ABOUT DEVI AWARDS

WOMEN'S AWARDS FOR DYNAMISM & INNOVATION

The Sunday Standard hosted the 11th edition of the Devi Awards in Mumbai on November 13, 2017. This was the first time that the Awards travelled to Maharashtra. Twelve women achievers, from diverse fields, were selected from across the state for the Awards, which were presented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. In his address, Fadnavis praised the Devi initiative for the public recognition of women's efforts around the country and the role it was playing in bringing about gender equity in society.

Our winners have been chosen through a rating process conducted by the senior editorial team of The Sunday Standard and an independent jury, using transparent methodology. The rating process runs true to the Group motto of 'Favour None, Fear None'.

The Devis

Anita DongreFashion Designer & Craft Revivalist

Divya ThakurCreator & Curator of Indian Design

Divya Thakur

Passionate about retaining the soul of Indian culture in the contemporary, Divya Thakur is a designer on a quest to use her intuitive and skills to create, curate and educate. In 1999, she founded Design Temple, a multi-disciplinary design practice, which speedily garnered a portfolio of award-winning projects in Identity and Publication Design, Motion Graphics, and Spatial Design. In 2006, she shifted the studio’s focus from services to retail, and launched everyday products with a witty take on contemporary India. Redefining it over the decade as a luxurious brand for exceptional home objects. Along the way, it became apparent that little was known of India’s equation with design, both within and outside the country. Empowered with the belief that museums are eternal mediums of education, Thakur began curating design exhibits to create awareness and empathy. Her first show, in 2004, was ‘India Indigenous’ at Loggia dei Mercanti, an ancient marketplace in Milan. It showcased Indian ingenuity through indigenous examples of product, graphics and fashion design. In 2007, V&A Museum, London commissioned her to do a show on ‘Urban India’. Here, Thakur put the spotlight on the five ‘Soft Powers’ of contemporary India that are playing a pivotal role in redefining Indian identity—IT, Food, Film, Fashion and Design. Some years later, she did another show at Millesgarden Museum, Stockholm where she presented India’s own history with design, working with objects from the past and present. Meanwhile, the desire to do something on home ground kept growing and, in 2016, she curated two shows. ‘Objects Through Time’, at the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vaastu Sanghralaya, explored the domestic design landscape over the last 100 years, while ‘Ideas Through Time’, presented eight concepts culled from Ancient Indian scriptures that can be considered for the world of design even today. The two shows became the first of their kind on Indian soil and attracted over two lakh people from all walks of life.