CavinKare ABILITY Awards 2010

Venue: Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall 
(Inside Lady Andal School Campus), Chennai

Jury:
Dr. Mohini Giri – Chairperson, Guild of Service
Dr.V.Krishnamurthy – Chairman, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council
Mr. Radhamohan – Film Director
Mr. Shravan Garg – Group Editor, Bhaskar Group
Ms.Kanimozhi – Member of Parliament

Chief Guest:
Shri.Mukul Wasnik – Hon. Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment,
Govt. of India

Guest of Honor:
Mr.N.Murali – Managing Director, The Hindu

The event…
The Awards function of the CavinKare Ability Achievers with Disability is always a memorable evening. On the one side are the recipients of the awards who are an inspiration by themselves, evoking emotional responses from the audience. On the other hand, is the cultural component too, into which so much thinking and planning goes, that is very exceptional and exclusive each year, and not only serves to entertain but also to defy stereotyped preconceptions of disability people with disabilities themselves.
This year was no exception. There was an cultural extravaganza of dance, music and art… all of which underlined the spirit of inclusion. The melodious prayer by Anooradha Sriram set the tone for the evening. Then began the colourful and vivacious Yakshagana dance of Karnataka performed by the Articulate India dance troupe of visual impaired dancers from Bangalore. Following this was the vibrant, foot tapping song titled ‘A celebration of life’ composed for the occasion by well-known playback singer Srinivas with the words composed by well-known lyricist Thamarai and sung by a group of 30 gifted singers with and without disabilities and signed in Indian Sign Language as well. Next the graceful Sufi dance was performed by wheelchair users from Ability Unlimited, New Delhi. Finally came the convergence of music and art by Sriram Parasuram and artists Jacob Jebaraj and Sheela painting to the mood of the music. Each and every presentation was singularly beautiful, reaffirming the fact that talent transcends disability. The thunderous applause that followed each item from the packed hall and the sense of admiration mingled with disbelief when they realized that these scintillating performances were by people with disabilities… for us as organizers, it was the very reason to exist.
As each of the cultural events then came to a dramatic close, the awardees films were shown and the recipients of the awards were introduced. This went on to the awarding ceremony when dignitaries were called up on stage to give the recipients their citations, cheques and trophies… all of which came to an end on a solemn note as the master of ceremonies of the evening Revathy called for the national anthem to be sung by everyone present.