COMA

COMA Newsletter January 2016

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Editor’s letter

Dear friends,

Welcome to the first edition of the 2016 newsletter. That warm fuzzy holiday feeling still permeates the air. Can you believe it’s 2016 already? New Year, new resolutions, and a time for new beginnings! My New Year resolution, besides getting fit (ha-ha!), is to push the envelope and step out of my comfort zone. I am therefore excited to take on the mantle of Newsletter Editor from Smitha Nishant. Smitha has done a splendid job and laid a wonderful platform to build on in 2016! This is also a time to bid adieu to last year’s awesome COMA Team and welcome this year’s new Executive Committee.

In the words of Ajoy Kumar, EC 2016 President, “Our vision for this year is  ‘myCOMA’. We aspire to make COMA relevant and interesting for multi-generations; and enable the patrons to have ownership and patronage of your COMA activities in the community.” 

The newsletter this year will feature sections such as;

YATRA: we would love to hear about your travels and adventures to new & exotic destinations, but equally nostalgic trips back to Gods own country

PACHAKAM: we invite your favorite recipes with a picture of your drool worthy creations

YOUTH ZONE: an opportunity for your children to express themselves and see their work published. Kids of all ages are actively welcomed to contribute; whether it be a picture, a poem, a narrative, we want to hear from COMA kids!

FASHION: Ladies (and gentlemen)!!! We’d love to see pictures of you flaunt your personal style and keep us ‘pardesis‘ current with ‘desi‘ fashion trends.

SPOTLIGHT: if you are a new family in town, you’ve hit an important milestone (significant birthday/ wedding anniversary/academic accomplishment), welcomed a new addition to your family, won awards/felicitation or simply want to showcase a hobby or talent (like photography, art) then here’s your opportunity to tell us about it!

This year we have an end of year Award Ceremony planned in December with a Readers Choice Award and Kids Award for the most popular contributions. In addition to this, we are excited to announce a 2016 COMA Yearbook in which we want to feature significant contributions of COMA patrons of all age groups. So get your creative juices going and start sending your submissions in early!

Hope you are as excited as we are to start this year with a BANG! I hope to see more new faces, fresh ideas and connect with you through your participation. No contribution is too big or small. I look forward to your input on coma_ohio@yahoo.com.

Warm regards,

Anu Kurian

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COMA Newsletter December 2015

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From the Editor’s desk

2015_12_SmithaDear newsletter readers,

The holidays are around the corner and 2015 is coming to an end. The COMA 2015 Christmas Party was a fitting end to a very fruitful year for our Malayalee association.

The COMA newsletter has grown significantly this year. We were able to bring you interesting news relating to a wide variety of topics: achievements, birth announcements, graduation news, travelogues, adventures, youth contributions, local events, and interviews, to name a few. We have successfully met our target to consistently reach out to the community with a monthly newsletter – a significant feat for a small community and budding organization like ours.

Leading the newsletter this year has given me the good fortune to work very closely with the 2015 Executive Committee, and I take this opportunity to thank them for their constant support (and for giving me a free reign). I would like to especially thank Arun Radhakrishnan (President) for his outstanding leadership, and Nish Nishant (General Secretary) for his technical support with publishing the newsletter and sharing it with COMA’s reader base. Special thanks also goes to Adithya Nair for coordinating the youth contributions.

And lastly, my sincere gratitude to all the contributors and readers for your continued interest and support.

I have decided to hang up the notepad and step down as the newsletter editor for COMA due to personal commitments. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Anu Kurian who has cheerfully agreed to serve as the next COMA newsletter editor. She has a lot of new ideas and plans on how to take the newsletter forward, so we have much to look forward to next year. I wish Anu all the very best! I hope you continue to read and support the COMA newsletter.

With that, I bid adieu, and leave you with a final thought: “On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the Escape key.”

Wishing you all happy holidays and a wonderful new year!!!

Smitha Nishant

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Anarkali – Malayalam Movie

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AnarkaliMovieThis has been a good year for Prithviraj Sukumaran – who has been the highest grossing actor across 2015 releases.  Anarakali, released in November, has been running in packed houses in Kerala. The movie also stars Miya George, Biju Menon, Kabir Bedi, Priyal Gor, Suresh Krishna, and Renji Panicker. We are screening it in Columbus via US Malayalam Movies from Friday to Tuesday, 8 shows in total. Details below.

Pricing

  • Adults $10 (ages 10 or higher)
  • Children $5 (ages 4 to 9)

Location

Screens at the Continent
6360 Busch Blvd,
Columbus, OH 43229

Show Times

  • Dec 11 Friday – 7:00 PM
  • Dec 12 Saturday – 2:00 PM | 7:00 PM
  • Dec 13 Sunday – 2:00 PM
  • Dec 14 Monday – 2:00 PM | 7:00 PM
  • Dec 15 Tuesday – 2:00 PM | 7:00 PM

COMA Newsletter November 2015

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From the editor’s desk

editor smithaDear readers,

As I was preparing this Thanksgiving edition of the COMA newsletter, I took a few moments to look back at this year, and I am truly filled with joy and gratitude. I have had the privilege of being the editor for the COMA newsletter this year, and as always the pleasure of being part of the small and tight knit group that is our Columbus Malayalee community.

The COMA Christmas party is hardly a week away. Tickets have been sold out. Thanks for the astonishing response to the event. Read the detailed write up below for more information on the event.

I hope all of you enjoyed some time together with family and friends this Thanksgiving weekend. Some of you may still be recovering from the turkey, ham, and shopping over-dose. Thank you all for your continued interest in the COMA newsletter. See you all at the COMA Christmas event!

Thank you,
Smitha Nishant

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COMA Newsletter October 2015

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From the editor’s desk

NewsOct15SmithaWelcome to the October edition of the COMA newsletter. This edition highlights upcoming COMA events that you do not want to miss out on, and has a short write-up on the revamped COMA website.

It’s a fall tradition in my family to carve a jack-o-lantern two days before Halloween, and put it out in the unlit porch with flickering LED tea lights inside to light it up. My son looks forward to this activity every year, which has helped us create lasting memories that we cherish as a family. Do you have fun family traditions for Halloween? We’d love to hear about them! Send in pictures of your Halloween traditions, or you or your family members dressed up in costumes, and we will share it on the COMA Facebook page for everyone to enjoy.

Wishing you all a spooky, fun filled, and safe Halloween!
Smitha Nishant

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COMA Newsletter September 2015

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From the editor’s desk

Hello friends,

Fall is very much my favorite season. The start of fall is an exciting time for everyone, with visits to 201509smithaorchards and farms, and a ton of other fun activities for the whole family. It can also be a little overwhelming for some of us with school work gearing up for the kids and temperatures slowly dropping down.

This edition of the COMA newsletter has a lot of the usual items, but in addition has a very interesting interview with one of my favorite COMA patrons, our beloved trustee Jacob Vengal. His story is a true inspiration to all of us and teaches us the importance of giving back.

Thank you.
Smitha Nishant

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COMA Onam 2015

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2015OnamWe are thrilled to announce that this year’s COMA Onam program will be on August 29th, Saturday from 11 AM to 4:30 PM. The venue is the Gahanna West Middle School, located at 350 N Stygler Road, Gahanna, OH 43220. There will be a full-course Onam Sadya as well as a cultural program including Onam favorites like Maveli, Thiruvathira, and Onam songs.

There will also be patron-submitted programs including dances, songs, and skits. Due to the high volume of participants, we have stopped accepting new programs.

This year’s highlight is that Maveli will be present throughout the program and will be a key element in the event storyline. The roles of Maveli and Maveli’s friend are played by two of the most talented folks in Columbus.

Tickets are sold out!

  • This event is prepay-only.
  • We will not sell tickets at the venue.
  • Outsiders who don’t want to have the Sadya but are part of a group event will require Attendee Tickets. This includes anyone accompanying minor participants.

Note to COMA annual members

If you are a paid COMA member, you will receive a separate email with member-special pricing. If you are not a member and would like to take advantage of member-pricing, just purchase a membership, and wait 24-48 hours to receive an email with instructions on getting member-pricing.

We have a finite limit on the number of people we can accommodate for the Sadya, so we will close payments once that limit’s been reached. Please buy tickets early to ensure that you will be able to attend.

COMA Newsletter August 2015

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From the editor’s desk

Hello friends,201508smitha

Happy New Year (Kollavarsham) to all my Malayali readers!

The COMA Executive Committee is working hard to bring you a magnificent Onam celebration with a sumptuous Sadhya and elaborate cultural programs. Thank you everyone who have purchased tickets already. It helps the Executive Committee to better plan the event and give an accurate head count to the caterers. Those of you who intend to come are requested to purchase tickets before they run out to ensure you won’t miss all of the excitement, fun, and socializing.

Onam is a time to rejoice, to reminisce childhood memories, and celebrate the spirit of being a Malayalee. I wish all my readers happiness, peace, and prosperity. See you all this Saturday at the COMA Onam celebrations!

Thank you.
Smitha Nishant

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COMA Picnic 2015

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2015PicnicWe’d like to officially announce the COMA 2015 summer picnic on July 25th Saturday at Liberty Park, 2845 Home RD, Powell (Shelters 1 and 2) from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. This year, to spice things up a bit, we are dividing the attendees into 4 teams that will play against each other in various group games. The four teams we have formed are the Powell Panthers captained by Anjana Hari, Columbus Cheetahs captained by Vikas Gopal, Dublin Dragons captained by Sachin Sugathan, and Westerville Warriors captained by Girish Manoharan.

  • Tickets are $5 per person (ages 5+) and are to partly cover the event expenses.

Fun and games

Each captain can pick 2 key players for their team prior to the picnic date. On the day of the picnic the rest of the team will be randomly allocated to each captain from the pool of attendees. Individual games will have additional rules, example for the volleyball games, each team would need to have 3 men, 2 women, and 1 youth member. We will have more detailed guidelines closer to the event date.

We will have games and fun-activities for adults and kids. Planned games include volleyball, hillbilly golf, card games (28, rummy), brain games, puzzles, kids’ entertainers/performers, face painting and we’ll have food, drinks, and light energy snacks for everyone. If you have game/activity suggestions or are interested in helping us organize games, please let us know.

Carrotized Aviyal?

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This article was originally published in the souvenir for Shobana’s Krishna 2015

Author – Pradip Ramachandran

The “King of Kerala food” is undoubtedly Aviyal and has been a staple menu item during all major festive meals of Kerala for centuries. The ubiquitous Aviyal is made with a mélange of hardy and “locally” grown vegetables and cooked to perfection with ground coconut, cumin, green chili peppers, and turmeric in large open-mouthed shallow vessels. A couple of drops of fresh coconut oil and a sprinkling of aromatic curry leaves added at the very end complete this unique delicacy.

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