January 26,2010 was not a special day for me, except that yes I did not forget that it was the 60th Republic day of India. As we had not subscribed to Dish network here, we could not watch any new regional movies,songs and interviews that would be shown on TV. It was a normal day for me, till when my friend-Gopan told me that Virendar Sehwag aka Viru, was honoured with the Padma Shri from the Government of India. This reminded me of the fact that every year, this day, famous Indian citizens are honoured with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. Moreover Padma Shri was given to recognize the contributions in the areas of Arts, Literature, Science, Sports, Medicine, Social Service and public life. Padma Bhushan is an award of a higher degree than Padma Shri, and is awarded by the President of India, to citizens who have offered special services to the country, be it in any genre. Padma Vibhushan is the 2nd highest award for an Indian Citizen and Bharat Ratna is the highest.
Well, the moment my friend told me about it, I took the time to google the honoured people this year. I found out the wikipedia link, and started reading the names. Due to my poor General Knowledge, I kept looking for only familiar names. I started off with Bharat Ratna, and there were no recipients this year. The next in pipeline was the Padma Vibhushan. As I was browsing through the names, I found only one familiar name- the pretty lady Zohra Sehgal. She must be 97 or 98 years old now. She still looks pretty. I felt real nice at heart for her, though I personally did not know her.
Jumped on to the next category, Padma Bhushan. Quite a few familiar names- Ilayaraja, Aamir Khan, A R Rahman, Mallika Sarabhai, Kuzhur Narayana Marar and then, I did not know even a single name. Ilayaraja was one of the most deserved person among the list I knew, for his wonderful contribution to the Music industry. He had his own style of composition which always included the harmonium, tabla and more traditional instruments. A R Rahman deserved the honour as he took India to heights by winning Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards ( 2 each) for Jai Ho. I was quite astonished by why Aamir Khan was honoured with Padma Bhushan? Was it because he acted in just one movie a year, and all of them were great hits and many of them were nominated in the Oscars ? Or was it because he showed off less and created very less hustles unlike the other Khans, for media attention? Or well, may be it was simply because he is a better actor, and the only actor who deserved it? To be frank, I have not well accepted that yet, whole heartedly. And I know, one thing- Thank God Shah Rukh Khan did not get it!
With a certain amount of discontent in my mind, I started to check for the Padma Shri award recipients. I again, browsed through for familiar names. Well, I knew that Viru was in it. I started reading the recipients names in order-Rekha, K Raghavan, Resul Pookutty, and OH MY GOD, Saif Ali Khan?, ( I re checked the list to make sure I was on the right list and sadly, I was), Narain Karthikeyan, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh, Virender Sehwag, and yes, the list of people whom I knew ended there. Rekha, personally, I have had no affection towards her. Is it my less passion towards her or is it mere truth that makes me say this- I do not know- but I was like why should she get a Padma Shri? Padma Shri Ms. Rekha- for what? for the ample number of surgeries to stay young? Well, since there was an even worse recipient, I just calmed down what I felt. K Raghavan aka Raghavan maashu, a well know music director. The first song that comes into my mind of his is 'Kayal arikethu'. I truly love all his songs, he is a real maestro. Resul Pookutty, of course had done a real great job in Slum Dog Millionaire for which he won the Oscar too. While I thought Narain Karthikeyan was out of the picture for a while, he came up again just for Padma Bhushan. Saina Nehwal and Vijender Singh have held up India's pride at the 2008 Olympics in China. Virender Sehwag had an outstanding year and was a deserving candidate.
Now while all these thoughts passed through my fast paced brain, my brain could not resist processing one name- Saif Ali Khan-oh it is - Padma Shri Saif Ali Khan. Well, it really sounds funny. Not only does not the title suit his name, but also his name does not suit the title either. When in school, and till recently I had assumed that these honours were given to great people with outstanding contributions, that normal citizens like us have not done. Did Saif Ali Khan get his Padma Shri for having an outstanding, outnumbering list of girl friends? Or did he get it for acting in his recent flick ' Kurbaan', which was another same theme movie on the list? Or is it now that he has finally decided ( or atleast has announced that he would) to settle with one girl friend of his? Well, he himself would have been surprised by the honour. He was humble enough to admit that he was not expecting this award at this young age of 40 ( wonder what would the sports people have to say) and that he did not deserve it (He better do something to atleast keep up the standards of a Padma Shree).Will the Government of India withdraw the award just because he did not expect it? And if my memory goes right-there is a 'black buck poaching' case against the Khans ( Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan), and the case is still pending! What an honour! And if you all remember well, he had also received the National Award for the Best Actor in 2005 for Hum Tum, for no good reason. His mother, famous actress, Sharmila Tagore is the Chairperson of the Censor Board of Film Certification. This had definitely worked out for his National Award as she was in the Jury too. Did this magic (influence) work out again for her son to be honoured with the Padma Shri?
Well, the moment my friend told me about it, I took the time to google the honoured people this year. I found out the wikipedia link, and started reading the names. Due to my poor General Knowledge, I kept looking for only familiar names. I started off with Bharat Ratna, and there were no recipients this year. The next in pipeline was the Padma Vibhushan. As I was browsing through the names, I found only one familiar name- the pretty lady Zohra Sehgal. She must be 97 or 98 years old now. She still looks pretty. I felt real nice at heart for her, though I personally did not know her.
Jumped on to the next category, Padma Bhushan. Quite a few familiar names- Ilayaraja, Aamir Khan, A R Rahman, Mallika Sarabhai, Kuzhur Narayana Marar and then, I did not know even a single name. Ilayaraja was one of the most deserved person among the list I knew, for his wonderful contribution to the Music industry. He had his own style of composition which always included the harmonium, tabla and more traditional instruments. A R Rahman deserved the honour as he took India to heights by winning Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards ( 2 each) for Jai Ho. I was quite astonished by why Aamir Khan was honoured with Padma Bhushan? Was it because he acted in just one movie a year, and all of them were great hits and many of them were nominated in the Oscars ? Or was it because he showed off less and created very less hustles unlike the other Khans, for media attention? Or well, may be it was simply because he is a better actor, and the only actor who deserved it? To be frank, I have not well accepted that yet, whole heartedly. And I know, one thing- Thank God Shah Rukh Khan did not get it!
With a certain amount of discontent in my mind, I started to check for the Padma Shri award recipients. I again, browsed through for familiar names. Well, I knew that Viru was in it. I started reading the recipients names in order-Rekha, K Raghavan, Resul Pookutty, and OH MY GOD, Saif Ali Khan?, ( I re checked the list to make sure I was on the right list and sadly, I was), Narain Karthikeyan, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh, Virender Sehwag, and yes, the list of people whom I knew ended there. Rekha, personally, I have had no affection towards her. Is it my less passion towards her or is it mere truth that makes me say this- I do not know- but I was like why should she get a Padma Shri? Padma Shri Ms. Rekha- for what? for the ample number of surgeries to stay young? Well, since there was an even worse recipient, I just calmed down what I felt. K Raghavan aka Raghavan maashu, a well know music director. The first song that comes into my mind of his is 'Kayal arikethu'. I truly love all his songs, he is a real maestro. Resul Pookutty, of course had done a real great job in Slum Dog Millionaire for which he won the Oscar too. While I thought Narain Karthikeyan was out of the picture for a while, he came up again just for Padma Bhushan. Saina Nehwal and Vijender Singh have held up India's pride at the 2008 Olympics in China. Virender Sehwag had an outstanding year and was a deserving candidate.
Now while all these thoughts passed through my fast paced brain, my brain could not resist processing one name- Saif Ali Khan-oh it is - Padma Shri Saif Ali Khan. Well, it really sounds funny. Not only does not the title suit his name, but also his name does not suit the title either. When in school, and till recently I had assumed that these honours were given to great people with outstanding contributions, that normal citizens like us have not done. Did Saif Ali Khan get his Padma Shri for having an outstanding, outnumbering list of girl friends? Or did he get it for acting in his recent flick ' Kurbaan', which was another same theme movie on the list? Or is it now that he has finally decided ( or atleast has announced that he would) to settle with one girl friend of his? Well, he himself would have been surprised by the honour. He was humble enough to admit that he was not expecting this award at this young age of 40 ( wonder what would the sports people have to say) and that he did not deserve it (He better do something to atleast keep up the standards of a Padma Shree).Will the Government of India withdraw the award just because he did not expect it? And if my memory goes right-there is a 'black buck poaching' case against the Khans ( Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan), and the case is still pending! What an honour! And if you all remember well, he had also received the National Award for the Best Actor in 2005 for Hum Tum, for no good reason. His mother, famous actress, Sharmila Tagore is the Chairperson of the Censor Board of Film Certification. This had definitely worked out for his National Award as she was in the Jury too. Did this magic (influence) work out again for her son to be honoured with the Padma Shri?
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