TORONTO : The Trustees, volunteers and friends of SVBF Canada gathered together on March 26 at the SVBF Community Centre in Toronto to felicitate Dr. V.I. Lakshmanan on his appointment to the Order of Canada. In addition to many people associated with SVBF, several of Dr. Lakshmanan’s professional colleagues, family/friends, and VIP dignitaries including Members of parliament, Dr. Kirsty Duncan and Sven Spengemann, the Consul General of India, Smt. Apoorva Srivastava and the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, also took part in the function.
The event started with Hindu prayers by the lady volunteers of SVBF, followed by musical presentations in violin and flute by local artistes. Dr. Arun Chockalingam, trustee of SVBF, opened the proceedings before handing over to the emcee Mr. H. Ananth. Dr. Yegnasubramanian, Chairman of SVBF USA spoke via Zoom link from New Jersey. Other speakers included SVBF President Chand Kapoor, SVBF adult and youth volunteer representatives, Dr. Alakananda and Shivani Hegde, Mr. R.K. Moorthy representing the Toronto community of friends and the VIP dignitaries.
Two poems in Tamil in praise of Dr. Lakshmanan were read out and plaques were presented to him by the trustees, as well as by Handicare International, a charitable institution for people with disabilities, that Dr. Lakshmanan supports. Speaking at the end, Dr. Lakshmanan shared his values and demonstrated the qualities that have made him so popular in the community. Trustee S. Thiagarajan gave the Vote of Thanks.
The evening ended with a sumptuous dinner. It was a great way to welcome the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions while celebrating one of Indo-Canadian community’s shining lights.