Gnat 50 Years Celebrations - Arrangements by HAL

I had a feeling that once the celebrations are over the contributions and the visits to this site(Gnat 50 years celebrations .) will dry - up and every one will get back to their ways . Sadly my apprehensions seem to be coming true .

Kapil Sir , the ever optimist , had informed that the site is paid for till Aug 2009 and he was confident that with regular visits and posts on the site he will be able to keep it going much much longer . Let all of us prove that his optimism was not misplaced by continuing to contribute . If there is not much of text material , all those who had taken photographs can start up loading them on the web . I am confident the moment photos are available on the site it will rekindle the interest and the site can keep going !!! There was another hint that those unfortunate people who were not able to attend the celebrations would like to know what all had transpired .

I propose to pen how the celebrations were held and how well they went off . I propose to do that in three parts .
1. Arrangements by HAL .
2. Functions on 21 November 2008 ; &
3. Functions on 22 November 2008 .

This is the first instalment . The other two will follow but may take a bit of time as motivation level is pretty low at the moment and now a days the mood is also playing tyrant .

ARRANGEMENTS BY THE HAL

Thanks to the web site most of the personal details and required information like attending singly or with spouse etc was available with the Administrators / the committee organising the event when they received the registration form given at URL http://gnat50years.in/news/register-online-or-offline.html. Later on , additional details about mode and place of arrival and departures etc were also asked for and intimated to the organising committee by participants

by filling up another form available at "visitor Form " and still later , confirmed by Mr Vasanth of HAL . So every information was available with organisers . The organising committee had made three reception sub committees , one for the Airport , Second for the Bangaluru City Railway Station and the third for the Bangaluru Cantonment railway Station . Contact details of the members of these sub committee were very thoughtfully intimated by Mr Vasanth to all the persons attending . This information came in very useful on arrival .

INVITATION CARDS .

The very first worry for the participants was whether they receive invites for the function . If no invite is received it was the end even before the beginning ! Full marks to Organising committee . Two Invitations cards , one for the morning programme , called " Gnat Vignette " and the other for the evening party called " Gnat Golden Jubilee Dinner " were received well / just in time . The cards were beautifully printed . I am going to preserve them . For those who did not attend and did not receive these cards the photos of the same are given below .

GNAT VIGNETTE CARD

you can see the card shows Gnat aircraft number E-265 in a level flight & Looks really beautiful.

GNAT GOLDEN JUBILEE DINNER

This shows a Gnat in camouflage colour scheme .

There were three categories of people attending the celebrations.

1. Staying with friends/Under own arrangements .
2. Had requested for accommodation and transport courtesy HAL .
3 . Local residents .

It was the second category which was depending totally on the arrangements made by the HAL and would be affected most by how the organising committee makes use of the information available with them . From personal experience I can say that they really made good use of the information . The arrangements were really good .

ACCOMMODATION & TRANSPORT .

Accommodation was arranged in HAL Management Academy . The rooms with attached bathrooms were good . Every room had a "WELCOME" message from Executive Director HAL Management Academy . The same is reproduced below :


( sorry too small to read )




Three printouts with information of various arrangements made on 20, 21 and 22 November 2008 were also kept in the room for information of participants . One printouts contained information on meal timings , transport timings to leave for various functions made on 20, 21 and 22 . The second one contained " Brief for Participants " giving various details, covering period from 17 November 2008 to 23 November 2008 . The third one contained detailed programme for " Gnat Vignettes" on the morning of 21November 2008 .

The room also had complimentary apple juice tetra pack , three packets of biscuits , tea , coffee , sugar & milk powder packets, mineral water bottles , fruit basket and complete set of toiletry items .

To travel in group two Volvo buses were arranged . Additionally a fairly large number of taxies were also arranged for those who had necessity to travel on their own . Number of taxies hired appeared more then adequate because any one wanting to go any where any time was promptly provided with one hired taxi . Same taxies were used to pick up and drop the participants from their arrival / departure points eg Airport , railway stations . With such a large number of participants , with different agendas , to say that transport arrangments were adequate and met full requirements is truly saying some thing !!!!

I have covered all these arrangements in minute details only to bring out the thoroughness and the pains taken by the Organising Committee to make our stay really comfortable and memorable .

On my return I had written a two page hand written "thank you " letter to Chairman HAL , unfortunately it was neither registered AD nor through a courier service , so I have no way to know if the Chairman did receive it or not . I would have really loved to have a conformation .To really bring out the excellence in the arrangements , I think I can do no better then to reproduce the contents of that letter itself.

'''''''' ' ' ' ' ' ' '''''''

Sir,

1. I have just returned after attending the "Gnat Golden Jubilee Celebrations held at Bangalore on 21 and 22 Nov.

2. This is to put on record our heartfelt sincerest thanks for organising and giving us a chance to be a part of this very happy , memorable and unforgettable occasion of the Brotherhood celebrations .
Right from the moment we got down from the train at Bangalore City railway Station at an ungodly hour of 01:00 hours on the morning of 21Nov 08 till our departure at a reasonable time of 07:00 hours on 23rd Nov , all the arrangements were very good and surpassed all our expectations. It was a happy and comfortable stay at Bangalore . The attention to details in planning , be it transportation, accommodation, catering and most importantly the function itself on 21 Nov in Ghatge Convention Centre and the party in Le Meridian Hotel were executed flawlessly and with time bound precision. All the PDC's were met and targets achieved. A tribute to the organisational skills and great effort put in by the members of celebration committee under your guidance .

3. So Sir once again very many thanks and here is wishing that with you at the helm of affairs may the HAL go from strength to strength and achieve all the PDC's and targets in all the HAL undertakings !

''''''''''''' ' ' ' ' ' ''''''''''''''

Really and truly HAL arrangements surpassed all expectations . Those who could not attend really missed something . However the least of it were the arrangements , main thing was the "Gnat Vignettes" and the party on 21st a really memorable and nostalgic occasion . Look out for the write-up on that in the next few days !!!!

velu .