The Asian Woman Awards for Excellence 2008 at Whitehall Palace Banqueting House In Association with Bank of Ireland
Last year London saw the inception of this already prestigious Awards ceremony honouring the work and achievements of ordinary Asian citizens in eight categories and its success followed this year at the second red carpet gala event at Whitehall Palace Banqueting House.
Pukka PR were fortunate this year to have been allocated complimentary tickets to a ‘‘Magical night that will be remembered'' in the words of Brianna Ragel Editor of Asian Woman Magazine and indeed it was an impressive and most enjoyable evening.
Guests received a warm welcome by a bevy of beautiful hostesses lavishing rose petals at our feet and pinning carnations on us as we entered the ‘Undercroft' making us feel like the Queen of Sheba attending a champagne reception.
Dinner under the spectacular Rubens painted ceiling was a lovely experience, tasting dishes from a menu devised by Curry Special while being entertained by Imagin Asian Entertainment and the charming Raghav and then watching the animated Asian Woman Catwalk showcase.
The presenters for the night were Tommy Sandhu and Arti Halai and there was even a video message from the Prime Minister Gordon Brown praising the ‘‘creativity of British Asians'' and sending his best wishes to all concerned.
The Awards presentation in four categories followed with Imani winning the Designer of the Year; Ramesh Sachdev won Businessman of the Year; Nazir Afzal OBE won Contribution to Community and Lord Paul won the Lifetime Achievement Award. After this, the main courses were brought to the revolving crystal-draped centre pieces at our tables and we were further entertained by Ramzi and Serese. Diners were well looked after by staff and hostesses in dramatic black and gold saris in the Main Hall.
This year Crimestoppers celebrating 20 years was chosen and would benefit from funds raised at the Charity Auction led by James Freedman and garlands with attached numbers for the Raffle were also being sold to raise funds.
It was good to see familiar faces and some of the people we know and met during the Awards event who maybe featured in our photos were:-
Dr K.T Lalvani; Manish Sahni and team from Star News UK; Superintendent Raj Kohli and Mrs Kholi; Commander R.Jarman looking dapper in his DJ and Chief Inspector P. Sandhu looking so glamorous as if she'd just stepped off the catwalk, it was nice seeing them again out of uniform and relaxed.
Some of the other guests we'd met were Rishi Rich; Neil Sen and his mother Renu; the elegant Kamla; Tasmin Khan and her sister; Mr and Mrs Zaffar Qureshi; The Lord Paul; Rani Singh and we said a quick hello to Asst. Commander Tarique Ghaffur of Met Police before we took off into the night onto the next event.
We saw many people beavering away and busy behind the scenes to help make the occasion very special and memorable for everyone so, our sincere thanks go out to Asian Woman Magazine for a wonderful evening.
By Amita Chatterji and Gina Chrysanthou © Photos
Please click to view last year's article covering the 07 event: http://www.pukkapr.com/news/view.aspx?id=25
Gina, Superintedent R Kholi, Amita. Mr & Mrs Kholi, Chief Inspector P Sandhu, Commander R Jarman
Renu Sen, Rishi Rich, Amita, Gina Tasmin Khan, Nadia, Gina, Amita
Mr & Mrs Zaffar Qureshi Renu Sen, Neil Sen
Girl band Serese
Gina, Lord Paul, Amita B4u TV Presenter
Amita Chatterji, Gina Chrysanthou