“Taking risk is the only answer, if one has to be successful in life,” said Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, while addressing the gathering at the Nag Bhushan Award ceremony organised by Nag Bhushan Foundation on Sunday. The foundation recognises people who have brought laurels of national and international repute to Nagpur and Vidarbha region. Shivkisandas Agrawal, Founder, Haldiram Group; Social workers Dr Ravindra Kolhe and Dr Smita Kolhe were honoured with the Nag Bhushan Puraskar for the year 2022 and 2023 respectively. Similarly, ace archer Ojas Deotale and swimmer Jayant Duble were honoured with the Yuva Nag Bhushan Puraskar for the year 2022 and 2023 respectively. Duble has participated in well known championships in India and abroad, recording his name in Asia Book of records and India Book of Records. Deotale has also participated in several national and international archery championships and bagged the triple Gold in the recently held Asian Games at Hangzhou, China 2023.

 

Purohit presented the awards in a function held at Hotel Centre Point in presence of Chandrashekhar Bawankule, President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra State unit. Ajay Sancheti, ex-Member of Parliament; Adv Nishant Gandhi, Zamin Amin, Satish Goel and Vilas Kale were also seated on the dais. Speaking further, Purohit stated that recognising people for award is a big task. Awarding people for the spirit of entrepreneurship and sports is like setting an example before the society to perform to their best. He also emphasised that ‘character’ plays a vital role for anyone to succeed. Money and health lost can be recovered, but losing one’s character is like losing everything, he added. Recalling the first time when the awards were instituted by Nag Bhushan Foundation, Purohit said that after 20 years, several outstanding personalities have been bestowed with the award in recognition of their contribution.

 

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, in his address, mentioned that a life lived well is more important than a long lived life. Acknowledging people for their outstanding contribution is the first step towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ vision. He also announced that a dedicated floor will be allocated to Nag Bhushan Foundation at Koradi to display the awardees honoured with Nag Bhushan Award. The awardees also shared their journey to success on the occasion. As Deotale could not make it to the function, his mother opined that succeeding in archery was the only way for Ojas to succeed as he was very average in studies. Duble narrated his ordeal while he swimmed with sharks and other big fishes and did feel threatened. Shivkisandas Agrawal stated that foreigners taught us to drink tea, but now it is time we taught them to eat Namkeen or Bhujia with tea. Dr Ravindra Kolhe expressed that with the award bestowed upon him, he feels more responsible and shall carry on the legacy of his works with all determination. Earlier, Ajay Sancheti and Vilas Kale made the opening remarks. Shraddha Bharadwaj compered the event while Nishant Gandhi proposed a vote of thanks.