1. OUR NEXT FUNCTION - An Announcement

a) The Managing Committee, MAB, takes pleasure in announcing that its Diwali get together cum last millennium function will be held on Saturday, December 18, 1999 from 6.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. at the following venue:

Good Shepherd Church Compound
Four Bungalows Road
Andheri (W), Mumbai 400 058

Opinion may differ whether the year 1999 or the year 2000 should be the last year of the millennium, but nevertheless, a mood of celebration has already set in worldwide to bid farewell to the last year of the nineteen - nineties. So, this function of ours is definitely a special one and we look forward to a happy, enjoyable and fun-filled evening.

b) This venue is the same as that of the earlier several get together in the recent past and we are sure that it will be familiar to most of the members. However, some guidelines to approach the venue are:

The Four Bungalows Road (connecting J. P. Road with Bala Sawant Marg) is a well known road in Andheri (W) and the Good Shepherd Church is a prominent place on this road. A route chart showing the venue location and approach isfurnished herewith for your convenience.

The venue (Four Bungalows) can be easily reached from Andheri (W) Railway Station or Andheri (W) Bus Depot by taxi / auto or by bus No. 266 or 267 or by bus No. 255 from Sion. Bus Nos. 38 and 232 have a stop right in front of the venue. From Eastern Suburbs, bus No. 352 Ltd. Goes from Anushakti Nagar, Chembur, to near by 7, Bungalows, and No. 374 (Goregaon goes via Andheri.

Any further or specific guidance about the venue location or route can be had from Shri Taj Bahadur (Phone 6363340 / 6319319), Shri Anil Mathur (Phone 5700754 / 5797081) or Shri Ajit Mathur (Phone 6498673 / 6481744).

c) Dinner, drinks and snacks will be available as usual.

d) Annual Membership of Rs. 50/- for the year 1999 - 2000 may kindly be paid by all members (except life members and those who have since paid in the April 1999 function) at the reception counters.

e) We very much wish that during our functions (specially in this last millennium function) members get the maximum possible time together to meet and talkand to enjoy the entertainment programs / food and drinks etc. provided. Our time usually is 6.30 p.m. onwards but it has been our observation that the earliest the guests start coming in is around 8 p.m. or even later. Many, especially from distant suburbs or having young children, prefer to have dinner and return early while many want to start late and continue till late. Due to police and local area restrictions we cannot have loudspeakers after about 10.30 p.m. or lighting after 11 p.m. The music, dance and entertainment program goes haywire if there are no sufficient guests in the beginning or if it has to be abruptly stopped when it has just started warming up. To keep in mind everybody's convenience and to accommodate all programmes within the constrained time limits we therefore earnestly request you to kindly make it a point to come early.

1. OUR LAST FUNCTION - A REVIEW

Our last (Holi) function was held on 17.4.99 at the same venue, viz. the Four Bungalow (Andheri) Church Compound and was attended by a good number of 343 persons. It was heartening to see quite a few first timers in that function. We are sure they have developed some new acquaintances and that they might even have, to their pleasant surprise, discovered some distant relationship or "home town-ship" with some others. This is, in fact, one of the main purposes of our functions, and even if a few persons get benefited this way, we are more than happy.

1. In response to our " Appeal For Funds", we gratefully acknowledge receipt of the    following sponsorships from members and thank them for their generosity.

i) Shri Suresh C. Mathur, (Sumeet, Khar-W) Rs. 6000/- for Function expenses

1. Shri K.B. Mathur (Reliance Petro, Andheri W) Rs. 3000/- for music and entertainment
2. Shri Bhola Dayal Mathur (Deonar) Rs. 1500/- for cold drinks
3. Smt. Prabha Mathur (Andheri - E) Rs. 1500/- for Function expenses

1. For Raffle, the following prizes were sponsored

1. Prize - A "Sumeet Mixie" by Shri Suresh C. Mathur (Khar-W)

1. Prize - A "Big Boss" egg beater by Shri Sushil K. Mathur (Bhandup)
2. Prize - A Dessert Set by Smt. Vineeta Bahadur (Khar-W)
3. Prize - An "Eagle " flask by Shri Rajiv Mathur (Khar-W)
4. Prize - Cash, Rs. 500/- by Shri N. M. Mathur, Advocate, (Bandra-W)

Our sincere thanks to the above sponsors for their offers that made our Raffle programme lively and attractive.

1. Smt. Renu and Shri Sushil K. Mathur (Bhandup) provided, as usual, free ice cream to all guests. Though they were out of town on the function day, they had made prior arrangements for this contribution. Our sincere thanks and appreciation for their thoughtfulness.

Sponsorships (please see repeated para 5 of this newsletter) help us a lot in holding our functions successfully, besides providing financial backup to meet our various function expenses and in subsidizing the food cost to some extent. We look forward to continuing sponsorship support from our Members, especially from those of our potential contributors who would like to take their first step forward in this direction and give a lead to others.

1. M. A. B. PICNIC

For quite some time there was a popular demand for an outdoor MAB picnic, (besides the two annual functions).The extended monsoon this year "fuelled" the fire further, calling for urgent action at a rather short notice. Towards August end. a "Monsoon Picnic" was, therefore, organized at Gorai beach, on Sunday, the 12th of September, 1999. Circulars were sent by courier, besides large scale telephoning by our Committee members and some other obliging Mathurs in various areas. For the convenience of the intending participants, MAB hired three buses (on passenger share basis) to the distant venue and back. One bus started from Churchgate, one from Bandra and one from CBD Belapur, to cater for people from South, West and East areas respectively. Besides, many came on their own and the total gathering was about 200.

Welcome tea and hot snacks were served to all on arrival. Drinks and hot snacks (veg & non-veg) were on sale as usual, followed by veg. lunch (subsidized at Rs. 25/- per head). The picnic started around 11.30 a.m. after arrival of the bus loads and continued till 5.30 p.m. and people departed around 6 p.m. after complimentary snacks and tea.

The picnic was highly enjoyed by all - some taking delight in getting wet-dry-wet, some having a rain-dance and some chit-chatting under umbrellas braving the occasional, gentle pitter - patter. The more adventurous cautiously ventured to the beach, a few steps away, and enjoyed the high tide waves. The well stocked bar was active from the beginning to the very end, in service of those who enjoyed being "wet" from inside also.

Out of the three buses arranged by the MAB, one was sponsored by Shri Suresh C. Mathur (Khar-W), and another by Shri Sushil K. Mathur (Bhandup). This greatly facilitated the transport arrangement and the subsidized transport charges. Our sincere thanks to both of them for this help. It was MAB's pleasure to offer complimentary soft drinks and light refreshment to the bus commuters en-route.

There is now a fresh demand for a "winter picnic". Let us see whether we could have it on Republic day, i.e. 26th January 2000. If arranged, a separate circular will be issued.

2. MAB DIRECTORY - 1999 (REVISED EDITION)

In our April 1999 function we had put on sale the first lot of our Member's Directory- 1999, updated upto March 1999. On receipt of a number of requests for changes, additions etc., a Revised Edition (corrected upto August 1999) was printed.

At this juncture, Smt & ShriSmt & Shri Hanuman Bahadur Mathur (Cogent Exports, Worli), whose helping hand always remains extended to the MAB, offered to present one copy of the Directory free of cost to each member (in celebration of their son's marriage which had taken place a little earlier) by bearing the Directorie's sale price plus courier charges. On their behalf and with their compliments, this revised edition was provided free to about 100 members who were present at the Gorai Picnic, and later, in October 1999, sent by courier to each remaining listed member. Some copies have been received back undelivered (house locked, person shifted etc.) and these can be collected at the reception counter on our forthcoming 18th December function

Smt. & Shri Hanuman B. Mathur have not only felicitated the entire Mumbai Mathur biradiri with this gesture but have also set a new trend in our sponsorship concept. On behalf of all members as well as on its own behalf, the MAB offers its appreciation and thanks to them.

Our sincere thanks are also due to Shri Shriraj Mathur (Ess Arr Enterprises Courier Services, CBD, New Mumbai) for couriering the directories at a highly concessional rate.

3. AN APPEAL

Cost of food materials, venue hire charges, music and entertainment expenses etc., haev all been rapidly rising, making it difficult for the Association to meet the expenses of holding functions. Occasional donations from generous members do come once in a while, but that alone does not cover all the costs.