Platinum jubilee celebrations of the Nair Hospital Dental College (NHDC), the retreat, mumbai.

The 75th anniversary celebrations of this venerable institution commenced at the college premises and continued at The Retreat, Madh Island, on 4th Jan till the 6th Jan 2008. Many past Deans, staff and students were accompanied by the present Dean, staff and students in a spontaneous show of Nair pride and commitment. Nine o clock in the morning saw all the delegates troop in and take part in the hoisting of the national flag atop the college building by Dean Dr. Nilima Malik, followed by the hoisting of the Nair flag at the entrance to the building by the Municipal Commissioner Mr. Jairaj Pathak. After lighting the ceremonial lamp and garlanding the founder Dr. V. M. Desai’s statue, they were escorted to the college Auditorium by the Chairperson Dr. Kali Kapadia. Master of ceremonies, Dr. Prakash Lulla formally welcomed everybody to a thunderous applause. He read out the Governor, Shri S. M. Krishna’s message, in the latter’s absence brought on by unavoidable political circumstances. Dr. Kali Kapadia made a short but moving representation of what Nair stood for. Referring to the Alma mater as our nourishing mother, he drew attention to the fact that all our collective achievements were indeed due to the education we received at Nair, and that we were gathered here to pay homage to the college. The most moving reception awaited our past senior teachers who each received an ovation they will never forget. The Chief Guest released a special commemorative coffee table book of the Nair Hospital Dental College, specially brought out to celebrate this event. It contained all the glorious events that spanned the 75 years of its existence. Indeed a collector’s item.
The evening was dedicated to enjoyment and merriment with the highlight being the Bollywood Nite- which went on till the wee hours of next morning.
The next morning was dedicated to scientific sessions. There were a wide variety of topics under the scanner, from implants to CAD/CAM Dentistry, to lasers in Dentistry, restorative materials and the usual one on esthetics. A special lecture on social commitments of the dentist towards the poorest of the poor brought the house to a standing ovation and the session to a close in the evening. The dentists were also seen taking advantage of a small but prominently representative trade fair.

The evening started with a formal black tie dinner. The festivities got under way with a fireworks display, which ended with the “NHDC” logo in fluorescent lights. The wine tasting demonstration kicked off the nights’ crowded program. A scintillating demonstration of the graceful and yet vigorous salsa followed. Dinaz Engineer and partner, winners of the national salsa contest, were in top form as they delighted the audience with their performance. This was followed by the Supper Theatre with a play called “And God, said cheers” enacted by the famous, and now Padma Bhushan, Tom Alter with Farhad Daruwalla. The celebrations continued with DJ Victor Tanner and his group.