It is indeed , a moment of glory for me to be taking charge of this glorious and vibrant organisation, Indian Menopause society.
I thank all members of IMS for selecting me for this post, and humbly bow my head in front of all my predecessors, for creating and nurturing a strong and vibrant society.
Indian Menopause society over the years is known to give quality education to public and professionals raising the standard of healthcare of the middle aged women.
Our society retains a unique flavour of camadiere and closeness, which gives a warm feeling while working for the society.
For a society to move forward, we need individuals with capability to go out of their comfort zone to try and uplift the women beyond middle age.
In my motto of this year, I would like to say, "Together , we can" . With my team, Dr. Anju Soni, secretary general Dr.Seema Sharma , vice president, Dr.Jyoti Jaiswal ,joint secretary, Dr.Bipasa Sen, Treasurer, and Dr.Aswini Bhalerao, joint treasurer. I would like to solicit help from each and every member of IMS to create some positive change in society.
My dreams and aims for the society this year:
"They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them." Said Mahatma Gandhi of the British. In the international academic world, also, Indian doctors I believe can feel respectable when they start quoting Indian data. We need to create Indian data for Indian women; We hope to conduct pan india studies in IMS which will provide some Indian statistics about mature women.
"If I love myself despite my infinite faults, how can I hate anyone at the glimpse of a few faults"..! said swami Vivekananda. Many individuals in old age homes are people who may have tried their best to save money or relationships, but ended up not being strong enough to live in independent houses, because they just could not make it. I think, doing our bit to elevate the lives of such women can indeed elevate society. One agenda for this year is to lend a hand to better the life of women in old age homes, so that we can harness the untapped energy in many of the inmates and nurture their abilities. This will in fact give us a new zeal in life.
It is indeed the academic activities pursued by preceding presidents, that keeps the IMS flag high. These will continue by way of webinars and physical meetings being planned. So will CIMP, FIMS, MHCC,club 35 plus , etc which have been instituted by my predecessors.
Digital reach out to public through videos in various Indian languages are being planned.
The website is changing hands this year, and hopefully we can add more data in it over the year for information, while continuing to showcase activities by member societies.
We also have free periodic Zumba classes, for members at 7.30 am, with the aim of keeping members fit and happy and on the go for serving women.
I thank my mentors in IMS, Dr.Anklesaria, Dr.Pattanaik, Dr.Jignesh Shah, Dr.Suvarna khadilkar , members of Calicut Menopause society, and my close family , my husband Dr.E Mohandas, my children, for guiding me to this post and giving me an opportunity to serve society in my own humble way,
My prayers to god to give me strength to make a change that I want to see in the world around me…..
Jai Indian Menopause society!!!! Jai Bharat!!! Jai the Mature women of India!!!!!
In all humility on being given the task of heading this great society and with all zest in trying to achieve great heights,
I remain,
Yours truly
Shobhana Mohandas,
President IMS, 2022-23.