Pavitra Chalam and Aaron D’Souza
share Young Achiever 2009 award

Click on the image to view larger size		Click on the image to view larger size
Pavitra Chalam (Documentary Film maker) receives the Young Achiever Award 2009 from Mr M.R. Jaishankar, CMD, Brigade Group, as Rtn Nagendra (District Governor, Rotary Bangalore Midtown) and Chief Guest Pankaj Advani (World Champion in Snooker and Billiards) look on.		Champion swimmer Aaron D’Souza receives the Young Achiever Award 2009 from Mr M.R. Jaishankar, CMD, Brigade Group. Rtn Nagendra (District Governor, Rotary Bangalore Midtown) and Chief Guest Pankaj Advani (World Champion in Snooker and Billiards) are seen at either end.

The winners of the fourth annual Young Achiever Award, instituted by Brigade Group and Rotary Bangalore Midtown, were announced at a function held at the MLR Convention Centre in J.P. Nagar. Chief Guest Pankaj Advani (World Champion in Snooker and Billiards) and District Governor, Rotary Bangalore Midtown, Rtn Nagendra presented trophies and citations and a cheque of Rs 50,000 each to the joint-winners Pavitra Chalam, a documentary film maker and Aaron D’Souza, an ace swimmer.

Addressing the gathering, M.R. Jaishankar, Chairman & Managing Director, Brigade Enterprises Limited, expressed satisfaction at the success of the fourth year of the state-wide search for a Young Achiever. “The purpose behind the institution of this award is to identify inspiring personalities amongst the youth today, and to encourage their achievements. The applications received covered a wide and diverse variety of domains making the selection process a challenging one”.

Chief Guest Pankaj Advani, a Young Achiever himself, was full of praise for the winners, and stressed the importance of passion and perseverance in order to succeed in one’s respective field.

About our winners
Pavitra Chalam makes sensitive, culturally significant social documentary films. Her work has helped raise awareness on subjects like the plight of Devadasi's in Karnataka and the shared ideals of youngsters in Pakistan and India.

One of India's most outstanding swimmers, Aaron D'Souza has been participating in international events since 2005. He has won the most international medals, broken two international records and 33 national records.

The jury also decided to award special prizes to the following participants:

• Ashwin Karthik, who has not let severe cerebral palsy limit his spirit or achievements. He is the first quadriplegic cerebral palsy student in India to become an engineering graduate.
• Bharath (who never even applied for the Young Achiever award), a life-long friend of Ashwin, sets a definition to the meaning of friendship. His tremendous involvement and sacrifices have make Ashwin's achievements possible.
• Team Endeavour (led by Suresh Ugare, with Sagar Karur, Sagar Medikere and Ajay Bhat) for the development of an affordable training tool to treat gait disorders.