Lawyer-Asim Sarode (2009-10)
The fire brand Human Rights activist, Advocate Asim Sarode is seeking to change the power equation between the judiciary, witnesses and victims. He is a leading criminal lawyer and it is his dynamic personality that is successfully spreading the wings of justice. He is a firm believer of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non violence and it is the non violent communication that is his main tool of work. Asim is well known for his remarkable socio-legal movements amongst the communities and has recently been elected for the internationally reputed ‘Ashoka Fellowship for the Innovators’ of Washington (USA). For the last ten years, he has been intervening in the courts with a socio-legal perspective so as to increase and strengthen the access to justice of the vulnerable groups. With the Human Rights and Law Defenders (HRLS), legal wing of Sahyog Trust, he has been working to make the judiciary people oriented. He represents and assists marginalized people who cannot afford to appoint a counsel in the court and is working to provide legal aid to the prisoners, victims of Domestic Violence, sex workers, People Living with HIV and children.
IT Professional- Partho Bhowmick (2009-10)
An IT professional, Mr.Partho Bhowmick got involved with social work just by accident. His passion for photography made him contact Evgen Bavcar, an accomplished blind photographer in Paris and then began his study on blindness and visual art. After his independent research on art by the blind, Mr.Partho started a workshop to teach photography to the visually impaired. With a lot of hurdles in his way, with hardly any support and just 1 student to begin with, he began his workshop inculcating the idea of “seeing through the eye of the blind”. His workshop was designed to trigger systematic visual thinking in the visually impaired and enhance their mental image formation. With time the workshop culminated into the “Blind With Camera” project and later the national traveling exhibition “Beyond Sight.” His efforts of bringing a change, changed him as a person and today, he believes that ‘the blind are not totally blind and reality is not totally real
Doctor- Ramesh Chandra Srivastava (2009-10)
Doctors are often referred to as ‘Gods in Disguise’ and Dr. Ramesh Chandra Srivastava has proved it right by dedicating his life to serve the poor and needy. It is astonishing to witness a long queue of patients outside his clinic every day. In his 40 years of practice he must have seen more than 36 Lac patients without charging a consultation fees and giving them free medicine. He works round the clock, six days a week and devotes his free time in organising medical camps for eye, polio vaccination and daily check -ups. He is an exemplary example of mobilising one’s profession for community benefit. Madhu Bhatnagar (2008-09)
As Deputy Head of the Shri Ram School, Madhu has charted out a clear course and laid emphasis on Education for Sustainable Development. She has created various initiatives like the zero garbage zone, water conservation and air pollution monitoring. Her endeavour is to change the attitude of children and the adult community towards the world. By her reckoning, "The world can look after itself - only if we stop harming it." She has dedicated her life to shaping young minds and hearts early, so that they grow to love, respect and protect natureShrenik Rao (2008-09)
Shrenik is the Founder and Creative Director of Dolsun Media. He is a keen environmental activist who has made a positive and meaningful contribution through his work and deeds. He has championed the need to plant trees, save the environment and fight global warming by his extraordinary environmental initiative - the ‘TreeCycle’. Dolsun Media has documented the ride and is in the process of making a documentary to raise awareness about environmental issues. His action exemplifies an extraordinary citizen initiative and has set a precedent for civic engagement.Raj Bhandare (2007-08)
Raj Bhandare is an architect, an artist, an entrepreneur. Fascinated by Indian spiritualism and symbolism, his paintings express the roots of Indian spiritualism. Influenced by the plight of our soldiers in Kargil, a plan for a T-shirt exhibition turned into a full-fledged company called Nirvana. Through his T-shirt company, he displays socio-political and cultural messages that are typically related to the Indian scenario, and publicise social ills in new and innovative ways