14 year old Dubai girls wins NRI of the Year Award

Kehkashan Basu , a 14 year old , Year 9 student of the Deira International School wins the prestigious  NRI of the Year award . NRI is an acronym for Non-Resident Indian.

The second edition of the “NRI (Non-Resident Indian) of the Year” awards were held last month at the Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai, India. The Indian community, which has a large presence around the world has made significant contributions , over the years , to the development and growth of the nations in which they reside and this award instituted by the Times Group and ICICI Bank in 2013  seeks to recognize Non-Resident Indians, popularly known by the acronym NRI,  for their contribution to the society through various means. Now in its second year , the award has five categories -- Entrepreneur, Philanthropy , Academics , Art & Culture and Professional . Recipients are chosen from the vast Indian diaspora residing across the Asia Pacific, Middle East, United Kingdom and North America. 
 
The 2014 awards drew a record number of applications, which an eminent panel of jurists evaluated to determine the ultimate winners. 14 year old Dubai resident, Kehkashan Basu, a Year 9 student of the Deira International School, won the award in the Academics category from the Middle East region, making her the youngest recipient of this year. This particular category honours individuals not only for their academic excellence but also for  exemplary work in their everyday lives which has created an impact on society or their neighborhood. It also takes into account unique initiatives which has a positive and far reaching impact on their zones of influence.

Kehkashan was  recognized for  her work in empowering young people across the region and internationally , in sustainable development , particularly with regard with the right to education , gender equality , combatting climate change as well as for her academic and extra-curricular achievements. A two time Hamdan Award winner, Kehkashan was won several accolades for music, dance, quiz and public speaking. She is the current Global Coordinator for United Nations Environment Programme’s Major Group for Children and Youth and member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee, being the youngest person to hold this position. She is the Youth Ambassador of World Future Council and the Founder President of Green Hope UAE. She was the 2013~2014t Global President of the Children’s Board at Plant-for-the-Planet and is a Volunteer with the World Youth Foundation. 

These NRI awards felicitated several well known luminaries , amongst them Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

In her acceptance speech Kehkashan said  “ The sustainability crusade which I embarked upon 6 years ago, when I was 8 years old, has now taken me across 30 countries and brought me in contact with thousands of amazing people and institutions, and has widened my horizons in a way that no text book could have done. I would like to use this platform to reiterate that Climate change is not a myth --- its impacts can be felt every day.”

She urged civil society to shrug off their apathy towards the environment and concluded her speech invoking Mother Teresa “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."