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18th
CavinKare Ability Awards honours
five exemplary achievers with disabilities from across the country
Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, Harrington Road, Chennai
Jury:
Ms Lakshmy Ramakrishnan Film maker, Actor and Television
Personality
Mr Suresh Balaje Film Producer
Mr Sriram Subramanya Founder, Managing Director & CEO,
Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd
Mr Ishwar Achanta Hon Treasurer & Council Member, Indian Golf
Union and Board Member, Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation
Ms Sharada Ramanathan Film Director & Writer
The event
February 15th 2020: In an effort to recognize and spotlight the
achievements of some
extraordinary people with disabilities, CavinKare and Ability Foundation jointly
organized
the 18th edition of the CavinKare Ability Awards in the city today.
Held at Sir
Mutha
Venkatasubba Rao Auditorium, the awards function showcased exemplary success of
five
people with disabilities from across the country.
Challenging the status quo, five star achievers of this year, set an inspiring
mood for the
evening with their power packed deeds and speech. Enthralling the audience with
their
boundless energy and confidence, the outstanding awardees shared their life
journey
vividly. The evening ended on a high-note with both the recipients of the awards
as well as
the audience, leaving as inspired and empowered individuals.
The highlight for the evening was a fireside chat between actress & director,
Revathi and
Anindya Bhattacharyya, a global leader in the deaf & blind community
CavinKare Ability Special Recognition Award
Anindya Bhattacharyya, USA
A man of many hats, Anindya Bhattacharyya, who has a bachelor’s degree in
political science
from UALR, holds a full-time and consequential job as coordinator of the
National
Outreach
Technology Development and Training Program at the Helen Keller National Center,
NY, runs a
digital online store, Bapin Group, and is the CEO of the company. An activist
too,
he played a
major role in the passage of the United States’ 21st Century
Communications and
Video
Accessibility Act. Someone who was born in a small village in West Bengal and
left
completely
deafblind early on in his childhood, Anindya overcame numerous trials and
challenges and has
grown to be an international leader of the deaf-blind community, an activist, a
successful
professional, a gutsy entrepreneur, a sports enthusiast, a keen cook and
woodwork
designer,
popular with friends. And much more.
CavinKare Ability Award for Eminence
Swarnalatha. J Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Swarnalatha. J is the founder of the Swarga Charitable Trust, along with her
husband
Guruprasad.To Swarga goes the credit of creating accessible toilets in every
platform of Indian
Railways’Coimbatore Junction and 10 Government schools; making nine schools in
Coimbatore
wheelchair friendly; setting up Tamil Nadu’s first wheelchair accessible
transportation service
SARATHI, and Sowkhya Physiotherapy and Wellness Centre that offers services
free
of cost to
people with and without disabilities. This apart, mobility aids, medicines, and
financial aid for
hospitalization for girls and women with disabilities, and the inspirational
‘I’m
Special’
calendar. At 29, Swarnalatha was diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis which rudely
interrupted
her soaring corporate career. She learned to cope with the intense pain and
immobility caused
by MS and reinvented herself to take on the world.
CavinKare Ability Mastery Awards
Adil Mohammed Nazir Ansari, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Adil Mohammed Nazir Ansari has two Limca records to his credit – one for the
longest bike ride
(300km) by a quadriplegic and another record for driving the Golden
Quadrilateral
on a
modified car. He has won the National Archery Championship title three times and
has
represented India in para archery tournaments in China, the Czech Republic,
Dubai
and
Netherlands. He has also bagged two gold medals in para swimming. Adil battled a
spinal cord
injury that left him paralysed neck down, multiple infections and a bed sore
that
lay bare the
bone underneath it and emerged a top sportsman and a world record holder despite
it all. He
slowly learned to use the muscles that still worked and became as independent as
possible.
Rakshitha Raju, Bengaluru, Karnataka
Rakshitha Raju is the first Indian woman with blindness to have won gold medals
in
the track
events at the Asian games 2018. She went on to win a Gold in the 1500m event at
the Para
Athletics Grand Prix in Paris (2018) and the Junior World Championship in
Switzerland (2019).
This trailblazing para athlete has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Having come so far
despite having minimal vision in both eyes that lets her perceive only light and
shadow, losing
her parents as a four-year-old, and being born in a remote village in Karnataka,
this 18-year-old
makes us imbibe the belief that anything is possible. Grabbing opportunities
that
came her
way, she has risen to become a top para athlete. Learning braille, she is also
pursuing her
education by self-study.
Tinkesh, Pune, Maharashtra
Tinkesh set a record when he bungee jumped from a height of 160m in Nepal and
will
be
featured in the Limca Book of Records 2020 for this feat. He is an athlete,
swimmer, para
cyclist,marathoner, and a very effective fitness and wellness coach for persons
with and
without disabilities. Already certified in fitness and nutrition, he is pursuing
a
higher
certification in the same. An electrical accident in his childhood and lack of
good medical care
left him a triple amputee with 90% disability – with no legs and just one arm.
Without a trace
of bitterness for this, his underprivileged background or the negativity that
society viewed him
with on becoming disabled, Tinkesh has risen to shine in his profession and
passion, and lives
and travels independently.
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