Jaideep Rao – Recognised As An Unsung Hero In Bangalore By The Accor Hotels
“Opening our doors to those who take care of our neighborhood.” – read the card that we received from the Accor Hotels, inviting us to be a part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. What was a pleasant surprise is that apart from inviting us to celebrate their big day, they wanted to celebrate some local heroes from their city on this joyous occasion, and one of them was our very own co-founder – Jaideep Rao!
Most of you know that KnowYourStar started off as a website to amplify stories of unsung heroes – the role models that the youth can look up to! So when we heard from the team of Accor Hotels that they wanted to honor us as an Unsung Hero, on the occasion of their 50th anniversary, we were truly humbled. We are so used to being on the other part of the deal, this recognition was truly touching. This recognition was a funny reminder in a way of how one can move on from recognising unsung heroes to being one!
Beautiful Evening By The Blue
We reached the Grand Mercure Hotel in Koramangala on the 19th of November, a breezy Sunday evening. Initially, we were awestruck by the simplicity of their celebration. Instead of jarring lights and noise, we were welcomed by soothing music and a beautiful flower rangoli. While we waited for the other heroes who were also to be felicitated the same evening, we got to interact with the amazing down-to-earth staff of this hotel, over some yummy lemon ice tea.
The actual sweet little ceremony was held at the pool-side. We were welcomed by a thunder of claps from the Grand Mercure Team, an aarti, flower garlands and the auspicious red teeka. The experience was surreal and touched our hearts. During the ceremony we got to learn about the other unsung heroes who were present at the event through some video snippets.
Knowing Our Stars
The 85-year young Pankaja Ma’am who has offered counselling services to over thousands of people over the years; Dr. Sunil Kumar who offers free medical help to the disadvantaged people round the clock with a group of dedicated volunteers; Mrs Swathi who inspires her neighborhood wherever she goes to come together and serve basic necessities to the poor ranging from food, clothes, hygiene products etc; Mr Kumar – a wig maker who has made hundreds of wigs for patients suffering from hair loss due to cancer for free of cost; and last but not the least – Miss Sonam Mittal who founded Azaadi that focuses on supporting people who underwent sexual harassment at their workplaces after her personal experience.
It was a blessed moment, when Jaideep was awarded the ‘Unsung Hero’, a recognition that spoke for the entire team. It’s always a great feeling when your labour of love is acknowledged, and this only serves as a strong push and motivation for us to keep going, no matter what!
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire team of Accor Hotels, and especially to the staff of Grand Mercure Hotel for being such warm hosts and making our day! Special thanks to the beautiful ladies- Pritika Shetty and Umme Hani, who visited us at tent school on Children’s Day and spent some time with our kids, who were thrilled to have them over. Thank you Rayan Aranha and the wonderful staff for the lovely evening. And how can we forget to thank Sagi Sir, who nominated us for this award; thank you very much Sir for your noble friendship, which we value so very much!
Liked reading this? Then you might also like to read Celebrating Our Little Accomplishments On Children’s Day!
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Nice post. I wish you luck as to continue to follow the passion.