What a profound set of words calling for action from one of the great Tamil poets Bharathidhasan!
Today we are honored to be among eminent professionals who have exemplified these words in their lives. We are celebrating the achievements, accomplishments and contributions of these pioneers to humanity. Be it
- Thiru Ahilan’s giving voice for the voiceless or
- Thiru Bhiman’s utilization of music to bring social message to the broader audience or
- Thiru Krish’s democratization of access to economical and efficient health care equipment or
- Prof Panchanathan’s technology tools for physically and mentally challenged persons or
- Prof Priyamvada’s contribution to expand the equality of gender in academia or
- Dr. Raju’s contributions to get thousands of uninsured to get insured or
- Dr. Srinivasan’s contributions to improve eyesight of millions of people or
- Dr. Sanjayan’s call for an inclusive nature conservation,
All of these pioneers are not just great at their profession, but they have gone beyond the call of duty of their
profession and have contributed to the humanity. It gives me an immense pleasure to convey my best wishes
and gratitude to these eminent pioneers, and to the future pioneers participating in the event today.
This event would not have been possible without contributions from many volunteers. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to: Award Recipients – For finding time in their busy schedule for attending and for their interviews., Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America – For their unflinching support for this program, Bay Area Tamil Mandram – For providing platform, people, resources and support, Prof. Arogyaswami Paulraj, Ms. Keerthika Melissa Subramanian, Mr. Mani Manivannan, Prof. Ram Mahalingam, Dr. Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan, Dr. Sundaramoorthy Muniratnamn and Mr. Vignesh Ganapathy : For their support with the selection of this year’s award recipients, Arumugam Petchimuthu – For his tremendous support in making this booklet a reality, Sivagami Ramiah – For her support in booklet design, Malini Kannan and Arivan Thillaikumaran – For being Masters of Ceremony and last but not the least, Shruthi Chockkalingam, Nandhini Gounder, Chithra Thiruvengadam, Mahalakshmi Rajendiran and Ashwin Chockkalingam – For helping with the transcription of interviews.
Let the humanity win through our humane values.