NEWPORT BEACH: The Indian Medical Association of So Cal held its annual convention this past Halloween weekend. The three-day event was held at the Fairmont Newport Beach Hotel in Newport Beach. This was the most well organized, and glamorous convention of Indian Medical Association of Southern California.
The convention started on Friday with beautiful decoration and Diwali Puja, which was followed by evening of music with noted Bollywood singer Shivangi Kapoor, younger sister of actress Padmini Kolhapure, who sang melodious songs of Noor Jahan, Lata Mageshkar, Asha Bhosle and others.
One of the highlights of the convention was its Continuing Medical Education, organized by Dr. Sudhir Gupta in which noted faculty from UCI, UCLA, and UCSD participated. Dr. Frank Arena a noted Oncologist, and the President and Co-Founder of the Sass Foundation, a Charitable Foundation in New York devoted to cancer, gave an excellent description of breast cancer from century of art. Indian Medical Association of Southern California also hosted AAPI Governing Body meeting.
Saturday night gala event was held in the ballroom, which was transformed with lights and decoration, an imprint of President Abha Gupta. The emcee of the evening was Meenu Saini and Dr. Michael Drake, Chancellor of UCI delivered the Keynote address.
He also announced establishment of Sudhir Gupta Endowed Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of California, Irvine. Among the awards presented were Distinguished Physicians award to Dr. Inder Chopra, Distinguished Physician Service Award to Dr. Naren Gurbani, and Medical Student Scholar Award to Kevin Shah, which was endowed by Dr. C.K. Rao.
Dr. Abha Gupta, President elegantly dressed humbly thanked her team for the job well done. She outlined achievements of her presidency, including recruitment of highest number of new Life Members in the history of the Association. She specially thanked her husband Dr. Sudhir Gupta, who was the major architect of the convention. Guests were treated to dances by Bollywood Steps, beautiful fashion show by Rohini Bedi, and music by Parthiv Gohil, winner of 1997 Sare Ga Ma, and Janvi Srimanker.
Rohini Bedi is a So Cal based designer and is renowned for her creations that bring in the best of the East and West. Her fashion show was a collage of colors showcased by a group of very talented models that included Argentine movie actress Luz Maria Utrera.
One by one the girls sashayed onto the stage to the applause of the guests. Rohini’s creations and designs are on display at her studio in Costa Mesa and she has carved a niche for herself as a major player on the international scene. This is totally in contrast to the Bollywood designers who are unknown outside the Mumbai tinsel town.
The Convention ended on Sunday with entertainment by comedian Rajiv Satyal.
JS Bedi
India Post News Service
