MICA to Host the Anjali Khandwalla Creative Mentor (AKCM) Award 2023-24; Call for Nominations Open

The Award at a glance:

• The Award carries a Certificate and a cash award of Rs. 1,50,000/-.
• The last date to file the nomination is September 30, 2024.
• For any further information, kindly reach out on akcmaward@micamail.in
• The award ceremony will be held on the MICA, Ahmedabad campus.

BILKULONLINE

Ahmedabad, Aug 20: MICA Ahmedabad gears up to host the Anjali Khandwalla Creative Mentor  (AKCM) Award 2023-24, annually given to a living creative mentor. The AKCM award is instituted by the Khandwalla Creativity Foundation under the aegis of Prof. Pradip Khandwalla, founding GC member of MICA and former Director of IIMA, in memory of his late wife, Anjali Khandwalla. Since 2022, the prestigious Award has come under the aegis of MICA, Ahmedabad.

The Award is given annually to a creative living person who, in the judgment of a specially appointed jury, has most enabled young people who are their mentees to develop their creative potential in any occupation or vocation.

 Anjali Khandwalla, who passed away in 2019, was a highly creative person who mentored many young people in Canada and India to develop their creative potential. The nominations for the Anjali Khandwalla Creative Mentor Award 2023-24 are open till September 30, 2024 (Self nominations are permitted).

Speaking about the Award, Prof. Pradip Khandwalla said, “A creative mentor is a person who thinks out-of-the-box and nurtures the creativity of the mentees by helping them to free themselves from mental blocks so that they can come up with innovative ideas. I see five traits of a creative mentor: The mentor should be a creative person, enable the mentees to be creative, bring out their energy, infuse them with information and technology, and require their mentee to experience success.”

They would further help the mentees develop the skills needed to undertake successful creative and

innovative activities, programs, projects, institutions, enterprises, and the like that make a positive impact”, he added.

Earlier award winners include Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, an innovative Kathak dancer and choreographer who has mentored several outstanding and innovative Kathak dancers, Mr. Ujjwal Thakar, who gave up a career in banking to mentor hundreds of Gandhian change agents, and Ms. Alina Alam, founder and CEO of Mitti Cafe, a pan-India cafe that employs and engages staff who are specially-abled and hail from the lower socio-economic strata of society.