Ashutosh Bhatt

Nominated for : Creating awareness of heritage.

Initiative - Conserving the rich cultural heritage of the city.

House Number 1766, Dhobi ni Pol. Press the bell and Ahmedabad’s own ‘custodian of heritage’ Ashutosh Bhatt welcomes you in his 300-yearold ancestral house. Be it introducing youngsters to the glorious past of the city or dissuading heritage property owners from selling them to builders, the 75-year-old veteran has been ‘in the job of conservation’ in the fast-growing concrete jungle for more than 35 years.“We owe our identity to the past. Dismissing old structures as bricks and cement is tantamount to showing disrespect to our past. They are embodiment of our culture. We should work towards their rehabilitation than disposing them of. A perfect blend of past and present can only build a bright future. And this is universal; true for all cultures; across the country,” says Bhatt, a former banker.
An active member of Khadia Itihas Samiti since its inception in 1977, Bhatt has worked with stalwarts like Ashok Bhatt, the late speaker of Gujarat Assembly and Khadia MLA, to preserve the rich heritage of Khadia, Raipur, Sarangpur, Kalupur, Dariapur, Bhadra and surrounding areas.
Bhatt’s efforts have been acknowledged by BJP patriarch L K Advani, the state government and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. He was twice invited to give lecture on parliamentary democracy at Mavlankar Hall in Gujarat assembly. Name a pol or heritage structure, and Bhatt would open the pages of their history for you.
He enumerates several historical and contemporary events that provide insight into Khadia’s contribution to India’s freedom movement and its association with the legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“Gandhiji had stayed in Khadia. He had once said ‘Khadia is the area which truly represents my thoughts and principles’. On his call in 1942, several Khadia youths joined the freedom struggle. Many of them laid their life for the nation. This is the spirit of Khadia that believes in fighting against injustice. Time has changed but the spirit has been intact over the centuries,” says Bhatt proudly, recounting tales that establish Khadia and Gujarat’s significance in history of modern India. Khadia is 500-year-old vicinity.
It was known as Akbarpura during the Mughal era. It also houses Vanita Vishram in Jethabhai ni pol, a school and hub of several social activities for more than a century, that laid foundation for women’s liberation 1908, says Bhatt who has written more than 10 books that chronicle historical events. According to Bhatt, national song Vande Matram was first sung in Khadia in Dhobi ni pol.
“In fact, the concept of ‘Swadeshi’ was first propagated by Ambalal Sakarlal Desai who spearheaded the Swadeshi movement in Ahmedabad much before Gandhiji popularised the idea.
Last year, Garange was called to conduct a workshop at Sabarmati Central Jail to teach music to women prisoners. “It was a challenge for me to train female prisoners as they had no idea of music. In future, I want at least two kids to go ahead in this field and make all of us proud,” he says.
Desai was one of the speakers at the Benaras Congress in 1905. There he introduced the idea of Swadeshi and invited fellow Bengalis to come to Ahmedabad to learn the nuances of setting up mills in Bengal,” says Bhatt, an encyclopaedia for students who dig into the past for their study.
On living in ‘Walled City’, he says: “Life in pols boost community feeling. Here, we are like a huge close-knit family that stands by all its members through thick and thin. Fortunately, the vice of western influence that alienates one from one’s family and roots has not poisoned the air here.”

Anish Garange

Nominated for : Involving children into producing music from
discarded articles.

Initiative - Helping change perception of Chhara community.

For five years Anish Garange has been training Chharanagar kids to play on the instruments made of discarded articles; he wants to remove the stigma of ‘born criminals’ on his community.The city is changing fast, but Chharanagar looks much the same. Many people play cards, roam the lanes all day and while their time away. Amid this, there is a small room from where one can hear music being played. You can’t ignore it for its rhythm.
It is Budhan Theatre where the Chhara kids, who, at some point of time used to loiter around, wasting their time, now learn and play on the musical instruments. These are not ordinary musical instruments. Made from equipment and articles used to brew country liquor (or hooch), these instruments blare out musical tunes that captivates anyone who hears it even as one is wonderstruck. All thanks to Anish Garange, the musician, the trainer and the “inventor-manufacturer” of the “musical instruments”.
The Chharas have for long been accused of indulging in crime and encouraging criminals. The British in their gazette termed them thieves and criminals, and the scar was never really obliterated as the police in independent India continued to carry on with the legacy handed down.
Though there is prohibition in Gujarat, many from the community have been booked for brewing or ferrying liquor. Garange, who works with Just Dial has been teaching music to the kids in the neighbourhood since 2008. He says, “The main aim is to remove the stigma on our community. We are often seen as criminals. I want people to know that we are not criminals. I want to send this message out through our music that, like others, we also have talent and there is an artist in every person born in our community.”
He started off with about 15 children and slowly the number grew to about 25. He meets the kids very week for rehearsals and the group has travelled across the country to perform. Its debut production -- ‘It is the music’ -- has been well received and has won for the group several awards, too.
The kids -- many of whose parents were involved in crime -- have performed at Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) and other places of repute across India. They have not only won praise for the music they produce but are slowly changing people’s popular but heavily biased perception of the community.
The group has an eight-year-old boy as its youngest member while the oldest is 19. They all have come to Garange on their own, attracted by the novelty and sheer fun that he has made it for them to learn music. “I do not have any formal training in music. But I found that the articles used in brewing liquor made amazing sound when they fell or someone hit them. It was then that I thought of using things like bottles, cans, bhatti (oven), thali (plate), etc, to make music,” Garange says.
Last year, Garange was called to conduct a workshop at Sabarmati Central Jail to teach music to women prisoners. “It was a challenge for me to train female prisoners as they had no idea of music. In future, I want at least two kids to go ahead in this field and make all of us proud,” he says.
Krishnakant, a 16-year-old Chhara boy, has been with Budhan Theatre for six years. He says, “I have acted in about 15 dramas till date. I never thought that the equipment used to brew liquor could make such good music. Also, it gives us a kick when we perform at other places and get appreciation which our community is not used to getting.”
Informally called ‘Chhara Rocks’ by people who have seen them perform, the group has travelled across the country, given more than 90 shows and won awards

Kamal Parmar, 67

Nominated for : Teaching the needy children.

Initiative - Starting a free night School on a footpath

Visualise this. Footpath by a busy road with not so clean surroundings, cold winter nights, vehicles honking and cold steel benches. Does this sound like an idea of a surrounding where one can study? Think again.This is Kamal saheb’s “Footpath Shala” that the children of Bhudarpura throng every day. Just because they want to study while their teacher moulds their life.
A school drop out after class 7, Kamal Parmar, 67, runs an automobile workshop and a metal fabrication unit. But his story began after the ‘prime age’ of 50. One evening, standing outside his workshop he saw a group of municipal kids returning after writing school examination. They were extremely happy. Curious, Parmar asked them a few basic questions in mathematics and the children could not answer them. To his shock he also realised that the children did not even know how to read basic Gujarati and yet were in class 7. “This was a huge jolt for me. These poor children had in the exam paper copied the ques- tions,” Parmar recalls.
This was the beginning of the next chapter in Parmar’s life. He transformed from being a small- time welder to a teacher who has won an award for his contribution to the field of education.
“Kamal sa’eb” as he is lovingly referred to by his wards, is so loved among the kids in the neigh- bourhood that children are seen dragging their parents to get them admitted to the “school”.
A class 5 student, Tushar Rahesiya has come to the school with his mother Bhanuben, a domestic help. “Despite having a terrible headache today, Tushar dragged me here. He insists that he wants to come here to study. Our financial condition is not so good and we can’t afford tuition classes,” says Bhanuben. As for Tushar, he simply says, “This is because I want to study.”
Parmar’s eyes are moist as he says, “A lot of people ask me why I do all this. Why do I sit here every day from 5.30 pm to 10 pm when I can be living a relaxed retired life with both my sons settled? To these, I only say that when your chil- dren do well in life, don’t you get happiness? You might have two or three children, I have 115.”
He is not exaggerating when he says this. Three of the children, who come from a family of daily wage earners, studied to get admission to engineering colleges. One of them, Rahul Muchhadia, has made it to Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University. These children, in turn, then teach the younger ones.
Says Rahul’s elder brother Amit, “But for Kamal Sa’eb we would not have reached here. To give back to what he has done for us, we also try to teach as many needy students as we can.” Amit studies mechanical engineering at Gandhinagar Institute of Technology. Their father does plumb- ing job while mother is a home-maker.
Parmar admits, “I have studied till only class 7.I can’t be teaching kids of class 9. The education level has gone high, so I focus on giving them basic education and the right environment.”
Parmar not only focuses on school lessons but also tries to impart to the children a thing or two on lessons of life. “Education is not just about get- ting a job or earning money. Education is a way to live life. I keep telling them that it is the initial 25 years of the life that will decide the coming 50 years of your life so give all your time to it.”
Parmar has also been working on deaddic- tion among children. With no formal training in child psychology, how does he manage tohandle so many children? Parmar smiles and says, “Children want to be loved. Whenever a child misbehaves, I do not beat him up or scold him. Instead, I tell him to slap me. The child will never do this as he loves me and will stop misbehaving.”
He fabricated the benches when he began the school. Over time, a lot of Amdavadis have helped him in getting better quality benches for the chil- dren to sit on, stationery items and blackboards. “We also provide food to the kids. But now a majority of food items comes from donors. We have set up a kitchen near the school where fresh food is made. On days when there are no donors, there is enough that we have (through his busi- ness) to feed the kids,” he says with a smile.
He looks around. It is 5.30 pm. And his chil- dren are already waiting for the evening to begin.

Premal Shah is president of Kiva.org and is a leading social entrepreneur.

In 2009, he was selected to Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40 List and was named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Prior to Kiva, Premal joined PayPal early on and spent 6 years at the company. He is considered to be a part of the PayPal Mafia, a group of PayPal alumni who have gone on to found or co-found other successful companies, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Tesla Motors and Yelp.

Premal has spoken widely on applying Silicon Valley breakthroughs to global poverty.

Isha Sharvani (born 29 September 1984 in Gujarat, India) is an Indian Contemporary dancer and actress. She is known for her stylistic Indian contemporary and aerial dance performances. She has also starred in some Bollywood and other Indian films.

Isha was born on 29 September 1984 in Gujarat, India. She has lived in Ahmedabad, from where she moved to different places like,Delhi, Orissa, Vrindavan^[1] and Bangalore, before settling down in Trivandrum.

Isha's parents founded an arts school called Academy for Art Research, Training and Innovation (AARTI) in Trivandrum, Kerala^[2]where she lived for 13–14 years. At the age of thirteen, she began formal learning in dance from her mother Daksha Sheth at her dance school and learned Kalaripayattu, Kathak and Chhau dance as well as giving performances in twenty-two countries over last seven years.^[3]

According to an interview with India Daily, Isha stated she "lived a different life poles apart from the film industry. For 11 years I have been training eight to 10 hours a day in a very disciplined atmosphere where there is no distinction between boys and girls. I was not supposed to cry over a clipped nail. Beyond stage even my wardrobe has mostly unisexual dresses, jeans and T-shirts" She is a trained Malkam dancer a part of folk dance.

Ashish Nanda is an Indian educationalist who is Director of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, a position he assumed in September 2013. He was hired for the post by A. M. Naik, chairman of Larsen & Toubro and of the board of the institute.

Nanda graduated from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad before working for Tata Motors. He was then recruited toHarvard Business School's economics PhD program.

He is a coauthor with Tom DeLong of Professional Services: Cases & Text, published in 2003

Education

Nanda has studied at two of India's best known institutions. He joined the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1976 for a four-year degree course in Electrical Engineering, which he successfully completed in 1981. In the same academic year, he joined IIM, Ahmedabad, for a two-year post-graduate diploma in management.^[6]

Professional Life

Nanda taught at Harvard Business School for 13 years before moving to Harvard Law School to design and lead an executive business program for lawyers.

His appointment to Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad was delayed for six months as the overseas background check took more time than expected.^[4]

Personal Life

He is married to Shubha Nanda, a dentist and dental teacher. They have one son who is now attending Columbia medical school in New York, New York. Shubha played a key role in his taking up the assignment as the director of IIM, Ahmedabad, as initially Nanda was unsure of leaving his established career in the US and return to his alma mater.

Sapna Vyas Patel is a doctoral student and a Reebok Certified Fitness Professional. Using her experience and knowledge, so far she has helped over 5000 people through Facebook in reaching their fitness goal without charging a single penny.

Sharing her fitness secret she says that she followed a proper diet routine. According to her dieting is eating right and not starving. She ate everything she wanted to but in the right proportion and at the right time. She never did crash dieting or even excess exercising. Initially she did intense Cardio and then switched to Weight Training.

Nothing worth achieving comes easy. She points out that there are no short cuts to healthy weight loss. Fitness is a way of life and no magic pills are available. Fad diets may give you quick results but it will drain you of energy, put you at health risks and playing tricks with the body is not a wise choice.

“I plan my diet in such a way that I never feel hungry. I eat almost every two hours but in a small quantity. Our body craves certain type of food when it is deprived of it. For example, avoiding sugar completely would make the body crave for it. I keep check on my protein, fat and carbs sources,” says Sapna.

The physical change is visible but the real change happened inside says Sapna. Weight loss can never be seen in isolation one has to modify the lifestyle as well as the thought process. It taught her patience, discipline and dedication. Most importantly the entire process has made her feel more confident.

It’s no secret that many people start with a great plan to achieve their fitness goal. Unfortunately, very few ever accomplish what they set out to do. Sapna advises people to follow a diet and fitness routine which suits their lifestyle. The best plan in the world is the one you can stick to, says Sapna.

Born On: December 19, 1894
Born In: Ahmedabad, Gujarat 
Died On: January 20, 1980
Career: Industrialist
Nationality: Indian

Very few people are able to achieve a meticulous working system and win the appreciation of a very large number of people. Kasturbhai Lalbhai was one such prominent industrialist who was successful in attaining the honor of a nationalist businessman and a renowned magnate, a tribute that is often related with another business tycoon G.D. Birla. Right from stabilizing his father's yet-to-be established business to instituting a vast business empire, Kasturbhai worked throughout his life with immense hard work, dedication, honesty, and determination, thereby keeping his family business ongoing, ever since his ancestor Shantidas Zaveri began in the Mughal Era. Apart from setting up numerous companies in various industries, he was also associated with establishing new institutions to promote education in the country.

Bhadresh Shah – Net worth $390 million

Mr Bhadresh is the founder at AIA Engineering, a company experterise  in grinding components for machinery used in the power, mining and cement industries. It is world’s second largest in its niche after Belgium’s Magotteaux International

  

Vrushika Mehta was born on 18 February 1994 into a Gujarati family. She originally hails from Ahmedabad but stays in Mumbai where she is pursuing her education from Tolani College of Commerce. Although contemporary is her strength but she has shown her versatility and talent in various dancing styles over the period of time, including Bollywood, contemporary and folk.

Kartikeya V Sarabhai (born November 27, 1947) is the son of the late Vikram Sarabhai, a renowned scientist and the father of India's space programme and Mrinalini Sarabhai. His sister, Mallika Sarabhai, is a noted danseuse.

He was educated in Cambridge, UK (Tripos in Natural Science) and went on to do post graduate work in development communication at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Sarabhai is the founder director of the Centre for Environment Education headquartered in Ahmedabad, with 40 offices across India. He is also the chairman of the Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises, the pharmaceutical company which was set up by his grandfather Ambalal Sarabhai. He is closely involved in the activities of the Nehru Foundation for Development, of VIKSAT and Ahmedabad's Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Centre. Sarabhai is also a trustee of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, and thePhysical Research Laboratory (PRL).

Sarabhai has served on many committees set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India, primarily focusing on the greening of India's formal education system, and initiatives for biodiversity education. He is a member of the Earth Charter International Council. He was also part of the delegations which represented India at the Earth Summit (1992) in Rio and the Earth Summit 2002 in Johannesburg. He was also instrumental in initiating the South and Southeast Asian Network for Environment Education (SASEANEE). He is currently vice chair of the Indian National Commission for the International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He also led the first international conference on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in Ahmedabad in 2005, and he is a member of the UNESCO Reference Group for DESD and the International Steering Committee for the end of the Decade Conference.

Mr Kartikeya Sarabhai is the co-chair of the Global Citizenship Working Group of the Learning Metrics Task Force 2.0 convened by the Centre for Universal Education at Brookings Institution to examine how global citizenship education is measured and make recommendations for new ways of assessing learning. He is the chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development and the Human Habitat. He is the editor of the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, published by SAGE, and has written and spoken extensively on environment, education and sustainable development related subjects in national and international fora.

He received the Tree of Learning Award (1998) from the IUCN in appreciation of his contributions to the field of environmental education and communication. The Indian Institute of Human Rights has presented him with the World Human Rights Promotion Award (2005). In 2012 he was conferred the Padma Shri award for his work in Environmental Education by the President of India. • In 2013, he was given the Olive Green Crusader award by IAA (International Advertising Association) for his contribution in the field of environmental education and education for sustainable development.

The Science Aur Kainat Society of India and its National Award Committee honoured him with the Sir C.V. Raman Memorial Award in the field of science and technology popularization & innovation in May 2014.

More recently, Kartikeya Sarabhai has been in the news for restructuring the ailing Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises.

Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty February 10, 1909 – September 24, 2002) was an Indian physicistand meteorologist, and is considered to be the father of remote sensing in India.

Early life and education

P. R. Pisharoty was born on February 10, 1909 in the town of Kollengode in the Indian state of Kerala.His parents were Sivaramakrishnan alias Gopala Vadhyar and Lakshmi Pisharassiar. He had two brothers: Balakrishnan and Rajagopal, and three half brothers: Vaidyanathan, Rose Vadhyar and Gopalakrishnan. He completed his early education in Kerala. Having done his Physics BA honours from St. Joseph's College, Trichinopoly, Madras state, he went on to do his MA (Physics) from Madras University. He then worked as a college lecturer in Physics at Loyola College at Chennai during 1932-1941. During the summer vacations he used to work under Prof. C. V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. On the recommendation of Raman, Pisharoty joined the India Meteorological Department in 1942, where he carried out research on thunderstorms, western disturbances, movement of monsoon depressions, orographic rain, etc. He then joined the University of California for further studies where he worked under meteorologist Jacob Bjerknes. His published two reports titled Some aspects of geostrophic poleward sensible heat and The kinetic energy of the atmosphere. He obtained his MS (in Meteorology) and PhD degrees by 1954.

Work in Indian remote sensing programme

On returning to India, Pisharoty became the Director of Colaba and Alibag Magnetic Observatories in 1959 and Founder Director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology,Pune in 1962. In 1967 he retired as Director of the Institute of Tropical Meteorology and joined the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad as a senior professor at the invitation of Vikram Sarabhai. At this point he was entrusted with the job of introducing remote sensing technology to India. He accepted the job. His pioneering experiment of detection of coconut wilt-root disease using Soviet aircraft and US equipment was considered to be the first success in remote sensing in India.

Keshavram Kashiram Shastri was born on 28 July 1905 at Mangarol in Junagadh district of Gujarat. He was the founding leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He was among the dignitaries who attended the first meeting of VHP in 1964 and since then continuously associated with the VHP work and was head of the Gujarat unit also

Biography

K. K. Shastri completed matriculation from Mumbai University in 1922. Later he studied poetry, Sanskrit language and grammar. He did his Diploma in Literature from Saurashtra University. He started his career in teaching as an assistant teacher of Sanskrit atCoronation High School in 1925 in Mangrol (Distt: Junagadh - Gujarat)& Left it because of Muslim Management. Later he joined Sanskrit Pathshala as a part-time teacher. He became assistant editor of Prajabandhu (Gujarati weekly) in Ahmedabad in 1936. He worked with Gujarat Vernacular Society and Gujarat Assembly in 1937. He joined L.D. Institute of Learning and Research in 1958. He also worked as an honorary lecturer of Gujarati at the B.J. Institute of Learning and Research. He was an associate professor of Sanskrit and Gujarati at the B.D. Women's College. He joined the Gujarat Research Society in 1961 as the honorary Regulator.He also was a "KULPATI" of Bharatiya Sanskar Dham.

Jasubhai Motibhai Patel  pronunciation (help·info) (26 November 1924, Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 12 December 1992, Ahmedabad) was an off-spinner who played Test cricket for India. His fame rests entirely on a single match against Australiawhere he took 14 wickets.

Haku Shah (Devanagari:हकु शाह) (born 1934) is a Gandhian, an eminent Indian painter belonging to the Baroda School, he is also a cultural anthropologist, an author of international repute on folk and tribal art and culture. His works are considered in the line of artists who brought themes of folk or tribal art to Indian art.

He has received several awards including the Padma Shri (1989), the Jawarharlal Nehru Fellowship and the Kala Ratna for his contribution to art.

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect,considered an important figure of South Asian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India. He is known for his contributions to the architecture of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Early life

B. V. Doshi was born in Pune, India.^[3] He studied at the J. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai.

§Career

Academic Block of IIM-Bangalore

Library Block of IIM-Bangalore

Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad

After having worked for four years between 1951-54 with Le Corbusier in Paris, B. V. Doshi returned to Ahmedabad to supervise Le Corbusier's projects. His studio, Vastu-Shilpa (environmental design), was established in 1955. Doshi worked closely with Louis Kahnand Anant Raje, when Kahn designed the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. In 1958 he was a fellow at theGraham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. He then started the School of Architecture (S.A) in 1962.

Doshi is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and has been on the selection committee for the Pritzker Prize, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He is also a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.

Apart from his international fame as an architect, Dr. Doshi is equally known as an educator and institution builder. He has been the first founder Director of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad (1962–72), first founder Director of the School of Planning (1972–79), first founder Dean of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (1972–81), founder member of the Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad and first founder Director of the Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad. Dr. Doshi has been instrumental in establishing the nationally and internationally known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. The institute has done pioneering work in low cost housing and city planning.

As an academician, Dr. Doshi has been visiting the USA and Europe since 1958 and has held important chairs in American Universities.

§Awards

In recognition of his distinguished contribution as a professional and as an academician, Dr. Doshi has received several international and national awards and honours.