BENGALURU: This week brought to this city its infamous dampness. Cloudy skies, busy roads and cold weather. However, unlike most days during the wet season, the weekend carried a certain warmth to Bengaluru’s air as the Cubbon Park Walkers Association and Cubbon Park Walkers Forum hosted the International Women Achievers Awards 2022 on Sunday at Ravindra Kala Kshethra.
The Young Star Award 2022 took place as well. The mission behind this event was to empower, inspire and promote the works of women achievers and young talents, who have left a positive impact to the society and excelled in their fields of interest. Some of the awardees from this year include Dr Pratima Murthy, director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Alyia Krumbiegel, famed landscaper and social worker, esteemed classical singer Archana Udupa, who also performed at the function, and beloved actor Bhavana Ramanna, among others.
Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education; IT & BT, Science & Technology, and Mysuru maharaja Yaddu veer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar were the chief guests of the event. Starting in 2019, this is the second time this award show is being organised in South India. Besides our country, Australia and the United Kingdom have also taken part in the event.
“We started this to recognise women achievers and young talents, who have done substantially good work for our society’s wellbeing. There are so many examples of award shows where money is the key factor. People from the upper echelons of the social hierarchy just give money and take awards. That’s not good at all. Many deserving people don’t get recognised due to not being very affluent.
We wanted to create an award show that is purely for celebrating good work done by folks who gave their all for the rest of us,” says Dr Umesh Kumar, president of Cubbon Park Walkers Association and Cubbon Park Walkers Forum, who adds that the event, including the lunch, was free for all attendees. The event, which was six months in the making, features multiple attractions, which include a Kuchupudi dance performance and a musical programme by film music director Srisuresh.
“In the maiden year of this event, in 2019, more than 21 countries participated. We had about 800 attendees then, but this year our footfall has increased to more than twofold with almost 2000 people attending the award function. We plan on doing this every year as the Bengaluru crowd has been very supportive of our initiative,” concludes Dr Kumar.