The Nilgiris center of the Bharatiya Bhavan bestowed on social entrepreneur Diana Bharucha and her nongovernmental organization Kinder Trust the Kulpati Munshi Award on March 23, 2024 at the Coonoor Club. Chairperson of the center, Dr Kanakalatha Mukund, presented the award.
Above and top, r: Diana Bharucha felicitated by Dr Kanakalatha Mukund
Even during her 28-year-stint in the garment industry, Bharucha had made it a practice to employ differently abled persons where possible. Retiring from the business in 2014, with the objective of setting up an organization to help the needy, the Kinder Trust was formalized three years later. Bharucha’s Kinder Rehabilitation Center set up in 2022 offers physiotherapy and other treatments to the disadvantaged. The Trust holds regular eye and pediatric camps; distributes hearing aids and other prosthetic devices; provides school-bus services for special children; organizes self-help groups and training to the visually handicapped to make them employable.
An education trust, the Bhavan was founded in 1938 by activist, politician and writer Dr Kanhaiyalal Munshi and today operates from 118 centers, running 373 educational institutions in India and seven overseas. Their website states that they steadfastly adhere to the Vedic ideal, "Let noble thoughts come to us from every side.” As reads Bharucha’s citation, the Award recognizes and honors those who have provided outstanding services to society in any special field.