Our dance columnist, Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, eminent arts critic, Guru Vijay Shanker received the prestigious Shri Bal Gangadhar Tilak Samman on 23^rd August 2024, at the beautiful Lata Mangeshkar auditorium in Mira Road, Mumbai in the presence of distinguished dignitaries.

The selection committee of World Against Corruption People Council selects individuals in various fields, according to the contribution and outstanding devotion  in their particular fields, that ranges from entertainment, education, business, social service, performing arts, Bollywood etc

Guru Vijay Shanker is a professional Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, dance teacher, choreographer, singer, arts critic, journalist and actor. For more than four decades, he has actively contributed in varied capacities. Besides Kuchipudi and Kathakali performances, he has presented several lecture-demonstrations on Indian classical dances to promote national integration and global peace in schools, colleges, universities, corporate companies and organisations all over India, which has been covered in leading newspapers like The Times of India(Education supplement),Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mid-Daym etc As an actor Vijay played the lead in Malayalam Telefilm “Remanen” produced by Thiruvanthapuram Doordarshan, besides character roles in Hindi<Marathi and English serials and movies.

The distinguished guests of the World Against Corruption People Council were Social Justice and Empowernment Minister Ramdas Athawale, Consul Genenral of Israel Kobhi Soshani, ex Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashwini Choubey, former national general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party, Sanjay Vinayak Joshi, director of Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, Shaitan Singh Pal, Vice-chairman MGNCRE Hyderabad, Dr Bharat Pathak, Dr Jogi Vijendra Nath of Shri Mahadev Mandir Pithadishwar, Delhi, Dr Nandini Pathak, brand ambassador of Swach Bharat,De Subhash Manav , Director of Gramalaya.org and film director Ranjan Kumar Singh. The main torchbearers of the Council are Dr Dr Vijay Bajaj and Dr Jyothi Bajaj.

Several personalities were honoured that included actors Zarina Wahab, Sudha Chandran, mime artist Bhanwari Jhol, Latin and Ballroom dancer and choreographer Sandip Soparrkar, former additional commissioner of police and several other personalities.