Five persons with disabilities from across the country were honoured at the 22nd CavinKare Ability Awards held here on Saturday for their perseverance in battling difficulties and emerging as achievers.
C.K. Ranganathan, chairman and managing director, CavinKare Private Limited, said, “Every year the achievers have shown the world their exceptional ability to conquer challenges and break barriers with ease. We are happy to have played a small role in their remarkable journey by being a platform that brings them into the well-deserved limelight.”
The CavinKare Ability Special Recognition Award went to Ketna. L. Mehta, from Mumbai, for her contribution to changing the lives of those with spinal cord injuries. In 1995, she suffered a spinal injury during a paragliding accident, which left her needing long-term rehabilitation. She established the Nina Foundation in 2001 to improve the quality of life for those with spinal cord injuries.
CavinKare Ability Award for Eminence went to Vidhya Y., from Bengaluru. She is the founder of Vision Empower, which works to equip and encourage children with visual impairment to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Despite math being her favourite subject, she was discouraged from pursuing a degree in the subject. However, she persisted and completed her BCA, but another hurdle came up as most were unwilling to employ her due to her disability. This gave her the motivation to found her own company to create jobs instead.
The CavinKare Ability Mastery Awards was presented to Vinayana Khurana, from New Delhi, Aishwarya T.V., from Secunderabad, and Chhonzin Angmo, from New Delhi. Ms. Vinayana, who is pursuing her M. Phil, was honoured for her contributions as an author, poet, blogger, and research scholar, overcoming the challenges posed by cerebral palsy. Accepting her award, she said: “Let’s work together to make a world where everyone gets a fair chance to succeed.”
Ms. Aishwarya is an artist, scriptwriter, counsellor, and entrepreneur who lost her vision due to a brain tumour. Ms. Chhonzin was honoured for her adventurous spirit as she scaled mountains and won medals in karate, swimming, among other activities, overcoming challenges posed due to visual impairment.
Speaking at the event, Jayshree Raveendran, Founder and Executive Director, Ability Foundation, said: “Celebrating strengths, talents, and achievements of remarkable people who have overcome countless obstacles, makes me wonder why due recognition is still slow to come in our country. Each nominee and recipient embodies the true spirit of determination and courage.”
