GRANT'S DESI ACHIEVERS AWARDS GALA 2023
A GRAND CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE
Peter Mielzynski Jr, Board Director, PMA Canada, with his wife Sandra Mielzynski.
The Who’s Who of the South Asian community gathered to welcome the newest inductees to the Desi Hall of Fame at the Grant’s Desi Achievers Awards Gala held at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.
They came dressed in their finest. “It’s an opportunity to pull out my beautiful silks,” said a lady. And as in previous years, they came with their families and friends. Proud spouses, siblings, parents and with extended family visiting from the old countries.
Master of Ceremonies Cletus Castelino welcomed the distinguished guests in his inimitable style.
G.A.Easwar, Publisher, Desi News, thanked the achievers – those being honoured that evening and all the others from previous years who were in attendance – for sharing their stories. “You are all role models, your stories are beacons of hope for those who arrived last week, last month, last year... to be all they can be in this land of immense opportunity.” He thanked Peter Mielzynski Jr., Board Director, PMA Canada, the title sponsor of the Desi Achiever series for 18 years. Peter’s family’s journey in Canada mirrors that of many high achievers honoured that evening. “The late Peter Mielzynski Sr came to Canada in 1946 from Poland with just a suitcase and a few dollars in his pocket. The early years were a struggle, he worked at Eaton’s. Sold Encyclopedia Britannica. And he founded Peter Mielzynski Agencies Canada, building it into Canada’s largest importer of wines and whiskeys. Peter is proud to carry forward his father’s legacy and encourage other achievers.” He also thanked Navneet Bhullar, Brand Manager for Grant’s, for her support.
Peter Mielzynski Jr, dressed in an Indian kurta for the occasion, greeted the guests with a Namaste and a Su-sandhya (good evening in Hindi). Speaking straight from the heart, he remarked on the synergy between the high achievers and the ideals his father, Peter Mielzynski Senior, stood for. “I want to say different things each time,” he said, “but I see the individuals here, each of whom represent the highest qualities in personal and professional lives, and I am so proud of our partnership with Desi News in bringing their stories to the fore. This is the best illustration there could be of all the positives of multiculturalism. I am deeply moved.” He also spoke of the family of achievers that has grown from strength to strength since the first Desi News-Grant’s Community Achievers Gala in 2006, and of the importance of nurturing the next generation that is inspired by how their parents overcame struggles to achieve their dreams.
The evening was off to a great start with the cocktail hour, followed by a presentation by Andrew Kay and Dhaivat Jani. Andrew, who learnt Indian classical music in the guru-shishya parampara, living in Kolkata for 10 years, played Indian raagas on the saxophone and also a composition on Himalayan singing bowls. Dhaivat Jani, a Toronto-based award-winning composer, drummer and tabla player, leads two bands, Dhaivat Jani Plus and Electrio. Their performance was loved by the guests, earning them an extended round of applause.
Grant’s Desi Achievers Awards 2023 was supported by title sponsors Grant’s Scotch Whisky and PMA Canada and co-sponsors Ethiopian Airlines and Black Tower Wines.
Mesfin Ashebir and Titus Raje of Ethiopian Airlines presented a return ticket to any of the 130 destinations they serve to Dr Suman Joseph, the winner of a raffle draw.
Courtenay Wint of Black Tower Wines commented that “it was truly an amazing event”.
An Indian dinner brought the evening to a close.
Young Vivek Patel said it was inspirational to be in a room full of role models. “The energy here is so positive. As a young entrepreneur myself, I have faced lows and highs but always persevered because I don’t want any parent to dismiss their child’s dream by pointing to us. ‘They wanted to be in business, look what happened to them.’ I want to show it can be done and I am so motivated by all that we heard today, by the stories of the achievers.”
Nitin Sawant and his team at The Open Space provided the photography and audio-visual photography.
PHOTO CREDIT: SID SAWANT/THEOPENSPACE.CA.
G.A.Easwar, Publisher, Desi News; Shagorika Easwar, Editor, Desi News; Ritu Mehra; and Pankaj Mehra, Senior Fellow and Governing Board Member, Massey College.
Angela and Cletus Castelino. Cletus Castelino has been the Master of Ceremonies of the Grant’s Desi Achievers Awards since its inception 18 years ago.
Ami Shah with her mother Ila Shah.
Neil Goodis, Principal, NG Consulting, with his wife.
Vicki and Yusuf Bismilla.
Dr Prateek Lala and Ashutosh Chowdhury.
Diana Alli D’Souza with Jill Robinson.
Thilaka, Aishwarya, and Dr Sankaran KrishnaRaj.
Franky and Nirmala Dias.
Kishor, Shobhana and Neil Desai.
Suresh, Shreya and Anu Patel.
Pulin and Varshha Chandaria.
Biprashish and Sipra Chaudhury.
June Dickenson and Sarala Uttangi of Brampton Library.
Past Grant’s Desi Achiever Aruna Papp with husband David.
Malavika Nair and Vighnesh.
The Desi News team! Dave Schofield, Farihah Shah, Iryna Goy and Tapas Easwar.
Dr Suman Joseph and Madhu Nagaraja.
Anil Arora.
Bobby and Anil Arora.
Maureen Adelman and Dr Anna Banerji.
Dr Arun Seth and former Senator Dr Asha Seth.
Sudarshan and Kacee Vasudeva.
Amanda Cheung, Meetu Madahar, Andrea Gunraj and David Hunter.
Meenakshi Alimchandani and Sudha Berry.
Siva and Dr Jay Subramanian.
Amiya and Surita Dey.
Guri Pannu and his wife Shafreen.
Inderpal Khurana with her daughter Ramneek Singh.
Shashi and Pratap Reddy.
Akash, Prabhu and Naveen Rajan.
Neeraj Monga with his daughter Sanjana.
Adrain Gomes and Dr Chandrakant Shah.
Craig Miller and Sabina Vohra-Miller.
Prof Tarlochan Singh Sidhu and wife Sarabjeet.
Sudhir and Naina Talsania.
Aruna Narayan Kalle.
Harpreet and Ramneek Singh.
Sougata Pahari and Dr Nisha Rani Agrawal.
Reverend Tony Zekveld.
Kristin Zekveld.
Vishal Misra.
Ranjani and V Ramesh.
Ritu and Vineet Jain.
Riya Patel and Parth Patel.
Dr Nav Persaud and Anita.
Saania Qasim and Heidi McKenzie.
Roopan and Seema David.
Cletus and Angela Castelino, G.A.Easwar and Shagorika Easwar, Marnie Kolah and Reynold Norris.
Romil Khanna and Neha Karam-Khanna.
Kalyan Charavarthy with wife Neha.
Dr Sharada Srinivasan, Sudha Berry, Jasmine Sawant, Meenakshi Alimchandani and Ritu Mehra.
Kuldip Kohli, Sandra Mielzynski, Mrs Kohli, Navneet Bhullar, Brand Manager, Grants Scotch Whisky, Peter Mielzynski Jr., Board Director, PMA Canada, Angad Bhullar.
A room full of luminaries at the the Atrium, Living Centre Centre in Mississauga.
SOUL-STIRRING HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL RAAGS SET THE TONE
Andrew Kay on the sax with Dhaivat Jani on the tabla.
Andrew Kay with Himalayan singing bowls.
…AND THE EVENING GETS UNDERWAY
Master of Ceremonies Cletus Castelino.
FIRST, A TRIBUTE TO PETER MIELZYNSKI SR, THE VISIONARY INDUSTRY LEADER
Desi News Publisher G.A.Easwar paid a rich tribute to PMA Canada founder Peter Mielzynski Sr, a visionary industry leader.
Peter Mielzynski Jr., Board Director, PMA Canada.
Miss Eco Canada 2023 Nikita Dani with her brother Neil Dani.
Peter Mielzynski Jr spoke from the heart and without notes. He commended the Grant’s Desi Achievers for their contributions to Canada.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR CO-SPONSORS
Titus Raje, Sales Manager Canada, and Mesfin Ashebir, Area Manager Canada, Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian Airlines is one of the sponsors of the event.
Courtenay Wint of Black Tower Wines, one of the sponsors of the awards night.
LEADING LIGHTS TAKE A BOW
Pankaj Mehra, Senior Fellow and Governing Board Member, Massey College, and his wife Ritu.
Uttam Chakrabarti of Toronto-Calcutta Foundation.
Dr Vicki Bismilla.
Miss Eco Canada 2023 Nikita Dani.
Dr Asha Pawagi.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER FORMER SENATOR DR ASHA SETH AND PETER MIELZYNSKI, BOARD DIRECTOR, PMA CANADA, PRESENTED THE FIRST SET OF AWARDS
Heidi McKenzie received the award on behalf her husband Ali Kazimi, documentary filmmaker and artist.
Ami Shah, founder, Peekapak.
Andrea Gunraj, VP Public Engagement, Canadian Women’s Foundation.
Anil Arora, Chief Statistician of Canada.
Dr Anna Banerji, founder, Canadian Refugee Health Conference.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER DR CHANDRAKANT SHAH AND PETER MIELZYNSKI PRESENTED THE NEXT SET OF AWARDS
Sarangi virtuoso Aruna Narayan Kalle.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Ceejay Shah.
Deepa Mattoo, Executive Director, The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic.
Diana Alii D’Souza, President, Access Empowerment Council.
Gauri Sreenivasan, Co-Executive Director, Policy and Advocacy, Canadian Council for Refugees.
Malavika Nair accepted the posthumous award on behalf of the family of the late plant researcher Dr Gopinadhan Paliyath.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER CETA RAMKHALAWANSINGH AND PETER MIELZYNSKI PRESENTED THE NEXT SET OF AWARDS
Guri Pannu, Co-Founder ConquerCOVID-19 and community mobiliser.
Agri research scientist Dr Jayasankar Subramanian.
Kacee Vasudeva, CEO Maxtech Innovations.
Kalyan Chakravarthy, CIO, Electrical Safety Authority.
Leila Sarangi, National Director, Campaign 2000.
Prof Ramani Ramakrishnan, world-renowned authority in acoustics, accepted the award on behalf of Dr Muthu Packirisamy, Concordia Research Chair in Optical Bio Microsystems.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER MARATHON SWIMMER MADHU NAGARAJA, PETER MIELZYNSKI AND NAVNEET BHULLAR, GRANT’S BRAND MANAGER, PRESENTED THE NEXT SET OF AWARDS
Hindustani classical vocalist Narendra Datar.
Dr Nav Persaud, Canada Research Chair in Health Justice.
Neeraj Monga, founder Antya Investments.
Neil Desai, Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Parth Patel, founder, Tazwiz.
Prabhu Rajan, Chief Counsel, Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER DR PRATEEK LALA, PETER MIELZYNSKI AND NAVNEET BHULLAR PRESENTED THE NEXT SET OF AWARDS
Sabina Vohra-Miller, co-founder, Sabina Vohra-Miller Foundation.
Sangita Iyer, National Geographic Explorer and documentarian.
Dr Sankaran Krishnaraj, Director General, Service and Program Excellence Directorate.
Seema David, founder, 5n2 Kitchens.
PAST GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER ENTREPRENEUR-PHILANTHROPIST SUDHIR TALSANIA, PETER MIELZYNSKI AND NAVNEET BHULLAR PRESENTED THE NEXT SET OF AWARDS
Shreya Patel, international model, mental health activist, documentarian.
Sougata Pahari, inventor and founder of Korechi Innovations.
Dr Tarlochan Sidhu, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Ontario Tech University.
Vineet Jain, President and CEO, Vision Food Innovations.
MESFIN ASHEBIR, AREA MANAGER CANADA FOR ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES, ANNOUNCED THE GRAND RAFFLE PRIZE…A TICKET TO ANYWHERE!
Mesfin Ashebir, Area Manager Canada, Ethiopian Airlines.
…AND THE WINNER IS…
Mesfin Ashebir and Titus Raje of Ethiopian Airlines present the free return ticket on Ethiopian Airlines to Dr Suman Joseph, winner of the raffle draw.
THE TECH TEAM BEHIND THE SCENES
Nitin Sawant of The Open Space at the controls, with team member Devansh Shah. The Open Space team, which also included photographer Sid Sawant and Ash Verma, were responsible for lighting, audio-visual management and event photography.