Date:27/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/27/stories/2006012719910300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

A special day for this worthy dozen

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: For Ashwin Kumar H.R., Republic Day was a special day. Blind in the left eye and with only 6/6 sight in his right eye, Ashwin Kumar had every reason to be elated as Governor T.N. Chaturvedi felicitated him in front of a big gathering. His impressive score of 88 per cent in the ICSE 2003 examination had made a mark at the Raj Bhavan.

Sharing the spotlight with Ashwin Kumar was Raghav M. Moger from Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada and Sagar from Kodiayalbail in Mangalore. While Raghav, a Scheduled Caste student, had secured 578 marks in the Science faculty in the April 2005 II PU examination, Sagar had performed equally well in the examination.

Fourteen-year-old Pranav B.J. from the city's Basaveswaranagar was there too, receiving a cash prize from the Governor. A versatile violin player, the young Pranav had made a mark in Carnatic music, boasting of several public performances to date.

Among the other achievers was five-and-half-year- old Hamsa Gayatri. Her claim to fame: Several performances in music, devotional songs, folk songs, lyrics, theatre and chanting of Sanskrit rhymes.

Mallappa N. Bandi from Irakal village in Bagalkot district, who is blind, had scored 90.24 per cent marks in the April 2005 SSLC examination. He returned home from the Raj Bhavan a doubly proud boy.

So was Yash S. Jogi from Bannanje village in Udupi district. The latter, only four years of age, had some outstanding Yakshagana performances behind him.

The Governor also felicitated Jnanamitra, a social worker, who through his institution, "Sanjivini Ecological Service and Educational Trust", has been holding medical, AIDS awareness and eye camps.

Mr. Jnanamitra is from Sirawara village in Raichur district.

H. Shashikala from Jayanagar in Bangalore had her share of the limelight, having secured the 1st rank in the MA (History) examination conducted by Bangalore University in 2005.

This visually impaired postgraduate was on the podium once again on Republic Day.

Theatre had been a passion for over four decades for Hanumanthappa Bajantri from Shishuvinahala village of Haveri district.

He walked to the podium for a different reason on Thursday. This time, he was not an actor nor a director, but an award winner.

Of the 12 chosen for the felicitations, only one was an institution, the Mangalore-based Prajna Counselling Centre. This institution had made its mark, striving for the welfare and uplift of women, children and orphans.