CavinKare ABILITY Awards 2015

Venue: Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall 
Harrington Road, Chennai

Jury:
Mr. P S Surana, Founder, Surana & Surana International Attorneys
Mr. Rajiv C Lochan, Managing Director & CEO, Kasturi & Sons Ltd. (The Hindu Group)
Dr. Mariazeena Johnson, Director, Sathyabama University
Mr. Vidhu Shankar, Sr. General Manager & South Business Head, Dainik Bhaskar Group
Ms. Kavitha D Chitturi, Executive Director, The KCP Limited
Chief Guest:
Shri.Mukul Wasnik - Hon. Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment,
Govt. of India

The event...
The 11th CavinKare Ability Awards at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao concert hall on the 9^th March was a showcase of excellence and inspiration as we recognised the immense achievements of each recipient. This year a special recognition award was given to nine-year-old Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati, the young inventor of six player chess. He was joined on stage with Deepa Malik, RJ Den and Samuel Ashish Marcus who each received a mastery award, and Ranjan Kumar Biswal, Founder of the Milton Charitable Foundation, who received the award for eminence.

Intermixed with inspiring speeches made by the jury members and guest of honour, Mr Vinod K. Dasari, the stage was lit up with elegant Orissi dance performances by the acclaimed Meera Das and her disciple Lopamudra Jena who performed in front of a backdrop of stars in the sky.

Although composer A.R.Rahman could not join us this year, he sent us his Infinite Love – the music video released in 2012 to celebrate the diversity of all life and culture around the world. In a touching and energising performance, children of the Clarke School for the Deaf, Deafblind and children with multiple disabilities, the VExcel Educational Trust for Children with Special Education Needs, and students from the Academy of Modern Danse took to the stage, joined by rap artist Blaaze.

This was a year of reflection and looking inwards as Dr. Mariazeena Johnson pledged to have her visiting cards printed in Braille, Gayathri Sriram urged the media to provide equal, positive coverage of persons with disabilities and the audience watched on in awe, providing standing ovations again and again.

Click to see the photo gallery.

The Awardees

CavinKare ABILITY Award for Eminence:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YSW8Y8yKZtM?rel=0! SAVITA SINGH Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh
SAVITA SINGH hails from a lower middle class family of a remote village in Uttar Pradesh. Having personally battled every stigma as a “girl child”, she went on to establish a residential school and a vocational training centre. She has gone beyond accepted norms of such a school to accept mentally disabled rape victims and guide them at every turn.

The CavinKare ABILITY Mastery Awards:

K. JANARTHANAN Chennai, Tamil Nadu
That talent transcends disability is a point well demonstrated by K.Janarthanan. He was severely burnt when an iron rod with which he was playing came into contact with a high tension electric line. Fighting all odds he has emerged as a well known mouth artist and graphic designer.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ccyhku209EM?rel=0!

From being a successful man going about his busy life, to being totally on bed, Praveen Vyas has achieved multiple things. These include publishing a widely circulated newspaper and looking beyond his current successes to dream, among other things, of establishing a printing press in Phalodi, Rajasthan.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/y-AezJT2S14?rel=0!