Attendees honor national anthem

(L-R) GAPI leadership team- Drs Sudha Tata , Indrakrishnan, Raghu Lolabhattu, Syamala Errimilli , Vijya Maurya and Sreeni Gangasani.

The board meeting was chaired by the outgoing chairman of GAPI Board of trustees, Dr. Santanu Das. Among many important matters, roles of standing committees, upgrading the website and elections by laws were discussed. Dr Sreeni Gangasani was elected as the new chairman of GAPI board of Trustees. The medical education sessions that followed was chaired by Dr P.K. Natrajan and moderated by Dr. Hemant Yagnick. Many diversified topics such as Tele Medicine for Rural India, Cyber threat in Medicine: Risky bites, current trends in medical practice ownerships, Familial hyperlipidemia and Anemia work up for Primary care physicians were the fascinating topics presented and discussed.
 

The Bollywood closet fashion show

The ever awaited banquet was full of vigor & laughter with distinguished guests, community leaders, members, spouses, and friends mingling & socializing. The venue was filled with over 400 attendees. The grand décor, elegant lighting & soothing music welcomed everyone. The area was filled with ladies & gentleman in their best colorful formal wear. Many dignitaries including Secretary of State Mr. Brian Kemp, Insurance commissioner Mr. Ralph Hudgens, Assistant Insurance commissioner Mr. Jay Florence, Acting Consul General of India, Srinivasan, President of Medical Association of Georgia Dr. Manoj Shah, CEOs of Gwinnett Clinic Ltd, Drs. Meena & JJ Shah graced the event. The lively evening included magnificent entertainment, inspiring speeches by renowned members of the community and distribution of GAPI awards.
 

The emcee for the evening, Rina Gupta, kept the entire audience captivated & drawn with her touch of humor and dynamism. The program beautifully began with Indian & US national anthems sung by Emory University students Tejal Pandharpurkar & Arooj Khalid. The first show of the entertainment was the enthralling dance performance by the disciples of Smt. Uma Pulendran of Natya  Dhaara. The first of the two beautifully choreographed fusion pieces was a prayer for Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles and the other was on Lord Nadarajah. Both were highly commended by the audience. The other splendid part of entertainment was the popular songs by Junior Champion Koyal Ansingkar and the senior finalist Sandeep Gowtha from the IACA’s 2015 Atlanta Indian Idol event. Both singers were well applauded on their melodious songs and received so much admiration for their talent & courage. The grand finale of the entertainment part of the evening was the fashion show by the Bollywood Closet Atlanta which presented the collection from World renowned designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee setting the stage for a grand celebration of fashion and glamour. Fusion music created specially by popular DJ from India, exquisite light effects and specially choreographed sequences showcased the top super models in beautiful Sarees and Lehengas. This spectacular show left the audience simply mesmerized. The interesting part of the entertainment was the interactive pop quiz sprinkled at the audience testing their knowledge on the history of GAPI throughout the evening. It was well received and correct answers were awarded with prizes!
 

Chief Guest Secretary of state Brian Kemp addressing the attendees

The empowering speeches by the dignitaries were engaging and informative. The chief Guest, Secretary of state Brian Kemp thanked GAPI for its admirable community involvement and stated the services by GAPI not only make Georgia a better place, but truly have a global impact. He assured ongoing communication in the future with GAPI for better service to the Georgian community.  Guest of honor, Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens spoke about recent developments his office has made regarding the unfair physician contracting practices of several of Georgia’s largest health insurance companies. Dr. Manoj Shah, the first Indian descent President of Medical Association of Georgia (MAG) said that MAG is involved in many activities like advocacy in legislation at state level and also at federal level, in courts, and in governor's office. Professor Sagar Lonial, Executive vice chair of Emory Winship cancer institute spoke about how his parents brought him as a child to US and instilled Indian values of hard work and helping others which paved the way to finding success in his career. He proudly informed the attendees that Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is the only NCI-Designated Cancer Institute in Georgia serving Georgians through education, research, prevention and cancer care with over 250 active clinical trials seeking out new ways to defeat cancer.
 

MAG president Manoj Shah, Student Scholarship awardees, Acting Indian Consul General Srinivasan, GAPI president Dr Indrakrishnan

GAPI announced and distributed many awards during the latter part of evening. Ms. Veena Rao, publisher /Editor of NRI pulse received the media award recognizing her exemplary contribution to the society through her journalism. The recipients of student scholarships were Arora Sahil, Banergee Anurag, Mylarapu Namratha and Patel Sagar based on their academic & overall excellence .This year’s humanitarian award recipients were Mr. Stephen Daniels & Ms. Basnet Manikala. Mr. Daniels is one of the founders of Meals by Grace, a nonprofit organization which feeds many underprivileged school children who otherwise go hungry except the food they get at school. Ms. Manikala is a tireless volunteer for Bhutani refugees’ welfare. Acting Indian Consul General, Mr. Srinivasan presented the certificates & monetary award of $1,000.00 for each person and congratulated the awardees.

GAPI president Dr. Indrakrishnan thanked the organizations which worked with GAPI in conducting many successful social and fundraising events over the last one year. This included APPNA, IACA, Third eye dancers, Soldiers’ angels, Tapestry, BAPS & India Cultural Exchange of Emory University (ICE). He specially appreciated Indian Consul General Office for their kindness in closely working with GAPI in their many official events including visits of Prime minister Mr. Narendar Modi, Health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Indian foreign secretary Mr. Jaishankar and Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Mr. Vikas Swarup. He appreciated the help & guidance from the GAPI executive committee, Board of trustees, Board of Directors, Local media and other well wishers in making his tenure a memorable one for GAPI and the community. He also thanked the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, the grand sponsor of the event, and all other sponsors for supporting this grand event. He then introduced the new GAPI executive team for 2015 -16 which consists of Dr. Sudha Tata( President), Dr. Vijay Maurya (President- elect), Dr Raghu Lolabhattu (secretary) and Dr. Syamala Erramilli (treasurer).

Even in the midst of an incredible evening of enjoyment, the pain & suffering of people of Nepal struck by earth quake were not at all forgotten. Dr. Prashant Garimella made an elaborate presentation as to the plight of this community and initiated a fund raising campaign on the floor. More than $3000 dollars was collected within few minutes as the seed money and the efforts will continue with more philanthropic activities for long term rehabilitation.

The lovely evening ended with the scrumptious dinner provided by Urban Spice followed by DJ & dance. ByteGraphs provided the audio visual service & stunning lighting effects. The grand decorations of the venue were elegantly done by Sterling Décor.