FICCI-FLO Change of Guard “SAMBHAVAA – Woman of Infinite Possibilities” Awards

FICCI Ladies Organization (FICCI-FLO), the women wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, felicitated fourteen women for their significant contribution in diverse fields of sports, culture(music, dance, drama), business and entrepreneurship, professional excellence, hi-fashion, art & literature, education, media and women welfare and empowerment under its Iconic & High-achieving Awards for Women aptly named as “SAMBHAVAA – Woman of Infinite Possibilities”.

A grand and glittering felicitation was held at YMCA International Centre located on S.G.Highway, Ahmedabad in the presence of esteemed guests Ms. Juhi Chawla, Bollywood Actress, entrepreneur & Producer and Ms. Neerja Birla, Educationist and Entrepreneur. Guest of Honor Mr. Rajiv Vastupal, Chairman, FICCI, Gujarat Council spoke of synergy between FICCI and FLO and graced the dias. The who’s who of Ahmedabad was in attendance and the room was filled with women of substance!

The awards were followed by the change of guard of FLO Ahmedabad Chapter – Chairperson Ms. Ritu Jain handed over the baton to incoming Chairperson Ms. Deepa Shah.

Ritu Jain showcased the ‘Year in Review’ and shared chapter events and the key takeaways from the year 2014-15. The outgoing committee took a bow and Deepa Shah announced the incoming committee and shared her vision for year 2015-16 under her chairpersonship.

Addressing media before the award distribution ceremony, Ms. Ritu Jain said, “This year, we have envisioned taking the FLO award ceremony to the next level, so we have branded it, to make it an iconic award – much deserved and much desired over the years! Its glory shall grow as the list of high-achieving awardees also grows. The theme of the awards is, “SAMBHAVAA – Woman of Infinite Possibilities” and our trophy, fondly called the FLOTUS, is beautiful brass and copper representation of the symbolic and lovely Lotus which rises in beauty and glory, despite its difficult and muddy surroundings! These women have shown how everything is ‘Sambhav’ or possible, if only one has the grit, determination, drive and perseverance to follow their passions!”

The winners of the awards were selected by a core jury having some prominent personalities as its members. While Madhu Bagri, wheelchair tennis national winner was selected for the – SAMBHAVAA Special Sports Icon Award, Aashna Shah, skating national champion was declared as the winner of SAMBHAVAA – Sports Shining Star Award. For SAMBHAVAA – Professional Excellence Award and SAMBHAVAA – Pride and Professionalism Award, Manisha Love, appeals lawyer, High court and Captain Karishma Bhalla, Pilot, ex IAF, NCC, were selected respectively by the jury. Gorsi Parekh, Arraycom, AIS was the winner of SAMBHAVAA – Icon of Entrepreneurship Excellence Award and Vandana Raj, VamaComm won the SAMBHAVAA – Innovation and Creativity in Business Award. Renita Handa, Red Bricks Education Foundation and Raksha Bharadia, Author, won the SAMBHAVAA – Excellence in Education Award and SAMBHAVAA – Excellence in Literature Award respectively. Other winners of the awards include Amita Dalal, Sitar Player, for SAMBHAVAA – Excellence in Music Award; Shilpa Choksi, designer Jewellery Watches for SAMBHAVAA – Rising Fashionist Award; Anuradha Vakil, Dress Designer for SAMBHAVAA – Hi-Fashion Icon Award; Mallika Sarabhai, multi-faceted Artist & Activist for SAMBHAVAA – Icon of Cultural Excellence Award; Ms. Snehal Jaldeep (Pedhambli village) for SAMBHAVAA – Grassroots women empowerment Award; Anar Patel for SAMBHAVAA – Icon of Women welfare and empowerment Award and Aashka Goradia, actor, anchor, entrepreneur for SAMBHAVAA – Media and Communication Award. All winners were given a special trophy called ‘The FLOTUS’ – representing a lovely Lotus made of brass and copper, specially developed for FLO by a member.

An Art Walk depicting Woman Empowerment, presented by Samaara art Gallery.

‘Dancing Questions’, a Dance Drama staged by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai’s children, Anahita and Revanta and other Darpana Dancers, was an apt finale to the graceful and grand evening and also turned out to be the major attraction at the event.

The event was supported by BMW, as the main sponsor; CLARIS, as the co-sponsor and Green Leaves, as the associate sponsor. Event’s gift partners include Rasna international, Star nuts-Urmin foods, Kalam, Temptations, Everyuth by Zydus Cadilla and Smiraj by Rajmati (shawls).