Andhra born Krishna Vavilala gets US highest honour
86-year-old Indian-American, originally from Rajahmundry, is recognised with Presidential Lifetime Achievement
Houston: US President Joe Biden has recognised Indian-American and a longtime Houstonian, Krishna Vavilala, with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement (PLA) Award, the nation's highest honour for his contributions to his community and the country at large.
The Presidential Lifetime Achievement (PLA) Awards, led by AmeriCorps, is an annual event held to honour citizens, who exhibit outstanding character, worth ethic, and dedication to their communities. AmeriCorps, an agency of the United States government, engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of volunteer work programmes in many sectors. At a glittering ceremony last week, 86-year-old Vavilala, a Houstonian for the past four decades, was lauded for his lifetime service and achievements by calling him a "Change Maker and Global Humanitarian."
Originally from Andhra Pradesh, Vavilala is a retired Electrical Engineer, and currently, the founder and Chairman of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS), a 16-year-old non-profit organisation, whose signature project "the Indo-American Oral History Project" won the 2019 Mary Fay Barnes Award for Excellence.
"I am deeply touched by this unexpected honour, which is truly a recognition of the contributions of the Indians in Houston," Vavilala said. In 2006, Vavilala established the India Studies programme at the University of Houston, he was also responsible for initiating the India Studies programme at Texas Southern University, early this year.
Vavilala, a strong believer in promoting peace and racial harmony, has participated in several Martin Luther King Jr parades, dressed as Mahatma Gandhi, a trend he started in 2006, to bring Indian and Black communities together and to spread the message of peace and nonviolence, which both leaders, MLK and Gandhi followed.
As a nine-year-old boy, Vavilala experienced the aura of Gandhi in person in his native town, Rajahmundry and later on as an immigrant here proposed and served as the Project Chair of the Gandhi statue project in Herman Park (2003). In addition, Vavilala has also served as a President of the American Society of Indian Engineers, Telugu Cultural Association, Houston and Telugu Literary and Cultural Association.
