Straight from the Heart: Time to say Thank You

Dear Friends, it is time for me to say ‘Thank you’ for all your support, friendship, views and wise counsel during these last three years of my term in office.

During these years, I found strength in the general membership of IMA and could further strengthen my bond with them through transparency and my daily communications. I could communicate practically with every IMA member, who is digitally connected. I did bi-weekly webcasts as a part of my e-connect strategy. The viewership crossed one lakh on three such occasions.

At an individual level, I earned a good mentor in Dr Ketan Desai – an intelligent man, a keen observer, a tough taskmaster, yet a soft emotional man from inside who opens up his heart like a child only with trusted old friends.

I found an erudite guide in Dr Ved Prakash Mishra - with his excellent command of the Vedas, the English language, Drafting and Medical Education; a philosopher in Dr Ajay Kumar - a person who is honest to his commitments; a genuine leader in Dr A Marthanda Pillai, with his quality of remaining calm and positive, especially in difficult situations; a trusted friend in Dr Ravi Wankhedkar and a true guide in Dr RV Asokan.

My thanks to Dr Jayshree Mehta, President MCI and Dr Vinay Aggarwal for all the guidance.

Special thanks to the National Vice Presidents - Dr Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, Dr Prakasam K,
Dr Mahendra H Choudhary and Dr Parmanand Prasad Pal.

Throughout these years, my main strength has been my right-hand Dr RN Tandon, very ably supported by Dr VK Monga. Dr Tandon is a thorough gentleman and a lovable person to work with.

I also take a moment here to remember Late Dr VCV Pillai, who left us in August this year. Dr Pillai taught me the importance of wearing the IMA Pin with pride. When I was elected the National President IMA, he gifted me his personal IMA pin.

Thank you Dr Sudipto, may God give you a long life. Thank you, Dr Ashok Adhao for according me the respect of a son-in-law of Nagpur and Dr Arul Rhaj for your continuous inputs.

Thanks Dr Vijay Kumar for all the inputs. Thank you, Dr KV Babu, for your constructive criticisms.

Thank You Dr Narottam Puri, Dr Naresh Trehan, Dr Shubnum Singh, Dr Anupam Sibal, Dr KK Kalra, Dr Girdhar Gyani, Bejon Misra, Dr NV Kamat, Dr Vijay Agarwal, Dr Alex Thomas, Dr Alex Franklin, Dr AK Agarwal, Dr Arun Gupta, Dr Shiv Utture, Dr Jayesh Lele, Dr Sanjay Dudhat, Dr Dinesh Thakre, Dr Parthiv, Dr Chacker, Dr DD Chaudhury, Dr Jayalal, Dr Ravi Shankar, Dr Jaya Krishan, Dr Pradeep, Dr M Ashraf, Dr Murugunathan, and many more including Team Digital IMA.

Thank you Dr Ashwani Dalmiya, Dr Girish Tyagi, Dr BB Gupta, Dr Rajiv Dhir, Dr Ramesh Datta, Dr Vinod Khetrapal, Dr Naresh Chawla, and Dr Anil Goyal.

I must also acknowledge here Sanjay, Meena, Neeru and Dogra from IMA; Dr Sanchita Sharma, Dr Major Prachi Garg, Dr Uday Kakroo, Geeta Anand, Nidhi, Tanuja, Yogesh, Sanjeev, Dheeraj, Sanjiv, Deepak, Adib, Pranay, Manoj, Ram Singh, and Sapna from my personal staff for their help in various activities of IMA. I thank each one of them.

I would also like to express my thanks and appreciation to the IMA legal team Rahul Gupta, Ira Gupta, Aanchal Dhingra, and Shekhar Gupta.

I take this opportunity to say a special thank you to my daughter Naina, my son Nilesh, my wife Dr Veena Aggarwal, my nephew Saurabh and my future son-in-law Ankit for their constant support and encouragement in all my endeavors.

My special thanks to Shri JP Nadda, Dr Henk Bekedam, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Dr Jitendra Singh, Shri Mukul Rohatgi, Shri CK Mishra and Ms Preeti Sudan, Sanjeeva Kumar, Arun Jha, Shri Arun Panda, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Dr Anuj Sharma, Dr SY Quarishi, HE AR Kohli and Dr AC Dhariwal for all their help during these years. 

A big thank you to Dr Vinit Ahuja and Dr R Guleria, who ensured that my health did not come in the way of my work for the Association.

Thank you to those, whose names I have not been able to mention all names here; you are always in my heart. 

Friends, these years have been a period of self-learning. And, all that I have learned, I want to pass on as my legacy to Dr Ravi Wankhedkar. I will be there right by his side whenever needed.

The English philosopher and writer Thomas Paine said, “It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.”

I seek forgiveness from all of you: “If in trying to achieve my goals during these years in IMA, knowingly or unknowingly, I have hurt your consciousness in my writings, speech, actions, or thoughts, kindly forgive me.”