“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honours and remembers.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy on the event of dedication of a library to Robert Frost in 1963.

Its been 7 years since anybody let alone an Indian was honoured with the nation’s highest civilian honour – the Bharat Ratna. Is it an indication of the lack of the men of quality that we produce or is it a shameful reflection of our blatant failure to honour the men who have done us proud. Not that there has been a dearth of men who have served the nation and made it proud in the last few years. The last person to be bestowed with the honour was former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and there has been this huge void after that. It would be highly unfair to say that Indians haven’t been performing at that level that is required to gain the recognition of the poitical big wigs of the nation who decide who is worthy of a Bharat Ratna. There were quite a few names that were thrown up in the run-up to this years Presidential Honours on the 26th of Jan and there were two names most prominent amongst the list, that of former Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee and Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar. Why were the two of them denied the chance of being anointed with India’s highest civilian honour, is it because they didn’t match any set criteria, if so who sets the criteria…these are questions that ought to be answered by those policy framers of India who in the end sadly decide who is fit for national hours. A. B. Vajpayee was one of India’s most successful Prime Minister, under whose reign we almost managed to develop more than what we did under the Socialist and Fabianist Congress reigns of decades and Sachin Tendulkar, leaving aside all my love and affection for the man is a cricketer par excellence who needs to only answer himself and not any dumbass critic who is jobless and thus pokes a comment at the master. Atal was the man under whom India first touched heights of economic growth under whom we managed to push the wretched inflation below 5% and push our economic growth above 7%. Sachin is the man who has seen India through various critical moments in the lush green arena with his bat doing the talking slated in the 22 yard strip of dust. These two men APPARENTLY didn’t deserve the highest honour that the nation reserves for its citizens who have served the nation par excellence and better than the rest…..Reasons anyone???

P.S: This one is not for my friends who are aware of my love for Sachin and can do nothing but mock at my discussion of him deserving the honour, say whatever you want he is right up there and not you.

Srini