| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| President | Dr Roshini Nayyar | |
| Secretary | Dr Deepti Prasad | cmc.oznz@gmail.com |
| Treasurer | Dr Sujatha Thomas |
Perth, WA
October 4th – 6th, 2024
* Little miracles, Mighty hearts, and Healing Hands
Alumni reunion- Perth, October 2024
Over 40 alumni and partners attended the reunion in Perth, including two couples from overseas: Ponna and Anna Thurairathinam from Canada, and Samson and Rajini Premkumar from Oman, together with Dr Jolly Chandran, a Consultant in Paediatrics from CMC Vellore all the way from India.
We had daily devotional sessions on Friday & Saturday mornings, and a Chapel service with Communion on Sunday morning. These were led by Rev Malcolm Sercombe, no stranger to alumni, on his 5th such reunion. His message(s), themed around “being called”, were inspiring and greatly appreciated.
The CME session on Friday, 4 October, began with a fantastic journey through the history of renal transplantation, seen through the eyes and lived experiences of Dr Mohan Rao, covering the mid-60’s until the current state of play in both Australia and India. His amazing innovations, as seen in a pictorial record of this journey was received with a standing ovation.
The theme of the reunion was paediatrics, and the giant who followed was Dr Chellam Kirubakaran, who captured the past, present and future of paediatrics in CMC Vellore. Another standing ovation to celebrate another stellar career.
The speakers who followed were amazing representatives of what the spirit of CMC is all about — caring, Christian values, delivering more than health care in a holistic and technologically solid environment.
I do them no justice by simply giving a list, but it was an all-day meeting, and I cannot begin to record their work and achievements, so very well presented in lucid and concise fashion.
Dr Jolly Chandran
Dr Sunil Abraham
Dr Sangeeta Garg
Dr Renu John
Dr Benjamin D’souza
Dr Lakshmi Nagarajan
Dr Soumya Ghosh
Dr Sam Ebenezer
Dr Swetha Sara Philip
Dr Murali Narayanan
Dr Annapurna Nori
This highly educational and engrossing day was followed by the Annual General Meeting of the Alumni Association. Key points of discussion & decisions were: the next meeting (New Zealand, dates and precise venue TBA); interesting learnings from the GOTC towards attracting more attendees at these meetings; and the annual Treasurer’s report. It concluded with the College Anthem.
After the obligatory photography session, there were aperitifs and sharing of individual perceptions and memoirs of life as a medical student in Vellore. Most enjoyable and even exhilarating, as the recollections covered fact, myths and fiction!
On Saturday, there was a bus trip covering highlights of Perth and Fremantle, including the Mint, which, it is rumoured, was far lighter on gold stocks after this visit! It was followed that evening with a wonderful, huge dinner, giving the opportunity to spend quality time with others from various parts of Australia, India, Canada, and Oman.
Too soon, the Chapel service, very well attended on Sunday morning, in the crisp outdoors was over, and the exodus commenced, sad to be leaving, but reassured that the spirit of CMC lives on within each of us.
Three cheers for the Silver & Blue!
Mahiban Thomas
Selection of photos
Photo 1: L. Prof Chellam Kirubakaran, retired CMC Paediatric staff; R Prof Jolly Chandran, current staff of CMC Vellore, invited speaker
Photo 2: Benjamin D’Souza (Paediatrician SA); Mahiban; Rev Mal Sercombe (who led devotional each day, and Holy Comunion on Sunday), Mrs Ellen Sercombe; Sarina John
Photo 3: Kasturi Vaska, Geetha Sales, Chellam, Jolly Chandran
Photo 4: Staff from Vendor Display; Dr N Murali, Paediatrician in Perth, batch of 1987; Vendor; Mahiban; Prof Mohan Rao (Transplant Surgeon in CMC and then in Adelaide, the batch of 1953
Photo 5: Mahiban, Benjamin D’Souza; Sujatha Thomas, specialist Obstetrician at Royal Darwin Hospital and wife of Mahiban; all three from teh batch of 1981 in Vellore.