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        Long after bidding adieu to school life, she is reluctant to snap ties with her classmates. Settled with husband and two children in Toronto, the amateur singer who was once busy anchoring TV shows in Tamil channels is now keen to form an online group with her chums and school buddies.

Attached to Chennai, more particularly her home at Vadapalani, Umamaheswari Suresh use to shuttle between India and Canada quite often with her kids. It was a grand reunion at a marriage hall on Independence Day for 1990 batch of Plus Two students at AVM Matric HS School in Virugambakkam as she pulled all stops to contact her past friends who studied with her for a get together. 'After 17 years, it was a joyous meet for the alumni of AVM School who passed out in 1990. I was able to invite 32 of my friends and they readily participated with their families. We are planning for a social network among us to serve the disabled and poor in the society,' remarks Umamaheswari.         She is still trying to re-establish contact with rest of the students from the nearly 80-strong Plus Two class of hers. Some of her friends are settled in US, London and Singapore, hence they could not make it to the alumni meet. But she maintains a calendar dotted with marks to send greetings and e-mails on birthdays and wedding anniversary of friends, their partners and children. 'Apart from e-mail contact, I ring up friends quite often to sustain the close rapport with my buddies of AVM School,' she says.

Second from the left (sitting), Umamaheswari along with her school friends at a reunion meet in a marriage hall at Vadapalani.

        Before getting married in 1994 to a Tamil Canadian, she dabbled quite successfully in electronic media as show compere in Sun, Raj and Vijay TVs. She became popular with her programme in Vijay TV - a film quiz which was staged in major towns and then telecast later under the title Karaoki Sa Ri Ga Ma. Once visa got finalised, she left for Toronto in December 1996 and created a niche for herself through her voice in radio channels and music troupe run by Lankan Tamils.

        Initially it was Kalapam, a Tamil channel in Toronto, that gave her opportunity to present talk shows with children. Later on, she joined a music troupe Vaanampaadigal run by Narthana, a Lankan migrant, which tapped her abundant talent for singing film songs. During spare time, she also freelanced in Geethavani, a community radio, which further spread her popularity in and around Toronto.

        Her trademark during social gatherings is to render Ovvarum Pookalumme - the hit song from the movie Autograph. 'Whenever I sing the number in a charity show or fund-raising events, the non-resident Tamils just pour in their money as they are drawn to the song with such an invaluable message for all,' she explains. Husband J S Suresh, Business Controller at Melitron Corporation, gives a free hand to Umamaheswari to make frequent trips to Chennai with kids for the latter to get imbued with culture-based value system. 'We want our children to be groomed in the Indian social milieu as value-system is strong here,' she avers.

        In the long-term, she is trying to form a social group with her school friends that would reach out and do something tangible to the disabled in the society. The former students of

        AVM Matric HS School in Virugambbakam are welcome to contact Umamaheswari at e-mail ID: avm-90@yahoogroup.com.