Annual Report for the year - 2005.

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The standing Committee of Lodge Trivandrum No.168 has immense pleasure in presenting the Annual Report for the year 2005.

W. Bro Velayudhan Nair Rajamma Harikumar (Reg No 293) born on 01-12-1958 was initiated into Lodge Trivandrum No. 168 on 21-09-1996.

At an impressive ceremony on 15th January 2005, witnessed by a record number of 92 brethren, Bro.V. R. Harikumar was installed as the Worshipful Master of Lodge Trivandrum No.168 by W. Bro. A.S. Ben Roy. A number of visiting brethren from Lodge Ananthapadmanabha No 280, Lodge Vanchinad No.273, Lodge Aruvi No.293, Lodge Vivekananda No.254, Lodge Travancore No.329, Lodge Minchin No.2710EC, Lodge Kodaikanal No. 235 and even a brother from Lodge Zur Weltkugel in Orient Lubeck No.130 in Germany attended the function. At the investiture of the officers, W. Bro Dr. G. Reghuvaran, Past Dy.G.M, Past Gr.Std.Br. the Asst Regional Grand Master and the representative of the Regional Grand Master of RGLSI delivered the charge to the Master. R.W. Bro. M. Ramaswamy Iyer delivered the charge to the Wardens and W.Bro. D. Santhi Kumar, the charge to the brethern.

A grand and glittering banquet followed the ceremony attended by the spouses of brethren.

There were 12 regular meetings and 1 emergency meeting in the year 2005 and a joint meeting with Lodge Kodaikanal No.235 .

Brief details of the ceremonies worked are as follows:

Brethren of Lodge Trivandrum No.168 conducted a ceremony of raising in Lodge Kodaikanal No.235 on 10-04-2005. This inter Lodge visit was a grand success with our brethren enjoying the hospitality of the brethren of Lodge Kodaikanal in the cool environs of Kodai Club.

The year 2005 started with strength of 134 members. A record number of 5 candidates were initiated during the year. At the close of the year, the membership stands at 139, making it one of the strongest lodges in the region.

The attendance throughout the year was reasonably good. The following brethren, have distinguished themselves by attending all meetings:

The following brethren have attended 10 or more meetings registering 75% attendance during the Masonic year:

Among the Initiates of this year, Bro. Binu Purushothaman has maintained a good attendance during the year.

The financial position of the Lodge is sound. Under the capable and committed Treasurership of Bro. Charly John, the accounting records of the Lodge were maintained properly. The contributions of brethren of Lodge Trivandrum to the Thiruvananthapuram Masonic Trust have been truly reflected in the Accounts of the Lodge.

The efforts of our brethren in putting up the superb Annual RGL Meeting in 2004 in Thiruvananthapuram seem to have worn out our masons as is evident from the fact that not many made it to the RGL Investiture Meeting in 2005 in Chennai where the R.W the RGM of Southern India R.W Bro. Gutha Krishnan Selvarajan took over the reigns from R.W. Bro Dr. Balaram Biswakumar.

Our senior brethren R.W. Bro K.R. Rajasekharan Nayar OSM, V. W. Bro. A Gopalan Nair, W. Bro Santhi Kumar, W. Bro R. Sushil Raj were of course at every meet in the region. The Area Meet in Kanya Kumari on 28th May was attended by a large contingent from Trivandrum . So was the half yearly meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India held on 27th and 28th at Nedumbasserry, Kochi. Our senior brethren R.W. Bro. K.R.R.Nayar, V.W.Bro. A. Gopalan Nair, W.Bro Santhi Kumar and W.Bro. Sushil Raj, W. Bro. Dr. A. Devadas braved the biting cold in winter and attended the Grand Festival of GLI at Varanasi in November 2005.

R. W. Bro. Dr. Harish Gupta, Secretary of GLI visited Trivandrum in whose honour we organised a dinner with the senior brethren of other lodges in Trivandrum .

W.Bro.R.Sushil Raj

G.Std.Br.

R.W.Bro M.Ramaswamy Iyer

P S G W

V.W.Bro.A.Gopalan Nair

P G D of C

V.W.Bro. Brig. V.K. Nair

P G D of C

W.Bro. G. Raghuvaran

P. G. Supdt. of Works

W.Bro. M. R. B. Menon

P.Asst.G.Swd.Br

W.Bro.R.Ravikumar

P. G. Std. Br.

W.Bro. A. Jayapalan

P. G.Std.Br.

W.Bro. Dr. P. A. Thomas

P.Asst. G.Std. Br

W.Bro. D. Santhikumar

P.Asst. G.Std. Br

W.Bro. Dr. G. R. Nandakumar

P.G.Org

W.Bro. Col. M. K. Sriharshan

P.G.Org

W.Bro. Dr. G. Surendran

P.G.Mars

W.Bro. Roger Oscar Christian

P.Pres.G.Stwds

W.Bro. T.Ravindran

P.G.Stwd.

W.Bro. M.M.Syed Ismail

P.G.Tyl.

W.Bro. G. Raghuvaran

A R G M

W.Bro. Dr. R. Ravikumar

P.Dy. R G M

W.Bro. Dr. P.A.Thomas

P.Dy. R G M

W.Bro. R. Sushil Raj

P.Dy. R G M

W.Bro. A. Jayapalan

P A R G M

W.Bro. Dr. G. R. Nandakumar

P S R G W

W.Bro. D. Santhikumar

P A R G M

W.Bro. T. Ravindran

P.PR.R BD.GEN.PS

W.Bro. Roger Oscar Christian

P R G REGR

W.Bro. P. Bhaskaran Nair

P J R G D

W.Bro. P. Sreekumar

PRG SUP OF WKS

W.Bro. A. Devadas

P J R G D

W.Bro. K. G. Rajasekharan Nair

P A R G SECY

W.Bro. R. Krishnan

P A R G D OF C

W.Bro. P. B. Menon

P R G ST BR

W.Bro. Akhilesh G. Nair

P A R G ST BR

W.Bro. P. Balachandran Nair

P R G ORG

W.Bro. Maj. Gen. M. Kesavan Nair

P R G I G

The Lodge also took all efforts to award the Long Term Service Jewels to Dr. R. Raman Nair (40 years) and to Bro. C. M Aravindakashan Nair (25years), but the busy schedules of the RGM prevented us from holding the ceremony during the year.

The Past Masters as well as the Master Masons of Lodge Trivandrum took active interest in the conduct of ritual ceremonies. All the meetings had an agenda item on Masonic education when a paper on various aspects of Freemasonry was read. Our own W. Bro. P. G. Sukumaran Nair also explained the working of the Lodge in Australia for the information of the brethren The Past Masters’ Day was celebrated in October with V. W. Bro. Brig. V.K. Nair occupying the Eastern Chair to conduct passing ceremony. This was followed by a crisp initiation ceremony conducted by W. Bro. Dr. R. Ravi Kumar. The ceremonies were made impressive with the illustrious past masters occupying various offices and also rendering portions of the ritual.

Maintaining the high standards of Lodge Trivandrum, our Worshipful Master V.R. Harikumar took the Lodge to the second stage of the ritual working competition 2005, the results of which are awaited.

The following brethren were awarded certificates of merit in the Ritual Working Competition 2004 in 1st stage:

Bro. Alexnder Erskiene of Lodge Zur Weltkugel in Orient, Lubeck No. 130 of GL of Germany attended a couple of our Lodge meetings. Some of our brethren made the presence of Lodge 168 felt in lodges abroad.

R.W. Bro. K.R.Rajasekharan Nayar OSM was received and felicitated in Lodge Eastern Bon Accord No.7071 and W. Bro. S.Ramnath attended the meeting of Hundred of Burnham Lodge No5568. Both these are under the United Grand Lodge of England. W. Bro Sushil Raj and W. Bro. A.S. Ben Roy visited the Freemasons’ Hall in London. W. Bro. S.Ramnath also visited the Tokyo Masonic Centre.

The Lodge celebrated the Universal Brotherhood day 2005 on 24th June in a befitting manner with the brethren of Lodge Ananthapadmanabha, Lodge Travancore, Lodge Aruvi and Lodge Minchin 2710 (EC) participating in a lively interactive meeting with prospective candidates and their wives. The newspaper The Hindu published a report.

The Lodge had substantial contribution to the cause of charity in the year 2005. The year saw a fabulous sum of Rs.45,200/- disbursed under the benevolent fund. Charity work continues to be the mainstay of our Lodge in 2005 with the following projects being taken up:

• The Lodge made a timely contribution of Rs.10000/- to the Grand Lodge of India Tsunami Relief Fund.
• A sum of Rs.2000/- was given to rehabilitate a vegetable vendor suffering from a kidney ailment.
• A cancer patient in need of treatment at the RCC was given medical assistance worth Rs.7000/-.
• The Lodge disbursed S.T.S Scholarship totalling to Rs.16000/-. From this an amount of Rs.5,000 each was disbursed to Mr.Muthu Kumar ans Miss Archana. Rs 3,000 each was given to Miss Divya.S. Nair and Miss. Smitha Rani. The students were recommended by Pratibha Poshini.
• The Lodge contributed a sum of Rs.4,500 towards the Earthquake Relief Fund of the Grand Lodge of India for the J&K earthquake victims.
• The Lodge also purchased 35 chairs worth Rs.7,500/- for the Regional Cancer Centre in Trivandrum .

The Dhanyadhan programme recommended by the GLI has been carried out in right earnest with over 400 kgs of rice distributed to the needy.

Bro. K.C.Mohan very generously contributed 100kgs of rice.

The following brethren contributed 10Kgs of rice to the cause of Dhanyadhan -

As suggested by the Grand Lodge of India, the Lodge took the initiative to organise an association involving the wives of freemasons of all the Lodges of Trivandrum. This association named MYTHRI has been meeting regularly and organising programmes beneficial both to themselves as well as to society. Mrs Ganga Sriharshan President of Mythri was active in organising distribution of daily necessities for the needy patients of RCC through the Marthoma Hospital guidance & counseling centre at Kumarapuram.

This year too, the monthly newsletter has been brought out every month. The newsletters carried informative and interesting material combining wit and wisdom. The efforts of W.Bro. A. Jayapalan, the Editor is widely appreciated.

This group ID created by enlisting all the brethren having email ID has proved to be an effective channel among brethren. The service rendered by Bro. P. Vijay Kumar in this regard as well as those of the regular contributors is greatly appreciated.

The Lodge website which is three years old has established its presence in the web world. It has become one of the popular sites for masons throughout India and abroad. The site is regularly updated and carries information and photographs of not only this lodge but also of Masonic activities in the entire area.

Lodge Minchin No: 2710 EC maintained cordial relationship in all our activities including participating in the Universal Brotherhood Day. We have received with gratitude a great deal of assistance from them during the year. We place on record our gratitude for all the directions and guidance received from RGL and especially our own initiate and the ARGM W. Bro. Dr. G. Reghuvaran.

All books, registers, files and inventory of the Lodge are being properly maintained. All returns, statements and reports to RGL and GLI are dispatched on time and all dues were promptly remitted.

The Standing Committee has immense pleasure to place on record their deep appreciation of the leadership of W. Bro. V.R. Harikumar and his team of office bearers for the year 2005.

Trivandrum
31 - 12 - 2005.

W. Bro. G. R. Nanda Kumar

We have examined the Balance Sheet of Lodge Trivandrum No. 168 as at 31st December 2005 and the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended on that date. The said statements of accounts are in agreement with the books of the Lodge. In our opinion, the Balance Sheet reflects the true and correct position of the state of affairs of the Lodge as on 31st December, 2005 and Income and Expenditure Account of the excess of Income over Expenditure for the year ended on that date.

Sd/-

W. Bro. G. R. Nanda Kumar &
Bro. R. Sridhar

Audit Committee

Trivandrum
17-01-2006

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