Congresswoman Jayapal, others feted at Indian American Kerala Cultural & Civic Center event

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Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, who was presented with an award by the Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civil Center, took the limelight at the Nov. 4, annual awards gala held at the World’s Fair Marina in Flushing, N.Y.,

The IAKCCC  honored six Indian-American Malayalees for their outstanding achievements in their field of specialization or for their service to the society at its 25th Anniversary (Silver Jubilee) Awards Banquet. The Center also honored five of its pioneers with Silver Jubilee Year Life Time Achievement Awards.

India’s Consul General in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty, who was the chief guest at the event, later tweeted a photograph of himself with Jayapal at the event saying, “Great interaction with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, from Seattle, the 1st Woman Indian American to be elected to the US House. @CGISFO.”

Rep. Jayapal retweeted that message adding, “Pleasure to meet you at Kerala Center gala, Ambassador @CHAKRAVIEW1971. Look forward to working together!”

“Kerala Center has been honoring outstanding achievers since 1991 and every year we invite nominations and the committee has to make a unanimous choice for a candidate in a category to receive the award and this year is no different from previous years in terms of their achievements,” Kerala Center President Thambi Thalappillil, said in a press release.

This year’s honorees were Rep. Jayapal, who received the award for Political Leadership; Attorney Appen Menon, a partner at Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs LLP law firm in New York for contribution in Legal Services; writer Dr. Sheela N.P. for Literature; Dr. A.K.B. Pillai for Humanities; Community volunteer Sheela Sreekumar for Community Service; and Ginsmon Zacharia, for achievement in Media.

The 25th Jubilee Year Life Time Achievers who were recognized at the event included Shanti Bhavan Founder Dr. Abraham George; Industrialist, Founder and Chairman of Sami-Sabinsa Group Dr. Muhammed Majeed; Philanthropist Sreedhar Menon; Columbia University Professor P. Somasundaran and Entrepreneur Dilip Varghese.

In the last 25 years, 140 achievers have been recognized by the organization, according to Founder and Executive Director of the Kerala Center, E.M. Stephen.