CHENNAI: To honour those who have successfully followed their dreams and managed to make a mark, the MOP Vaishnav College for Women hosted Yuva Samman 2017-18 on January 4. Starting with Penn Kaluvi on its 25th year celebration, the college decided to go a step forward and honour women achievers in three specific fields: performing arts, sports and entrepreneurship. The programme began with a classic music performance by MOP students, followed by an audiovisual presentation on the college’s silver jubilee journey.
Lalitha Balakrishnan, principal, welcomed the gathering and introduced the chief guest of the event, Mridula Ramesh, founder, Sundaram Climate Institute, and executive director of Sundaram textiles. Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, CMD-Express Publications Madurai, welcomed the chief guest with a memento.
“Such an event serves in lighting a path which is otherwise mired in darkness,” said Mridula. “Traditional avenues are becoming obsolete. You need to walk off the traditional path and look for new ideas to succeed. And all it takes is passion and love.”
The entrepreneurship award was presented to C Keerthi Jayakumar, CEO of The Red Elephant Foundation, a civilian peace building initiative working for gender equality. She thanked the people who believed in her, saying, “In all the work I have done so far, I have understood that a woman working to change social landscapes faces challenges every day.”
She also lauded the Yuva Samman programme for being a platform that encourages greatness in women. The award for performing arts was given to K Dharani, a Carnatic vocalist. “‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’ is something that I stand by,” added the MOP alumni.
The sport award was presented to fencing champion CA Bhavani Devi. “We should decide to do what we want, and sport makes you realise what you are truly capable of,” said Bhavani Devi.
The awardees were presented with a cash price of `1 lakh. The event was graced with a dance performance by students followed by a song by Nithya Shree, Airtel Super Singer runner-up.