A salute to excellence

All roads in Delhi led to the ITC Maurya as the ‘11th Teacher’s Achievement Awards’ (TAA) celebrated the spirit of achievement recently.

The evening commemorated the start of the second decade of the one of the most prestigious, respected and admired ‘Teacher’s Achievement Awards’ by welcoming into its fold the finest achievers from the field of business, entertainment, sports and communication. The awards underwent a stringent evaluation by a distinguished panel of jury members before the final winners were announced.

Recognising the tireless efforts of taking India to the global stage, TAA honoured the inimitable Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Sharma has been at the forefront of taking Indian classical music to the international stage while being attached to the Indian roots.

Anil Kapoor, who received international acclaim for his contribution to Indian cinema. was recognised with the ‘Teacher’s Global Indian Achiever Award’. L Subramaniam, Ramesh Sippy and Harish Moolchandani, CEO and Managing Director Beam India, gave away the award to Anil Kapoor.

Sharing his happiness Anil Kapoor said, “My biggest achievement in my life is not something that I can explain but it is you the people who judge us and tell us what our achievements are. I am glad to be part of this evening and being awarded.”

The bubbly and vibrant Anushka Sharma, who has been seen playing vivid roles in the films like Rab Ne Bana DI Jodi,  Patiala House, Badmaash Company, Band Baja Baraat received the ‘People Teacher’s Achievement Award’.

The evening opened with the stunning performance of Mansi Scott, who performed the teacher’s anthem to an alluring audience. This was followed by the traditional ‘Teacher’s Achiever’s Walk’ designed and choreographed by the designer-duo Rohit Gandhi - Rahul Khanna. The duo crafted a special collection for the past winners. Jury members included Shabana Azmi, Pankaj Advani, Feroz Abbas Khan, Louis Bankz, Prahlad Kakkar, L Subramaniam, Nagesh Kukunoor, Manish Arora, Michael Ferreira, Prasoon Joshi, Anjali Bhagwat and Boman Irani.

Boman Irani, who has been associated with the TAA since 2003, co-hosted the evening with Vir Sanghvi. Boman was honoured with the ‘Teacher’s Achiever of the Decade 2010’.

The evening also saw mesmerising performances by Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian.

After performing in Hong Kong, Germany, Poland, Canada, Mexico, and all over United States, Eric and Georgia stunned the audience with their extraordinary ballroom dancing skills. The grand finale saw a splendid performance with solo acts followed by a jugalbandi between Anoushka Shankar, Midival Punditz, Karsh Kala and Angaraag Papon Mahanta.

The evening saw past winners, jury members and key stakeholders of the TAA joining the celebration. Those present included Jacqueline Fernandez, Kavita Subramaniam, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Vinod Mehta, Kashi Memai, B S Nagesh and Pablo Bartholomew.

Congratulating winners of the 11th TAA, Matthew J Shattock, president and CEO, Beam Inc said, “The TAA has come a long way in the past decade. This is very proud moment for all of us as we enter the second decade of achievements and excellence with the awards.
I would like to congratulate all the winners — present as well as past — who have excelled. It is an honour to be in the company of such a rich spectrum of accomplishments from so many walks of life.”