Editor's Note

Welcome to the first edition of 2024; so much happened in the last month;

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got an opportunity to spend some quality time with your loved ones. I must begin by thanking everyone for the positive feedback on the December News Bulletin.

Since the last bulletin, our official Facebook page has been set up, and the WhatsApp group has been created thanks to Nami Kaur.

I acknowledge the support of our chairman, Thomas Abraham, who has managed the newsletter for over twenty years; it is not an easy task and requires a lot of dedicated time, especially chasing up the articles, photos, and captions.

I am excited about the upcoming GOPIO International. Convention: from the briefing by the convention convenor, Prakash Shah, the convention promises to be timely and relevant; I look forward to meeting many of you in person at the Convention.

Walking into 2024 feels like peeking through a crack in the door and slowly slipping into space. There’s something different in the air in 2024. After the holiday season – and whether it was joyous or complex – there’s a willingness to make 2024 excel.

The past few years have challenged every family I know in ways big and small. While good and evil always form the mix, I hope you and your family find this new year gentle, with luck and the best goose bumps in little everyday joys.

To reboot, to make memories, to make it count. Instead of promising ourselves so much, I hope we are more pragmatic. Travel is increasingly becoming more and more invaluable, not for work, but to enrich our lives.

But really, what stands out to me is personalisation in everything we do and how we achieve our personal goals daily, weekly, and monthly. It’s no longer about our to-dos but our ta-das.

It’s a fresh new year! Are you the type of person who writes out a detailed list of New Year’s resolutions, or are you more like me – a shrug and a sigh, “Well, I’ll do the best I can”?

A fresh calendar is like a clean house or car; it’s satisfying and gives a spark of hope. My calendar is already filling up for 2024 –vacation planned, trips to see family, work (of course), and unending local events.

Even though the Holidays are in the rear-view mirror, we still have things happening in our GOPIO community. Many of our chapters are very active in the community.

I want to invite submissions from all chapters and regions so that there is balanced reporting. GOPIO International News Bulletin is a compelling medium with vast reach, so we must utilise it to get the message out to the masses.

Based on your feedback, I have tried to incorporate some changes and will constantly strive to maintain the quality.

Until next month, Happy Reading

—Umesh Chandra OAM Editor-in-Chief Executive Vice President GOPIO International