Moment of honour: Recipients of the Param Acharya and Acharya awards with Sankara Nethralaya chairman emeritus S.S. Badrinath at the function held in Chennai on Wednesday.ÂÂ
Fourteen doyens in their respective fields who inspired people with their teaching were honoured with ‘Param Acharya’ and ‘Acharya’ awards on Wednesday.
Instituted by the ‘Call Teachers 25555555’ tele-information service, which gives information on teachers and education in the city, the awards were presented for the second consecutive year.
The recipients of the ‘Param Acharya’ award were Carnatic musician Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, sculptor S.M. Ganapathisthapathy, physician K.V. Thiruvengadam, educationist Meena Muthiah, cinematographer and director Balu Mahendra, journalist and film critic Madhan, culinary expert ‘Arusuvai Arasu’ Natarajan, and Indian hockey chief coach V. Bhaskaran.
Dramatist and actor Y.Gee. Mahendran, hotelier and musician Ramjhi, Carnatic vocalist Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan, founder-director of Rasa Ambika Kameshwar, founder of Zeal M. Rajan, and fitness expert Suraiya were honoured with Acharya awards.
Presenting the awards, Sankara Nethralaya chairman emeritus S.S. Badrinath said knowledge was the best wealth that could be left behind for the younger generation.
Commending the efforts of teachers, he said that they were role models, from whom a lot of knowledge could be acquired.
Vice chairman of Cognizant Technology Solutions Lakshmi Narayanan said the awardees were an inspiration to others. Managing director of Info Network Management and Call Teachers T.S. Narayanaswamy said his family, comprising several teachers, inspired him to start the tele-information service.
While Mr. Jayaraman described it an honour to train students in vocal and instrumental music, Mr. Balu Mahendra said the award came as an inspiration when he was planning to start a school for cinema.
Other recipients of the award also spoke on the occasion.
