Friday, February 28, 2014

SYMA, not summa

The Srinivas Young Men's Association (SYMA) was formed in 1977. The Association appears to be careful about not mentioning the founders names anywhere. The belief is that the idea is more important than the individuals. The idea, of course was that the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. So a few good men went ahead and created a forum for them to serve their country and fellow-men, starting with their own locality. 

We can imagine there were at least seven of them, since starting such an organization as theirs needs a minimum of seven signatories. They would certainly have been from Triplicane, for that is where SYMA has its office, and also where a majority of their activities are centred around. Also, the addresses for all seventeen of their current office bearers have the PIN code of 600005, which of course is the one for Triplicane.

Triplicane has always been a bustling, ready-to-take-on-anything kind of area, with a fairly high degree of social awareness. Combine that with the several symbols of spirituality around, and you will find a group of people - even youngsters - who carry out socially useful tasks with fervour. Needing to find a name for their organization, the founders looked to the names of God which could used for their venture.  And since the idea was born at Tirumala, they took one of Vishnu's names, thereby making sure the Young Men of the Association were blessed!






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