MY MOTHER ALWAYS SAID UNLESS YOU ARE INDEPENDENTLY EARNING, DO NOT GET MARRIED – SONALI BENDRE

AFTER SUSHMITA SEN AND SONAM KAPOOR, SONALI BENDRE TO BE HONOURED WITH THE 'I AM WOMAN’ AWARD

The ‘I am Woman’ Awards, an initiative that celebrates the inspiration of women was created by Harvard & IE Alumnus Dr. Karan Gupta and IE Business School four years ago. This award is a movement that believes the fact that women are reservoirs of strength. On this platform every year, powerful women speak about their personal and professional lives, thereby inspiring many others. 

In its fourth edition, the I Am Woman Awards once again celebrated and awarded women achievers for their extraordinary work, breaking the glass ceiling in their respective fields. The awardees this year included Actor and Author Sonali Bendre, Entrepreneur and Designer Neeta Lulla, Activist Dr. Sindhutai Sakpal, Infosys Learning Head Kisha Gupta, Genesis Cofounder Deepika Gehani, Author Priya Kumar, Activist and Lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat and Activist Neehari Mandali while the event was hosted by power women Actress Manasi Joshi Roy and Singer Manasi Scott alongside Actors and Directors Rohit Roy, Tanuj Virwani and Parvin Dabas. Guests and celebrities at the prestigious award ceremony included Zayed Khan, Sulaiman Merchant, Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, and Sandeep Soparkar, among others. I Am Woman 2017 winner Krishika Lulla and I Am Woman 2016 winners Kiran Bawa, Maheka Mirpuri and Reshma Merchant were also present.

This discussions this year ranged from empowering women in business to how women can create positive impact in their respective communities. 

Sonali Bendre receives the
I Am Woman Award 2019 instituted by Educationist Karan Gupta

Empowering women, actor Sonali Bendre who was undergoing treatment for a high-grade cancer in New York and is back to work after a long hiatus, stated, “My mother always said unless you are independently earning, do not get married. If you are not economically independent, you can never really stand up for yourself. Then it’s up to you, if you want to give it up tomorrow. That’s different. That’s a choice you make. But you have to start out with being economically independent. Given that, there is always a kind of equality in your relationship.” She further added, “I always love awards, as well as the rewards but awards are always special. And I think that the Karan Gupta Education Foundation is doing a lot of good work and this award means more specially because there is so much of good work going into it,” enthused Sonali Bendre. 

The other awardees of this year also shared their honour and delight at receiving the award this year. In 2018, the I Am Woman Award was given to Sushmita Sen, Tata Group Industrialist Leah Tata, Actress & RJ Malishka Mendonsa, Activists Jyoti Dhawale and Preethi Srinivasan, Advocate Abha Singh, Artist and Philanthropist Michelle Poonawalla, International Designer Falguni Shane Peacock, and Entrepreneur Bhavna Jasra; in 2017, the I Am Woman Award was given to Amruta Fadnavis, Laxmi Agarwal, Gauri Sawant, Farah Khan Ali, Malini Agarwal, Shaheen Mistry, and Krishika Lulla while in In 2016, the award was given to Sonam Kapoor, Reshma Merchant, Maheka Mirpuri, Raunaq Roy, Kiran Bawa, Nisha Jamvwal, Devita Saraf, Amrita Raichand, Rouble Nagi and Lucky Morani. 

Expressed Dr. Karan Gupta, ““IE Business School and KGEF actively support and encourage women in business and have special scholarships for women. We recognize the challenges that women in business face and wish to support them in every way that we possibly can.” 

Winding up, one cannot help but think of to a song that dates back to the 70’s… ‘I am a Woman… Hear me roar, In numbers too big to ignore. If I have to, I can do anything. I am strong, I am invincible, I am a Woman.’

Writer-Director-Animal Rights and Gender Activist Anusha Srinivasan Iyer,
Audiologist-Speech Therapist-Philanthropist Devangi Dalal and
 Filmmaker Dr. Aleena Khan felicitated with the Garnet & Gold Women of Influence Awards.

Singer-Performer Lalitya Munshaw makes waves

Born to connoisseur parents with strong musical beliefs deep in her family, Lalitya Munshaw grew up to become an artiste with clear inclinations towards music. Lalitya is now a seasoned artiste who has performed across the national and international circuits.

Laitya has received extensive formal training in Hindustani classical music which led her to an Alankar (M.A.) in music. Blessed with a melodious and serene voice, she has developed her own expressive and unique style over time. With a strong background in classical training, she forayed into several genres of music such as Fusion, Bollywood, Bhajans, Ghazals, Sufi and Folk.

Lalitya Munshaw

As a live performer and recording artiste, Lalitya Munshaw has had the privilege of working with stalwarts like Hariharan, Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, Shaan, Ustd. Rashid Khan, Ustd. Sultan Khan, Anup Jalota, Louis Banks, Ronu Majumdar, Neeladri Kumar, Karsh Kale, Prem Joshua and Abhujit Pohankar.

As an entrepreneur, Lalitya Munshaw runs a music label of her own called Red Ribbon.

Lalitya has to her credit, accolades and awards of the likes of the Pandit Omkarnath Thakur Trophy, the GINFS Nav Shakti Gurjari Award, FICCI Flow Award, GCCI Award (2011), Business & Entertainment Global Award to her label, Red Ribbon; the 6th Gauravvanta Gujarati Award by Gujarat Tourism (2013); and the Gratitude Award among many others.

Standing Ovation for DS Pahwa’s Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye

Starcast and crew of DS Pahwa's play, Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye,
humbled after recieving a standing ovation
 at Rang Sharda Auditorium, Bandra 

Ace Director Raman Kumar, in association with Producer DS Pahwa, is back with an emotional rollercoaster of a play. Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye stars Sudha Chandran and Ridhima Rakesh Bedi as the mother-daughter duo along with Paintal, Avtar Gill, Ravi Gossain, Poojaa Raajput and Harshita Shukla.

“A play dealing with a sweet relationships gone sour. I am glad it received a standing ovation,” divulged Producer DS Pahwa while Raman Kumar averred, “The emotional turmoil between a mother and a daughter in the play was well received by the audience.”

The cast and crew of Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye were spotted at the do during their first show at Rang Sharda Auditorium, Bandra. Avtar Gill played Dinesh Kumar alias DK, who is a friend to Sudha Chandran’s on-screen character, Sagarika. Paintal played the role of a loyalist who accompanies Sagarika as a Tabla player whereas Ravi Gossain played Reema’s (Ridhima Rakesh Bedi) husband. Ridhima portrayed Sagarika’s daughter who blames her mother on her father’s alcoholism, eventually dying an untimely and unnatural death. The audience applauded the performance and the dialogue delivery.

DS Pahwa’s association with the Indian entertainment industry goes back to the 70s, where from running a cinema hall in Delhi, he has distributed over 40 Hindi films. Beside film distribution, DS Pahwa has produced several critically acclaimed plays with numerous Bollywood personalities. “The cast was a breeze to work with. The play has shaped up really well, all thanks to master director Raman Kumar,” concluded DS Pahwa.

Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye is all set for another enthralling show at Royal Opera House, Mumbai, India’s only surviving opera house, before embarking on a nationwide tour soon.