Harmony presents the first annual Harmony Silvers Awards

Mumbai, Oct 4 (UNI) Harmony for Silvers Foundation, an NGO founded by Tina Ambani, honoured ten Silvers (senior citizens) for their irresistible energy and enterprise at the first annual 'Harmony Silver Awards' held at the Ravindra Natya Mandir here.

The Guest of honour of the evening was singing legend Asha Bhosle. The panel of judges that selected the winners comprised of luminaries such as Shabana Azmi, Aroon Purie, Julio Riberio, Supriya Sule and Rahul Bose.

The jury chose a remarkable group of Silvers, who have set benchmarks for themselves and for the society like Chelekkodan Ayesha (87) for showing that one is never too old to learn or too poor to dream, Arvind Gupta (54) for making science fun for the children of India, Padmabhushan A K Hangal (90) for coming out of his own shadow, Deep Joshi (61) for giving tribal women in Jharkhand an economic lifeline, Ravinder Kumar (54) For doing for the tractor what Maruti did for the car, Shirish Nadkarni (57) for fighting physical odds for the love of sport.

Chewang Norphel (72) for his innovative approach to solving Ladakh's acute water scarcity. Azim Premji (62) for his endeavor to change the face of education. Rehman Rahi (82) for giving Kashmir and the Kashmiri language a voice and Ram Chander Sharma (87) for taking the Jaipur foot to the world.

They were felicitated with a cash reward of Rs 51,000 and a citation each designed by artists Jayasri Burman, Neeraj Goswami and Deepa Mahajan.

Speaking on the occasion, Tina Ambani said, ''we are proud to honour the Silvers for their enterprise and enthusiasm. Elders should not be treated as a spent force. They should be allowed to shine. This event urges us to go beyond our comfort zones as these senior citizens have showed that what others think of as the twilight years they perceive as the age to learn new things.'' There is no expiry date on happiness. Let us embrace life with its highs and lows.

Legend Asha Bhosale said, ''when my daughter-in-law told me I had to attend a function felicitating senior citizens I said, why did Tina invite me for the function, I am still young. I feel proud to see Tina do so much. In the Ambani mansion there are two daughters in-law, the elder is educating kids by starting an Ambani school and the younger one is taking care of the elderly.'' Speaking on the occasion, Supriya Sule said, people usually say that behind every successful man there is a woman but behind this successful woman Tina is my good friend Anil Ambani. Both of them have done a wonderful job.

Other celebrities present on the occasion were politician Amar Singh, Harsh Goenka, Anil Ambani, Rima Jain, Bollywood stars Gulshan Grover, Aftab Shivdasani to name a few.

The highlights of the evening were performances by Mahabano Mody Kotwal and legendary singer Nitin Mukesh, a self defense demonstration by 64-year-old karate belt Gospi Kapadia and a show stopping dance performance by members of Harmony Interactive Centre, Girgaum south Mumbai choreographed by Shiamak Davar's Victory Art Foundation.

UNI