102-year-old woman freedom fighter among 30 'unsung heroes' to receive Padma Shri award

New Delhi: A 102-year-old woman freedom fighter who set up an underground radio station during Goa Liberation Struggle, a 96-year-old woman shadow puppetry master from Karnataka, and a 70-year-old visually impaired homeopathic doctor from Maharashtra are among 30 'unsung heroes' who were chosen for the Padma Shri award on the eve of Republic Day.

A number of folk artists, healthcare workers and agriculturists also found their way to the list of the prestigious recognition, the fourth highest civilian award in the country.

Libia Lobo Sardesai, who played a pivotal role in Goa's Liberation Struggle against Portuguese occupation, had co-founded the underground radio station 'Voz da Liberdade (Voice of Liberation) in 1955, broadcasting anti-colonial messages in secret from the jungles along with her husband Vaman Sardesai. She had helped the Indian Army in setting up a centre to transmit messages to the Portuguese in India to surrender.

Described as the ‘Grandmother of Gombeyaata’, Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara was chosen for Padma Shri for her contribution to the art form of Togalu Gombeyaata (leather puppetry). Mastered the art at the age of 14, she has melted ancient techniques in contemporary forms to tell Ramayana and Mahabharata through shadow puppetry in the past 70 years.

Another Kannadiga in the list is Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar, a Gondhali folk maestro who sang 1,000 songs and narrated over 150 Gondhali stories, and has also been honoured with Padma Shri.

Vilas Dangre, the visually impaired homeopathic doctor from Maharashtra, has treated over one lakh patients from underprivileged sections in Nagpur in the past over 50 years while Suresh Soni (80) from Gujarat was chosen for his services to leprosy affected patients.

One who sold vegetables with her mother in Kalaburagi in her childhood before becoming a well-known oncology surgeon, Vijayalakshmi Deshamane has been a pioneer in breast cancer treatment and was chosen for dedication to the welfare of cancer patients and providing free treatment to the needy.

Another winner was Gokul Chandra Das from West Bengal, who broke gender stereotypes to train over 150 women in percussion instrument Dhak, a traditionally male-dominated field. He designed a lightweight Dhak for women and fought caste discrimination to take his art to international level.

Similarly, Velu Asaan from Tamil Nadu, who worked towards standardisation and revival of traditional Parai Isai art form, is also in the coveted list of Padma winners. Like Das, he too promoted women artistes.

Social entrepreneur Sally Holkar, who hails from the United States, was chosen for the prestigious award for revitalising the 300-year-old Maheshwari handloom industry while 92-year-old Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli from Maharashtra got the award for biodiversity protection.

Batool Begum (68), described as ‘Bhajan ki Begum’, won Padma Shri for rising from the marginalised Mirasi community to become an icon to perform at the famed Town Hall of Paris. She broke stereotypes by singing Ganapati and Ram bhajans.

Chaitram Devchand Pawar, who planted over 5,000 trees, provided shelter to eight endangered animal and 48 bird species and pioneered the People’s Biodiversity registers in Maharashtra, creator of the famed ‘Sulur’ (Bastar Flute) Pandi Ram Mandavi from Chhattisgarh and Joynacharan Bathari, the flagbearer of Dimasa tribal folk music are also among the winners.

Other winners include Bihar-based Nirmala Devi, the oldest pioneer of Sujani embroidery, Jumde Yomgam Gamlin, who is working in the field of drug de-addiction, farmer Hariman Sharma, who developed low-chilling apple variety ‘HRMN 99’, Sikkimese Nepali folk musician Naren Gurung.

Hugh and Collen Ganzter, travel writers, have been recognised for their contribution to Indian travel journalism. Collen (90), who died two months ago, and Hugh (93) have written 30 books and over 3,000 articles.