The ceremony was held in conjunction with Asian Pacific Heritage Month, in the East Room of the White House, with President Bush on hand to congratulate the awardees and address a little over 100 Asian Americans invited for the celebration, including Pandithurai's family and Sankar's parents.
The award, an initiative of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, was established by President Bush in January 2003 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a sustained commitment to volunteer service.
Pandithurai, who immigrated to the United States from his native village of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, is currently chief financial officer for the Salvation Army in Texas, overseeing a budget of over $300 million.
When he first came to the US, it was the Salvation Army in New York City that provided him with clothes, support, and a job as a bell ringer in the Red Kettle Christmas Campaign.
He was subsequently hired by the Salvation Army, and has been with them for 32 years. SA's hierarchy recommended him to the White House for the award, saying he has never forgotten the kindness shown to him when he first arrived in this country, and has been a pioneer in organizing several of the organization's activities including its first Indian Outpost to support the immigrant population living in Dallas.
He also helps families prepare their taxes and create financial plans for retirement, and participates in the Salvation Army's annual Angel Tree program; he has traveled to the Gulf Coast to provide disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina, and continues to volunteer as a Red Kettle bell ringer in cities throughout Texas.
Sankar, a student at Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park for the past two years, has been helping students prepare for SAT by teaching math at the Chinmaya Mission of Central Florida. He also teaches public high school students who cannot afford to enroll in a private SAT review course.
As a result of his instruction, students have seen increased academic success and a marked improvement in speed, accuracy and test scores. In November 2005, in recognition of his volunteer service, Sankar received a Governor's Point of Light Award from Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the President's younger brother.
Last year, as a high school freshman, Sankar, scored a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT exam.
"Working for the Salvation Army has been such an honor and a great responsibility," Pandithurai told rediff-India Abroad. "God's hand has been upon our family since I first set foot in this country, and he has brought our family to this level from very humble beginnings."
He described the meeting with Bush "a wonderful and unforgettable experience." Before the formal ceremony, the awardees spent some private time with the President. "He was joking around, and when he found out that I was from Texas, he said, 'I want to come back to Texas'. And I told him, 'The whole country is yours, Mr President, you can pick and choose any city you want!
"He is very, very funny and even during the awards ceremony, he was making some jokes, and so it was so enjoyable.
"When I went to receive my award, he pulled me and gave me a hug, and I felt just great I mean, hugging a president is almost impossible and here he was hugging me, and it was such an unforgettable experience for me. I tell you, I am blessed."
He pointed out that the White House had received over 12,000 nominations for two Indian Americans to be picked, out of the five Asian American awardees, was great, he said.
Pandithurai talked of how he had come to the US for graduate studies, and was pursuing nuclear medicine technology at the New York Medical University and at St John in Queens when he volunteered as a bell ringer with the Salvation Army, and how he was ultimately hired to help with its accounting because of his experience working in a bank in India.
Pandithurai, who holds two bachelors degrees in accounting and chemistry, said he could not complete his graduate work as he began working full time with the Salvation Army. "Can you imagine, when I first landed in this country I started working for them as a bell ringer, and now I handle their finances," he said.
Sankar thought it was "pretty cool" to get to meet the President. "After all, he is the most powerful man in the world."
Sankar said volunteerism was something "my parents always encouraged me to do. The community is so important, and who you are as an individual, and it says so much about you and contributes so much to your character.
"So if you have the opportunity to give something back to the community, it's always a good thing, and my parents encouraged to volunteer as soon as I could and it's always been a good experience."
His father Shan Shankar was born in Tirunelvelli in Tamil Nadu, and is a pharmacist; his mother Girija was born in Mumbai though her family too is from Tirunelvelli, and works as a registered nurse in the bone marrow unit in Florida Hospital in Orlando. The couple immigrated to the US in 1984; they have one other son, Shyam, 24, who lives in California.
Sankar, who has been receiving a lot of media attention since the White House event and was featured prominently on page one of the Orlando Sentinel, said he likes to keep a low profile. The media attention, while "interesting, is a little awkward", he felt.
Both awardees debunked the contention that the Indian American community continues to be clannish and does not participate in mainstream activities, particularly volunteerism and civic duties.
"I know a lot of Indians who are volunteering, especially a lot of Indian doctors in Texas," Pandithurai said. "There are many Indians who are volunteers even in the Salvation Army. They may not be shown up as much, but there are many of them participating in volunteer activities."
Sankar pointed out that when he first started taking SAT classes, he was being taught by an Indian American volunteer at the Chinmaya Mission, Ashok Vyas, an engineer with Siemens Westinghouse.
"By 9th grade, I was already getting perfect scores in math, and so I started to teach a separate group of the class by myself and that's how I got started. Later, I started volunteering by tutoring students at a local public school."
Sankar said he was aware of several Indian American students who were volunteering as tutors and mentors, and urged more to do so.
"It's very important that more Indian American kids with math and science skills volunteer, because it's important to help others around you. Besides, it feels good, and it's beneficial to others in such an important way -- and so it's something lots of people can and should do."