MMA Annual celebrations 2010
The count down to this year’s celebrations ended on the evening of 2nd July 2010, and a good number of members and their family arrived at the foyer of Hilton Hotel, Watford. by 7 PM. This year’s sponsors, Alfa Ventures, Medacs Locum and DHFL financiers took up their positions to set up their stalls. This was the first time, Malayali Medical Association hosting the event in Hilton Hotel, and naturally the main talk among the members was about the pro and cons of this venue compared to the one in Daventry. Soon members were invited to enjoy traditional buffet style English dinner. The continued medical education ( CME) topic for the evening was ‘Newer therapies for Type 2 Diabetes’, and the consultant endocrinologist, and the secretary, Dr. Paul Peter gave an excellent lecture on various aspects of the modern management of diabetes. This was an interaction sort of meeting and he involved non-medical guests also. Later members spent the rest of the evening in playing cards and tambola.
On Saturday, the 3rd July 2010, after taking the breakfast members and their family were looking forward for the sports. The committee members in charge of sports, Dr. Ramakrishnan and Paulson, led everyone to a fenced ground on the side of Hilton Hotel. The ground was not particularly large enough or fit for ordinary sporting activities. Contrary to last year, the weather was quite good, and everyone showed keen interest in participating in it. This year Dr. Ramakrishnan was in charge of holding the mega phone and making a running commentary. He encouraged every one participating in different feats. The tug of war was only for children in view of the limited space. The main attractions of the sports day were the balancing spoon race (balancing a tomato), improvised musical chairs, couple race and coin picking. All winners were garlanded with medals. Couple racing and improvised musical chair were very entertaining for the spectators. When the president, Dr. Thomas Kadicheeni announced at about 12 noon, that it was time to wind up sports activities, everyone frowned with resentment to leave the ground.
By now, guests and more members gathered in the foyer and it was time to have finger buffet. Some of the guests and members went to their rooms to relax after the finger buffet until the next CME, while others made enquires about the services of the sponsors. The second CME in the event was ‘Portrayal of psychiatric problem through clippings of Malayalam movies’, presented by Dr. Valsaraj Menon, Consultant psychiatrist. This had entertainment as well as educational value.
Annual General Meeting of the MMA opened with the minutes of last year’s Annual General Meeting, read by the honorary secretary, Dr. Paul Peter. The Treasurer, Dr. R. K. George explained the account to the members and was approved by them. There were discussions about how the members of other Kerala medical college associations can be successfully attracted to the MMA. There were voices for engaging local amateur artists instead of bringing renowned playbacksingers and artists from India.
After the afternoon tea, the main evening programme began with welcome by the president, Dr. Thomas Kadicheeni. In the cultural and entertainment programme, the highlights were Mohini Attam by Maria Paul and Parvathi Sudhir, dance by Saumya, popular Indian songs by playback singers, Delsey Ninan and Nishad from Kerala, skit by Ciaran, Kevin, Saumya, Annie, Meeriam, Lisbeth, and Bollywood Dance by Jay Kumar Dance Company and further songs by Lisbeth, and Binoy. The approach of Mr. Jay Kumar on teaching dance steps was very humorous and a good part of the guests were drawn to the podium and they started moving their upper limbs, body, lower limbs and head to his verbal instructions. While guests were enjoying the entertainment, Indian style dinner was served. The secretary, Dr. Paul Peter endeavoured to thank everyone involved very sincerely to make the event a success. After the winding up of singing on track by the Kerala artists, there was disco dance till midnight
On Sunday the 4th July 2010, the topic on CME was ‘Overview of STI management’ presented by Dr. Nelson David, the Consultant Genito Urinary Medicine. This year there was a meeting of the committee members to evaluate the success of the whole event. By noon most MMA members bid farewell to each other and left for their destinations.