Greater Austin Malayalee Association	Volume 5, Issue 1 February 9^th, 2010
G.A.M.A Times

			GAMA 2010 Board Announced
Inside this issue GAMA 2010 Board President's Message 2009 Christmas Update 2010 SareGAMA Photo of the Month Editor's Desk GAMA Karshakashree Salvation Army Haiti Relief 2010 US Census Kerala News Celebrity Trivia Flu Prevention Campaign Community News UPcoming events: Feb 20^th - Salvation Army April - GAMA “KarshakaShree” April – SAREGAMA		: 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 8	Greetings and Happy New Year from the Greater Austin Malayalee Association (GAMA) 2010 Board of Directors. The first GAMA board meeting of the year was held at Clay Madsen Recreation center on Jan 17th 2010. The new board members were welcomed at this combined meeting of the 2009 and 2010 board members. The outgoing board members shared their experiences and passed on the torch to the new board. The election of the office bearers were held right after the combined board meeting. GAMA is proud to announce the 2010 board and office bearers.
						2010 Board of Directors * Ajit Surendran * Anil G Thomas * Ann Mathen * Antony Sebastine * Celine Jose * Deepa Raj * Eldho Kuriakose * Hari Mony * Jacob John (Saju) * Jinson Koppanalil * Manasi Menon * Manoj Gopalan * Meena Thomas		* Prasanth Vijayan * Rajesh Sukumaran * Raji Johnson * Roseann Thomas * Roshan Chacko * Shibu Abraham * Tinu Mathew
2010 Board office bearers
	President Jacob John (Saju)			Vice President Meena Thomas	Deepa Raj Deepa Raj		Treasurer Jinson Koppanalil

Message from GAMA President
	Friends!  On behalf of the 2010 GAMA Board, I would like to wish you a fruitful year. I wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank the outgoing GAMA Board members for their two years of service to the community:  Manoj Kunjappan (‘09 Pres), Lisa Kuriakose (‘09 VP), Giby Parackal (’09 Sec), Thriveny Balan (’09 Treas), Suresh Venukuttan, Santhan Parameswaran, and Priya Manoj.  We truly appreciate the hard work and sacrifice they made. I also welcome the new Board members:  Ann Mathen, Raji Johnson, Tinu Mathew, Manasi Menon, Roseann Thomas, Hari Mony, Ajith Surendran, Anil Thomas, Roshan Chacko, and Eldho Kuriakose.  I am encouraged by the high level of enthusiasm and energy that we have already seen from the new members. And we have a great group of returning Board members who will add experience to the 2010 team.  Celine Jose, Manoj Gopalan, Rajesh Sukumaran, Shibu Abraham, Prasanth Vijayan, Anthony Sebastian, Meena Thomas (’10 VP), Deepa Raj (’10 Sec) and Jinson  Koppanalil (’10 Treas).  Thank you for your continued support and involvement. GAMA’s high level objectives, as laid out by the founding fathers are: ·         To take an active interest in cultural, social and welfare of the members. ·         To promote friendship and fellowship. ·         To organize periodic community activities. ·         To encourage service-minded people to serve the community without any rewards. ·         To educate future generation about Kerala heritage and culture and to be proud of it. ·         To aid others (weak and needy in Kerala) whenever possible.  We will strive to uphold these objectives.  Your new GAMA Board is starting to plan activities and events for 2010.  We will conduct the traditional four major activities as usual: Saregama, Picnic, Onam and Christmas.  In addition, we are investigating what else is of interest to the community.  We will share more information as we confirm our plans and dates. Since we depend on volunteers for all of our activities, we encourage you to contact one of us if you have an interest to get involved or help out in any GAMA activity. We will find a way to involve you.  Please share with us your ideas and feedback by reaching out to myself or anyone of the GAMA Board members. Here’s to a year of great participation, rewarding activities and memories to cherish.
	Best wishes, Jacob John (Saju) 2010 GAMA President

2009 Christmas celebrations update
	GAMA Christmas event was held at the 9^th Grade Campus, Georgetown on Dec 5^th, 2009. The event was inaugurated with lamp lighting by Fr. Sam Mathew and the GAMA office bearers. It was followed by two hours of fun extravaganza put forth by our community members (and the little ones) in the form of dance, songs and skits. The highlight of the evening was the spectacular Christmas Nativity show which staged more than 40 artists on the stage which was biggest in GAMA history. The ‘ganamela’ medley was the perfect end to a grand show. The stage show was followed by the delicious Christmas dinner at the cafeteria. The night ended with a toast of sparkling wine and fruit cake at the dinner table.
	More photos from the event can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/gama.webmaster/Christmas2009ByCijiIsen The GAMA Christmas 2009 DVD copies will be available for $5 from February 2^nd week onwards. Please contact any GAMA directory to secure your copy.
		SAREGAMA – April 2010
		Get ready for the talent display on stage once again. GAMA will be conducting its annual talent show in April 2010. SAREGAMA is a great venue to showcase the talents of amateurs and experienced within our community. The event will be featured by dance, music, skit etc.	Details regarding the date, time, venue, registration etc will follow soon. Stay tuned…
Photo of the Month
	“Chinese Net” – by Adbul Noushad			Do you have a talent to capture memorable moments on camera? Send in your photos with your name and a caption to webmaster@gama-austin.com to be included in one of the newsletters.

Editor’s Desk
	It is another year and another beginning. GAMA will continue serving it’s community members as it has in the past, standing on the core principles it was found upon. Best wishes and congratulations to the new Board. As we begin this year, GAMA newsletter is adding some new features and giving the newsletter a whole new look! We have added columns like ‘Get Creative’ and ‘Photo of the month’ where everyone can showcase their talents. “Naattile Vaarthakal” will keep you updated with what’s happening back home while 'Cine trivia' will test how well you know your Malayalam actors. We encourage the community members to actively contribute any literary and newsworthy items to the newsletter that will be beneficial to our community. Thanks and wishing everyone a great year ahead. With Warm Regards Editors GAMA Newsletter
“I would rather be on my farm, than be emperor of the world" - George Washington		GAMA is conducting “who wants to be a Karshakan” competition this year for the community members. You can register for the competition by clicking the following link anytime from now till April 3^rd, 2010 - http://209643.xobor.com/f2-Who-Wants-to-be-a-Karshakan.html At the end of the competition period, GAMA will make inspections of the “Krishi” and will decide the winner at ONAM ’10. Winner will be given the GAMA “Karshaka Shree” award. For more details contact Eldho Kuriakose at Kurious.arts@gmail.com. Stay tuned for the next newsletter with more details on rules and regulations of this competition.

Salvation Army Volunteering
	GAMA has committed to provide basic charity services every year at the Salvation Army center. Every month on a Saturday, GAMA volunteers go to the downtown Salvation Army center and help the staff with preparing and packing meals for the needy. We invite volunteers from the community to join GAMA in continuing to provide this service at the Salvation Army center. It is also a great opportunity for middle/high school going kids to earn some volunteer credit hours. If you are interested in the above volunteering opportunity, do contact GAMA Webmaster at webmaster@gama-austin.com or Roshan Chacko at roshanc@gmail.com. Next Date: Saturday, February 20th, 2010. Time; 10:45 AM to 12:45 PM Venue: Salvation Army Center, 501 East 8th Street, Austin, TX 78701.
Haiti Relief and Development
	On January 12, a series of earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 6.5 to 7.3 devastated Haiti. The American Red Cross is working with its partners in the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network, including the Haitian Red Cross, and other partners to assist those affected by this disaster. Your gift to the American Red Cross will support emergency relief and recovery efforts to help those people affected by	the earthquake in Haiti. Assistance provided by the American Red Cross may include deploying personnel, sending relief supplies, and providing financial resources. Please visit http://www.redcross.org to make a donation. You can also text "HAITI" to 90999 on your cell phone on participating carriers to make a $10 donation.
2010 U.S Census
	US Government urges all of us to actively participate in the 2010 US Census. How it benefits our community: When we fill out the census form, we’re making a statement about what resources our community needs going forward. Accurate data reflecting changes in our community are crucial in apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and deciding how more than $400 billion per year is allocated for projects like new hospitals and schools. Click here for more details: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/index.php In March of 2010, census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico. When you receive yours, just answer the 10 short questions and then mail the form back in the postage-paid envelope provided. If you don't mail the form back, you may receive a visit from a census taker, who will ask you the questions from the form. Click here for more details in Malayalam : http://2010.census.gov/2010census/language/malayalam.php

	India Celebrates 60^th Republic Day On January 26^th, India celebrated the 60^th anniversary of the inception of its constitution. Republic day is one of the three national holidays observed in India. On this day the India Government recognizes citizens with the prestigious Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibushan awards, for their distinguished contributions in various aspects of society. This year following Malayalee personalities made the state proud with the top awards. Padma Bhushan recipients Dr PK Warrier - Medicine Kuzhoor Narayana Maarar - Art Narayanan Mooss - Medicine Capt. Krishnan Nair - Trade & Industry Prof A J Paul - Science & Engg Padma Shri recipients K Raghavan - Art Rasool Pookkutty - Art Dr Philip Augustine - Medicine Dr Palppu Pushpangadhan - Science & Engg Prof P Somasundaran - Science & Engg Kurian John Melamparambil - Social Work Dr B Raveendran Pillai - Trade & Industry Prof Ittoop John - Science & Engg			Cochin Haneefa, an outstanding cine artist passed away in Chennai on February 2nd. He has acted in over 300 Malayalam films and 80 Tamil films. He has also won the Kerala State Film Award for best supporting actor in the movie Soothradharan. He will be greatly missed in the Malayalam movie industry.
		Cine Trivia
		1) Know your celebrities? Photographs of two celebrities have been morphed together in each of the images shown below. Can you recognize the following famous Kerala Movie Celebrities? Send your answers in this format: A-<names>, B-<names>, C-<names>.
		(A)	(B)		(C)
		2) Which Malayalam film actor other than Prem Nazir has his name in the Guiness book of World Records? Email your entries to webmaster@gama-austin.com Winners will be announced in the next GAMA newsletter. So Hurry up!

Travis County Flu Prevention Campaign
		Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services Department Contact: Linda Cox, Program Coordinator, Outreach and Education 512-972-5048; linda.cox@ci.austin.tx.us
	How to Fight the Flu We are now in the midst of the seasonal flu season, and have also just been through the first pandemic flu we have seen in 40 years. A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus appears that spreads quickly around the world because no one has previously been exposed to it. H1N1 exploded on the scene in April of 2009 and by November nearly 50 million Americans had been infected. Seasonal flu affects an estimated 5-20% of the population each year and complications from the flu cause the deaths of about 36,000 Americans annually. The H1N1 pandemic caused nearly 10,000 deaths as of last November, and it is possible we will see another wave of severe illness this year. With these two flus on the scene, we need to do everything we can to prevent them. The primary ways are through vaccination, basic hygiene, and staying home when you are sick. Mom was right when she stressed the importance of hand-washing. It is the single-most significant behavior to minimize the spread of the flu and other harmful diseases. Scrubbing vigorously for 20 seconds with soap and warm water is the key. In public facilities, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and to open the door. You can also use alcohol-based hand sanitizers to remove germs. Since viruses and germs are spread by hand onto surfaces which are then touched by others, the new “cough etiquette,” can help limit the spread of the flu. Instead of coughing into your hand, cough into your sleeve or into a tissue and then throw it away and wash your hands. And avoid touching your face—mouth, nose, and eyes—where germs and viruses can enter your body. Free vaccines are available through the Health Department. Call 972-5520 for an appointment. The primary symptoms of the flu are high fever (100°		or more), body aches, severe fatigue, and cough. If you do get sick, stay home until you have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medicines. Drink plenty of fluids, take acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil), and rest until you feel better. Warning signs that you need medical attention include difficulty breathing, severe vomiting, or severe dizziness. The Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services Department wants to help you fight the flu. We offer presentations to community groups and have an exhibit for community events; contact us at 972-5048 for scheduling. For more information about the flu, visit www.cityofaustin.org/pandemicflu or www.austinflu.com. What is pandemic influenza? Influenza viruses infect the respiratory tract, affecting the lungs and breathing tubes. Some people can have severe reactions to flu viruses, including pneumonia. People build immunities, or protections, to viruses after they have been exposed to them. Pandemic influenza is a global outbreak of a new and different flu virus that people have no immunity for. The pandemic virus can spread rapidly between people, affecting a large number in a short period of time.

	Get Creative
Greater Austin Malayalee Association P.O Box 27292 Austin, TX. 78755. Contact E-mail: webmaster@gama-austin.com	GAMA board is launching an invitation to the Malayalee community in Austin to share their hidden talents via the monthly newsletter. Let those creative juices flow, whether it is your favorite recipe, poetry, short stories, informative write ups or photographs. If writing is not your thing, we welcome other talents you want to showcase such as drawings, paintings or artistic photography.  Having your articles published in the	newsletter is an excellent way for the community to get to know more about you than just a name in the directory. Your article will be selected by the editors based on GAMA standards and will be published in one of the following newsletters. Full credit will be given to your name. Please send in your articles to webmaster@gama-austin.com along with your contact details.
	Community News
We’re on the Web! www.gama-austin.com	Births Aanya, was born to Ann & Abraham Joseph on Dec 20^th, 2009 Do send your community news (births, weddings, demises etc) to webmaster@gama-austin.com to be added within the subsequent month’s newsletter.