The event was organised by the Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha.
The Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha marked the 70th Independence Day by felicitating widows of six martyrs from the Maratha Light Infantry.
Lt-Gen Vishwambar Singh, General Officer Commanding, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa area, said, “We must be proud of the rich culture and heritage of India. A nation’s power is not just about hard military power, but about Gross National Power, which is more wholesome because it not only consists of economic and military power, but also the cultural and traditional values of a country, its ethos, which binds a country together.”
The widows of the martyrs were given Rs 2 lakh each. Reshma Dhavale, 23, whose husband Sepoy Kisan Ganesh Dhavale was martyred in January, said, “I wanted to become a police officer but now I’m going to do all I can to make my husband’s dream come true, of making my son, who is a year old, an army officer.”
Anjana Ambore, 24, wife of Sepoy Bhagwanrao Balaji Ambore, who was also martyred in January, said, “I’m very proud of my husband and now am determined to invest myself in social work, especially for children who have lost their parents.”
An ‘India at 70’ exhibition displaying 70 unique facts and makers of independent India was inaugurated and will travel to schools and colleges across India from August 20. After concluding a 6-km Freedom Run, consisting of students from across colleges in Wadala, there were performances by students of SIES school and the sabha’s own dance school.
