It is my privilege and honor that I am being installed as the 61st President of FOGSI in beautiful Hyderabad the city of pearls, love, biryani and of course the OGSH.
I knew I was going to have to give this Presidential address at least from 30th March 2022 around 6 pm when the election results were declared and I had been meaning to write it since a long time. But as Calvin tells Hobb—You can’t just turn on creativity like a Faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What is that? asks Hobbs, and Calvin says—Last minute panic.
“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”
Julie Andrews, Rodgers and Hammerstein The Sound of Music.
The AICOG 2024 was awarded to the OGSH during the MCM in Hyderabad in 2020 held on the cusp of Covid and the beginning of normality. Although the OGSH team was already at work, it is safe to assume that efforts multiplied after the grand and highly successful AICOG at Kolkata led by our dear friends Dr. Bhaskar Pal, Dr. Dibyendu Banerjee, Dr. Krishnendu Gupta with the wonderful and warm team from the Bengal Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society. The hours of hard work and planning has reached fruition in this fantastic event FOGSI’s 66th AICOG at Hyderabad 2024 hosted by the OGSH. The entire team and Society led by the indomitable Dr. Shantha Kumari also the President of the OGSH amongst all the other hats that she wears, Organising Secretaries Dr. Vindhya T. and Dr. Aruna Suman, Treasurer Dr. Jamuna Devi, Chair Scientific Committee Dr. M. Krishna Kumari and Vice Chair Dr. Kiranmai Devineni and Dr. Padmaja A., Joint Organising Secretaries, Dr. Archana, Dr. Manjula, Dr. Lakshmi (also the secretary of OGSH) and all the team with its subcommittees and members of the OGSH Managing Committee have achieved a event to remember and I am again humbled by the honour of being installed here in Hyderabad. I must mention Mr. Thirupathi Atkapuram and his team here for excellent imaginative and prompt work.
I tip my hat to the beat work done by all the team members of the previous year. Many congratulations to all of them.
I have no hesitation in saying that this is an overwhelming and emotional moment for me. It has been my privilege to have presented the Secretaries report at the Inauguration of the AICOG three times and now I stand before you as the 61st President of FOGSI. It is a privilege not taken lightly.
We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible. ~ George Santayana ~
I have always felt that we stand on the shoulders of Giants and I am very cognisant of the fact that what is seen today is built over years and gets stronger with time.
My being here is resplendent with Serendipity. It is only the third time in the 74 years of FOGSI’s existence that a son has become the President of FOGSI after his father was President, but I believe it is the first time that a father and son have been both Secretary General and President and also the first time this has happened with a sibling as Treasurer. It is also the first time that a Past Secretary General has handed over the Presidency to another Past Secretary General and it is also perhaps the first time when three persons who have been and are Secretary General are on the dais together for an AICOG Inauguration.
“post hoc, ergo propter hoc,” “after this, therefore because of this.”
Being the President of FOGSI is an immense honour and as I begin my journey in this position I would like to reflect on what a Presidential address at the Inauguration means. I believe the Presidential address has to have three vital components, to outline the expectations and hopes for the upcoming year, reflections on the personal journey to becoming a President, in the hope that this journey will find an echo with all members of FOGSI and serve as an expression of gratitude to all those who made it happen and finally a brief outline of what FOGSI and women’s health means to the person leading the organisation. That is why this Presidential address follows the same order.
Let me first begin this part by introducing the team for the next year. But let me say this and I cannot reiterate it enough. Each one of you, including the International faculty, is Team FOGSI. The persons on the stage and holding office and posts are your custodians for our Federation. Although we are used to saying my team and my year this is not my team, this is truly FOGSI’s team I will make a conscious effort to always refer to them as FOGSI’s team and the FOGSI year 2024–25 where I just happen to be President.
I am blessed with an incredible set of Vice Presidents, Dr. Ajay Mane, Dr. Charmila Ayyavoo, Dr. Girija Wagh, Dr. Janmajeya Mohapatra, Dr. Neerja Bhatla—FOGSI looks to you for your individual and collective talents, steadying hands and unstinted support.
I am sure that Dr. Madhuri Patel our dynamic secretary General the first woman in FOGSI to hold this position, Dr. Suvarna Khadilkar who has revealed a tech geek side of her since she became the Deputy Secretary, Dr. Parikshit Tank, the meticulous and thinking treasurer. and the efficient and effective Dr. Niranjan Chavan and the quiet and hardworking Joint secretary Dr. Kunal Doshi will step up to the plate and ensure a smooth and fruitful year. In all this I will look for guidance and advise from my dear friends Dr. Hrishikesh Pai and Dr. Sunita Thandulwadkar. The ICOG led by Parulbhai, Parag, Dr. Sheela Mane, Dr. Ashok Kumar and my very good friend Dr. Sarita Bhalerao will surely excel as it always does and take the splendid work led by Dr. Laxmi Shrikhande forward. Parulbhai has some interesting ideas and we hope we can implement them. And our ever enthusiastic and prompt team from the Journal will lead the Journal to greater heights. Dr. Madhuri Patel the EIC, Dr. Sujata Dalvi, Dr. Arun Nayak, Dr. Anahita Chauhan, Dr. Ashwini Bhalerao Gandhi, Dr. Pradnya Chengade, Dr. Pradnya Supe, Dr. Gaurav Desai, Dr. Sunil Tambavekar. Dr. Geetha Balsarkar— congratulations on a great tenure and some wonderful work done by you. My core team—Dr. Neharika Malhotra, Dr. Rohan Palshetkar, Dr. Priyankur Roy, Dr. Apoorva Pallamreddy, Dr. Ritu Hinduja, Dr. Kunal Doshi, Dr. Munjal Pandya. In large part, the structure Dr. Hrishikesh Pai has put in place with the Zonal coordinators will continue.
The train of thought for what the tenure looks like begins from choosing a theme. I went back and looked at all the themes FOGSI has had. In another act of serendipity, the tradition of having annual themes was started by my father Dr. D K Tank when he was the President of FOGSI in 1997. FOGSI has thus had 26 themes to date and I divided the themes into broad and topic specific themes. 17 out of 26 themes were broad and since this seems to be FOGSI’s zeitgeist I decided to follow this.
This is the theme for this year and I am very happy to share that the logo, communication and artwork has all been done by me personally. No artist of creative person has been involved in making it. I have always felt that any logo has to tell a story and I am happy to share the thoughts and stories behind this logo.
