Darpan's 6th Annual Extraordinary Achievement Awards Winner Announced In A Glitzy Gala

Friday, September 18th, DARPAN Magazine, hosted its 6th Annual Extraordinary Achievement Awards in the company of esteemed social, business and political elites.

Ten amazing individuals from the South Asian community were recognized for their extraordinary achievements and for reflecting their heritage in a remarkable way.

“It is our hope that the life and work of these awardees will serve as an inspiration for all South Asians to realize the power of their dreams,” according to Publishers Gurvinder Hundal and Ramneek Dhillon.

“From our inaugural event to now, our goal is to showcase the gems of the South Asian community and honour them with DARPAN Magazine’s Extraordinary Achievement Awards – we hope this simple act will trigger the ripple effect of inspiring more South Asians to do the extraordinary.”

This spectacular red-carpet event took place at Aria Banquet Hall & Convention Centre in Surrey. With over 700 guests in attendance, this black-tie affair commenced at 6.30 p.m. in the backdrop of glamour and grandeur.

Among these, 10 South Asians identified as leaders, who embody the spirit of community and give back to greater Canadian society, were honoured with the prestigious Darpan Extraordinary Achievement Award. These recipients were:

Young Wonder - Aishwarya Roshan

Artistic Visionary - Cassius Khan

Industry Marvel - Wally Oppal

Advancing Philanthropy - Mamta Foundation

Community Crusader - Rob Rai

Corporate Engagement - Ratana Stephens

Breaking Barriers - Steven Purewal

Heritage Defender - Naveen Girn

Spirit of Sport - Sahil Sandhu

International Sensation - Ajay Bhatt

Adding a vibe of affluence to the red carpet entrance was the showcase of the latest luxury Cadillac models and the gorgeous ice sculptures depicting DARPAN’s journey of 11 years in publishing excellence. Other features on the red carpet included a media centre with live interviews, a media wall to pose for photographs, and champagne and black and gold martinis.

Canadian television personality and ET Now presenter Sangita Patel, who flew in from Toronto, was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. Named one of Hello!

Canada Magazine’s ‘50 Most Beautiful People’ in 2014, Patel has become a familiar face on Canada’s leading entertainment show, Entertainment Tonight Canada.

Now as an entertainment reporter, she spends most of her time covering movie premiers, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look into glamourous events like the Cannes Film Festival and interviewing Hollywood celebrities. She has been awarded Anokhi magazine’s TV personality of the year and is the recipient of Trailblazer Award at the Reelworld Film Festival.

MC Sangita Patel kicked off the festivities, which included a breathtaking fashion showcase by Vivah Collection; live entertainment by the talented Manj Musik; and the much-anticipated Awards ceremony.

Our honoured guest, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner took the stage to share a few words with the audience.

The highlight of the evening was our Guest of Honour Ajay Bhatt, co-founder of the Universal Serial Bus (USB). Bhatt, along with his team at Intel founded the USB – a device found in billions of electronic devices all over the world today.

Beyond the USB, Bhatt has developed several widely used technologies, including Accelerated Graphics Port, PCI Express, Platform Power management architecture and various chipset improvements. He holds 70 US and International patents, and has received many awards for his work.

Through an interactive question and answer segment, Bhatt shared with the audience the story behind his popular invention and his inspiring journey so far.

Also spotted at the event were TransLink Minister Peter Fassbender, Member of Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Tynehead Amrik Virk, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds Raj Chouhan, and Surrey Councillor Tom Gill, among others.