Celebrating 11 years of selfless service

In a grand celebration, The Bhavan, London bade farewell to Sri Joginder Sanger, who retired from his position as the Chairman after 11 years of service. On 14th September, Friday, the evening began with prayers by Executive Director Dr Mattur Nandakumara.
Subhanu Saxena, who is now succeeding Joginder Ji as the Chairman, gave a warm welcome address. He expressed his gratitude to Mr Sanger for his leadership of many decades and his selfless service to The Bhavan.
The felicitation speeches included words by Virendra Sharma MP, Lord Dholakia OBE PC (Patron of The Bhavan UK), Lord Swaraj Paul PC (Patron of The Bhavan UK), Lord Jitesh Gadhia, Barry Gardener MP, Seema Malhotra MP, Varinder Singh (Executive Committee Member, The Bhavan UK), Mr Gopichand Hinduja (Industrialist). What was evident in everyone’s speeches was the indelible mark Joginder Ji had created during his time. His impeccable business sense, combined with the qualities of humility, helpfulness and friendliness made him a great leader. Under his supervision, The Bhavan saw remarkable financial growth, and the inauguration of the annual Diwali Banquet which, to this day, is an extremely memorable and successful day in the Bhavan’s calendar. As many of the speakers expressed, any felicitation/award that can be given by The Bhavan, or even the Government of India, would be inadequate to fully do justice to the giant of a man that Sri Joginder Ji has always been.
After that Nandakumara mentioned that Bhavan’s President Sri Mehta and Director General Dastur Ji have thanked Mr Sanger for his services and wished him the best, and also welcomed Subhanu as The Bhavan’s new Chairman.
Joginder Ji responded to all the felicitations and shared a few of his thoughts, reminiscing his long journey at The Bhavan. He felt it was the greatest honour to serve The Bhavan, a place where everyone who has love and regards for our culture is always openly welcomed.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Dr Surekha Mehta (Vice-Chair, The Bhavan UK) which was followed by a short cultural program by The Bhavan students and dinner for all the guests.
Photo credit: Raj D Bakrania