PIB News Update: Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (IC) Shr Prahlad Singh Patel met the Kung Fu Nuns today at New Delhi. The Kung Fu Nunsof the Drukpa Order, some of the Himalayas’ most prominent human rights advocates, recently received the Asia Society’s prestigious Game Changer Award in New York on 30th October 2019 for their path-breaking work to empower women and dismantle gender stereotypes in the Himalayas.
The Union Minister congratulated the Kung Fu Nuns for receiving Asia Society’s Game Changer Award for their heroic activism and called them true symbol of women empowerment. The Minister was very much impressed with their tagline ‘BE YOUR OWN HERO’. He said that the slogan is motivating and inspirational for all of us. While interacting with Kung Fu Nuns Shri Patel came to know about the meaning of their first name, The Nuns use Jigme as their first name and the meaning of Jigme is ‘fearless’. The Minster lauded them as fearless daughters of India.
The Kung Fu Nuns represent a new generation of Buddhists who use their teachings to take real action and effect meaningful change in the world by promoting gender equality and environmentalism. With this recognition, the Kung Fu Nuns join the likes of iconic Indian leaders Indra Nooyi, Mukesh Ambani, and Dev Patel, who have also been honored by the Asia Society in previous years for breaking the glass ceiling with their courage and inspiring their fellow citizens.
About Asia Society Game Changer Awards
Founded in 1956, the Asia Society is a nonpartisan, non-profit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Washington, DC and Zurich. The society is dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among people, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Each year, the Asia Society honor individuals, organizations, or movements that have inspired, enlightened, and shown true leadership in areas that reflect Asia Society’s core pillars of policy and business, arts and culture, and education. This year’s Game Changer Awards along with its founding partner, Citi group is honoring women who are applying their unique vision and talent to make the world a better place.
About The Kung-Fu Nuns
The Kung Fu Nuns are the fearless daughters of India who represent a new generation of Buddhists using spirituality to inspire real-life action & impact. They are a strong community of 700 nuns and growing, with a thousand year-old Drukpa legacy. Harnessing the ancient martial art to build strength, promote equality, and improve communities, they are inspiring young girls to break stereotypes and be their own heroes. They belong to the Drukpa Lineage, a thousand-year-old Buddhist tradition that began in the Himalayas. The Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual leader and founder of the Drukpa order, encouraged his nuns to train in Kung Fu to build confidence as leaders. In doing so, he flouted centuries of Buddhist tradition that barred nuns from physical exercise. They are the only Buddhist nuns in the world to practice Kung Fu. The nuns use their martial arts expertise to challenge gender roles in India’s conservative culture.