Many a times we read about some personalities being bestowed with awards and/or rewards and these may be by State, National, International bodies or Governments. The recognitions are for their contributions to arts, sports, sciences, films etc. The awards may be politically motivated or influenced or for other considerations. This is a grey area.
There are 4 categories of persons who are awarded.
1) Persons who are awarded only once in their lifetime and forgotten even if they do remarkable work later on.
2) Persons who get more than one award. Perhaps, the first award acts like a magnet and subsequently attracts the others. For example, a person who has already been bestowed with Padma Shri, could be given Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibushan and may be even the Bharat Ratna.
3) People who are awarded when they are so aged that it does not make any difference to them. Had they received due credits during their prime of their lives these would have been helpful in their career.
4) Awards that are bestowed posthumously do not serve much purpose and is an insult to a person who was not appreciated or recognised during his/her lifetime. It is good if these awards have some financial gains for the family else the citations may lie in a cupboard and be forgotten.
Any awarding bodies or governments need to have a procedure in place that a person who has already been awarded should not apply nor be nominated for another award. There is no need to keep adding feathers to their already overcrowded cap.
No one person would be so exceptional or brilliant enough to get several awards for the same kind of work or contribution. There are hundreds of deserving and unsung people who also deserve to be awarded and rewarded.
SRIDHAR D’IYER, Caranzalem
