Outstanding achievers from various fields were honoured in the fourth edition of the Anandabazar.com Bochorer Best on December 16, 2024. The award ceremony took place at ITC Sonar. The night began with Anupam Roy singing two beautiful hymns from the Upanishads set to tune by Rabindranath Tagore
All photos by Amit Datta and Soumyajit DeyAveek Sarkar welcomed the audience on a note of hope. ‘This is the fourth year of our awards. Since we began, there has been a lot going on in Bengal — both good and bad…. Today we honour those who have shown bravery and those who are heading into a bright future with a vision ahead,’ he said
The first award of the evening was handed over to Azharuddin Khan, DSP, West Bengal Police. Azharuddin was recognised for his exemplary show of bravery when he saved 70 schoolchildren from an armed assailant. ‘I have my father with me on stage today and while at that moment, I did think about him and my own life, for me the lives of those 70 innocent children and their parents far outweighed the value of my life,’ said Khan, who received the award from actor-director and West Bengal education minister Bratya Basu
Joya Chatterjee, author of ‘Shadows At Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century’, was awarded for her unique interpretation of the Partition of India. A Fellow of the British Academy, when she was asked how she felt about receiving an award in her own city, she said: ‘To receive this award from this organisation in this city is surreal. I was a bit sceptical when I wrote the book thinking that if there was any error the Bengali reader would definitely spot it. I find Bengali readers to be the most scrutinising and for Anandabazar to present this award to me means more than I could possibly express in words’
From heroes and authors, the focus quickly shifted to the industrialists of Bengal. Emami, a household name in West Bengal, was honoured for its contribution to the economy of West Bengal. Radhe Shyam Goenka, along with his son Mohan, were present on the occasion while Radhe Shyam Agarwal was represented by his son Aditya Agarwal. The founders of Emami received their award from Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harsh Neotia and the West Bengal minister of information technology and electronics, Babul Supriyo. Asked why he had remained in the state for so long, R.S. Goenka said: ‘My family came here when I was four and since then we never felt the need to leave. Bengal has everything to offer and we, as Emami, are appreciative of everything we have received from the state and the city.’
Shreyasi Chatterjee won the Bochorer Best award for her artistic and creative abilities with the needle. The artist received her award from filmmaker Shoojit Sircar and musician Rupam Islam. ‘Art doesn’t always have to have a symbolic meaning and messages don’t always need to be put into words, so I believe that colours can show true joy and emotions, which is what I try to express with my work,’ she said.
The presentation of awards was interspersed with a performance by Sudarshan Chakraborty’s dance group Sapphire. The piece showcased the change of seasons, from summer to monsoon to autumn and finally winter
Probably the brightest mind in the room, Deblina Sarkar, an inventor and assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was presented the Bochorer Best award by Malabika Sarkar, former vice-chancellor of Presidency University and Ashoka University. ‘My inspiration is my father who once made a washing machine that works without electricity. He has inspired me a lot and I spend a lot of my time on research, so that keeps me in a constant state of thinking about the next invention,’ said ‘Lady Professor Shonku’
Soumitrisha Kundu received her Bochorer Best award from actor Prosenjit Chatterjee. She thanked Anandabazar.com for bestowing her with the award. ‘It is a very prestigious award and it makes me feel a new sense of responsibility and I hope that my work shows that,’ said the actress, best known for her role as Mithai on television
Chefs Auroni Mookerjee and (above) Pritam Bhadra were awarded for their constant innovation with Bengali cuisine. The chefs picked up their accolades from Md Salim and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. ‘For me, Bengali food is all about the bazaar. You never pre-plan your meal, you go to the bazaar and see what you like and cook based on what you find to be fresh, so that kind of variety and experimentation is what keeps me hooked to Bengali food,’ chef Auroni said
The last award of the evening, which recognised achievements over the past decade, went to Bandhan Bank founder Chandra Shekhar Ghosh. Receiving the award from Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, Ghosh said: ‘I believe that Bengalis have a great potential for business. The reason why I got into banking is to help people make the most of their business and make banking easy and it is an honour to be awarded on this occasion’
The emcees for the evening were actress Paoli Dam and Anindya Jana, editor of Anandabazar Online