E V E N T
B R O C H U R E Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Triple Diamond Sponsor
Walmart is proud to support GPTM 2019-2020
We celebrate with you the gift of friendship that inspired us to all we can, together to help people live better.
2 Program Agenda
நிக폍母சி நிர쯍 (order may vary based on event logistics)
Welcome SPEECH Welcome Dance – “Vinayakar thuthi” - Swetha & team Kuthu Vilakku Vaibhavam
“Bharathamum Bharathiyum” - Natya Dance academy Magic Mimes Competition
“Subrahmanya Kavuthuvam” - Yashaswini & team Super Dancers Competition ”Deepavali Dance Drama” – Kalabharathy School of Dance Committee Introduction Offstage Events - Slide show Prize Distribution Dinner Break Rajhesh Vaidhya Live Show Felicitation and Vote of Thanks
Our sincere thanks to all the participants, parents and teachers for the very active participation this year! We also thank the judges of the various contests. 3 அன்பா쏍ந்த ꯁரவலரர! வண埍க믍! இꞿய 鏀பாவ쾿 ந쯍வாழ்鏍鏁埍கள்! Dear Patrons, Welcome and Happy Deepavali!
I'm honored to welcome you all to Deepavali Kondattam 2019, in the 17th season of Greater Portland Tamil Mandram (GPTM). Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world with more than 77 million contemporary speakers! Tamil is one of the official languages in India and also in Sri Lanka and Singapore. It has a significant number of speakers in Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji and South Africa. Tamil is not merely an ancient language with an independent tradition but it possesses an extensive body of profound literature. GPTM is proud to be the integral organization that brings together Tamil speaking populace in the Greater Portland metro area!
When I started this 17th GPTM season, I had set a vision to further our cultural bonding filled with traditional and exciting events! Today, we are here to celebrate Deepavali, the famous "Festival of Lights". It is celebrated at the beginning of every autumn in India and across the world by Indian Diaspora. Deepavali reflects on the universal theme of good winning over evil and the inherent Indian spirit of unity in diversity. Following nature’s cycle, familial celebrations truly light up the event. Interestingly, Halloween seasons across the world align with Deepavali! Let us celebrate this Deepavali with our beloved community and express our everlasting love towards nature and humanity.
With a growing need to fight pollution and climate change and protect Mother Nature, I picked the theme "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse" for all of GPTM's events in this season. You will witness it being emphasized across all the decoration materials, banners, articles, topics for Sketching and Kavithai (poem writing) and even in a few shows. Today's event list is packed with local talent shows such as Super Dancers, Magic Mimes and special recitals from local dance schools. Magic Mimes is a new addition this year and we are certain that you would love it! We have also completed few competitions off-stage such as Dubsmash, Smule, Golu, Kavithai, Katturai, Sketching and Photography. You will see these creations and the skills from our community members!
The prime show of today’s events is the live-in concert by “The King of Veena” Kalaimamani Rajhesh Vaidhya along with his daughter ‘Famous Super Singer’ Malavika! For the first time in GPTM's history,
I am pleased to introduce 5-States Thematic Grand Buffet called "Bahubali Buffet". You would experience variety of 50+ food items from 5 different states of India. This is our genuine attempt to showcase the inclusive nature of Tamil culture, which was well articulated by Kaniyan Poongunranar in nd 2 century BC’s Sangam literature PuraNanuru as “யா鏁믍 ஊரர யாவ쏁믍 ரகளி쏍” (All towns are our own, everyone is our kin)! Enjoy the show and the delicious “Bahubali” buffet!
GPTM is grateful to have ever growing active members, subscribers, volunteers and sponsors. I sincerely extend my gratitude to our passionate sponsors for their continued love and support to GPTM. We are proud to have such wonderful and diverse sponsors who truly demonstrate the importance of philanthropy and bring bonding in a pluralistic society. Membership plays a vital and integral role in making GPTM events a grand success and my special thanks to our members for supporting us. Every year, a group of multi-talented individuals from our community take on the responsibility to help GPTM be a successful organization filled with creative events tied to our traditions. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the committee members and their families! Volunteers have always been the keystone to GPTM’s sustained growth and many thanks to them as well!
Sincerely, Ananthan Ayyasamy President, GPTM 2019-20
4 GPTM Committee (2019-2020)
Ananthan Ayyasamy is the President of GPTM 2019-20 committee. A Realtor and Project Manager by profession, Ananthan has special interests in Tamil history, culture, agriculture, socio economic development and politics. Ananthan, his wife Regina and kids Adhithya and Asmitha live in the Bethany area. They love to explore everything life presents and connect with friends when time permits!
Rakesh Rajagopal is the Vice President of the present 2019-2020 GPTM committee. He works at Nike Inc. An avid runner and loves outdoor activities. He lives in the North Bethany area with his wife Subha & daughters Harshitha & Navya.
Saravana Sevugapandian comes from a rural village Muhavoor in Tamilnadu, India. Presently, he lives in North Bethany with his wife Uma and two children Rudran and Aadhini. As a son of a farmer, Saravana has special interest in Organic Farming. Saravana enjoys spending time with his family, reading books on sociology, world history, politics, volunteering, and practicing and coaching traditional Tamil martial art, Silambam. He is thrilled to be part of GPTM and looking forward to serve the organization and community as Secretary this year!
Shiva Doreswamy is very excited to continue his 2nd year with the GPTM committee, as a Treasurer this year. He lives in North Bethany area, along with his wife Viji and two boys, Vrishank and Shreyank. He enjoys taking part in social events and love to take pictures! He works for NWEA in downtown Portland and is very passionate about kids education.
Muthaiya Rajagopalan He is an enthusiastic, energetic and cheerful friend. He is full of passion for everything he does. He loves GPTM community and wants to serve the members. He works as Lead Consultant for Eagle Creek Software Services. He, his wife Chitra and kids - Sahana and Tanmaya live at Bethany.
Santhosh Kumar Rajendran hails from the industrial town Hosur (TN) and works at McAfee. He loves to spend time outdoors playing sports, volunteering for NGOs such as the Oregon Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, and many more around the Portland metro area. Santhosh is a polyglot who speaks at least 8 languages and has interests in art, culture, history, travel, philosophy, photography, and philanthropy. He is married to Asha and lives in the Bethany area. He served as the Secretary of GPTM 2018-2019 committee.
Priya Murali is a member of the GPTM 2019-20 committee. She is an active volunteer in many non-profit organizations including GPTM. Priya has great interest in Tamil literature and culture. She loves celebrating Tamil festivals with family and friends.
Augustin Jeyakumar has been living in Portland for 14 years, is married to Padma, with two daughters Anusha and Reshma. He and his wife both hail originally from Madurai. He works at Intel and enjoys running, soccer, and loves to learn about history.
5 GPTM Committee (2019-2020) Manivanan Janardhanan (Mani) currently serves as a technology coordinator for GPTM committee. Continuing on the work of previous committee, Mani has been instrumental in setting up payment system that makes GPTM ticket and membership purchases a breeze. Mani works for Intel as an engineering manager and lives in Hillsboro with his wife Deepa, and sons Nandu and Adithya. His hobbies include writing poetry, classical music, reading and volunteering.
Divya is excited to be part of the committee. She works for Intel and lives with her husband Anjan in Bethany. Divya has keen interest in Tamil literature and history. She is an exponent of Indian classical music and is an avid reader.
Hemamalini has been living in Portland for more than 13 years, with her beautiful family and kids Anirudh & Ananyaa. She is very active in volunteering for nonprofits like food bank, and involved in schools volunteering for teaching special aid kids. She is a program coordinator in JHTCC and working as a medical translator for 4 languages. Interested in Tamizh literature. Her favorite hobbies are writing Tamizh kids articles, stories and Tamizh poems, Compering for events, shows and Tamizh talk shows. Jeyasekar Marimuthu hails from southern part of Tamilnadu Pattiveeranpatti. He works at McAfee. He is quite passionate about composing music and contributing to technology. His other interests include marathon runs, mentoring musical talents and photography. He is happy to assist GPTM in the areas of his strengths. He lives in Bethany with his wife Sathya and daughters Mahathi and Smrithi.
Venkatesan Muthu is one of the executive members in the GPTM 2019-20 committee. He works at Intel. He is living in Portland since 2008 along with his wife Sangeetha and his two sons Nithin & Nivesh.
Anand Govindaswamy is one of the executive members. He has been living in Portland since 2003 and works for Moda Healthcare. He’s married to Praveena and has a son, Arav. He is always passionate about volunteering and would like to support GPTM in various activities. My hobbies are playing cricket, golf, hiking and tennis.
Meena Mohan is the "Secretary of New Initiatives and Youth Affairs" of 2019-2020 Committee. Meena was born and bred at Chennai, India. Works at Nike as Software Engineer. Lived in East coast and Gulf coast areas of US and moved to Portland 11 years back. Now lives in North Bethany area with her Husband Mohan, lovely kids Mohit and Mahathi. Meena enjoys volunteering in non-profits & Schools and believes in giving back to the community. Meena has special interests in Tamil culture, Technology, Cooking, Kids education and improvement, Friends, Traveling.
Hariharan MeenakshiSundaram (Hari MS) is a member of GPTM committee. Sr. Tech. program manager by profession. Hari has interest in learning & contributing to Tamizh community - special interests in ancient Tamizh literature, spiritual, yoga, silambam (leading volunteer based "PDX Silambam"), Thirukkural-drama, Parai and pattimandram speaker. Hari, his wife Deepa, kids Lokesh and Lingesh live in Bethany area. 6 GPTM Committee (2019-2020)
Kumaran A E lives in Portland from 2016 with his family (Wife : Lavanya, and two daughters - Adhithi Shree and Gobhika Shree). He and Lavanya are conducting weekend tamil classes for kids to teach them our culture and language skills.
Karthick Anandan is very excited to join the GPTM committee this year and looks forward to assist in his areas of strength: cultural programs affiliates with tamil heritage and connection. He lives in Bethany Village, along with his wife Kavitha, gifted with son Tharun and daughter Shivanya. He is originally from Cuddalore and been living in Portland, Working in Nike for the last 4 years. He enjoys taking part & leading the social events.
Sindhu is excited to be a part of Gptm, is wife of Sylace Srinivasan and mother of Sid 19, Shruthi 7 and Sammy (2 Fur baby). Lives in Tigard from 2010. Works for Kaiser. Passion in dancing, choreography, volunteering and love to Organize parties.
Vijayan Nagarajan is from Coimbatore, India. Working in Altran. Living in Portland with my Wife Ambika and kid Arthika. I enjoy playing badminton, Hiking, reading books, traveling, exploring new places and like connecting with friends. I have an interest in volunteering for social events.
Gomathi lives in Bethany with her husband Ram and kids Aditi and Anant. Has been contributing to gptm in cultural events by her group performances and choreography for other group dances too.
Anupa was born in Chennai. Did schooling in Chennai and college in Bangalore. It's been 4 yrs since she moved to Portland. She lives in Bethany with her husband and 2 handsome boys. Loves to talk, has a lot of friends around. Dancing is something she loves to do. She choreographed dances for Indian Association back in Tallahassee, Florida.
Gokul is a member of the 2019-20 committee. He lives in Portland with his wife Deepa & kids Sudarshan and Mukundhan.
Venkataramanan Sekar (Venkat) is a member of the 2019-20 committee. Venkat is from mango/steel city Salem, Tamilnadu, India and works at Infosys. He lives in Hillsboro since 2016 with his wife Sasikala and daughter Venmathi(5).
7 Board Of Directors
Ashok Aravamudhan served as the President of the 2016-17 GPTM committee. He served as the Treasurer in the 2015-16 committee. He currently works at NVIDIA as a chip designer. Ashok and his wife Aishwarya have been active participants in many of the Tamil Mandram cultural programs. Ashok is an avid music lover. He also enjoys exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest along with his wife & their precious daughter Akshara.
Ajoy Navin Chakrapani served as the President of the 2017-18 GPTM committee. He has been serving the committee since 2009. A CAD engineer by profession working at Intel, Ajoy has been involved in various community and volunteering activities on his own. Ajoy has a great passion for robotics and music. He along with his wife Suganya enjoy travelling and exploring new places.
Mohan Rajendran served as a President of 2018-19 Committee. Mohan loves to participate in various community service activities. He is passionate about movies and interested in politics, tamil culture and travel. Mohan works at Nike and lives in Bethany with his wife Meena and kids Mohit & Mahathi.
Honorary Board Of Directors
Swa Gandhinathan (Gandhi), is a Director, co-founder and life time member of GPTM. Gandhi with his wife Seetha and children Suganya and Siddharth, have been an integral part of GPTM since its inception. Gandhi’s family has volunteered, mentored and nurtured the GPTM’s growth to its present status. When vacationing Gandhi and Seetha love going on cruises. Gandhi works for Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo has been the major sponsor of GPTM for several years since 2003 also providing Grants for Tamil education
Gidu Sriram is a director of the GPTM organization and together with Gandhi has been a guiding force for every GPTM committee that has donned office. Sriram is passionate about all forms of fine arts and has been an avid supporter of many cultural forums that exist in Portland today. Gidu has also been regularly capturing GPTM events through his lenses and has been making them timeless.
8 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
9 Sketches (AGES 5-10) “Save Water”
Samyukta Siddharth Sujatha Siddharth Surya Udaiyanathan
Reshma Jeyakumar Rhiya Arav Anand
Esha Vijay Hassini PrabhuRam Lingesh Hariharan
Anusha Jeyakumar Ananya Laxman Adhithi 10 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
11 Sketches (AGES 5-10) contd.. “Save Water”
Arjun Rajan Tharun Karthick Asmitha Ananthan
Vandana Udaiyanathan Nivedha SathishKumar Tanmaya
Neha Narendran Ananya Sureshbabu
Our sincere thanks to the following generous donors! Mr. Tinny Srinivasan & Mrs. Usha Srinivasan Dr. Prasanna Krishnaswamy
12 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
13 Sketches (AGES 10-18) .. “Save Water”
Darshan Narayan Sahana
Shreeya Sarveshwar Sreenidhi Rajan
Pranav Ramesh Kaveenaya Anirudh Sureshbabu 14 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
15 Sketches (AGES 18+) .. “Save Water”
Lavanya Kiruthiga Prasadh
Umadevi Saravana Sevugapandian
Sumitha Gomathi Kannan Paul 16 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
17 Venil Vizha – Highlights!
18 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors GOLD SPONSORS
19 2019 Golu Contest
Anu Priya Ganesh
Sangeetha Jagan Deepa Hariharan
Hema Suresh Charanya Devarajan
Vidhya Anupa Kuppuswamy Viji Shivaprakash 20 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
21 Photography (Ages 5 - 10)
Anusha Jeyakumar Nivedha Sathish Reshma jeyakumar
Sai Abhinav Rhiya Tanmaya Muthaiah
Athira Balu Tharun Karthick Ashmitha Ananthan 22 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Diamond Sponsor
23 Photography (Ages 11 - 18)
Harshita Rakesh Neshanth Kuppuswamy Sahana
Lavanya Laxman Kaveenaya Niranjan Kuppuswamy
Pranav Ramesh Vedhik Ramadoss 24 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors SILVER SPONSORS
Our sincere thanks to Intel, Kaiser, Nike, and NVidia for their support with the volunteer matching program
GPTM sincerely requests everyone of you to explore sponsorships, donations or volunteer matching opportunities at your work. Recurring funds from corporate sources make GPTM sustainable. Please email [email protected] with any such opportunities.
25 Photography (Age 18+)
Sreedevi Siddharth Viji Shivaprakash UmaDevi
Siddharth Karthick Venkatesh
Shiva Doreswamy Roopa 26 Our sincere thanks to the 2019-2020 Sponsors Double Diamond Sponsor
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