This page is under construction
* DISCLAIMER
The purpose of narrating the history of ICCC and enumerating the past presidents and board members here is to recognize the selfless community service rendered by these individuals for the benefit of the entire Indo-Canadian community and the future generations. The historical account herein is based on a 1998 25th anniversary report (cited below) and the information furnished by some individuals for the post-1998 period.
This is by no means a comprehensive or even verified account of the ICCC operations, nor the testimonials of specific individuals.
If anyone's name or specific contributions are missed, it is not deliberate and is purely inadvertent.
Let us celebrate the history of the Indo-Canadian Community Centre (ICCC) and
the immense contributions of a large number of the Board Members over nearly half a century
ICCC Board Members and Key Accomplishments
1973 to present (in reverse chronological order)
2017-19
Kanwal (Ken) Talwar, President
Rekha Dogra, Chan Chandramouli, Anil Agrawal (partial term), Subodh Anand, Balu Kuria (partial term), Mita Saha (partial term),
Anish Mehra, ex-officio
During 2017-19,
2015-17
Arvind Chhatbaar, President (partial term)
Biju George, President (partial term)
Kanwal (Ken) Talwar (partial term)
Biju George, Nitya Varma, Sucha Mann, Navin Patni, Sushma Barewal, Chan Chandramouli, K Talwar,
Anish Mehra – ex officio
During 2015-17,
- Designed and introduced a new logo for the organization;
- Set up a permanent single address for the organization instead of the changing home addresses of changing presidents.
- Ensured all corporate documents were surrendered by outgoing Board to this central location so that all the organizations documents are at one place. In the process cleaned up members list.
- Organized self-funded monthly events and passed resolution to prevent use of the organizations past funds for new activities or events. Each event to be self supported.
- Obtained support from key players towards the goal of community centre.
2013-15
Chandrakant Arya, President (partial term)
Anish Mehra, President (partial term)
Naveen Patni, Manju Anand,
Vasdev Aggarwal, Biju George,
Indu Gambhir (ex-Officio)
During 2013-15, the Board supported the following initiatives:
- Field Hockey – Donated funds for ICCC Cup and offered volunteer assistance;
- Seniors Group meetings in Orleans every Thursday.
- Proposal to provide a home to ICCC (Community Centre);
- Creation of a central mailing address for ICCC at the Bells Corner location.
- Launched a drive to boost Membership.
- Reinvested the capital funds in GICs.
- Initiated an ICCC Advisory Board.
- Reached out and established community partnerships.
2011-13
Indu Gambhir, President
Ram Sahi (vice-president), Jack Uppal (Secretary), Naveen Patni (Treasurer), Manju Anand, Chandrakanth Arya, Vasdev Aggarwal, Beant Barewal (ex-Officio)
During 2011-13,
- Resurrected the ICCC corporation documents – incorporation, Mortgage , sale agreement of the community centre, etc.
- Updated the members list.
- Launched a bi-annual Newsletter for ICCC activities.
- Terminated the 2nd Mortgage, consolidated funds, and invested in GIC.
- Initiated the following community programs to make ICCC relevant to the community at large:
- The “History of Indo-Canadians in Ottawa” project with Nand Tandon and Prabir Neogi.
- Seniors Program– Conducted focus groups for need assessment and launched a weekly Seniors group at Merivale; later another group was started in Orleans, and also consolidated Kanata seniors and Durga Mandir Seniors programs.
- Social Network Of Women (SNOW) — Initially launched as ‘Ladies Club,’ latter renamed S.N.O.W.
- Established collaboration with other Indian Organizations:
- Participation in annual picnic ICA.
- Asian Heritage Month – Held two events in the month of May; promoted Indian heritage, Ayurveda, and classical dance.
- Festival of India — Fundraising for CHEO, and the ICCC Essay Competition
- Jeevan Joyti (Gujarati Group) – Fundraising for for Maplewood home.
- Hockey Canada Youth Program – Donated a trophy and provided volunteer support for the tournament.
- ICOBC — Supported Cricket match and provided Prizes.
- At the 28th April 2012 AGM, amendments to the ICCCC Corporation Bylaws were approved.
2009-11
During 2009-11,
2007-09
During 2007-09,
2005-07
During 2005-07,
2003-05
During 2003-05,
2001-03
During 2001-03,
1999-2001
During 1999-2001,
25th anniversary celebration of Indo-Canadian Community Centre
Remarks by Aleyamma Samuel in 1998
{Read the complete report}
This centre has served as a school for several forms of dances, karate, yoga, a drop-in centre for the youth, women, seniors, a place for social and cultural gatherings, private parties, meetings and as a place of worship for several groups before they built their own.
Over the years, we have raised a few thousand dollars for other charitable causes such as flood relief, children’s aid society, cancer society, Vietnamese refugee settlement called Project 4000, managed blood donor clinic, organized children’s field hockey, donated books to Nepean public library, etc. … read the complete report
1997-99
Nityanand Varma, President
Bharat Rudra, Baskaran Appupillai, Ramma Kamra, Jagmohan Humar, Chandrakant Acharya,
Surinder Chhura, ex-Officio
During 1997-99,
1995-97
Surinder Chhura, President
Surinder Rawat, K.Chandramouli, Chandrakant Acharya, Baskaran Appupillai, Ramma Kamra,
Chanchal Chadha, Jit Sunga,
Shyam Khubchandani, ex-Officio
During 1995-97,
1993-95
Shyam Khubchandani, President
Manju Anand, Roshanlal Sachdeva, Nand Tandan, Olga Ghosh, Madan Gopal, John Samuel (Jr),
Dinesh Bhatnagar, ex-Officio
During 1993-95,
1991-93
Dinesh Bhatnagar, President
Dr. Virbhala Acharya, Nand Tandan, Usha Ahuja, Malti Kesarwani, Laila Khan,
Chandramouli, ex-Officio
During 1991-93, launched a major fundraising blitz to clean up and improve the landscaping around the community centre building.
1989-91
Chandramouli, President
Chandrakant Acharya, Roshanlal Sacheva,
Naveen Patni, Asha Bhatnagar, Laila Khan,
Baldev Bij, ex-Officio
1987-89
Baldev Vij, President
K.Chandramouli, Naveen Patni, Parimal Modi,
Laila Khan, Roshanlal Sachdeva,
Surinder Prihar, ex-Officio
During 1987-91, the community centre building renovation project was completed.
– The renovation/retrofit project was implemented at a cost of about $160K (raised through donations plus $80K matching grant from Provincial Government). Obtained generous contribution from Om Madan, Subash Vohra, Subash Chander and the construction firm of Tony D’Angelo, who also executed the project.
– A fundraiser for the Nargis Dutt cancer foundation with Mr. Sunil Dutt in person; Savitha Sharma and her students offered a Kathak dance entertainment along with tasty food catered by Rinag.
– Participated in Totem Pole, a City of Ottawa’s community project. For a contribution of $1K, we provided an emblem (Peacock symbol) sculpted in to a Totem Pole, erected as a gigantic landmark in the Byward Market area. It still exits.
– Collaborated with the High Commission of India to host a cultural weekend with entertainment offered by visiting ICCR sponsored artists and a film festival with a focus on “artsy” movies. The performances were held at the Museum of Civilization (now called Museum of History). The artists were comprised of 2 teams – from Punjab headed by Asa Singh Mastana Bhangra troupe and from Assam whose expertise was Yak-Yak lion dance. This event raised some funds for ICCC.
These were “lean” times for ICCC as we were facing much difficulty in making “ends meet” – i.e. keeping up with mortgage payments, utilities bills, etc. Thus the board was exercising fiscal frugality wherever possible. In this regard should recognize the diligence of Laila Khan who cut a “deal” with tenants such as the “Columbian church” group, Sathya Sai group to not only pay rent but also provide resources to maintain the building at minimal cost, albeit giving a small discount on the rent.
1985-87
Surinder Prihar, President
Radhika Sekhar, Ajit Sinha, Roshanlal Sachdeva,
Dr. Bhupendra Ruparelia, Vishnu Saha,
Dr. John Samuel, ex-Officio
During 1985-87,
1983-85
Dr. John Samuel, President
Dr. Satyaprakash Bhatnagar, Aruna Sarkar, Surinder Prihar, Chandrakant Acharya, Dr.Asim Chaudhary,
Nityanand Varma, ex-Officio
During 1983-85,
1981-83
Nityanand Varma, President
Dr. Vish Patel, Vasanthi Srinivasan,
Rajesh Dayal, Atulesh Nandi,
Aleyamma Samuel, ex-Officio
During 1981-83, diligently managed and maintained the community centre building amidst various challenges… leaky taps, clogged toilets, smoky furnaces, a caved-in roof, basement flooding, loose tiles, high taxes, smelly garbage, event curious vandals.
Undertook a restoration project that saved the basement from flooding.
1979-81
Diju Raha, President
Darshan Kant, Aleyamma Samuel,
Dr. Shiv Chopra & Nitya Varma, ex-Officio
During 1979-81, the property at 1346 Bank Street was spotted with a price tag of $160,000. Vigorous fund-raising activity was launched: dinners, cultural functions, lotteries, raffles, auctions, selling snacks, even garage sales, and door-to-door solicitation.
Two-thirds of the amount required was raised. The land in Embrun was sold. And,
The first milestone achieved: On April 30th, 1980, the community centre building at 1346 Bank Street was aqcuired.
March 22, 1981: The Community Centre building was inaugurated by the Mayor of Ottawa, Marion Dewer along with a few City Councilors, MPs and Senators.
We now had the very first secular centre for all the people of Indian origin in Ottawa.
1977-79
Dr. Madhu Sahasrabudhe, President
Dev Basu, Dr. Bhagwan Shah,
Dr. Shiv Chopra, ex-Officio
During 1977-79, managed the activities of the centre. Active search for a property for the centre continued.
Flood relief project: Aleyamma Samuel initiated and chaired a “Andhra Pradesh flood relief and rehabilitation” project
1975-77
Dr. Shiv Chopra, President
Dr. Dinesh Bhatnagar, Kanu Bhatt,
Dr. Shiv Jindal, ex-Officio
During 1975-77, the constitution was revised with the original objectives intact but expanded. Search for a property and fund-raising continued.
In Feb 1976, Mrs. Sarita and Dr. Shiv Jindal offered a house on Hwy 31 at no cost; this served as a temporary home for the community centre for the next three years.
Oct 1976 – Purchased a 48 acre land (later, surveyed as 53 acres) in Embrun.
In early 1977, the Trust was converted into a non-profit Ontario corporation with a new name: Indo-Canadian Community Centre Inc.
1973-75
Dr. Shiv Jindal, President
Dr. Hari Srivastava, Ram Dilawri
During 1973-75, Dr. Jindal and the Board took charge of the Trust and launched building up a trust fund. Their fervent fund-raising activities brought in a significant sum. Search for a property began.
The Beginning
***** 1973 – Dr. John T. Samuel, Founding President *****
In 1973, Dr. John Samuel led the initiative and founded an ICA Charitable Trust, a registered charity.
The objectives of the Trust as listed in the one-page constitution were ambitious: relief of poverty, advancement of religion, advancement of education. But the single largest project was to establish a Community Centre, secular in nature. [see a detailed account by John T. Samuel.]
Detailed input by individuals
** ICCC History - Input by John T. Samuel (July 5, 2018)
John T. Samuel
5 June, 2018
Input for ICCC history project by John T. Samuel
(Apologies for mentioning my name here and there. It is taken from my book, Many Avatars; One Life. You have permission to use the material from the book, pages, 214-215. Copies of the book are available from the public library, for anyone interested.)
A place of our own
When I was president of India-Canada Association (ICA) in 1972-73, I felt the need to have a place of our own activities and cook our “smelly food” unwelcome to the owners of many rented halls. A separate organization was needed to have a place of our own. This decision was taken at a special meeting of ICA three of us were to present a draft constitution, which I headed. Before the meeting special general body meeting, I cautioned the members that there was some opposition to the move. When voting time came, even the two members of ICA who worked with me on the ICACT constitution voted against the motion to set up the Trust, with their heads down and hands up! Quite a drama it was!
Smelly food had played its role.
Aleyamma through her intelligence-gathering activities had found out there was strong opposition to the setting up of a charitable ICA Trust. In order to assure a quorum for such a meeting, Aleyamma promised to serve iddaly and sambar (when no restaurant in Ottawa was serving it). ICA newsletter announced this tasty deal. Yes, we got a quorum. We got the votes. ICACT was born!
One of the two who had worked with me to set up the Trust and later voted against it commented on Aleyamma’s role: “She is the only good thing going for him (myself).”
I took the initiative to register a charitable organization (the word charitable was essential to get charitable status, I was told) and find trustees for it. The registration number I got is still used by ICCC. I persuaded Dr. Shiv Jindal to chair it. The other members were: Prof. Hari Srivastava and Ram Dilawri.
After a lot of searching, when we located a building at the corner of Bank St. and Riverside, with the help of a life member and realtor, John Daniel, who helped to bargain and reduce the price, was bought. It was owned by the Irish group known as Orangemen whose membership was dwindling. Finally, we had a place where no one can push us around for having cooked smelly food!
Finding the down payment was a real challenge. It was Diju Raha, Dr. Shiv Chopra, Nitya Varma and many others spent many of their evenings visiting people to beg for money. The tax deductible receipt helped a lot.
Takeover artists
Initially, the ICA Trust had only $60 membership as well as life membership. This changed soon since a bunch of “takeover artists” appeared on the scene. They would pay $60 membership fee for people who had little interest or knowledge of the work of the Trust. They were told by their leader to put up their hands when he did. In order to protect the assets of the organization, I suggested that there be only one kind of membership, life membership, of $600. Dr. Hari Srivastava referred to it as a “brilliant move”.
Sell the place!
One general body meeting (forget the year) adopted a motion by a majority vote that the building be sold. Aleyamma and I had studied the constitution and prepared the strategy carefully. Apparently, those who were in favour of the motion had not done this. Though I was inclined to point out this before the voting, Aleyamma secretly told me “not now” only after the vote. Once the vote was taken, the “seller group” rejoiced and except for the two of us the “keeper group” mourned. I stood up and pointed out that the majority needed is four-fifths, not a simple majority. Of course, there was some drama even in community affairs. Those who rejoiced became dejected and the president who headed that group resigned later.
Dr. John Samuel Sr.
** ICCC History - 25th Anniversary - 1998 (1973 - 1998)
Aleyamma Samuel
7 November 1998
INTRODUCTION
Namaskaram. Good evening everyone. It sure is great to see all of you, some new faces, some not so new. As you just heard my duty tonight is to jog through the history of the Indo Canadian Community Centre. History, as we all know, can be, kind of dry, more so when there are no juicy stories. Since we have to cover 25 years, may I request you to sit back and relax: This is going to take a good part of the evening.
At this silver jubilee celebration, it is appropriate to trace the footprints of time to remember from where we started and how we reached where we are now. As you will see, we have travelled through some rough and bumpy roads; well, that gives us more reasons to celebrate.
ORIGIN
It was the early 1970s, and there was a general feeling among the Indo-Canadians in Ottawa that to better serve our rapidly growing community. we needed to form a Charitable Trust. The then president of the India Canada Association (ICA), the tenacious Dr. John Samuel took up the challenge during the period 1972 – 73. Although there were a few of us assisting in its conception, this time, he went through the labour pain and delivered. The ICA Charitable Trust was born. In early 1973, the Trust was registered as a charitable organization with the then Department of National Revenue and Taxation. For this, the constitution of the India Canada Association needed revision and changes with a separate constitution written for ICA Charitable Trust. The objectives of the Trust as listed in the one-page constitution were ambitious: relief of poverty, advancement of religion, advancement of education. But the single largest project has been a Centre, secular in nature: this idea sure has had a compelling appeal.
The Trust was then put in the trustworthy hands of Dr. Shiv Jindal (President), Dr. Hari Srivastava and Ram Dilawri. It sure was a monumental task to build a Trust fund from almost nothing. The Trust took crucial baby steps and went through the ‘terrible two-s’. Their fervent fundraising activities brought in a significant sum.
The next Board with Dr. Shiv Chopra as president, Kanu Bhatt and Dr. Dinesh Bhatnagar had a very active term. During this period the constitution was revised with the original objectives intact but expanded. Search for a property continued in earnest and of course, more fund raising. The Trust reached a new milestone in October 1976 with the purchase of 48 acres, later surveyed as 53 acres of land in Embrun. In early 1977, the Trust name was changed to Indo Canadian Community Centre Inc. with a provincial Charter. In February 1976, the Centre found a temporary home when Sarita and Dr. Shiv Jindal offered a house on Hwy 31. For the next three years that house was used for small gatherings at no cost to the members.
During the next term, 1977 – 79, the activities of the centre were managed by Dr. Madhu Sahasrabudhe, president, Dev Basu and Dr. Bhagawan Shah. The major project undertaken during this time was the Andhra Pradesh flood relief and rehabilitation to provide boats and nets to a few fishers who lost everything to the devastating flood. This project was initiated and chaired by Aleyamma Samuel. Active search for a centre continued.
With the changing of the guard in 1979 came the exceptionally pragmatic and highly energetic Diju Raha as president, Aleyamma Samuel and Darshan Kant on the Board with Shiv Chopra and Nitya Varma as ex-officio. In late summer of 1979, we saw the property at 1346 Bank St. on sale. Over the next few weeks, several community meetings were held at this location like an open house. Many turned up to view the property. A very vigorous campaign was launched, and carried on with resolve. We tried everything:and of course, turning up at homes even at odd hours. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people tried to avoid a few of us.
Although we did not achieve our goal to have a debt-free building we had nearly two-thirds of the $160,000 needed. The land in Embrun was sold in time. The deed was signed on April 29, 1980 and we moved in to our modest first home on April 30th. It sure was ‘a dream come true.’ The then mayor of Ottawa Marion Dewer officially opened the Centre on March 22, 1981 in the presence of an enthusiastic and cheerful crowd, including a few city councilors, MPs and Senators . It was like a house-warming party. This centre was viewed as a modest but good beginning – the very first secular centre for people of Indian origin in Canada and perhaps in N. America.
MAINTENANCE & ACTIVITIES
Now there was a centre. . . with new challenges to be faced… leaky taps, clogged toilets, smoky furnaces, a caved-in roof, basement flooding, loose tiles, high taxes, smelly garbage, even curious vandals. So much so, there were times we thought of asking prospective board members if they had experience in cleaning, plumbing, heating, and electrical work. And they should also own and know how to operate a broom, mop, plunger, shovel and lawnmower. I know for a fact some of them indeed practiced these skills at the centre. I must confess I did. See how much fun we have been having. Sometimes enough to make us all get so depressed, call it quits, and walk away. Miraculously, together we have overcome all the crises; a lot of us really started to believe in miracles.
This centre has served as a school for several forms of dances, karate, yoga, a drop-in centre for the youth, women, seniors, a place for social and cultural gatherings, private parties, meetings and as a place of worship for several groups before they built their own.
Over the years, we have raised a few thousand dollars for other charitable causes such as flood relief, children’s aid society, cancer society, Vietnamese refugee settlement called Project 4000, managed blood donor clinic, organized children’s field hockey, donated books to Nepean public library, etc.
Basically from 1980 to the present, managing and maintenance of the building has been a constant challenge. The restoration project undertaken when Nitya Varma was president in 1981- 83 saved the basement from flooding. During 87-89 when Baldev Vij was president, a major renovation project was launched with a dollar-to-dollar matching grant from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Culture. The work was completed when Chan Chandramouli was president.
Again there was a fundraising blitz in 1991-93 with Shyam Khubchandani as the president to clean up and improve the landscaping. With all this work done the Centre now has a bright and much improved look.
CLOSING
In closing, I have no doubt that as supporters and members of the Centre we all share a great sense of satisfaction for what we have achieved so far. We have made major strides, acquired significant amount of financial assets. May I suggest that now is the time to look ahead and decide where we want to go from here. We still have many miles to go. It seems to me ours is a task eternal. I wish us continued success.
Thank you. You all have been patiently attentive.
………………………………………………………………………………
Before I sit down I have one more thing to do, a pleasant one indeed. There are many individuals and several businesses that contributed countless hours, and made very generous donations of money and material. Ideally they should all be recognized tonight. I am not even attempting it due to lack of time and for fear of leaving out a few. But I am sure I have your permission to recognize those who have served as Board members.
As I call the names out would you please stand up and remain standing.
Audience, please hold your applause. If I leave anyone out, please don’t wait to give me hell later, tell me now.
.. .. .. .. .. .. ..