The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, Inc. (The Kerala Center) celebrated its 33rd Annual Awards Dinner at the Center’s auditorium in Elmont, NY on Saturday, October 25, 2025. The Center honored seven individuals who made notable contributions in their professions and to the society with their selfless dedication.
This year’s honorees and their categories of recognition were: Inspector Shibu Madhu – Govt. and Public Service; Diya Mathews – Legal Service; Priscilla Samuel – Nursing; Jayan Varghese – Pravasi Malayalam Literature; Koshy O. Thomas – Community Service; Nandini Menon – Education; and Joharath Kutty – Engineering. The keynote speaker was Dr. Suresh U. Kumar.
The program commenced with introductory remarks and welcoming of the emcee Daisy Stephen Pallipparambil, by G. Mathai, Trustee and Program Chairman.
The American National anthem was sung by Bailey Stephen and the Indian National Anthem by Amisha Jaimon. President Alex K. Esthappan welcomed everyone and provided a brief description of the activities and goals of the Kerala Center.
ADVERTISEMENT
New York Senator John Liu, Assemblymembers Michaelle Solages & Edward Braunstein, former Senator Kevin Thomas and North Hempstead Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava, were the dignitaries present to felicitate the honorees and present awards.
Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of the Trustee Board and Award Committee member, introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Suresh Kumar. In his speech Dr. Kumar talked about the concept of Indian Civilizational Intelligence that has the potential to propel India to be a number one or two economy of the world.
The Board and Award Committee chairman Dr. Madhu Bhaskaran explained the process of selecting the awardees prior to the award presentation. In addition to the Kerala Center awards, Assembly members presented their own certificates and proclamations honoring the awardees.
The Kerala Center Executive and Board members Raju Thomas, Abraham Thomas, Mathew Vazhappally and John Paul coordinated the event. Indian classical dances were performed by Chandrika Kurup’s Noopura School of Dance.
Associate Secretary Mary Philip concluded the ceremony with a vote of thanks to honored guests, awardees, sponsors, photographers, audience and all who worked to make it a successful event. Dinner was catered by Spice Gardens.