New York, N.Y. The most powerful, influential and international Indian leaders gathered in New York City recently to see who amongst them were worthy of award. Why should we care? For many reasons. Because India is the most populous democracy. It is the second-most populous country anywhere, after China. It is the world’s twelfth largest economy. And it is big as well – nearly twice the size of New England.
Pooja Batra and Sendhil Ramamurthy - Co-emcees for the Light of India Awards.
Photo: Michael Toolan.
Last year I had so much fun and learned so much about India at the first The Light of India Awards held at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue. Outdoing themselves, this year’s spectacular event was at the Taj Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue. Hundreds of the brightest Indian minds gathered – the crème de la crème from the business, finance, and entertainment communities – for the awards.
H.E. Prabhu Dayal, Consul General of India for New York, presents Light of India Award for Academics to Soumitra Dutta, Professor of Business & Technology at INSEAD. Photo: Michael Toolan.
Padma Lakshmi, seated with Reema Rasool, Director of Luxury Brands for JINGO Media, and Tony Bedi, President of the UB Group, Americas. Photo: Michael Toolan
Suhel Seth, author and marketing guru, presents Light of India Award. Photo: Michael Toolan.
Author Amitav Ghosh watches Light of India awards ceremony. Photo: Michael Toolan.
Gurbaksh Chahal, Chairman and C.E.O. of Radium One. Photo: Michael Toolan.
Pradeep Khosla accepts Jury Award for Excellence in Technology. Photo: Michael Toolan.
Author Indu Sundaresan accepts People’s Choice Award for Excellence in Literature & Journalism.
Photo: Michael Toolan.
Through my travels and relationships, I have found India to be one of the most fascinating and inspiring lands in the world. I was honored to participate in this year’s second Light of India Awards, an initiative created by Remit2India and presented by The Amrapali Group. I cannot wait to see who will be present next year. Whoever they are, I know that they will have an enormous impact in determining the future of the world across the fields of business, finance, and entertainment.
See Stories by Jim Luce on:
Overseas Indian Elite Elect Their Best at Waldorf-Astoria (HuffPo)
Global Indians Illuminate Taj Pierre Hotel at Light of India Awards (HuffPo)
Photo Essay – Light of India Awards 2012 in New York (Stewardship Report)
Corporate America & CSR | India and Indian-American Culture | New York
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