Bangalorean Wins Teen Title at National Pageant

By Verus Ferreira, editor, Teenager Magazine

Mumbai, Dec 2: The title of Teen of the Year, an event organized by the Teenager magazine that is going strong for the past 15 years, went to the unassuming Sindhu Bharadwaj of Bangalore. The national finals of the pageant was held at the St Andrews auditorium, Bandra, here recently.

Shravan R from Chennai became the first runner-up, while Mumbai’s Akkariti Anand was adjudged the second runner-up.

In reply to a question from one of the judges, Jhelum Paranjape, well-known Odissi dancer, as to what being socially conscious mean to her, Sindhu who performed a dance of Shiva in her talent round stated, “For me being socially conscious is to do whatever one can and being alert to the happenings around.” The other judges Raja Menon, film director, Allen Tweedie, former CEO, Mumbai festival, joined the audience in applauding the youngster.

The award function saw a mélange of people from school children, school principals, the youth, to a few oldies who must have recalled their teenage days. The chief guest for the evening Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the guest of honour for the evening Dino Tautang, CEO, Habitat for Humanity, spoke volumes on the novelty of such a never-seen-before pageant.

In his address Gandhi stressed on the need to be socially conscious. He said, “Each and every person can bring about a change even if it is very small and seems insignificant. Gandhiji used to say, ‘hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil’. But I say don’t shut yourself, be active and be conscious about things that are happening around you. Don’t shut yourself from what’s happening around you and the society.”

A scintillating tabla performance was given by Pandit Kalinath Mishra and his disciples who left the audience speechless with their fantastic demonstration. Pandit Kalinath Mishra trains youngsters from the ages of 3 to 60 to learn the tabla. It was no wonder then that two youngsters barely 6 years of age gave a mind blowing performance of finger beats on the tabla. It was a must-watch event. The participants too gave off their best in the talent round with the best talents at the zonals given a chance to perform on stage.

Earlier in the day, Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez had an hour-long interaction with the participants and was quite taken up with such an event. Nudged by the participants, she spoke on her teenage days and stated that the participants were lucky to have such an event that groomed them for the future. “Strive for the best and dream high for a bright future” she advised.

Keeping with its theme ‘Building a socially conscious India’ the run up to the finals also saw a panel discussion headed by Purab Kohli, actor, brand ambassador – The Teenager magazine, Y P Singh IPS (Retd), activist and lawyer, Smita Gaikwad vice-president, corporate communications and CSR, WNS Global Services, Amole Gupte, film director, writer, painter, debating on the state of affairs in the country, concluding that its the youth who are the powerful agent for social change of our country.

“If India has to be socially awakened, an enlightened and visionary youth is the only answer” felt Singh who also added that what the youth of today needed from adults is not so much of advice, direction, regulations etc, but an understanding heart that recognizes their creative talents, ideas and a suitable platform to express their creativity.

The event had 18 participants chosen from various zonals held across the country, representing different regions of India. Prior to the final event, the participants residing as one family at St Paul's campus in Bandra since their arrival, were put through a range of events that include group dynamics, workshops, personality development exercises, personal interviews, with the objective to bring out hidden talents that these youngsters would have never known to them. Besides this, The Teenager magazine also joined hands with Habitat for Humanity wherein all the participants were on location at Karjat helping to build homes as part of the Habitat project.

The participants, a few who came to Mumbai for the very first time, made new friends with those from other parts of the country and also came to know more about other cultures, lifestyles and traditions. Interestingly, many participants of the pageant, no matter if they have won or not, make it a point to come back the following year to help organize the event. Such is the spirit of the pageant.