HAPPENING -- 15:

‘MRS NILGIRIS’, POOJA NOW, FINALIST FOR ‘MRS INDIA WORLDWIDE’

P S SUNDAR 

The current titleholder of “Mrs Nilgiris”, Pooja Singh Yohan from Coonoor has brought another laurel to The Nilgiris district by becoming the finalist in the prestigious ‘Haut Monde Mrs India Worldwide 2019’.

“This follows my winning in the audition held in Bengaluru where I successfully completed the testing three rounds – catwalk, introduction and talent showcase”, Pooja told me.

“In the talent showcase, my rendition of Alia Bhat’s Samjhavan earned appreciation.   The contribution of Ayisha Abbas (Coonoor)  for my costume, Sofia Jasmine (Coimbatore) for my hairstyle and fashion styling and Sangeetha Shinde (Greece) for my overall grooming enhanced my presentation”, she said.

“Besides, in the question and answer session, I highlighted my conviction that marriage or becoming mother does not end the scope for achievement in career for women;  on the contrary, it opens a new phase of healthy lifestyle entailing grooming of body and mind thereby enhancing the contribution of women to the society at large”, said Pooja who is 42 years old and mother of 10 year old boy Sean Yohan, but looks like a college student, proving her contention.  

“By virtue of this, I am now selected for orientation programme to be held in Agra from April 26-28.   This includes a shoot near Taj Mahal for the coveted title ‘Mrs Popular’ on the theme ‘Sunflower’,” she said. 

“The first competition will be held in Greece in September and the Grand Final in New Delhi in October”, she disclosed.

Pooja’s grandfather Sardar Gajendra Singh was the first Indian General Manager of Government Cordite Factory in Aruvankadu and her father Col Mahendra Sigh (retd) lives in Coonoor.  Her husband Vinay Yohan works for merchant navy in Shanghai.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

HAPPENING -- 14:

CITIZEN’S FORUM VOWS TO MAKE OOTY A BETTER PLACE

P S SUNDAR

The Citizen’s Forum of Ootacamund has vowed to make Ooty a better place to live by focussing attention on improving the living conditions for both the residents and the tourists.

This follows my observation in my Chief Guest’s address at the Installation ceremony held at Gem Park Hotel, Ooty, on Feb 28, 2019.

“It is time for us to think of ‘Future Ooty’.  We should leave Ooty a better place for our children than the one we inherited or are living at present as we deem that we have borrowed this tourist town from our children rather than inherited it from our forefathers”, I asserted.

I motivated the new office bearers as also the members of the Citizen’s Forum to identify the ‘Agenda for Future Ooty’ as CITIZEN as an abbreviation to expand into Civic issues, Isolation of illegal activities, Tourism development, Involvement, Zeal, Environment and Nature.

Earlier, senior member Padmini Suresh installed Kamlesh Kataria as President for 2019-20.  

In turn, he installed Nandhi Ravi as Secretary and Abhishek Bothra as Treasurer.

l-r: Nandhi Ravi, Kamlesh Kataria & Abhishek Bothra.

Former President Rohit Jain introduced Kamlesh while senior member Rashmi Praveen introduced me.

Kamlesh said that the Forum would serve as a bridge between the citizens and officials for developing sustainable tourism and infrastructure.

He requested the district administration to publish the draft copy of the new master plan so that the Forum could suggest the modifications to make it easier for the residents to build houses.

He also asked for multi-level parking, sports complex, total ban on plastics, safe roads, streetlights, safe drinking water and smart toilets.

The outgoing President Balasubramani adorned Kamlesh with the President’s collar.

The outgoing Secretary Nagaraj presented Annual Report and the outgoing Treasurer Babu, the Annual Accounts.

The new team took groups photos separately with the members of various service organisations.

(Response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

CELEBRATIONS -- 20:

FAMILY GET TOGETHER AT THE GATEWAY HOTEL, COONOOR..

BY P S SUNDAR.

As the mountainous and cool The Nilgiris district is getting ready for the forthcoming peak summer tourism, the tourists received an encouraging message on Sunday with the hospitality sector’s staff members assuring them of a memorable season ahead.

This enthusiasm was reflected at the 27^th Family Get-together of the Associates held at Taj Gateway Hotel in Coonoor.

“We used the occasion to reiterate our commitment to deliver our best for enhancing the tourism experience for the visitors”, Gateway General Manager R Muralidharan told me.

My wife and I were special invitees along with D Antony Gerald, Human Resources Manager, Taj Club House, Chennai.

The proceedings were set into motion by Human Resources Manager A Manoharan.

Muralidharan honoured the Associates who have served the hotel for long contributing consistently as also those who hold prompt reporting record at service.

The following got the awards for their Long years of service with the Taj group::

Sagayanathan, Ramalingam, Sakthivel, Bala Murugan, Ravi, Vijay Kumar, Anandha Kumar, Manikandan, Devaraj Govindaraj, Ramesh and Suresh.

Certificate as also Gold/silver coin were given to them. 

The following got ‘Perfect Attendance’ awards::

Sreejith, Mithun and Pandurangan .. all from Food and Beverage Production department.

“These are the gems bringing laurels through their dedication and hard work and are promising symbols of assurance to the tourists that their stay, food and picnicking experience in The Nilgiris would be of high order”, noted Muralidharan who himself has been serving through the Taj group for about 34 years now.

These two got Taj Scholar awards::

1. Junior .. Rithehwar s/o Bala Murugan.

 

2. Senior .. Dharshan . s/o Ramalingam.

Muralidharan showed to me the new organic manure creating facility using the excess food produced in the hotel as also the vegetable wastes from the kitchen.  “On the one hand, we have advised the kitchen staff to control the volume of cooked food to reduce wastes and on the other, we convert whatever wastes generated into organic manure, apply it in our garden and use the organic vegetables so grown to prepare healthy food for the tourists”, he explained.

The Associates and their family members staged variety entertainment programmes.

These were the responsible ones who conducted the Family Get together:: 

(Response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com) 

CELEBRATIONS -- 19:

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AT TAJ SAVOY ATTRACTING A LOT OF VISITORS..

BY P S SUNDAR. 

The whole world is now celebrating with weeklong festival to usher in the ‘Chinese New Year of the Pig’ and the mood has caught up in The Nilgiris as well with Taj Savoy Hotel in Ooty launching the celebrations. 

“As the common saying goes, if you develop a liking for Chinese food, you can survive in any part of the world as the Chinese cuisine has become universal decades ago”, Savoy General Manager Ritesh Choudhary told me.

“This is becoming increasingly true here as we have many UK tourists enjoying the Chinese food at this festival with us”, he said.

“But, the variety is enormous.  Each region in China has an exclusive cuisine”, he noted.

“We opened the festivities with Chinese songs and dances by Anahita Sameer Singh, a child who has come from Shanghai where her family lives.  She thrilled the audience, especially the British, with her most apt numbers”, Ritesh shared.

Front Office Manager Thameemul Ansari is welcoming the guests with a garland made with eucalyptus tree leaves.   To the add the uniqueness, he is advising the guests to drop the garland in hot water before taking bath and experience the charm of healthy fragrant Nilgiri eucalyptus bath!

“We have decorated the restaurant to give a Chinese touch", said Om Prakash, Food and Beverage Manager.

The festive spread is for the dinner for the whole week.  We are serving complimentary festive drink ‘Orange Dragon’,” he said.

The Executive Chef Arun Mohanraj and Chinese specialist Chef Arogyanathan have come out with an elaborate festive Menu and are helping the guests to choose the dishes by explaining to them the ingredients and the significance of each.

This is the Menu now in use ::

The visitors are treated to a delicious beginning of Kimchi Salad::

And, now a mocktail with tea as well::

This is Cranberry and water melon juice with some Masala Tea to offer an awesome taste::

“Among the soups, Tomato Egg Drop, Lemon Coriander Soup (picture) are popular", Executive Chef Arun Mohanraj disclosed. 

"Among the starters, vegetable Jiaozi, (pan fried vegetable dumplings with sweet chilli sauce) is popular", he noted::

And, this Crispy fried spinach and corn kernel::

Also, this sesame honey chilli tofu::

"Xi’an style spicy chicken wings and Singapore Chilli Crab are also popular”, Arun noted. 

“In the main course, Chinese Lions Head Lamb Meat dumplings and Chicken Dan Dan Noodles (wholesome meals) are popular”, he said.

This is a combination of Singapore Rice Noodles, Fried Rice and Sichuan style braised egg-plant with pickled chillies::

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)