Congratulations:

JAI PRAKASH NAGARKATTI of Mequon, WI was promoted to President of Sigma Aldrich Fine Chemicals. Prior to this change, he was President & CEO of Aldrich Chemical.

Mr. K. VAMAN KAMATH, CEO of ICICI of Mumbai was ranked as one of the top five business executives to catapult India to the top place in eCommerce world for the 21st century and beyond by the prestigious business journal The Strategist. The tech savvy Kamath and his business plans have already rated him as the best business executive in Asia. He will be a feature speaker at the third Konkani Sammelan in Chicago, IL this summer.

Dr. T. M. A. Pai Foundation of Manipal honors distinguished Konkanis (one of them posthumous) every year on Sankranthi Day and this year, on Friday January 14th the following were honored:

1. Mr. K. N. PRABHU, Journalist, Mumbai 2. Mr. R. H. MENDONCA, Commissioner of Police, Brihan Mumbai 3. Mr. JAYWANT ULLAL, Photo Journalist, Hamburg, Germany and 4. Dr. S. M. KATRE (Posthumously) Former Director, Deccan College P. G. & Research Institute, Pune

Konkani Graduates:
NEERAJ, s/o Dayanand & Vidya Pai of West Chester, PA graduated from Harvard Law School in May of 1999 and has joined a prestigious law firm in Washington, DC.

VINDYA, d/o Vasanth & Poornima Bhat of Lake Jackson, TX graduated from Rutgers University in December 1999 majoring in Mathematics and took a six month assignment in teaching in Honduras, Central America.

KALPANA, d/o Gopal & Prathiba Bhandarkar of Bayport, NY graduated from Tufts University in May 1999 majoring in Political Science & French and took employment in Washington, DC.

RAJANI, d/o Rajarama & Aneetha Shenoy of Huntington, CT got early admission into Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

SHANTI, d/o Jai Prakash & Susan Nagarkatti of Mequon, WI, a sophomore at University of Wisconsin in Business and Mass Communication, made it to the Dean's List three consecutive semesters in a row.

RAUL, s/o Ashok & Sunila Kuchinad of London, Ontario, Canada, graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy, from the University Of Western Ontario, London and is now in the Master's Program at UWO.

New Arrivals:
SHRUTI, a baby girl to Anant & Sujata Mahale of Carrollton, TX on April 1, 1999.

MAYA, a baby girl to Sanjay & Anupama Benegal of River Edge, NJ on September 7, 1999. The paternal grand parents are Suresh & Sujata Benegal of Somerset, NJ and the maternal grand parents are Kishore & Usha Nadkarni of Hackensack, NJ.

NIKHIL ANAND, a baby boy to Ramchandra and Dipti Bhandarkar of Novi, MI on December 16th 1999. Nikhil's paternal grand parents are Prabhashankar and Sunanda Bhandarkar of Bangalore and maternal grand parents are Ganapathi and Nivedita Hegde of Dharwad.

ARPITHA, a 7 lb. baby girl to Yeswanth and Aarti Shenoy of Gaithersburg, MD on 8th January 2000. Arpitha's paternal grandparents are Madan and Prema Shenoy of Cochin, India and maternalgrandparents are Rathnakar and Santhi of Bangalore, India. ALEC PAUL, a baby boy to Clifford Hammond & Anjali Pai of Singapore on January 12, 2000. He joins brother Ilan at home. Maternal grandparents are Gopal & Carol Pai and maternal great grandparents are Vittaldas & Bhavani Pai, all of Pittsburgh, PA.

ANISH, 7.8lbs, a new millennium baby boy to K.Krishnanand & Shailaja Shenoy of Jackson Heights, NY on 16th January 2000. A brother to Ashwin. Anish's paternal grand parents are K.Baburaya & Sumithra Shenoy of Mangalore and maternal grand parents are M Radhakrishna & Radha Shenoy of Kanhangad. Smt. Radha R Shenoy is currently visiting the US.

Newly Weds:
Chi. RAVINDRA, s/o of Smt. Sumathi & M. P. Pai, Bangalore married to Sow. RADHIKA, d/o Smt.Vranda & B. Padmanabha Baliga, Pune on 30th November 1999 at Dwarakanath Bhavan, Bangalore. The newly weds reside in Seattle, WA.

Chi. DINESH, s/o Subraya & Meera Pai of Charlotte, NC married to Sow. SHALINI, d/o Varadraj & late Shobha Pai of Bangalore on February 19th 2000 at 11:00 am at the Hindu Center of Charlotte, NC.

Konkani Happenings:
The BHATT family, Kasturi & Ashwin of Houston, TX hosted the Millennium Party for Houston Konkanis at the Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, TX on December 25, 1999. The function was well attended by over 100 people.

Konkani Association of Southern California (KASC) held their annual Shivaratri Bhajan at the residence of Vishwanath & Shalini Bhat of Chino Hills, CA on Saturday March 4, 2000.

Relocation:

The PRABHUS, Narayan & Malathi, have relocated within NJ. Their new address is Princeton Arms Apts., Apt. # 56 North, Cranbury, NJ 08512. Their new telephone number is (609) 448-3937.
The MAHALE family, Anant & Sujata, with their baby, Shruti have relocated from Irving, TX to 3804 Erath Drive, Carrolton, TX 75010. Their new telephone is (972)-395-0382

The SHENOY family, Subraya & Shamala have relocated within NJ to 13 Nelkin Dr., Apt. 125, Wallington, NJ 07057. Their new telephone is (973)-778-8861.

The HEGDE family, Gokuldas & Medha, have relocated from Smyrna, GA to 3151 Hartness Way, Kenneshaw, GA 30144. Their new telephone is (678)-290-5448.

The KAMATH family, Krishna & Savitri have relocated from Chicago, IL to 105 Concord Cove, Clinton, MS 39056-5733. Their new telephone is (601)-926-4432.

The KAMATH family, Sundar & Shobha with Maya & Gopal have relocated within San Jose, CA to 1668 Mendenhall Dr., San Jose, CA 95130. Their new telephone is 408-379-2624.

The BHAT family, Narendra & Sunitha along with their daughter Roshni, have relocated from Edison, NJ to 274 Candlewyck Ct, Morganville, NJ07751. Their new telephone is (732)-772-0673.

RAJA BHANDARKAR has relocated from Matawan, NJ to 1576 Cameron Crescent Dr, #22B, Reston, VA 20190. The NAYAK family, Nagar S. & Jayashri together with their son Gautum, have relocated within Lee's Summit, MO to 4436 SW Hillside Drive, Lee's Summit, MO 64082. Their new telephone is (816)-537-4571.

The KINI family, Ananth & Poornima with their son, Prathik have relocated from Madison, IN to 9040 Bradwell Pl., #101, Fishers, IN. Their new telephone is (317)-570-8499.

DEVADAS NAYAK KUMBLA has relocated within Troy, MI to 2374 Coolidge, # 204, Troy, MI 48084. The telephone remains the same at (248)-649-0205.

The BALIGA family, Subramanya & Chitra have relocated from New Haven, CT to 5519 Aldebrook Court, #108, Rockville, MD 20851. Their new telephone is (301)-984-6230.

The PAI family, the newlyweds Ravindra & Radhika have relocated from Whitehall, PA to 3620 146th NE Place, #D9, Bellevue, WA 98007.

Mailing Address Changes:
The Khabbar mailing address has changed to P. O. Box 222, Lake Jackson, TX 77566-0222.

Email Address Change:
The Khabbar email address has changed to khabbar@hotmail.com.

25th Wedding Anniversary:
Friends and families of NAREN & GEETA GANGOLI of Budd Lake, NJ celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary recently at residence of Nadkarni family in Berkeley Heights, NJ.

Friends and families of ARVIND and NEELA KAMATH of Houston, TX celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary at the residence of Suresh & Usha Shenoy in Sugarland, TX on Sunday December 19th 1999.

Return to India:
The KAMATH family, Harish & Radhika, of Lowell, MA have returned back to India to pursue their career goals.

The SHENOY family, Kedar & Usha, of Norwood, MA have returned back to India to pursue their career goals.

Obituary:
Smt. RATNA PAI, 79, wife of late Shri Mizar Mukunda Pai of Mangalore, passed away Monday, January 3, 2000, at Simi Valley, California. After a quiet ceremony, she was cremated and a private burial at sea too place on January 13, 2000. Khabbar sends heartfelt condolences to her sons, Gurudas Pai & family of Irvine, CA, Gokuldas Pai & family of Simi Valley, CA and Ram Pai & family of Irvine, CA.

Smt. VIMALA KAMATH (66) passed away on January 6, 2000 in Edison, NJ. Khabbar sends heartfelt condolences to her husband, Dr. C. Keshav Kamath of Edison, NJ and two sons, Narendra Kamath and family of Pompton Lakes, NJ and Surendra (Sam) Kamath and family of Cincinnati, OH.

Smt. VIMALA ACHARYA (76) w/o Late Basrur Ramkrishna Acharya, passed away on January 9, 2000 in Mumbai. Khabbar sends heartfelt condolences to her son, Dr. Vasant Acharya & family of River Forest, IL.

In the event of a get together all the konkanis of Tampa Bay, Florida had organized a small function on January 15, 2000. The purpose was to rejuvenate the Konkani culture by bringing together all the Konkani speaking people residing in the state of Florida. The spirits were high as the meeting was one of its kind and the enthusiasm of "Nave jannagele gurthu jattalo" and "Gavchee konai meltale" itself was very exciting. Some of the invitees were from Bonita springs, while others from Jacksonville, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and a couple from as far as Tallahassee.

In all, around 75 to 80 people were invited. The venue was, a local Church Hall that was big enough to fill the right size of people. As you entered the hall, there was a huge billboard displayed that said "Welcome to Konkani get-together, TAMPA-FL". An Indian and American flag made its prominence in the center. It was indeed a beautiful setting that needs to be appreciated. All the guests arrived by 11.30. Their welcome was made by serving great mouthwatering Indian snacks like Chetta Amabado, Dhoklas, Chips and what to say about the famous American Colas for drinks. Except for a few local families all other faces looked unfamiliar with everyone looking at each other and wondering if they are from Kodiyal or Amchi Mumbai. Once all had their fill we started with the program of introduction. One Mr. Narsimha Nayak from Tallahassee put up a good show as a MC . It was impromptu but excellent indeed. For the intro., every family had to come upfront and give information about who you are and what you do. Once this was over , all felt a little like home and then came Tu koan, tugele gaon khanche and tugele Annu khancho. It really seemed like a small world as every single person in the room knew at least a member of the opposite person's family. There was a talent show by a couple of singers from the audience . Food was served at around 1.30. A mild aroma of authentic Konkani food filled the room. All the dishes were uniquely prepared with the right blend of spices. Seemed like "Devasthana Phanthi Jevana". The Saaru and Dalithoy were just enough to make an impression that it was amgele Dorkes. There were a variety of dishes ranging from Dalithoy, Saaru , Ghusi, Adgai, Upkaari.... Not to stop here, but the King of Sweets "Dudh Paak" was unseemingly delicious and made a lasting impression on the taste buds. Once the food ordeal was over, all of us met to discuss about forming a Konkani Organization and voting different members from different areas. Mr. Nayak asked the audience for suggesting a name for the organization and it was really surprising that such a small crowd could come up with so many different names. Finally, it was decided for the next meeting the name and the logo for this association would be finalized. Tentatively, there has been a unanimous decision to have this kind of get together at least 4 times a year . An announcement was made that the next meeting will take place in Bonita Springs on April 15 at Mr.Uday and Ira Dash's house.

In the evening was Haldi Kumkum ceremony on eve of Sankrati. Mhalgadali Ashirvaad ghevnu Phool Kumkum divche was done followed by some tea and Snacks. Thus, the evening ended with a Vote of Thanks to all invitees for having come and made their presence for this get together. We wish that in the near future more and more people come forward with such ideas to keep the Konkani spirits and culture alive. Jai Bharat .
Here is the list of contact numbers for anyone who is interested to know more about the next meeting:-

North East Florida	Vasant & Aruna Kamath +1 (904) 646-0062
North West Florida	Narasimha & Rekha Nayak +1 (850) 385-2088
Central East Florida	Uday P & Radha Shenoy +1 (407) 865-7750
Central West Florida	Narasimha & Kanchan Kamath +1 (813)-969-0081 Or Srinivas & Gauri Kini +1 (813) 963-3294
South East Florida	Ramdas & Chitra Bhandari +1 (305) 669-4774
South West Florida	Vittal B & Nimi Prabhu +1 (941) 768-2678

Konkani Sabha Annual Yugadi Fuction Invitation This Year 2000, Konkani Sabha is celebrating the Silver Anniversary. The first function of this year is the Konkani New Year - Gudi Padva (Yugadi). It will be celebrated on Saturday April 22, 2000 at the Bridgewater Temple in NJ. If you or any of your family members are planning to perform at this event, please contact Mr. Arun Manelkar at (908)-561-5175 or sheelaM@erols.com to obtain an entry form. Requests would be treated on first come first served basis. Timings: 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm COME ONE…COME ALL….