Keep up your faith to go high and fly, even after so many pains and struggles. You can turn from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Life gives you a second change: a call to grow. Things will definitely look up. For all those who have gone through those thorns silently, ‘She Inspires’ was conceptualised. It was held in the Houses of Parliament, on the 7th March on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
It is an award to acknowledge the ordinary women who have done loads without much complain.
The evening was graced by three Members of Parliament. The Chief Guest for the evening was Honourable MP (Harrow East) Mr Bob Blackman. The guests of honour were Honourable MP (Southall-Ealing) Mr Virendra Sharma, Honourable MP Ms Rupa Haq (Ealing Central and Acton) ,Mr Rami Ranger Business Tycoon and Philanthropist, Ms Raageshwar Loomba. Among the special guests were Ms Kamu Palan- Finance director, director and company secretary for Golden Tours and a number of companies, Mattur Nandakumara Executive Director Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan , Satya Minhas President Metropolitan Hindu association)
Also present were Cllr Sitarah Anjum for Cleveland London Borough of Ealing, Cllr Bandna Chopra and Cllr Dr Aysha Raza , Labour Councillor for Greenford Green
Few more prominent guests were Vineet Johri, C.k. Naidu, Ejaz Rabbani photographer, Chirag Tyagi , Udeshwar Kumar Singh from Bihari Connect UK & Ireland and Rajesh Vishwakarma from Uttar Pradesh Community Association of United Kingdom (UPCA (यूपी-का) – UK) Rahul Ithape from Nakshi, Vilas Kalkar, Ashok Kumar Chauhan , Mr Philip Abraham ( Kerala link), Dr Crabtree Director Inter Faith Network for the UK.
On the panel of judges besides the three Councillors were, Cllr Rehana Ameer, Dr Arpita Ray, Lakshmi Kaul Founder Nainika Tikoo Memorial Foundation for Allergy Care & Brain Research, Trupti Patel President Hindu Forum, , Krishna Pujara CEO Enfield Saheli UK Chair All Ladies League United kingdom (UK). Moya Goatley ( Author), Kirti Soni Founder Jeevan Organ & Blood Donation Group, Dr Seema Anand( Mythologist, Writer, story teller ) , Ms Mira Mishra Kaushik DirectorAkademi , Renowned Kuchipudi dancer Arunima Kumar, Entrepreneur Erika Haag.
The tag line for the event was- Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary! It was a celebration of womanhood!! Each of the finalists went back with a certificate!!
‘She Inspires Dharma Dubey Awards went to Mr Rami Ranger’s late mum Mrs Hans Kaur, Raageshwari Loomba , Priya Virmani, Rupal and Jyoti !! All for standing against the odds and being a Spirited Fighter!! They didn’t let circumstances, break them!
Mr Ranger was born two months after the assassination of his illustrious father Shaheed Nanak Singh, Rami Ranger was raised by his remarkable mother who was a teacher. She could not give him much financial support, but instilled the right values in him which became the bedrock of his success. Today, Mr Ranger is the chairman of Sun Mark Ltd and Sea, Air & Land Forwarding Ltd, two of Britain’s fastest-growing companies. Both have received prestigious awards from the Queen.
Rageshwari Loomba is an actor, singer and motivational speaker cutting across all age groups. Her miraculous recovery from Bell’s palsy is inspirational. In 2000 at the peak of her career, her face got paralysed. Instead of the regular approach, Raageshwari nosedived into Mindfulness and Mind Power for her recovery. Raageshwari then worked with HH Dalai Lama, Jack Canfield and the late Louise Hay to spread the message of Mindfulness. Raageshwari delivered a baby girl at 41, despite naysayers and doctors who advised her against it . She now lives in London with her husband, Barrister Sudhanshu Swaroop QC and daughter Samaya. Raageshwari runs her Mindfulness company Unicorn World here and is a living example of “if your mind can perceive it, you can achieve it”
Ms Purnima Raval joined the Metropolitan Police Force in September 1980, at a time when there was a lot of racial tension. She felt that the Police service did not reflect the communities it served and there was a need for change.
Dr.Priya Virmani is a political and economic analyst, a writer, a disruptive social entrepreneur and a Passionate advocate for women’s Issues. She is the Founder and Director of Paint Our World, a humanitarian project that empowers and rehabilitates underserved children who have endured unimaginable trauma www.paintourworld.org such as rape, child abuse and becoming orphaned.
Jyoti Vekaria- Fighting Cancer, still not cured.. Event Management, on call counselling domestic abuse victims, Cricket enthusiast.
Rupal Trivedi- Despite the skin disease and social stigma around it, she does loads of volunteering. Teaches dancing, yoga .Tries to counsel and give company to remove loneliness.
IIW keeping with its campaign, of “Say no to plastics” had bought handmade bags to give to the winners. By buying these product made in rural India #IIW is doing its bit…There is no pucca road that leads to Paalaguttapalle, a small hamlet in Andhra’s Chittoor district but the cloth bags from this small poverty stricken hamlet have reached four different countries. Also the organisers ensured that they didn’t use any plastic water bottles instead refilled jugs and used paper glasses.
For the Preliminary round to sort out the best 50 nominations from 100’s of nominations received, the judges were, Zamiha Desai ( Recommend Asian and Professional Asian) , Smita Sarkar a writer, a film maker and a journalist, Neha Agarwal ( AkshayePatra a charity which feeds million kids in India), Lakshmi Vyas (President Hindu Forum of Europe , Riddhi Vyas ( Lawyer and Speaker for shyam) , Gairika Mathur ( Lawyer and renowned Odissi dancer ), Dr Seema Dutta ( Keyajee Clinic ), Lade ( Convener Nous Organisation), Sakshi Vishvesh Director Brit Asian Beauty Pageants, Sulekha Davda Banker, Cllr Chetna Halai , Tejal Shah IT Consultant , Shital Kamdar ( Lawyer ) Manu Khajuria ( Founder Voice of Dogras ), Darshana Shah ( Author and Poet ), Bhanu Sistla ( Educationist ), Sonal Sher (Owner of artisan brand Eindie, Founding Trustee SHCA, Director Jammu Kashmir Festival , Kuldeep Kaur Gill ( Community Ambassadress)
Such remarkable journey, such proud moments heard and brought forth in front of the world in the last few months has left the ‘She Inspires organising Team’ with just one thought, the journey has just begun.. There are so many out there, who deserve recognition and honour, who are daring and challenging but go unsung. The evening left in each mind indelible impression of thankfulness and smiles. Each including the organising team as well as all those who didn’t leave with the trophy felt like winners.
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