An Award for the not-so-famous..In Kolkata on 30th Aug 2008

An Award for the not-so-famous

This is to intimate you,of the Second Vidyarthi Samman to be held in Kolkata, an award instituted in 2007 in memory of my father Govind Vidyarthi, to honour the contributions of those who remain unknown, unsung and unseen for the better part of their lives.
Four persons who would typically not fall in the category of any existing award, will be presented a purse of Rs 11,000/- each, citation and memento, by noted theatre Director,Shri Shyamanand Jalan.At the Academi of Fine Arts Auditorium,Kolkata.

This years recipients are as follows -
1. Hemendro Chondra Sen- Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, to even their Baba, Allauddin Khan; to Amjad Ali Khan, to Anoushka Shankar - one could go on naming generations of internationally accoladed players for whom Hemen Babu has been crafting exacting sitars and sarods.
2.Debi Haldar- Make up artiste for 53 years .Career span including plays like Raja Eudipus with Shambhu Mitra to 400 films in Bangla,Assamese and Nepalese.

3. Sr.Maria- A Loretto nun,who has devoted her life giving under priviledged children an opportunity of life with education and dignity.

4. Bishwanath Dey- Gombhira exponent for the last 65 years in Malda,associated with this form of satirical reportage of social issues from British times through Emergency to times present...

Intended to inspire others to acknowledge and thank people around them, Vidyarthi Samman was set up last year by my wife Rajoshi (Pilu) and me,to honour four 'ordinary Indians' each year, in different parts of the country, by rotation.
Honoured at the first Vidyarthi Samman award ceremony held in Dharmadom Kerala last year in the presence of noted theatre Director K Narayana Panikkar, were a grandmother from a Theyyam artistes' family, an unsung circus artiste, a beedi worker who struggled to ensure that his children were educated, and a teacher who has spent his life teaching in a Government school.

Our commitment is to bring about a culture of acknowledgement, where people see it as a privilege to thank their mother, teacher, employee, fish vendor or just about anybody they come in touch with...

Govind Vidyarthi,who was born in a small village in Kerala,lived many lives in a span of 92years..A Sadhu,A linguist who spoke wrote and read 7 languages including Faarsi,Bangla and Russian,a freedom fighter,and a Government servant responsible for setting up the archives of the Sangeet Natak Academy and a role model father.He lived a life wherein he respected and acknowledged people not based on their status or achievement, but as recognition of who they were as human beings.

In his memory Vidyarthi Samman will honor and acknowledge 'four ordinary people' each year. Knowing fully well that a billion more await to be acknowledged, we intend to inspire others to acknowledge and thank people around them.
The award ceremony will be followed by the critically acclaimed single actor play "Dayashankar Ki Diary", Directed by Nadira Z Babbar and performed by me,being staged in Kolkata after a gap of nearly 9 years.