വലുതായി, വിദേശിയായി
ട്രൗസറിട്ടു നടക്കുന്നൊരു ചെക്കനായി

കയ്പ്പും മധുരവും

തോളൊപ്പം വളർന്നു
മലയാളം മറന്നു
കനവോളം ഉയർന്നു
കണ്ണിൽ നിന്നകന്നു

മതവും മനുഷ്യനും

മനുഷ്യന് മനുഷ്യനെക്കൊല്ലാൻ
മദമൊരു കാരണം
മതവും ഒരു കാരണം .
മദംകൊണ്ട് മതിമറന്നവനേതു മതം ?

വിശ്വാസവും ജ്ഞാനവും

വിശ്വാസിക്കാവിശ്വാസി ദുഃഖം
അവിശ്വാസിക്ക് വിശ്വാസി ദുഃഖം
അജ്ഞാനിയ്ക്കു ജ്ഞാനി മോക്ഷം
ജ്ഞാനിയ്ക്കജ്ഞാനിയും ദൈവം

ഈശ്വരൻ

ഈശ്വരന് പേരിട്ടിട്ടാപേരിന് പേരിൽ
പോര് നടത്തീട്ടാ പോരിന് പേരിൽ
അധർമം വാഴിച്ചീടുമവരിൽ
ആർക്കു സ്വർഗ്ഗം മാളോരേ ?

ഭാഷകൾ

ലോകകാര്യം പറവതിനെനിക്കെത്രയോ ഭാഷകൾ
എന്നെകുറിച്ച് എന്നോട് പറയാൻ
മൗനമെന്നൊരു ഭാഷാമാത്രം

മരണം

മരണം
നമ്മുടേതല്ലാത്തതെല്ലാം
നമുക്കില്ലാതാക്കുന്ന സത്യം

ലക്‌ഷ്യം

അർത്ഥം കളഞ്ഞിട്ടർത്ഥം തേടണം
അർത്‌ഥത്തിനപ്പുറമുള്ളത് നേടണം

മാർഗ്ഗം

പാതയില്ലാത്തിടത്ത്
യാത്രയുമില്ല
വഴികാട്ടിയുമില്ല .

ഞാൻ

എന്റെയുള്ളിൽ ഒരു നൂറു ‘ഞാൻ’ ഉണ്ട്
പിന്നെ , ഞാനറിയാത്ത ഒരു ഞാനും