On March 31st I shall cease to function as the President of OCA (India) and, at this juncture, it is only appropriate that I bid adieu to all the fellow members of the executive team and pen a few words for fellow OCs.

It was a steep learning curve to manage an organization without any authority to command compliance – to which I had earlier been familiar with. Nevertheless, some fellow members came forward to contribute time and effort and carried out work which many would find tiresome and mundane. Special mention in this behalf must be made of Neel Kamal Mehra and Ashwani Virk for their guidance and selfless work. Jaspal Sawhney was only a phone call away and credit is due to him too for helping us whenever we needed him. There were others who were critical and I thank them also as they kept us on our toes.

Such an Association’s primary object is to facilitate bonding and provide a platform for members to participate in furtherance of our objects but all this has to be on a voluntary basis. To this effect, an attempt has been made to update our data base of members with their latest coordinates and I sincerely hope that this exercise would be ongoing in the future. At the outset there was a feeling of exclusion among many younger members as they thought the OCA was a closed club. After much deliberation, the MOA was suitably amended for them to come on board as executive members of various chapters and the central body. Progress has been achieved in this behalf but I would appreciate it if even a larger number of later batches participate in these bodies. Even though an attempt has been made to put the Association on an even keel, much requires to be done at the Chapter level to involve members. We have a vast talent pool among our members and I urge them to step forward to attain our objects.

During our tenure we did take some initiatives such as extending monetary help to OCs in need to meet hospital bills or to undertake a climb of Mt. Everest (during the coming season). The celebrations of the Golden and Silver anniversaries of leaving school were formalized and I am glad that each of these classes made valuable additions to the school’s infrastructure. As a result we have a refurbished staff room, a visitor’s waiting room and the school swimming pool has a filter. A major project undertaken by the OCA last year was the installation of a Solar heating system for the main school and after its success a similar one has been ordered for the junior school. Besides providing a greener environment, it reduces drastically the school’s fuel bill. The ‘To do’ list is endless and I wish Sukhinder Singh and his team the very best in their task ahead.

Last but not the least I wish to thank D.C.Anand for his invaluable guidance and help to our Association and to the infrastructure placed at our disposal with the great assistance provided by Ms Gopa Seal of his company.

We shall prevail and
‘overcome’

BM Singh