Ernakulam hosts first combined meeting of Rings 261 & 177

BANGALORE, February 10: IBM Ring 177 joined forces with IBM Ring 261 to hold the first-ever joint meeting of these two local rings of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (USA) at Ernakulam. This meeting was held on the sidelines of the 29th Vazhakunnam Memorial Magic Convention in Kothamangalam, in Ernakulam district of Kerala.

The meeting was well attended by IBM members of both the rings, representing the south Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The meeting was called to order under the leadership of senior member P M Mithra, from the host Ring 261. Nakul Shenoy presented a quick briefing of the activities of Ring 177, and the various initiatives being planned by the Ring to expand its activities and membership. Prahlad Acharya built on this by explaining how Ring 177 wished to worked closely with Ring 261 to extend and popularise the activities of the IBM in India.

Left to Right: ND Kunhabdulla, Subramanian M, Sudheer Madakath,
PM Mithra, Prahlad Acharya, Raja Moorthy, Nakul Shenoy 

The newest member of Ring 177 R Raja Moorthy was welcomed into the IBM by Prahlad Acharya and wished all the best by PM Mithra.

This was followed by PM Mithra proposing his idea to host the IBM India Annual Fiesta in the month of March as a two-day fete for IBM members of both the active Rings and other members from across India. This proposal was quickly accepted and the date for the Fiesta has been fixed as March 24-25.

The thoughts and ideas of Prof Shankar and Shankar Junior who could not attend this meeting owing to prior engagements were conveyed to the group by Sudheer Madakath. Others who spoke at the meeting and presented their inputs to the IBM Fiesta included Kunha Abdullah, N Kumar Kalathil, and Joy Olivier.

It has been decided that both the Rings would work together to make this upcoming IBM Fiesta a successful venture. More details and schedule will be posted on the IBM Ring 177 & 261 websites soon.

The important matter of the TVP (India) Solyl Kundu's upcoming visit to the Rings was discussed, and it was decided that Nakul Shenoy was authorised to finalise this matter on behalf of both Rings in consultation with Mr Kundu in the following weeks.

Sudheer Madakath presented the vote of thanks and brought the first combined meeting of the two IBM Rings of India to a close, wishing the newly formed close association all the very best. Both Rings and its members are very excited about working together for the development of the IBM and magic in India.