12 Inspiring Single Women Felicitated at the First-ever Status Single Awards 2024
April, Kolkata: The first-ever Status Single Awards in association with Urvaraa Foundation took place on Sunday, April 7 at The Park Hotel, Kolkata to recognize the inspiring journey and achievements and honor the struggles and scars of 12 spectacular single women in diverse domains. The awards are being supported by Charnock Hospital, Let’s Talk and Alok Foundation, with The Park, Kolkata as the Hospitality Partner.
Spearheaded by best-selling selling author and a woman of indomitable spirit, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, winner of the NDTV Loreal Woman of Worth recognition, these awards stand as a testament to a self-partnered woman’s life and victories.
The 12 single women who were felicitated for their outstanding contributions include the following diverse domains– Dr. Indrani Lodh for Women’s Health. She is also the force behind Urvaraa Foundation. Director of the Birla Group of Schools, Mukta Nain for Education, Elora Sen, Deputy News Editor of The Telegraph for Journalism, Rita Bhimani for Public Relations, novelist and columnist Sangeeta Bandhopadhyay for Literature, Soumita Basu, Founder of Zywnika Inclusive Fashion, for Inclusion, industrialist Preeyam Budhia for Social Entrepreneurship, app cab driver, Dipta Ghosh for Breaking Stereotypes, Director Anindita Sarbhadicari for Direction, Plus sized model and body positivity spokesperson Anindita Roy for Social Media Influencer, VP, Marketing, Medica Hospitals Soma Chakraborty for Leadership.
Swastika Mukherjee will receive the Status Single Icon Award.
The special guests who presented the award were Shilpa Chakravarthy, Kaveri Dutt, Reshmi Bagchi, Imran Zaki, Saira Shah Halim, Sriranjani Joshi, Shaleini Bbiswas, Ujjanini, Jolly Chanda, Debjani Ghosh and Shveta Sharma.
Status Single is India’s first and only community for urban single women presently pegged at 74.1 million–39% of India’s female population and our highest ever demographic. An offshoot of bestselling writer and columnist on gender and sexuality, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu’s first work of nonfiction by the same name, published in 2018, Status Single sky rocketed to the top of the bestseller charts, breaking new ground as a seminal work of female identity, in a nation where marriage and motherhood remain the highest validation of women. Status Single has garnered formidable international attention since 2021 when the community that was earlier operational as a Facebook recognized community group of 4000 women transitioned into an offline tribe spanning 9 Indian cities of Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Lucknow, Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai with international chapters in Canada and Dubai and UK coming soon.
“Urvaraa Foundation which works tirelessly all through the year in raising the bar in women’s health and preventing infertility in the society is pleased to associate with India’s first and only community for urban single women in presenting the country’s first ever Status Single Awards. I have helped many single women achieve their dreams of biological motherhood via IVF and also provide egg freezing facilities, even for women battling cancer. To be a recipient of the first ever Status Single Award for Women’s Health is just as joyous for me and I applaud all the other winners,” said Dr Indrani Lodh.
Debjani Ghosh, the founder of Alok Foundation, registered public charitable trust said, “We have worked with acid survivors, transgenders, sex workers, tribal people, autistic, specially abled, physically handicapped, cancer patients, orphans, street children, jail inmates, rural and tribal schools, colleges in Kolkata, female sports, providing inspirational awards to well deserved, spreading legal and social awareness and emphasizing on human empowerment, moulding the young minds with passion to support others and keep environment clean, health camps, blood donation camps etc. Partnering with Status Single as a single woman myself is a matter of pride.”
Shveta Sharma, Director, Charnock Hospitals, said, “Charnock Hospital is a 300 bed Super Specialty Hospital near Kolkata Airport with a focus on high end Tertiary & Quaternary care treatments like Cardiac Sciences, Neuro Sciences, Gastro Sciences, Renal Sciences, Pulmonary and Organ Transplant etc. having state-of-the-art Infrastructure including 100 ICU beds, Modular OTs, world class German and American medical equipment, Full Time Consultants and Beautiful Ambience. Our motto is Patient First and every care giver at Charnock Hospital strives to give the best care possible. Empowering single women isn’t just about supporting individuals; it’s about nurturing a community of strength, resilience, and boundless potential.”
Sunita Bose, founder of Let’s Talk adds, “When I chanced upon “Status Single”, I realised that the vision of this community coincided with my personal vision. It is a community of single women acting as pillars of strength for each other. I joined this community last year with a lot of apprehension and I found this to be a tribe that genuinely believes in supporting and complimenting other women. We are thrilled to be partnering with Status Single.”
Encapsulating the spirit behind these awards, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu concluded, ‘in recognising the achievements and struggles of these 12 remarkable single women in this first ever awards, we are also establishing our identity as proud single women who are more than their marital status. The awards are reflective of the intersectionality of our community and also proves that single women, stereotyped, slut shamed and having to fight housing discrimination, marital pressures by family and society and workplace biases – are breaking many glass ceilings and walking their own path with dignity and pride.’
