Thursday, July 21, 2005

Updates on the Rani Chandran Memorial

Vikram has some info for us:

The Rs. 5,000 collected thus far will be presented by Srivi to Mrs. Parthasarathy during the awards ceremony at this year's anniversary celebrations (that's happening next week). This money goes towards upgrading the facilites at the Rani Chandran Language Lab.

As far as the memorial fund is concerned, it has been decided that a part of the money collected will be used to fund the entire schooling of a deserving kid. Mrs. Ramdas is to help identify a deserving candidate, and this will be coordinated with prominent voluntary organisations in Chennai to make sure this is done properly.

Vikram goes on to say:

This project requires a little over $1000 and I appeal to ALL of you to help make this possible. Even a modest contribution of $20 from 50 people could help do the job. Ofcourse, we need not restrict ourselves to this figure as we have other things planned as well.

The purpose of the fund established will be to support "The Rani Chandran Memorial Award" . The first recepient will be awarded thishonour during the Anniversary Celebrations next year(2006).

The award constitutes a certificate, useful books and a medal. This will be presented to a deserving class 12-graduating candidate for overall excellence in creative writing,oratory and theatre.

The criteria to decide the recepient will be based on a 30% weightage given to performance exhibited in each of the 3 areas of creative writing,oratory and theatre. Out of a total of 100 points, a student's achievements can be recognised by awarding him (sic) points for his (sic! again) merits in these 3 divisions. The final 10% will be decided by reviewing his (sigh!) conduct and obtaining feedback from relevant members of staff. Should there be a tie for this position, the student with impressive academic performance shall be awarded this honour.

We plan to allocate a certain portion of our collections towards meeting the expenses of maintaining this award each year.

We can excuse Vikram for not maintaining gender neutrality, and I'm sure Mrs. Chandran would not mind either: TSV's doing a great job getting this together.

Meanwhile, he continues:

The memorial fund to collect all donations is now officially established. You can make your contributions by writing a check to

"THE RANI CHANDRAN MEMORIAL FUND"

and mailing it to

FIFTH THIRD BANK
30, EAST CORRY STREET
CINCINNATI OH 45219

It would be wise to mention the corresponding account number on your checks. This is going to be 7021699462.

We are working to create a similar account in Chennai to facilitate easy collections from people in India. Details about that will be released eventually.

I cannot stress the importance of your contributions. Some of you have asked me about information already and I'd like to thank you for your patience. Please continue to support this effort with your enthusiasm. While $20 is a minimum that I would venture to ask of you, larger amounts are more than welcome.

I will keep you informed about our collections regularly.Please let me know if you are facing difficulties in sending your money.

As I've mentioned before, Vikram is indeed doing a very big job and it only makes sense that we help out however we can. I'd be posting regular updates as and when I get word from Vikram. Meanwhile you can still contact him directly: vikramts(at)yahoo(dot)com

Apart from the info about the memorial find, you are urged to continue sending your contributions to the scrapbook.

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