MESSAGE BY MR. KUNDAMAL H. SUKHWANI – PRESIDENT 1986 – 1989

Ladies & Gentlemen

Time has really flown. Looking at the Association’s growth and achievements over the years I am happy to say I was privileged to be the first President of our community even before the Association was legally registered in 1982. I recall I was the only Sindhi family in Madrid in 1962. It was only after a couple of years that a few families came to settle here. We were just a handful of Sindhis in Madrid for many years – and realizing the importance of keeping in touch with our own people and preserving our culture in a land so far away from our native land, we organized our own small gatherings and events in our homes with our children. When the community started growing considerably, the time came to form an identity for ourselves in this country. Along with a few of the other prominent members of our community, we registered ourselves as the Asociación India de Madrid (AIM) in 1982. Now with the passage of time more Sindhis have made Madrid their home and we have a strong contingent of over 250 families today, out of which we can proudly say approximately 220 of them are members of the Association. Thanks to the farsighted vision of the founding fathers and the initiatives taken by subsequent presidents to nurture the development and growth of the association, it has accomplished much.

The usefulness of any social organizations such as ours must be measured by not only what it does but what it aims to do for the community. I am especially happy now to note that under the present leadership of Mr. Kamal Fabiani the Association has procured its own piece of land to build our very own first cultural and social centre. This, I think is a commendable achievement in the history of the Association, as now we will have a fixed venue for our families to meet on regular basis and socialize on auspicious occasions. These activities will help to keep our community close-knit and also maintain our rich heritage and culture. Our members have thrown its full support for all the activities including the formalized membership system being implemented now. All this would not have been possible without the assistance and efforts put in by our current president Mr. Kamal Fabiani.

I am very honoured, as the most senior member of our community, and one of the founding fathers of the Association, to have been granted this opportunity to address you on the launching of the ISAOM website on its Silver Jubilee Celebration Year. Created by the vibrant youth of today, the web is indeed a remarkable and effective means to convey all the news and information regarding the Association. It is to the youth of this generation that the Association must look for future support and inspiration. Organizations that are adaptive and flexible stand the best chance of success.

I extend my warmest wishes to each and every one of you on this special occasion of the Association’s Silver Jubilee. Above all I congratulate all our past presidents for the hard work and effort they have put in to make the Indian Association what it is today.

Thank you

God Bless.

Kundanmal Hotchand Sukhwani