Deshmukh, Patil, Joshi receive lifetime award

Nagpur: Acknowledging the immense contribution towards service to the society, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari presented the Warud Parisar Lifetime Achievement Award to noted medical professionals Raju Deshmukh and Surendra Patil and popular theatre artiste Madhu Joshi.
The ceremony, organized by Warud Parisar Mitra Parivaar, Nagpur, was held at Chitnavis Centre on Saturday.

The core committee member of the organization and former MLC Girish Gandhi, mayor Nanda Jichkar, Katol MLA Dr Ashish Deshmukh, former minister Anil Deshmukh and director of South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC) Deepak Khirwadkar were seated on the dais.

Speaking to TOI, orthopaedic and director at SureTech Hospital Deshmukh said, “I am honoured to receive this award, but appreciation and love bestowed by the people matters the most. I strongly believe in fair play, honesty and commitment to my profession. I think this has helped me garner some respect and trust of my patients.”

Being referred to as a ‘young old man’, theatre personality Joshi expressed his joy for taking cognisance of his work. He said, “It’s not easy to guess that I’m in my eighties. I still feel quite active and energetic when it comes to my passion. I’ve dedicated my life to this field to promote theatre culture in the country and trained new talents.”

The third awardee, Patil, could not attend the function due to some emergency.

Speaking about the purpose of the award, Gandhi said, “We want to felicitate compassionate people who have come from the region of Warud and its surrounding talukas who believe in empowering the society as a whole. This might also be a doze of motivation for others and encourage them to do better in their respective fields.”

Jichkar said, “Despite landing in different places, one never forgets the roots. This is a great way to bring the people from the same region under an umbrella and know about their significant achievements.”