Senior citizens are rich in experience: Ambani

MUMBAI: The second annual Harmony Silver awards will be given away to ten silver achievers who have defied age to contribute positively to the society by Octogenarian filmmaker Dev Anand here on Tuesday.

The award includes cash prize of Rs 51,000 and a citation. The function will take place on Tuesday at the Ravindra Natya Mandir in central Mumbai. Dev Anand is the chief guest.
  
Addressing a press conference here, Chairperson of the Harmony for Silvers Foundation Tina Ambani said that senior citizens have been named as silvers because they are rich in experience and silvers is the most dignified manner of addressing them.
  
The silver winners are Lakshman Singh of Lapodiya, Rajasthan for being a water warrior, Mandakini Dravid from Pune for proving that age is no barrier to education, Hardev Singh Sawhney for adopting silvers in his neighbourhood, Hasnat Mansoor from Bangalore for awakening Muslim women to their potential, Baba Adhav from Pune for bringing dignity to labour.
  
Brother Brendan Maccarthaigh from Kolkata for trying to eliminate suffering from the Indian classroom, Hirabaiben Lobi from Junagadh, Guajrat for giving backward communities a future to look forward to, Kambel Chulai of Meghalaya for making a low cost crematorium that runs on firewood, Parthibhai Bhatol of Ahmedabad for being the first farmer in the country to lead the Gujarat co operative milk marketing federation, Subhasini Mistry of Hanspukur, West Bengal for bringing health facilities to the poor.
  
Ambani said the Foundation s magazine  Harmony  had shortlisted 25 probables from different parts of the country out of which a five member jury including actor Om Puri and MP Priya Dutt selected the ten winners.

Ambani said that the Harmony Silver awards are one more significant step in bringing silvers to the centre stage.
 
"Our winners are intrepid fighters who have overcome every obstacle with determination and zeal. In fact, the Harmony Silver awards intends to drive home the fact that there is hero within each one of us. Taking a cue from our winners, if we dare to step outside our comfort zones, we can experience new awakenings, craft our own destinies and touch the lives of countless others", she added.

Prominent senior citizens, social activists, people from the entertainment industry and leading minds from across India will attend the function tomorrow, which will include distribution of the awards and an entertainment programme that
lives upto Harmony s motto celebrate age.
  
"Salsa dancer Sandeep Soparrkar trained  silvers  willck moves, Hasya Kavi Surender Sharma will perform a medley of chart toppers from the 1960s to 1980s", she added.