“The 65th year celebration was a gala affair spread over 3 days – 8th, 9th and 10th March. The audience included the members, staff, well-wishers, children, friends of Bala Mandir and also the press.
On 8th March the evening function had bhajans sung by Bala Mandir children, a dance and musical drama highlighting inspiring anecdotes from the life of Swami Vivekananda. This was followed by a benedictory address by Swami Gauthamanandhaji, Senior Trustee Ramakrishna Math and Mission and also Adhyaksha of Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore Chennai.
On 9th March the main function which showcased Bala Mandir past, present and future began with children of Bala Mandir rendering on National Unity and importance of good behaviour. This was followed by presentations by the Trustees of Bala Mandir – Dr. Anandalakshmy, Mr. P. Natarajan, Mr. and K.V.Rangaswami as well as the guest speakers – Ms. Andal Damodaran, Vice President, Indian Council for Child Welfare, Tamil Nadu, Naatyacharya V. P. Dhananjayan, dance exponent and Ms. Jaya Krishnaswamy, Director, Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children. Following these speeches, there was a movie screened on “Happy Children of Bala Mandir “ – which was specially filmed to commemorate the 65th Anniversary.
The March 10th function was for the Bala Mandir family – “Moving Forward in Togetherness”.
There was a quiz competition held on Bala Mandir, focusing on its history – its facets and personalities.”
