Divyaj Foundation announces the Winners of ‘Mitti Ke Sitare’ at the Grand Finale

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai : ‘Mitti Ke Sitare’, the celebration of Musical Talent dedicated to the indigent society of Mumbai, hosted the Grand Finale with glitz and glamour on Saturday, 22^nd June 2019 at Dome, NSCI Worli. The Chief Guest for this magnificent event was Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra.  Other renowned dignitaries included Shri. Raosaheb Danve Patil, Shri. Chandrakant Dada Patil, Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, Shri Vinod Tawde, Smt. Pankaja Munde to name a few and famous personalities from the music and Bollywood fraternities including Grammy award winner Jerry Wonda as the Guest Of Honour, Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan as the Special Guest, Shiamak Davar, Shriram Iyer, Kumar Bapi, Darshan Raval, Manisha Koirala, Mr. Khailash Kher, Mr. Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, Mr. Jackey Shroff, Dr. Mickey Mehta and Mr. Sailesh Lodha among others.

Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis, Advisor to Divyaj Foundation and also an accomplished singer has ideated this musical talent hunt especially for the underprivileged students of slums and BMC schools. During the Finale she said “I was motivated by Hon. Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modiji to extend musical education to the talented children of the underprivileged section of the society. I am really delighted and overwhelmed by the talent available in our country, especially amongst the underprivileged and with the project Mitti Ke Sitare, these children have now begun their journey towards achievement and self-fulfilment.”

The exceptionally talented 18 contestants, aged between 7 and 15 years, were awarded Rs. 25000 each as cash prize along with Winning Trophies. The memorable evening began with the lamp lighting and felicitation of the dignitaries present at the event by the Trustees of Divyaj Foundation’s Mr. Sampath Iyer, Mrs. Pallavi Shrivastava and Core Member Mr. Kavin Shah which was followed by the beautiful rendition by the percussionist maestro, Sivamani.

The highlight of the evening was the inspiring and splendid singing of the top semi-finalists who enthralled the audience with the performances.

Commenting on the occasion Mr. Shankar Mahadevan said, “When Shankar Mahadevan Academy was approached for conducting this massive talent hunt across all 1187 MCGM schools in Mumbai, I knew we were more than ready to take on the challenge. This is the first time that an organization has run a contest at such a large scale and our contest platform ensured that each contestant was evaluated fairly and transparently – and all this was done in a matter of 2-3 weeks! The shortlisted 18 finalists have been groomed and coached by our music instructors and I’m proud of the fantastic job they did today”

Mrs. Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson Mpower extended her best wishes to the contestants and maintained “Mitti ke sitare has been an amazing journey so far. Mpower has worked with the finalists to help them prepare for the finals by organizing various workshops. Having a good mental health is very important for children to live up to their potential. This ensures that the children live a life that is filled with positive experiences and the willingness to do what is best for themselves and the people around them. These workshops will help the children deal with the possible mental health concerns early on.”

The winning team mentioned “We are thankful to Amruta ji and Divyaj Foundation for this opportunity.  We love the care, discipline and efforts that the gurus have rendered to sharpen our singing skills. Apart from singing, we were also trained in other areas for overall development. We enjoyed every moment of our training” The evening also featured stunning live performances by Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan and Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis along with the Contestants, Mr. Jerry Wonda, Shiamak Victory Arts Foundation children to name a few.

‘Mitti Ke Sitare’ is a social initiative by social activist and Vice President-Corporate Head with Axis Bank, Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis, in association with Mpower, to provide a platform for the hidden talents across indigent areas of the country. To conduct this social welfare project, Divyaj Foundation associated with 1187 MCGM schools to connect, identify and select children from the underprivileged sector - those who are blessed with talent but lack resources to improve themselves.

About Divyaj Foundation: Divyaj Foundation is the noble dream of Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis.  The Foundation's endeavour is to reach out to the marginalized citizens of the society, engage, empower them and add quality contribution thereby enabling a positive change in the quality of lives. Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis is the advisor to the trust along with Adv. Shri. Sunil Manohar, Ex. Attorney General, Maharashtra along with the Trustees of Divyaj Foundation - Mr. Sampath Iyer, Mrs. Pallavi Shrivastava and Core Members Mr. Kavin Shah, Dr. Mickey Mehta, Mrs. Rajalakshmi Iyer - Core Divyaj members.

Website: http://www.divyajfoundation.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Non-Governmental-Organization--NGO-/divyajfoundation/about/

About Mpower: Mpower proactively champions mental health causes, creates awareness, advocates prevention and provides services through a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach.

About Shankar Mahadevan Academy: The Shankar Mahadevan Academy founded by composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan has extended musical training to these contestants polishing their musical skills.