Dear Fellow-Bhagavathas,

It is four years since the launch of the website (30th December 2006) and the kind of satisfaction when one reflects on the journey so far is immense. It is all due to the unbridled grace showered by the Divya Dhampathis and Swami Desika.

When it all started, there was always the vision that the website has to be interactive and should complement the contents provided by other well-known websites on our Sampradaya. That made us concentrate on the areas unexplored such as the quiz programmes and Weekly Paasuram Quest. All these contests are synonymous with svdd.com and immensely popular and it is really comforting that our vision could translate into reality. We are confident that the divine grace will take us through going forward.

There has been appreciation for the Photo Gallery comprising action from various Uthsavams, especially the quality of photos and captioning. Those who are in the know of things will understand the demanding nature of the job. When one has to combine quality and quantity it becomes even more exacting.

Series of articles such as Desika Darsanam, Master of Analogy and Acharya Vamsa Vruksham have added great value to the website as also ’Chithra Desikeeyam’, the pictorial treat on the life of Swami Desika.

The Weekly Paasuram Quest has caught the imagination of the viewers in a great way. There have been feedbacks describing how it has become an obsession to take up the challenge in the wee hours of every Sunday. There has been requests for tougher and increase number of ‘quests’. Thanks for your overwhelming response, but for now we shall stick to the one Paasuram a week pattern.

It may be recalled that 134 prizes were awarded in respect of the Weekly Paasuram Quest upto September and another set of more than a hundred prizes is on offer as we near the completion of this quarter. It is heartening that quite a few persons have come forward to sponsor the prizes. Those interested may contact me on +91 94444 - 13746.

The list of prize winners for the quarter ending December 2010 will be put up on 9th January 2011. And the first quest of the new quarter will commence on 2nd January. We hope there will be even more enthusiastic participation.

There is one issue which causes a lot of inconvenience to us – entries with invalid e-mail IDs. They not only disrupt administration functioning but are also detrimental to the cause of the participants as entries with invalid e-mail IDs will not be taken into account. There is a prominent pre-submit message displayed on the quiz/quest pages and participants are again requested to be careful while giving their details and e-mail ID. We hope the New Year will bring in a welcome change.

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year, by invoking the grace of the Divya Dampathis and Swami Desika.

Meet you in the next Note.

Please feel free to let us know your views/comments about the site at [email protected]