NEW DELHI: It was an all-women show without any pink bows. The 30th edition of the Devi Awards instituted by The New Indian Express group, and the sixth in Delhi on December 23, was marked by nothing girly, no tears, no speeches, but the showcasing of solid and sustained body of work by women in the arts, economics, public service, and governance.
Seventeen women leaders, Devis, came on stage during a dazzling evening that unfolded at ITC Maurya to be honoured by an award given by the Sunday Standard of TNIE Group, in a city, that as Lakshmi Menon, CEO, TNIE Group, put it, was “no stranger to powerful women”. The programme was moderated by senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai.
This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the chief guest of the evening Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan, Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, TNIE, Editor Santwana Bhattacharya, and Menon. In his speech, Kerala governor raised the point about how “India’s rise to pre-eminence in the modern era” is owed in no small part to the effort and “trailblazing achievements of its women”.
A highlight of the evening was the conversation between Prabhu Chawla and the Kerala Governor on a range of topics—from the reaction of Rajiv Gandhi to his speech in Parliament on the Shah Bano case, Khan’s resignation because of differences with Gandhi on this issue, the lack of nation-level Muslim leaders, his clashes with the Left-ruled tate government, to his reference of Draupadi, the woman whose steel and assertion was key to bringing about the Kurukshetra war, but who was humane enough not to ask for more blood to be spilt in retribution when her husband Arjuna offers to behead the man who killed her sons.
This rousing example set the stage for the roll of honour of the 17 women who have done Delhi proud—women who have nurtured and saved Delhi; built and developed Delhi; or who have taught Delhi, or managed the difficult task of creating networks that encouraged bursts of creative energies. From Dr Aqsa Shaikh, Professor of Community Medicine, Jamia Hamdard, one of India’s first transgender Doctors who worked at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic response to conservation architect Gurmeet Sangha Rai who headed CRCI India, a premier organisation for heritage conservation and management to arts entrepreneur Shalini Passi who single-handedly scotched any chance of Bollywood wives being the last word in glamour in today’s India, to Chhaya Sharma, Special Commissioner of Police (Training), to Upasana Taku, Executive Director, Co-Founder, CFO—MobiKwik Group to inclusive educator Dr Jyoti Anand founder, Anand Organization for Social Development—no early starters or bloomers were among the awardees.
The 17 women were lauded for being anti-status quoists, of having “subverted the game”, of having built identities and not just empires, busted ceilings, and opened doors. No small feat in India where women are still extolled for their ‘femininity’ in keeping a good house when they are actually being made to slave for it.
