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A Rotten Apple
Have been contemplating for a while to write a post about the ongoing controversy on the Bharat Ratna, and how our leaders have devalued it by using it as a tool to show personal gratitude to their fellows rather than highlighting the nation's pride in the awardees actions.. And I was also thinking about how the State Awards have become a matter of oneupmanship, where each one is trying to get his/her protege/mentor the award.. And I said to myself : Look what they have done.. What a rotten thing..
And then, events in quick succession sent me thinking : Is it just the country's political leaders who are doing this.. And the answer that I came up with was a stunning NO.. I went over the events of the past few months, and realized that this attitude is deep rooted into all of us, and with regard to every award possible.. There is no point in blaming our politicians for this : after all they come from the society, and represent the society at large.. This apple is rotten to the very core.
7 comments:
Its better thet they ban all awards and let people do whatever good for the joy of doing it !
If we want to indeed recognise their good deeds, it should be by following their ideas !
Hey Piyush and Indira,
Well said and aptly put in words...
But I beg to differ in opinion with Indira on scrapping these awards, but really like what she wrote on people doing good just because they feel like doing it!
;)
To me, the Bharat Ratna should be given only to someone who has clearly done something big enough (in terms of impact) to be called “Bharat ka Ratn”.
Maybe I am wrong but that is what I feel.
:)
Thanks :) And well, human nature says that good work should be rewarded to encourage more people to do good.. So totally scrapping them seems being out of sync with human psychology.
But on the other hand, my angst is not just against the govt for devaluing the Bharat Ratna.. Its against every body who disburses awards to please people rather than honor them.. If this aspect is taken care of, I see nothing wrong in giving awards.. In fact, if conferred with integrity, I am not even against titles..
Hi,
I think scrapping Bharat Ratna isn't a solution. The award should be decide only by a panel of non political persons(how they r selected is another question) not as the Prime minister who is the sole authority to do so now. At least this to some extent avoids politician's being awarded the BR. I was astonished to find that Rajiv Gandhi got one..!!!! that too before Jayaprakash Narayan and Patel... The other thing that shocked me more was Mahatma Gandhi hasn't got one yet !!!!!!!!
Or a better solution would be.. as every field has a prestigious award given in that category... Lets create one only for politics and lets leave it to them to decide :) enjoy madali :)
Karthik, I like your solution of having one category dedicated for politicians.. And then, let them do their dirty tricks within the scope of that award.. That will ensure that the remaining categories are not rendered useless..
But then, the solution once again pertains to the Bharat Ratna.. What about the myriad other awards, being given out by the various bodies countrywide.. I sincerely believe, that an award should be meant to honor people, not reward them.. Unfortunately, as you know, awards, at all levels, have been reduced to a stupid ploy to appease certain people..
It's about time to stop giving out these awards, they mean nothing anyways.
With all the politicking and lobbying going on, I'd tend to suspect awardees of having got theirs through underhanded means. That devalues genuine achievers who may have been awarded through mistake or oversight :)
Good post!
Thanks Karthik (mad-hatter)!!! But then, I am not in favor of doing away with these awards.. I know of atleast one person who deserved the Bharat Ratna this year, not because he's someone protege, but because he has changed the face of the nation..
The man I talk about is Sreedharan, whose contribution to Konkan Railway, Delhi Metro, and now to other 4-5 metros of the country by consultancy is outstanding.. For people like him, we need to retain these awards, so that India can honor her children who do her proud.
But unfortunately for Sreedharan, he may have stepped on some toes while doing his impeccable work, and now, the award has eluded him...
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