dear all,
i write this mail only to put my observations on national awards in the right perspective. some as my esteemed friends narendra ji and
surkund ji have understood my observations in the right perspective.
my other esteemed friend khanulkar , whom i know personally as a very self effacing personality despite his
illustrious achievements in the communciations field and that is the reason why describes himself as " also CEO of Good Relations"
(he's more popularly known as the CEO of GRI), has unfortunately misunderstood the purport of my message.
my message is in the larger perspective of awards in a society , i have raised the question whether they are
discriminatory or not in a egalitarian society. i have not disputed anyones rightful claim to bharat ratna, least of all
sachin tendulkar, of whom i am also an equally great fan as khanulkar. yes, india is known to the outside world
through mahathma gandhi, indira gandhi ( indias iron lady), and now sonia gandhi, dr abdul kalam and sachin tendulkar.
and so many others.
i have not compared sachin with warren buffet and bill gates, who have built institutions but cited them as examples
as possisble inspirations for their philanthrophic work. yes, sachin is as much a middle class fellow like me and khanulkar or anyone else in the group, paying
his taxes loyally like all of us in the group. yes, but when he sits on a corpus of reportedly rs 1,000 crores and is paid crores for playing and endorsing
products, he is no more middle class like us -- he is super middle class. he drives a ferrari for which as a middle class individual he asked
for remission in import duties (while he had the capacity to pay as one of the members had raised it). he has a fundamental right to ask for it
as a celebrity who has brought honour to the nation in the sporting field and no one can deny it.
the corporate that gifted him the ferari should have understood his position as a middle class individual and had the genorosity and common sense
to pay the import duties in the first place before being goaded by newspaper edits and fans.
when an individual reaches this super rich middle class and a lobby canvasses for him, a section of the society raises questions about
his philanthrophic credentials, because after all coveted awards like bharat ratna are given not just for individual achievements bringing in national honour,
but also for the work done in society. i dont think we can silence this section of society with the argument that sachin is middle class while giving the illustrious
cricketeer the personal right to indulge in philanthrophy or not. both kamalahasan and rajnikanth are very very rich. but rajnikanth is more known for his
philanthrophic work than kamal.
sachin need not be judged on philanthropy for getting the bharat ratna but his cricketing achievements alone as khanulkar rightly points out. i was never on that.
i only raised questions in a contextual manner and not in a consequential manner of anyones achievements to access any awards.
i raised the issue of fiscal crisis and other issues facing the nation not to bring any connect between sachins right to bharat ratna but only to
focus attention on these issues needing resolution as being more important than the lobbies day and in day out campaigns on who should get the
bharat ratna or not.
i would be the happiest person if sachin gets the bharat ratna. but that is not the issue , i only took off on this reference to raise a larger debate
on national awards per se which fortunately narendra ji has rightly understood, a person who has worked in the government for long and been an
advisor to no less than seven prime ministers. he is very much middle class like me , khanulkar , srinivasan ji and lives in a humble abode. he knows the
institution of awards better than me or anyone in the group. he has watched them from the ring side of decision making to actual presentation.
i hope my messaging is understood in the right perspective. do we need awards in a society that claims to be egalitarian -- all are equal in the eyes of god which
gave place to all are equal in the eyes of law ........ all are equal in the eyes of the government????
cheers.
or questioned their claims to any awards.
TN Ashok
Corporate Consultant,
Corporate Consultant,
(Public Affairs/ Media Advisories)
Resident Editor, Industrial Economist,
Contributor, Business Line,
Ex Economics Editor, PTI,
Ex Communications Advisor,
Alstom Group of Companies SA France
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