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NEW DELHI : Veteran actress Zohra Segal who was named for the Padma Vibhushan last week and actress and former swimming champion Nafisa Ali Sodhi were among the recipients of the Kalpana Chawla Excellence Awards this year.
The awards are given away every year to coincide with the death anniversary of India?s space woman Kalpana Chawla, and have been instituted by PECOBA, which is the alumni association of the Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, where she had had her initial training before going to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States.
Among the other women achievers who received this award were Padma Bhushan awardee and Kathak dancer Uma Sharma, and Padmashree recipient and veteran singer Shanti Hiranand.
The awards were given away by Kalpana?s father Banarsi Lal Chawla at a function presided over by National Commission for Women Chairperson Girija Vyas.
Segal, now 98, has been acting on stage, TV & Films for the last 75 years. Her award was received by her daughter and Padmashree awardee Kiran Segal.
Vyas said Kalpana is now a popular role model for the youth of India. Banarsi Lal Chawla narrated many personal incidents about his daughter and her love for greenery and environment protection.
Mr Amarjit Singh Kohli, General Secretary of PECOBA founded by him in 1967, also spoke on the occasion.
The Function was followed by a unique audio-visual musical programme on the life of Kalpana Chawla entitled ?Kalpana Ki Udan, Naari Ka Samman? produced by cultural organization Sakha and directed by Kohli.
Sodhi had begun her film career with the National Award-winning ?Junoon?(1979) with Shashi Kapoor. Hiranand started singing from Radio Lahore at the age of 14 and continues to sing till date for the last 63 years. She wrote a book on her guru and mentor ?Begum Akhtar ?The story of my Ammi?. Begum Akhtar announced publically in a concert ?If you want to hear my music after my death, hear it through Shanti?s singing?. Uma Sharma is Director of the Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan. Revolutionised Repertoire of classical form of Kathak by enriching it with literacy and intellectual substance through her extensive research on the origins of Kathak.
