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THE REVIEW
JANUARY’19-JUNE’19 3
The All-India Anglo-Indian Association Annual General Meeting, xx October 2018, Pune
THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Barry O’Brien, President-in-Chief
Avery good morning and a very
warm welcome to each one of you, fellow Anglo-Indians from across
53 branches of India. Before we begin, please acknowledge your own contribution. This is a historic AGM because from the time that I can remember there have only been about 42 or 44 branches at the AGM. Never have we crossed 50 in recent decades. This year, we have 53 branches! Please give yourselves a huge round of applause.
I’d like to acknowledge the new branches and
branches that are coming back after a long time. FNG, a very interesting name—Faridabad Noida and Ghaziabad, FNG—are here. Bhopal, we acknowledged you last year but not well enough. Bhopal, thank you very much for coming in quite big numbers! They were there last year also but I would like to acknowledge Korba, a new branch started last year by Mr Rodrigues.
Revived branches—branches that disappeared from the face of the earth, but Anglo-Indians still live there. Now, the equation is sometimes changing in a place like Guntakal. Guntakal is a solid railway colony in the interior of western Andhra Pradesh. There was a big branch there up to the ‘70s. Phillip Tocher went there and found there are many Anglo-Indians, several
of them doing well, because they have retired from the Middle East and come back to their roots. And now, many are still working out in the Middle East and all want to become members. Quiz question: Why can they be allowed to become members? Anglo-Indians living abroad can’t become members, but these people can because they are Indians—they have Indian citizenship, they have Indian passports, they are only there for work.
Very soon, we will be restarting a branch: You may remember from years ago a very handsome couple, the Parries; they are here, and Mr Tocher will soon be reviving their branch, Rajahmundry. Rajahmundry has a ‘rags to rigs’ story; they made it in the rigs. Welcome, Rajahmundry! We also revived Santragachi, just outside Kolkata. It’s the closest branch to the President-in-Chief ’s home, by the way, even closer than the Calcutta office. Welcome, Santragachi!
Branch Updates: New and Revived Branches, Turnaround Branches, New Leadership