The Bitein awards Nite Season Two took place at the banquet hall of Melhua -The Fern on the 9th day of the 10th month of the 11th year of the century. It was a fitting encore to the innaugural awards that happened on the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10thyear of the century. Season Two saw the introduction of the UG and PG awards by nomination. A total of 11 awards were given away and it included the 8 general category awards, the 2 nomination awards and a corporate award.

The evening kickstarted at 8.00 pm with the musicians setting the tone with a couple of lively numbers. The guests were welcomed by Dr. Ramesh Shankar and Dr. Ilhaam Sheikh who coordinated the evening with great élan and poise. Immediately after the welcome Dr.A.Kumarswamy was invited to introduce the concept of the Bitein awards and share the evolution over the past year and then unveil the BITEIN trophies. After the introduction, the first award in the category of Continuing Dental Research was awarded to Dr. Dinesh Daftary for his dedicated service over the years in oral cancer research. Dr. Dilip Pol handed over the award. The next award for Academic teaching was awarded to Dr. Neelima Mallik by none other than Dr. R.P.Nayak who was a recipient the previous year in the same category. The awards were interspersed with excellent music scores by the eight man orchestra. Dr. Mona Kakar opened up the vocal renderings with a lively R.D.Burman composition. One of the highlights was the brilliant number presented by Swapnil Karnik a tremendous young talent on the Indian music scene.

This was followed by the Beyond Dentistry award which went to Dr. Mayuri Panse for her exceptional success in wildlife filming while maintaining a dental practice. Mayuri was in Los Angeles and could not return in time but was very much present at the awards nite with a live video conference and expressed her thanks and excitement at recieving the award. Fittingly presenting the award was Ms Shruti a leading model and Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani. Dr. Sibi Xavier was the awardee for publications and received it from last years awardee Dr. Anil Arora. The doyen of ENT in India, Dr.L.H.Hiranandani graced the occasion for a brief period.

The corporate award for the year was given away to Ultradent. Mr. Nicholas Sondaz who flew in from Kuala Lumpur and Dr. Girish Narayanan received the award from Dr. Ramesh Shankar. The next was the UG awards. Dr. A Kumarswamy was called up to announce the winner from among the five nominees who had gone through an elaborate process to be nominated. The five nominees Ms Purva Bakshi, Mr. B. Krishna Prasanth, Mr. Rushil Dang, Ms Smita Kumar and Ms Priyanka Dalvi received a plaque of appreciation. Mr.Ramchandar Nanda was then invited to announce the winner from the top five. The award went away to Ms Priyanka Dalvi. The songs presented between the awards were a set of foot tapping Shammi Kapoor numbers.The next award for administrative finesse was given away to Dr. Shailesh Lele who unfortunately could not be present as he was away in Philadelphia pursuing some management seminars. His wife, Dr. Gauri Lele, received the award on his behalf from Dr. Ashok Dobhle.

Dr. Paresh Thakkar received the dental entrepreneur award which was given to him by Mr. Raj Grover, a very enterprising young entrepreneur currently involved in creating a chain of teaching institutions in India. This was followed by the clinical dentist of the year given away to Dr. C.R.Suvarna for his amazing clinical work. He received the award from none other than Dr. Ajit Shetty who was the recipient for the same the previous year. The entertainment he then took an upward turn with some amazing numbers being belted out by Ms Amy from Bangkok who kindly consented to sing Hindi songs and she got everyone to get on their feet and dance away to the tune of Kajra re and Sheila ki jawani and Munni badnam.

Dr. Dinesh Jain was the recipient of the Technicians award with his amazing dental laboratory set up in Bandra. This brought the last award of the evening which was the PG award. Once again, Dr. A.Kumarswamy was requested to call all the nominees on stage. Dr. Suniana Jodka, Dr. Sachin Shivnaikar, Dr. Akshay Dhoble and Dr. Tejas Melkote who had traveled from various parts of India received their plaques of appreciation and then Mr. Ramkrishnan Iyer was called up on stage to announce the winner, Dr. Tejas Melkote.

The awards Nite was accompanied with an art exhibition by an upcoming young artist Swati who had nine pieces on display. The exhibits were very well appreciated by the invitees. The evening was accompanied by drinks and dinner. An evening enjoyed by one and all. A big thanks to Colgate, M & M Dental, Ultradent, Prime Dental and 3M Espe for the support provided. Special thanks to Levis for making it possible for us to have a “DENIM BITEIN AWARDS NITE"