POGO Amazing Kids Awards (PAKA) is celebrating its 10th edition of talent hunt this year. PAKA is India’s first kids’ television awards ceremony that upholds the channel’s tradition of discovering, recognizing and celebrating, the amazingly talented children of India across various categories including dance, music, sports, social service, etc.
It was no easy feat to select one winner from hundreds of candidates across India. Taking up this immense responsibility was a panel of eminent experts within each field. Icon Ayaz Memon judged the sports category, Tobby Fernandes judged the dance category, Salim Merchant judged the singer and musician category, Tathagat Tulsi judged the genius category and Vaibhav Kumaresh judged the artist category. The social service category was judged by Fr. Terrance and the entertainer category was judged by Krishna Desai.
Krishna Desai, Sr. Director& Network Head – Kids, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. says, “Today, PAKA is a recognizable and credible certification for children who represent the very best of aptitude with a very bright future. It is an extremely proud moment for POGO to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of POGO Amazing Kids Awards.”
PAKA 2013 winners have truly done India proud and continue to strive towards excellence:
| CATEGORY | NAME | AGE | REGION | CLAIM TO FAME |
| Artist | Priyanshu Thakur | 14 | Mumbai | Priyanshu is a sculptor whose clay sculptures are often based on abstract figures of tribal people. His artworks have been exhibited at the Spring Creek Art Festival 2013 by The Jones Center, USA. He also participated in the same festival in 2014. Priyanshu also has displays at Nehru Center Art gallery, Kala Ghoda Art Festival, Lavasa Art festival, Prakrit Art Gallery Chennai, Artist Center Art Gallery, etc. |
| Dancer | Vaishnavi Patil | 13 | Pune | Vaishnavi holds several titles: Versatile Dancer, Dum Dama Dum Winner, two time winner of Boogie Woogie, finalist on India’s Got Talent, winner of ETV Super Dancer, 2nd runner-up of DID Little Master and winner of Dance Ke Super Star. |
| Social Service | Guru Vishnu Mathivanan | 11 | Tamil Nadu | Guru Vishnu is an eco-hero and has been leaving his green print from the age of 4. In addition to giving awareness speech about global warming, he has also received many awards for his environmental activities. He has been featured in the kids’ magazine ‘Chutti Vikatan’. |
| Musician | Jacob Sam | 9 | Chennai | Jacob is a pianist from A. R. Rahman’s K. M. Music Conservatory. He started producing his own tunes when he was 4yrs old. |
| Entertainer | Mazin Omar | 13 | Bangalore | Mazin started Beat Boxing when he was 12 years old. His school has been his source of inspiration and encouragement. He has performed in various parties and awareness programmes and his dream is to become the best acapella artist. |
| Genius | Shravan Kumaran & Sanjay Kumaran | 13 & 11 | Chennai | Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran are the co-founders of Go Dimensions. They have developed 9 mobile applications that are available on the Apple application store and have been downloaded by 12,000 users from over 35 countries. The duo have been awarded the Lightning Pitch by IKMC, Percept Achievers Award and HR Infotech Association IT person Award. Peter Haas, Consul General for USA appreciated their effort and exHIBIT magazine has identified them as one of the Top 100 Tech Indians, the only ones under 25 years. |
| Sportsman
Singing |
Aryan Chopra
Sarthak Kalyani |
11
13 |
Delhi
Indore |
Aryan Chopra is currently India No. 1 and Asia No. 2 in Age Group 12 in chess. Aryan won his first International Master Norm at 11yrs. He became Commonwealth Champion in U-10 in South Africa in 2011.
Sarthak has been learning music from the age of 5 and has been a part of musical shows like Indian Idol Junior 2013, Big Kalakaar (2012), India’s Got Talent (2011), Junior Super Star Singer (2010).
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“The fact that we have been able to conduct these awards over the past decade is a testament to the abundant talent in India.” concludes Krishna Desai