SHILLONG, July 21: Sarada Sangha Shillong, a dedicated women’s philanthropic organization, celebrated its Platinum Jubilee by honoring five notable personalities from Shillong and Sohra for their extraordinary contributions to society. The event took place at the Ramakrishna Mission premises in Laitumkhrah.
The honourees include Prabhat Kanti Paul — recognised for his translation of Tagore’s Gitanjali, the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, and Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita into Khasi language; Jahanara Begum — a retired Principal of Lady Keane Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Shillong, honoured for her sincere and dedicated service in teaching and her selfless social services over the last several decades; Bhakti Ksaniang — Assistant Teacher at RKM Higher Secondary School, Sohra, who is celebrated for her vast contributions in teaching and her extraordinary dedicated services to Ramakrishna Mission Sohra; Sona Choudhury — born with multiple disabilities, including deafness and muteness, earned an MA and BEd with distinction and is pursuing higher studies in Indian Sign Language. She has taught at the Deaf and Dumb School in Shillong for about 20 years and is a highly qualified and courageous figure in the disabled community; Shefali Devnath — an ideal mother and domestic help, she overcame extreme poverty to educate her elder daughter to a master’s degree and her younger daughter to graduation, demonstrating resilience and dedication.
In addition to the felicitations, the organisation provided financial assistance to two meritorious but distressed students and one injured domestic help who was struck by a two-wheeler while returning home from duty. Padma Shri awardee Manas Chaudhuri and Swami Hitakamananda, Secretary of Shillong RKM, delivered valuable speeches.