The Grihshobha Inspire Awards 2025, held on 03rd November, 2025 at the Bengaluru International Centre, celebrated extraordinary women who have created a lasting impact in their fields. The event honoured fearless pioneers, changemakers, and achievers in fields such as folk arts, governance, public policy, social impact, business, STEM, automotive, and entertainment. The awards recognized those who have redefined leadership and broken barriers in their respective domains.
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L to R – Madhu Natraj, award winning choreographer and art-preneur handing over the Social Impact Icon award to Sunitha Krishnan
The Inspire Awards at Bengaluru captivated the audience and created a warm, collaborative spirit within them. Each winner’s accomplishment was celebrated with much warmth. As each winner spoke, their achievement seemed to build upon the previous winners and a collective sense of belonging and camaraderie permeated within the august hall. This was a coming together of extremely capable and gifted minds driven by a strong sense of commitment and purpose and lifted the spirits of all those present and left them yearning to hear more tales from these trailblazing women achievers. The Grihshobha Inspire Awards was not just another awards night, but a night of sharing, warmth, a sense of collective achievement and most importantly, a platform to inspire.
The host for the evening was the award winning journalist and CEO of Pickle Jar Media, Vasanthi Hariprakash and the evening began with a performance by Ananyaa Gaur, a performer, composer, researcher, and documentarian whose gayiki has resonated with rasiks across the subcontinent.
Among the most celebrated honourees, celebrated actress Ms. Urvashi was honoured as Empowerment through Entertainment – Icon for her contributions to cinema, a strong body of work of more than 750 films, and portrayal of strong and complex characters, and for her versatile performances. Dr. Kamini Rao, received the Editor’s Choice Award for her pioneering leadership in reproductive medicine and advancement of women’s healthcare with compassion and innovation. Dr. Sunitha Krishnan, was recognized as the Social Impact Icon for her relentless fight for justice, rehabilitation and dignity saving thousands from trafficking and sexual exploitation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan, said, “I feel very very humbled, because I think recognizing me is also about recognizing the cause that I’m fighting for.”
STEM
Nigar Shaji, was honoured as STEM Icon. As Project Director of ISRO’s Aditya – L 1 mission, Nigar exemplifies India’s growing leadership in space science.
Other distinguished awardees included Ms. Parvathy Thiruvothu, an actor known for her fearless choice of roles, honoured as Empowerment through Entertainment, Ms. Jamma Mallari honoured as Folk Heritage Icon for dedicating her life to preserving and promoting Oggu Katha and other native art forms. While accepting the award, Parvathy Thiruvothu, said, “Every category that we have seen here, the women who have won, everything that they’ve said has actually helped me in good stead…every aspect of every category has impacted me as an artist to bring my best self.”
In the Sports world, C. A. Bhavani Devi, India’s first Olympian in fencing was honoured as Sports Achiever for her efforts in inspiring a new generation of dream beyond boundaries and Aishwarya Pissay, honoured as Automotive Achiever, as India’s first world champion in motorsport.
In the business world, Neha Bagaria, Founder and CEO of HerKey was honoured as Business Achiever for transforming the landscape of women’s workforce participation and Aparna Thyagarajan won the Editor’s Choice Award for weaving India’s rich handloom heritage into a global movement.
Kirthi Jayakumar was honoured with the Social Impact Achiever for her efforts as a peace educator and gender quality advocate.
Dinaz Vervatwala and Dhivyaa Vikram were honoured as Digital Content Creators. Dinaz, for Health and Fitness for inspiring thousands through her transformative approach to wellness and Dhivyaa Vikram, for being a powerful voice of self-acceptance and inclusivity.
Yashoda Prakash Kottukathira was honoured as Empowerment Through Entertainment. A storyteller with a purpose, Yashoda amplifies regional and women-centric narratives through her films.
Guest of Honor
The guest of honour for the evening was Madhu Natraj, award winning choreographer and art-preneur. The distinguished guest celebrated the winners’ achievements and contributions with her words of encouragement.
Jury Panel
The awards were judged by a prestigious jury panel of distinguished and respected women, including Sathya Saran, writer and former editor of Femina; Shoba Narayan, author & journalist; Suparna Mitra, former CEO of Titan Watches & Wearables Division; Padmapriya Janakiraman, popular Actor, Richa Shah, editor of Champak; Nuriya Ansari, President, Bharti Airtel Foundation; Dilshad Master, Director, Outward Bound Himalaya; and Surabhi Kanga, web editor, the Caravan.
Speaking at the event, Paresh Nath, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Delhi Press, stated, “The Grihshobha Inspire Awards Bengaluru, is our effort to widen the ambit of the awards and recognize decisive women leaders for their efforts in making a mark in various fields. These awards is a tribute to those who refuse to settle for the ordinary, who use creativity and courage to challenge norms and shape the future. In a world overwhelmed by noise, these awardees remind us that true leadership lies in the quiet yet transformative impact of those who dare to speak truth to power and lead with integrity.”
Grihshobha, published by Delhi Press, is the largest read Hindi women’s magazine in India with more than 1 million readers. Published in 8 languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Bangla), Grihshobha is an engaging compendium of articles on home management, fashion, beauty, cookery, health and stories on relationships. For over 45 years, Grihshobha has served as a source of comfort as well as inspiration to its readers across the country.
Delhi Press is one of the most diversified magazine publishing houses in India. Its portfolio of publications includes family-oriented, political and general-interest magazines along with magazines for women, children and rural folk. With 36 magazines in 10 languages, the group enjoys a strong reach in all regions of the country.
