Tamil Nadu Foundation (TNF) – Houston Chapter conducted its Fathers’ Day Celebration on Sunday, 30th June, 2019 at Sugar Land Memorial Park- South Meadow Pavilion.
The TNF office bearers and members of Advisory Board along with family arrived at 10.00 AM and started the function arrangements. Some of those who participated brought food, audio-visuals and other needed items for celebrating the event.
The President of the Houston Chapter, Mala Gopalakrishnan did the welcome address and gave a brief introduction of the TNF- Chapter activities and introduced the officers namely Secretary Dr. Nalini Balachandran and Treasurer Punitha Thangaraj. Also, she introduced the Advisory Board members. Among the TNF Board members who attended the function were Dr. Vaduganathan, Srikanth Venugopal and Bala J. Balachandran along with family members. In her welcome address, she mentioned that the TNF took a lead in organizing the Fathers’ day celebration this year. Among the senior fathers who attended the event were Dr.S.G.Appan, Anantha Krishnan and C. Jegadeesan. They were recognized as Banyan tree (Alamaram Appa) which means sturdy and characterized by aerial prop roots that mature into thick woody trunks and anchor the tree to the ground. This tree symbolizes longevity which means offering continuous care and guidance to the upcoming generation in a family.
The Father’s Day started in a pleasant manner with a prayer song sung by Anatha Krishnan, followed by Karaoke-songs offered by Ganesh Rajamani, Uma Shankar, Kishore Thangaraj, Nalini Balachandran, Thenmozhi Ganesh, Anitha Chandrashekar and Priya Senthil. Also Aadhi Gopalakrishnan and Aakash Srikanth sang a very popular Tamil song.
After that, a debate (Patti Mandram) on the “Future of Children’s Career is Self driven or under Father’s guidance” was conducted. There were three participants in each group. For those who supported ‘Self driven” were Dr. Jeevaraj, Dr.P. Stalin and Dr. Vaduganathan. And those who supported the group “Father’s guidance” were Mr. Chokkalingam, Mr. Govindan and Mr. Thangaraj. The above three senior fathers volunteered to be the judges for the debate.
The speakers of the” Self driven group “stressed the importance of allowing the children to take self-decisions in building their future carrier namely education, job and life style. In the contemporary world, the children are well aware about good and bad things in their lives and some time they help the parents in routine day-to-day activities. On the other hand, the ‘Father’s guidance group” presented the view on the significance of abiding the continuous guidance and mentorship of parents for leading their children’s bright future career. The discussions were very hilarious that made the audience quite lively. On hearing both sides of the debate, the judges narrated with specific examples from their own personal lives and concluded that the future of children’s carrier can be advanced both by Self driven as well as by close monitoring and guidance of parents. This combined effort will only provide a healthy atmosphere for the well being of the entire family. The president of the Houston Chapter congratulated the speakers of the both groups of the debate for their valuable contributions.
With joy and humility, the organizers of the Houston Chapter served a sumptuous lunch and snacks to all the participants. Amid much cheers, the program continued with some more pleasant songs offered by attendees. The weather was very pleasant throughout the day. There were about 80 persons that included kids and adults who equally enjoyed the event.
Finally, Dr. Nalini Balachandran offered the vote of thanks. She thanked the office bearers, advisory board members and other participants of the event for their involvement and making the function a grand success.
