Tharuni Mitra Awards - 8th March 2017

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

THARUNI MITRA AWARDS 2017

(FELICITATING MEN WHO SUPPORTED WOMEN)

Men & Women are two sides of the same coin. Both need to support each other to balance harmony in our lives. Most of the Successful Women have their Father / Brother / Husband / Friend behind their success.

Few Men go an extra mile breaking the Stereotypes in the Society. For Example – “A Common Man married an Acid Attack Survivor and is supporting her through the medical and legal battles. Of course he has not seen her Outer Image but only seen her inner beauty…”

“A Man made his Mother his Business Partner. He takes her wherever he goes… But she cannot walk and he has to lift her. He did not marry and now she is more than Seventy years but still is quite active. His business is flourishing because of his mother’s business acumen…”

This List can go on and on…… “Mrs Savitri Bhai Phule was illiterate when she got married to the renowned Social Reformer Mr Jyothi Bhai Phule who taught her all the academics. Later she became the First Woman Teacher in Maharashtra and could start many schools educating thousands of girls and women during a period when a woman is not allowed to come out of the house.”

But We don’t usually recognize such Men who are true ‘Feminists’. Hence Tharuni has honoured some of these everyday heroes who have unconditionally supported women, with the prestigious “THARUNI MITRA” Awards

As a part of the International Women’s day celebrations this year, we have appreciating the efforts of some extraordinary, yet common, everyday MEN who have extended unconditional support to women in various endeavours.

The stories of these MEN have inspired the nearly 800 strong audience of young college students, Forest officer trainees and other young MEN who attended the “THARUNI MITRA” Award Function from 10 am this morning (8th March 2017) in the spacious Auditorium of St Peter’s Engineering College, Dulapally, Opposite TS Forest Academy, Near Kompally, Hyderabad.

The Awards were be presented by Eminent Personalities - Sri Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (aka Krish - Film Director), Sri Umapathi Sattaru (IPS Rtd), Sri Raghuveer Ponangi (IFS, Director Telangana State Forest Academy), and Sri T.V. Reddy (Secretary, St. Peter’s Engineering College). Each of the awardees were presented with a royal turban (thalapaga) in a way reminiscent of an ancient coronation ceremony, a medicinal plant, a momento symbolizing equality and support between men and women crafted by bronze artisans from Pembarthy and a framed certificate honoring their status as a Tharuni Mitra.

The various awardees and the women who they supported addressed and inspired the gathering with their journies, the hardships they overcame and the extraordinary lengths these common men went to support these women and the way they have helped empower them to help society as a whole. Some of their key points are listed with their profiles below.

Sri Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (aka Krish - Film Director) addressed the gathering after the awards were presented and spoke in length about how he was struck by their stories and recounted incidents with his wife, and his mother, and how he was finally able to give something back to them with his work like the film Gauthami-putra Satakarni, enthralling the audience.

After which, Sri Umapathi Sattaru (IPS Rtd) also addressed the gathering and recounted tales from his experience where women outshone men in physical as well as mental feats, upturning his expectations. He spoke about how the law in India helps guarantee gender equality, and specifically recalled how the “Succession Act” evolved to give equal inheritance rights to both male and female children. Addressing the young engineering students in the audience, he spoke about the importance of discipline in one’s life and the importance of treating female friends and family with respect and understanding.

Sri K.V. Vijayendra Prasad (Film Director & Scriptwriter) and Sri Umapathi Sattaru IPS (Rtd) were also on the Jury Board helping us to identify the right persons for the Awards.

Tharuni Mitra Awardee Details:

Sl. No.	Name of the Awardee and address	Impact Created by the Awardee	Key Points spoken about today
1.	Anil Kumar Ravuri, Hyderabad  (36 years) Manufacturing Firm Owner, (9030027381)	Supports Women Bikers, helped them to start “Hyderabad Bikerni Club”	How he helped start the all women Bikerni Club How he encouraged and supported women in riding out on their own on difficult journeys
2.	A.V. Prasada Rao (68 years)  Hyderabad, Tax Consultant (9849664605)	Encouraged his daughter as an Architect who documented 125 UNESCO Sites, Went around the Country as Bikerni, helped & helps so many needy.	How he gave taught his daughter to ride bikes, and live life on her own terms, with a hands-off approach while giving all the possible support from behind the scenes, trusting her abilities and more importantly teaching her to trust her own abilities and hard-work
3.	Reddy Rama Rao, (9393393497)	Served his ailing Wife for 13 years leaving his job.	Their love story How he waited 10 years after falling in love to marry her Him treating her as an independent person who doesn’t need his permission for anything, just his compassion and support Them having highly respectable families ask for their daughter’s hand in marriage purely based on their reputation
4.	Peter Jacob (44 years), Brand Consultant and PR, Hyderabad (7893001974) (peter1972@gmail.com)	Encouraged his wife Mrs. Anita Peter to  become Mrs India, A Dancer of Mohiniattam who teaches the elderly and a Bike Rider.	Advised men on trusting and treating their women with respect and encouragement
5.	K.C. Yadav Vriksha Mitra, Director, SIRD, Raipur	Encouraged his wife Mrs. Sunithi Yadav (09993569977) to initiate Vriksha Bandhan program and to take up Ph.D.	How she started this grand moment with trying to protect just 5 trees in their neighbourhood, after learning about a request to cut them down from her husband How his support, encouragement and guidance helped her make it an internationally acclaimed moment, even having her invited to Sindh, Pakistan
6.	Rahul S. Ladda (32 years) Engineer, Infosys (7799544121) (rahulsl14@gmail.com)	Encouraged his wife Mrs. Surabhi (7799500527) to set up Toxin Taxation – a de-addiction centre for Tobacco Addicts.	Their love story How he encouraged her and helped her start Toxin Taxation How they break gender stereotypes and roles, by helping each other in all kinds of chores, etc How women are like a plat which can grow on its own, and can grow much faster with a bit of water/encouragement and fertilizer/support from men
7.	D. Bhikshamaih, Dy. Manager, Hetero Drugs, Hyderabad (9502110902)	Helped his wife Mrs. Bhagyalaxmi MD, Global Infra Developer, to study up from 7th std to Post Graduation and set up her own Real Estate Firm and become successful Entrepreneur in a male-dominated field	Their life-story, starting with their child marriage when he was in 9th class and she was in 7th How he convinced his family that she should study along with him upto Post-Graduation, instead of dropping out and working the fields at home How they struggled with managing children while still studying How he took care of their children when he was waiting for a job and she was employed How they persisted despite all odds and finally helped her start their own real-estate firm
8.	Seshu Srinivas, Director, Bell Company, Canada	Mentored Mrs. Jyothi Poojari, Warangal to become International Trainer by encouraging her consistently for thirty years as a ‘Guru’	Award collected by one of his students Spoke about giving back to the society in an acceptance video posted online
9.	Late Sri Gutta Subrahmanyam (101 years), Gandhamguda, Hyderabad.	Brought up his 3 daughters and 3 sons on equal footing. Supported casteless society. Encouraged girl child education, health and boost self-confidence to face any situation. Donated his body to hospital.	How he fought for equality between all people, independent of barriers like gender, caste, status, etc How they had an inter-caste love marriage How they spent all they had in the freedom struggle and yet managed to raise a wonderful and highly successful family from which eminent actors, an international badminton player like Gutta Jwala, and may other professionals came to be

Kindly encourage our Tharuni Mitras by publishing their stories and help us bring harmony in the society.

Thanks & Regards,

Dr Mamatha Raghuveer,

Founder, Tharuni

Photos from the event are available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Tharuni.org/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1401860176500916

Also at: http://goo.gl/11OId5
Tharuni News Letter was released during the celebrations.--;https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0MmPbyDd8JKa0pzNG8tamJDS3JrSWM0SUZXZHhUZjRwc3JB/view?usp=sharing