DHARAMSHALA, March 27: Jetsun Pema, better known as Amala, was honored with GR8! Golden Scroll at the 13th GR8! Women Award held at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Hyderabad on March 23.
Addressing the occasion, younger sister of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama dedicated the award to all those who had been fighting for Tibet’s cause.
Bollywood actress Sridevi, Tamannah Bhatia and badminton player Saina Nehwal were among the award recipients. The categories under which the Women Achievers of Hyderabad have been selected this year include Art, Cinema, Science & Technology, Education, Social Service, Banking, the Culinary Arts, etc.
The Gr8! Women Awards is a charitable initiative by ‘BETI’ Foundation and have been presented in Mumbai for the past 12 years by Anu and Shashi Ranjan.
“The GR8! Women Awards are a coveted recognition of women of substance and the prestigious trophy that goes with the honor has been taken home by such distinguished women as Asha Bhonsle, Shelia Dixit, Nita Ambani, Aishwarya Rai, Rajshree Birla, Sushmita Sen, Medha Patkar, Mahashweta Devi, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sonal Mansingh, Gayatri Devi and many more,” said Anu Ranjan, founder of the GR8! Women Awards.
Jetsun Pema has worked for the plight of Tibetan refugee children for forty years. As a student spending her vacation in Dharamshala, Jetsun Pema would help her sister Tsering Dolma in taking care of the children of displaced Tibetans working at road construction sites. After her sister passed away, Jetsun Pema took care of Bhusokhang (Nursery) as it was then called and had only 51 students in 1960, the year of its inception. Today, it has grown into one of the largest residential schools in India.
Youngest among the three sisters of the Dalai Lama, Jetsun Pema is a former kalon (minister in the Kashag or the Tibetan cabinet) and she is the first woman ever to become a minister in the Tibetan cabinet.
