CavinKare ABILITY Awards
Winners of
CavinKare ABILITY Awards 2007 - 2008
The Cavinkare ABILITY Award for
EMINENCE 2008
MADHUKAR VISHVANATH SHIORDHONKAR,
Indore, M.P.
This visually-impaired veteran, over
and above being one of the first qualified physio-therapists,
has been instrumental in initiating several associations and
federations leading to the habilitation, rehabilitation and
empowerment of thousands of visually- impaired men and women,
besides focusing on sports as well - all this in the 1960s when
such thoughts and initiatives were extremely scarce, if at all.
The
Cavinkare ABILITY MASTERY Awards
SHIVANI
GUPTA, New Delhi
A familiar figure in New Delhi’s disability activism circles,
Shivani has allowed neither her tetraplegia nor society’s
stereotypical attitudes towards a woman with disability to
prevent her from seeking out her rights. With a PG degree in
Architecture from UK under her belt, she lives independently and
pursues her dream of an India sans physical barriers.
JAGDEEP SINGH DANGI , Vidisha, M.P
Necessity is the mother of invention
is a known adage and this extends itself even further when the
necessity is felt by a genius. So much so, the place he lived
in, with its rampant lack of facilities, as well as his
impoverished economic status, were no impediments to this
entrepreneur with dual disabilities. Orthopaedically and
visually-impaired he may be, but he created a Hindi-English
I-Browser with Yahoo/Hotmail software, which we hope, is just
the first step towards several more.
VEENA MEHTA VERMA, New Delhi
A person who’s defied stereotypes
from day one - studying subjects that are normally denied to
visually-impaired, like Maths, Science, Accounts, Commerce and
Management, she has fought tooth and nail for her rights. The
first blind woman to have been offered a job at her level at
NTPC, prior to which she was a top performer in a multi-national
IT company, she has been, besides all this, a mountaineer, para-glider,
horse rider, model, rock-climber et al.
About Cavinkare Ability Awards :
Started in 2003, CavinKare Ability Awards are given annually to
individuals with disability who have gone beyond typical avenues
to achieve their chosen dreams. The Awards acknowledge the
exemplary service done by disabled persons.
CavinKare ABILITY Awards, jointly given
by CavinKare (P) Ltd. and Ability Foundation are national
awards. They are given annually to three individual achievers
with disability. The awards acknowledge the exemplary
achievements of disabled persons. They are a salute to the way
people have made life itself a celebration, never mind what
cards they are dealt with. The awards honour those who choose to
soar rather than roam; who believe in what they can do.
CavinKare ABILITY Awards come in two categories :
CavinKare ABILITY Award for Eminence is a
single award given annually to a person with disability, who has
demonstrated a commitment to others that goes beyond personal
triumphs. The Award comprises a memento, a citation and a cash
prize of Rs.2 lakhs, awarded in recognition of not only
achievement but also service on the part of a person with
disability.
CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Awards go to
two persons who have not allowed their disability to
come in the way of attaining excellence in their chosen field. These awards
recognize mastery in any area of one’s choice and
are given to persons who have set high standards for themselves
and achieved their ambitions. The Awards comprise a memento, a citation
and a cash prize of Rs.One lakh each.
The
process of selection
The selection process begins with advertisements calling for
nominations being placed
in all leading national dailies.
Any Indian national who has a disability, as described in
the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 and has done exceptional
work in his chosen field is eligible to apply. The nominations
are short-listed and representatives and volunteers visit
the nominees.
The
jury is selected with great care. Eminent, nationally known
persons scrutinize the short-listed nominees and select the
winners. The selection is democratic but unanimous. The winners
are announced at a glittering function in the presence of
prominent citizens of the city in which the Awards function
is held.
AWARDS DOWN THE YEARS :
AWARDS 2006-2007 AWARDS 2005-2006
AWARDS
2004-2005 AWARDS
2003-2004
AWARDS 2002-2003
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Winners Of CavinKare Ability Awards 2002
-2003
Naseema Mohammed Amin Hurzuk of Kolhapur,
Maharashtra was selected for the Eminence Award
in this first year. A paraplegic from the age of 16, Naseema
is the founder of “Helpers of the Handicapped”,
an organisation in rural Maharashtra that has helped in
the rehabilitation of over 8000 people.
The first Mastery Award was conferred on Pradip
Sinha, Mumbai. The first deaf-blind person to get
an award in India, he lives independently and confidently
in the sprawling metropolis of Mumbai. He teaches computers
to others like him, bringing cheer into their lives.
The other Mastery Award was given to Buse Gowda
of Bangalore. In what can only be described as
extraordinary, Buse Gowda – a visually - impaired
person has perfected a visual art form that takes anyone
years to master: dance. He is a well-known professional
dancer and performer in his own right, his visual impairment
not withstanding.
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Winners Of CavinKare Ability
Awards 2003-2004
SMA Jinnah, Madurai: Poverty
and visual impairment were the twin odds Mr. Jinnah had
to combat. Undeterred, he not only managed to get himself
educated, he is also the founder of Indian Association for
the Blind (IAB) and has helped 3000 other visually-impaired
persons through education, training and employment opportunities.
Prasad Nagesh Ghadi, Mumbai: An amazingly
talented teenager, Prasad Ghadi doesn’t allow acute
muscular atrophy that has rendered movement below shoulders
impossible, to come in the way of creativity. This 16-year-old
school topper-artist-poet has cut his first music album.
Master Ghadi won the Cavinkare Ability Mastery Award.
Preeti Chhatrapati, Mumbai: Brushing aside
the disadvantages of being profoundly deaf, she emerged
a successful software programmer and taught herself to speak
three languages. She works in an IT company. Ms. Chhatrapati
won the CavinKare Ability Mastery Award.
Boniface Prabhu, Bangalore: Paraplegic
since the age of 2, he was the only Indian representative
at the wheelchair grand slam tennis tournaments, winning
a medal in every match. Mr. Prabhu received the CavinKare
Ability Special Recognition Award.
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Winners Of
CavinKare Ability Awards 2004-2005
Rajinder Johar, New Delhi: The
Eminence Award winner does exceptional work from
his bed. Despite cervical spine injury and 100% quadriplegia,
he has socially and economically rehabilitated scores of
disabled persons through his organisation, Family of Disabled.
Rajni Gopalakrishna of Bangalore:
One of the Mastery Award winners is the first visually-impaired
Chartered Accountant who works at the Taj Westend, Bangalore
and also helps other blind students to take the road she
has successfully taken.
The adventure pair, Sanjeev Sachdeva & Anjlee
Agarwal of Delhi wheeled away with the jointly
conferred Mastery Award. Anjlee and Sanjeev
simply scoff at the progressive muscular dystrophy that
keeps them in wheelchairs and use travel to promote a barrier-free
environment. Samarthya, their Centre in New Delhi does access
audit and organises tours for severely disabled persons.
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Winners Of CavinKare Ability Awards 2005-2006
CavinKare ABILITY Award for Eminence - Uma Shankar Pandey, Banda, U.P :
Unable to bear the taunts to his disability and refusing to become a
beggar as per the wishes of his uncle, he ran away from his village only to return there later,
to start a movement to fight for the rights of disabled people there. Supported only by his crutches
and conviction, he started a residential school for disabled and deprived children with a curriculum
that emphasised self-reliance.
CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Award - Rinku Jee Bhat, Dumana, Jammu :
At four, electrocution and the resultant amputation took away his arms, but the tragedy could not touch his spirit.
Rinku completed school and took it upon himself to support his poverty-ridden, migrant family.
Ironically he trained himself to be an electrician (the very reason for his disability)
and is completely self-sufficient and highly proficient performing intricate jobs with his toes.
CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Award- Navin Gulia, Gurgaon, Haryana-\
An accident while training for the army lost him the use of his limbs but Navin simply shifted his battleground to
rehabilitation from 100% disability. This adventurer, scuba diver, hang glider and marathon driver has merited a mention
in the Limca Book of Records for driving non-stop in the Himalayas. He drives all over the country giving motivational talks,
volunteers with the War Wounded Foundation and has started a Foundation to find solutions to the problems of
people with disabilities.
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CavinKare
ABILITY Awards 2006-2007
In a glittering
function on the evening of 4th March 2007, Hon’ble Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu, Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi gave away the three CavinKare ABILITY
Awards to three high-flying achievers with disability even as the audience rose
in thunderous applause. This much-awaited annual event, which took place in the
totally accessible and disabled-friendly Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Centre in
Chennai, was further embellished by internationally-known music composer AR
Rahman playing solo on the grand piano to accompany two very talented singers –
Heeru Chandnani from Bangalore who is visually-impaired and Radha Roy from
Mumbai who is a wheelchair-user. It turned out to be an unforgettable evening
for the packed-to-capacity, even overflowing hall.
On the jury
panel were Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, Chairman, Manufacturing Competitiveness
Council, Nagesh Kukunoor, Filmmaker/Actor, Dr. Mohini Giri, Chairperson,
Guild of Service, ex-Chairperson, National Commission for Women & social
activist, Ms. Kanimozhi, poet, writer, social activist and Ms. Leela Samson,
Director, Kalakshetra, Chennai.
As always, the
awardees were remarkable people, who had managed to dominate their disability to
accomplish what they had set their hearts and minds to. Here are brief sketches
of their life and achievements.
CavinKare ABILITY Award for Eminence - Sri Kali Vinod Tiwari:
Severely affected by polio that paralysed him waist
down, Tiwari, went on to set up his own steel fabrication enterprise and
developed the first auto tri-wheeler way back in 1978, a time when such things
were unheard of. The tri-wheeler went on to win a national award. Till today,
with more than 50 patents to his name, KV Tiwari has facilitated the mobility of
hundreds of orthopaedically-impaired persons, spurring them on to independence.
And this despite the extensive discrimination that he himself had to go through
and at a time when there were no facilities for orthopaedically impaired people.
His greatest moment was when he organized the “defeat disability” expedition
covering 12,280 kms across 14 Indian states. The expedition was a huge success
in promoting his mission of self-mobility. His foot-operated vehicle and his
multi-functional therapeutic-cum-mobility system for children with cerebral
palsy have won him several accolades.
CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Awards - ANJALI ARORA, New Delhi:
Anjali lost her eyesight as a school student, but with persistence and
determination, she fought her way through educational institutions to realize
her goal of becoming a lawyer. She said, “For me, becoming a lawyer meant
rationality, logic, creative expression and knowledge. I saw in reality the
power of knowledge and of being informed.” Anjali drafted and prepared
her own pleadings and practised in Delhi High Court and later in the Supreme
Court arguing cases in constitutional law and civil matters. Achieving mastery
in the highly competitive field of legal practice, she has appeared against
senior counsel and won the confidence of her clients. She is currently employed
by the Airports Authority of India as Asst. Manager–Law, a highly responsible
position. Anjali loves to travel and get to know things first-hand. She is also
an excellent writer and contributes regularly to Success & ABILITY.
CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Awards -NEHA BANSAL, New Delhi:
A rare spinal cord condition
left Neha a tetraplegic while still in school. Refusing to allow her disability
to diminish her tenacity and courage to take life head-on, this young woman
pursued her dream of qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with a strong resolve.
Her relentless pursuit of excellence helped her score the 10th rank
in the all-India Chartered Accountancy Final, a competitive exam that gives no
concession for disability, a rare feat by any standard! Though her fingers are
not fully functional, Neha insisted on writing the CA exams herself. Today Neha
works with a CA firm, taking on the responsibilities that the job entails. In
her insistence on a life of independence and empowerment, we see a true
inspiration for millions of others like her all over the world.
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