Magazine is in its 27th year on the West Coast.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: India Currents magazine, one of the longest-running Indian American publications, was recognized by the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club at its 37th Annual Evening of Excellence Function this past weekend.
Overall, India Currents won six awards that evening, emerging as a big winner at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Foster City, California. The San Francisco Peninsula Press Club (SFPPC) lauded the publication for being led by “a fearless team ready to take on any issue.” Four of those awards were first prizes, one was a second place award, and one was third place.
The first place prizes were in the categories of Editorial, Columns-Features, Feature Story of a Serious Nature, and Analysis.
The first place in the Editorial category was awarded to Jaya Padmanabhan for a piece entitled “Sandberged and Prototyped.” Published in India Currents’ April 2013 issue, it is “an ironical rebuttal to Sheryl Sandberg’s comments and bestselling book about women ‘leaning in.’”
The Columns-Features first place award was split among three writers: Anita Felicelli, Arpit Mehta, and Lakshmi Mani. The award was given for their pieces entitled “100 Years After the Nobel,” “The Supplement Cocktail,” and “The Price of Living Long,” respectively.
“100 Years After the Nobel” is an examination of Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy, a full century after his historic Nobel Prize victory as the first Indian writer to win the award. “The Supplemental Cocktail” is an investigative piece about the vitamin supplement industry, and “The Price of Living Long” looks at how octogenarians live in Assisted Living facilities.
The first place prize for Feature Story of a Serious Nature went to teenager Kavya Padmanabhan, who bagged the award for her piece entitled “The Last Straw.” The SFPPC called it a “well-researched article by a high-school student on depression among teenagers.”
The final first place award that India Currents won was for Analysis, which was awarded to writers R. Benedito Ferrão, Ranjani Iyer Mohanty, Mimm Patterson, Sarita Sarvate, and Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan. The awards were for their articles entitled “The Man Who Wouldn’t be King,” “Heroes Among Us,” “Memories are Made of This,” “Tea,” and Approximating H-4 and Epsilon’s Worldly Possessions,” respectively.
“The Man Who Wouldn’t be King” is about a man who shares a name with Rodney King and the racial implications of that, “Heroes Among Us” is an incredibly moving piece that examines what a family goes through after the loss of a child, “Memories Are Made of This” is about a daughter looking to forge a deeper connection with her mother, “Tea” is a piece about how the author’s experiences with tea helped her discover more about herself, “Approximating H-4” is about the life and mindset of an H-4 visa holder in the US, and “Episilon’s Worldly Posessions” is a story about the items a baby accumulates in its younger years.
In the category of Overall Excellent, India Currents ranked second, with the commendation going to co-publishers Vandana Kumar and Jaya Padmanabhan. The SFPPC said that India Currents was “a comprehensive publication with a compilation of interesting topics, unique angles and excellent writers.”
India Currents claimed third place for Feature Story of a Light Nature, which went to regular contributor Kalpana Mohan. The piece feted was “From the Man Village into the Jungle,” in which she discussed her daughter’s graduation in a way that the SFPPC called “witty, sensitive, and nostalgic.”
Founded in 1987, India Currents is currently in its 27th year of continuous publication. Having been exclusive to the west coast for over a quarter-century, the publication expanded into the Washington, DC market in 2013. Through its Northern California, Southern California, and Washington circulations, it reaches some 172,000 readers each and every month, and has become a vital component of the national Indian American community.