The Indian Doctors Forum (IDF) Kuwait, the premier sociocultural association of Indian doctors in the State of Kuwait, commemorated the release of the 14th edition of their annually published health guide and held their “DOCFEST 2018 –Bollywood Down Memory lane” cultural variety show at the Hotel Regency on 2nd February 2018.
The official program was anchored by Joint General Secretary of IDF Dr. Rajendra Mishra.
The evening commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran by IDF community secretary, Dr. Syed Mahmood Rahman, followed by the national anthems of Kuwait and India. Dr. Surendra Nayak, General Secretary of the IDF, welcomed the assembled dignitaries and guests, which included; Mr. Mazen Al- Essa, Undersecretary, Al Diwan Al-Amiri Affairs as the Chief Guest and H.E. K. Jeevasagar, the newly credentialed Ambassador of India to Kuwait and Dr. Mohammed Al-Mutairi, President of the Kuwait Medical Association as guests of honor. Dr. Abhay Patwari, President of the IDF, addressed the audience and highlighted how community health promotion activities were regularly conducted by the IDF to raise awareness among the public about a variety of medical issues.
The inaugural address was given by Mr. Mazen Al Essa in which he conveyed his congratulations to the IDF and the Indian community at large. Mr. K. Jeevasagar praised the Indian doctor’s dedication and work ethic. Dr. Mohammed Al-Mutairi highlighted the valuable contributions made by Indian doctors.
The health guide was officially introduced by the chief editor Dr.Y. Girish.The current edition,entitled "Laboratory Medicine in health and disease",is comprised of a collection of articles authored by experts in the fields of Biochemistry, Hematology, Microbiology, Histopathology,Cytology and other related specialties.
The topics are written in simple non-technical language with the general public in mind. The articles provide a valuable insight into laboratory procedures and the latest advances in the field. The health guide was officially released by Mr. Mazen Al-Essa and the first copy was presented to Mr. K. Jeevasagar. Mementos (the iconic CHARMINAR of Hyderabad) were presented to the dignitaries by the office bearers on behalf of IDF.
Dr. Diwakar Chaluvaiah, vice-president of the IDF, gave the vote of thanks and expressed his gratitude to the many dignitaries, well-wishers and sponsors present for their valuable encouragement and support.
The cultural program was kicked off by Dr. Prashant Purohit and Dr. Pooja Chodankar, Cultural Secretary and Joint Cultural Secretary of the IDF, respectively. They explained how Bollywood has been the important part of not only the Indian population but has transcended the boundaries and found its place globally in the hearts of all. The theme was to visit it down memory lanes. They started the program by paying homage to the legendary iconic Kuwaiti actor Abdul Hussain Abdul Redha via a video clip.
Dr. Saroj Grover, Executive Committee Member of the IDF, spoke about the Indian tradition of lighting a lamp at the beginning of a function and its significance. The lamp was lit by the spouses of IDF office bearers – Mrs. Kalpana Patwari, Mrs. Hema Malini Diwakar, Dr. Mrs. Sangeeta Purohit, Dr. Mrs. Pooja Chodankar, Mrs. Priya Sankar and Mrs. Sagarika Mohanty along with special guest Sheikha Dusairi. The cultural show was declared open after lighting of the lamp.
The performers, composed only of IDF members and their families, performed a variety of dances unique to Bollywood depicting its iconic moments from start of its silent movie era to the present advanced VFX times. These performances were interspersed with a number of humorous skits describing the Heroes, Heroines, Comedians and Villains of different periods.
The finale of the cultural program was the release of Movie Indiawalle where all the artist and office bearers of IDF participated with flags of Kuwait and India depicting the solidarity between these two great nations.
The event concluded with a sumptuous buffet dinner prepared by the MasterChef’s of Hotel Regency that included Indian desserts like Jalebi, Rasmalai and Balushahi. After the dinner all the guests were gifted with a copy of the health guide. A special raffle draw with attractive prizes was conducted for IDF members by Dr R Panicker,Dr Ali Asgar Jetaji,Dr Imtiaz Nawaz ,Dr Sankar Narayan and Dr Gautam Hebbar .
The audience was enthralled by the creative, imaginative, exciting and one of a kind performance. The event was a grand success thanks to the hard work of the IDF members and their families, choreographers and the technical team.