A group photo at the 32nd Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture and Awards held July 16, keynoted by Indian American UCSD Chancellor Dr. Pradeep Khosla. (photo provided)
By India West Staff
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — In 1985, B. Baniadam won the Mahatma Gandhi Scholar Award. Thirty years later, his son, Kahlo Baniadam, won the very same award during the 32nd Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture and Awards event held July 16 in the University of California Atkinson Hall here.
Kahlo Baniadam’s win was the first time in the history of the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture that a father and son won the award.
Twenty-one high school seniors were recognized this year by the San Diego Indian American Society, among them four Indian American students: Anjana Srinivas, Yashes Srinivasan, Keshav Tadimeti and Nikhil Palanki.
The students were given cash awards totaling $45,000 and U.S. Congressional certificates, as well as certificates from the Speaker of the California State Assembly and state senators.
SDIAS has over the years recognized more than 600 students, irrespective of national origin, after having given them an opportunity to evaluate Gandhi’s contributions to humankind.
Dr. Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of the University of California-San Diego, and the first Indian American chancellor in the UC system, delivered the Gandhi Memorial Lecture, in which he discussed Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of basic education. Gandhi favored “basic education” as opposed to “western education,” Khosla said, adding that he believed that Gandhiji “was ahead of the curve in describing the importance of experiential learning, or hands-on learning, and multi-disciplinary training, as opposed to memorization learning.”
Prof. M.C. Madhavan, in his welcome address, gave an overview of where the San Diego Indian American Society was 32 years ago and where it is now, thanking generous supporters of the organization for its growth and service to the cause of education and community.
Prof. Ramesh Rao, chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi scholarship committee, presented the scholars and gave an overview of the selection process.
Hema Lall, co-chair of the AVID scholarship committee, presented eight scholars from families with no college education and spoke about their achievements.
Professor Inder Verma, president, chaired the event and, together with Khosla, distributed the awards.
This story originally appeared on India West.