Indian Sindhi Association of Madrid

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An excerpt written by our Chief Advisor, Sangeeta Sukhwani:

2. Sangeeta “Flashing back in time, between 1962 and 1969 when there were just a handful of Sindhis settled here in Madrid, small events and Diwali parties were organized at the British Club or the American Club where the young and old, all would celebrate together. From 1970 till 1982 the Sindhi populace grew considerably and it eventually became essential to have a sense of identity for our community and form an organization which was much needed to carry on the work of the community. Hence, on October 21^st 1982 the Asociación India de Madrid was officially formed by Mr. Kundanmal Sukhwani, Mr. Ashok Thani and Mr. Gobind Mahbubani. Today we have a large community of over 300 families out of which we can proudly say that majority are members of ISAOM. It is thanks to the early pioneers of our community who decided to stick by each other, that today we have such an integrated society and we are able to celebrate the cultural richness of our heritage through festivals, community events and other activities. These gatherings demonstrate our pride in where we come from and who we are.

All the presidents and their respective diligent committees had one goal in mind, and that is to keep the community closely knit and to maintain goodwill amongst our fellowmen. Mr. Kundanmal Sukhwani, the late Mr. Shyam Karani, Mr. Kishin Manghnani, Mr. Kishin Uttamchandani, Mr. Kamal Fabiani, Mr. Daulat Khatwani and Mr. Raju Parwani all of them deserve a special acknowledgement for their dedication and efforts in working for the betterment of our people and creating a sense of purpose and belongingness within our community.

As you all know, AIM had organized many social, cultural and formal events over the last 25 years. We had the honour of meeting some of the top Indian officials who visited us here in Madrid and at the same time we also had the pleasure of meeting important Spanish politicians. On the social scene, we’ve had the Diwali Balls, fun fairs, the Red Cross Bazaar, picnics, Hindi movies and New Year’s Eve parties. We’ve also had Zee TV come to our town twice, once of which was during the 50^th independence day of India. Apart from organizing social events we took great pleasure in sponsoring a football team for our young boys who compete against other Indian teams in Spain. Last but definitely not the least, without a sense of caring there can be no sense of community and so a donation of an ambulance was made in to the Comunidad de Madrid

Meanwhile as the years passed by, we soon realized that we needed a place of our very own where we could meet and celebrate all our social and cultural events. This became our golden dream and all the past presidents reached out and strived very hard to fulfill it but this was definitely not an easy task.

And finally, the unreachable dream was finally within our grasp. Along with the funds accumulated over the years by AIM, together with the generous contribution from IWCA and the private donations we received from our members, today we have a beautiful Cultural Centre standing strong with such might and pride. It is thanks to the dreams of all the past presidents and our well wishing community, that today this dream is being fulfilled – as they say every action is the result of a thought. This seed was planted a long time ago and it was only a matter of time that it started bearing its fruits.”

PREIDENT