Making of a Dream

The need to belong and find one's roots is an age-old human desire. It was the motivating force behind formation of Amritsar Medical & Dental Alumni Association of North America (AMDAANA). The idea of forming an association of Amritsar Medical graduates had repeatedly been mentioned at different occasions but lack of follow up action prevented it's materialization.

The subject surfaced once again at a dinner in Dayton, Ohio at the residence of Satinder and Raj Gupta on April 7, 1979. Besides the hosts, the following Amritsar graduates were present: Sher S Guleria, Kuldip Kaur, Nirmala Guleria, Amrit Chadha, Sukh Dev Sharma, Satwant Singh, Ved Vyas Gossain and Ravinder Pandhi. A serious discussion followed. It was felt that the time was ripe for action. Satwant Singh was "volunteered" to pursue the matter actively. The organization was tentatively named Amritsar Medical Alumni Association. A feeler was mailed on April 27, 1979 to prospective members. The response was slow but overwhelmingly positive. A follow up meeting was held at the residence of Sher & Nirmala Guleria in Urbana, Ohio on July 22, 1979. Amritsar medical graduates within reasonable driving distance were invited and persuaded to attend. Besides the hosts, Amrit Chaddha, Kuldip Kaur, Satwant Singh, Deepak Kumar, Ramesh Gandhi, and Ravi Khanna were in attendance. An animated discussion occupied the entire afternoon in spite of the fact that the Cincinnati Reds were pounding the Chicago Cubs in the adjoining room. It was proposed to include Amritsar Dental graduates in the group and name it Amritsar Medical & Dental Alumni Association of North America. A tentative definition of aims and objectives was laid down. An all out effort was launched to unearth Amritsar Medical and Dental graduates from all nooks and corners of North American continent. Sukhdev Grover was persuaded to join our efforts and to arrange for the founding meeting at Seven Springs, PA. And what a magnificent job did he indeed do! Jaswinder Sidhu, who was making similar efforts in Maryland, was asked to join hands. After several mailings and hundreds of phone calls we were able to locate 132 graduates. One hundred and two of these chose to become founding members. Alumni form different regions of USA met in Raccoon State Park, PA on August 26, 1979 to finalize arrangements for the founding meeting.Rajinder Sidhu, Jaswinder, Sidhu, Rajinder Saini, Sarjit Singh Ranjit Kaur, Sukhdev Grover, Amarjit Singh, Harwant Kaur, Kuldip Kaur and Satwant Singh were present.

AMDAANA took its final form, with great pomp and show, on October 27, 1979 at the first annual meeting in Seven Springs, PA. Realization of this dream is a tribute to untiring efforts of all members, most of whom worked anonymously to spread the word around and recruit members.

Satwant Singh
Cincinnati, OH
October 1979