Awards never give the complete picture

Fame is a perfume of heroic deeds, said Socrates. The way of acknowledging the special deeds of men has been through awards. Surely it is a way of recognition and also as a way of encouraging the talent to achieve something bigger. But, whether the awards are serving their purpose, whether the deserved ones are getting them and whether the awards are deserved by the recipients is always debatable. There have been some serious errors in selection & some serious omissions. For instance, some literary awards are in the stranglehold of some ideologists who stand for particular ideology that any literary work however genuine and genius it may be, if found contrary to the ideology will score some big negatives for the consideration for the award. Many great literary works of many languages have gone to oblivion owing to this factor. It’s not the story of any particular level of award. It happens in all levels: local, national or international. 

The most prestigious award of India ‘Bharat Ratna’ is sometimes given to inept people (like VV Giri, the former president whose only qualification was that he was the president of India once) or given purely out of political reasons (Like when it was given to MGR of Tamil Nadu posthumously). MGR, except being a superstar in the Tamil cine world had no achievements which could entitle him for the prestigious award. For some reasons, Congress wanted the help of the party of MGR. The easiest way congress found to lure the party (AIADMK) was to offer MGR a Bharat Ratna posthumously. What a wicked way! 

Padma Bhushan

Journalist pimps like Burkha Dutt have got the Padma awards, not to forget her cousin brother (not literally of course!!) Rajdeep Sardesai. We all know what kind of a lobby they make and which party they do the lobby for and knowing that we shouldn’t wonder about the awards given to them. I lost my respect for Padma awards when I came to know Teesta Setelvad had got one of those. Teesta Setelvad is a person who has made fame and a living out of Gujarat riots of 2002. Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was set up by the supreme court reported that Teesta Setelvad had cooked up cases and conjured false witnesses in testifying for the Gujarat riots. This was proved beyond doubts. She has been instrumental in demonizing Narendra Modi. When this kind of a person can get the award, anyone can get any award. 

Jnanapeeth

The literary world of India is in the strong hold of some people who have subscribed to some ideologies (mostly leftist). Their number is so huge that the panel which recommends and selects the literary awards most of it will be with leftist ideology. Any works however brilliant they may be, if found conflicting to their ideology, will never get the deserved award. Else how can one explain a literary giant of kannada S L Bhairappa is yet to get Jnanapeth award? Some leftist writers like U R Ananthamurthy or Girish Karnad got the award decades ago. This is not to belittle their literary capabilities. But the way will be paved easy for the one who is a leftist and termed ‘progressive’. 

We might wonder the credibility of the booker prize after seeing downright nonsensical people like Arundati Roy getting awards. There is an allegation that almost all the Indian authors who have bagged the booker prizes till now (with the exception of Kiran Desai perhaps) have portrayed India and Indian life poorly. Because I have neither read Arundati Roy’s ‘God of small things’ nor Arvind Adiga’s ‘white tiger’, I can’t vouch for this.

Oscar is blind :

Oscar eluded many people who deserved it and has many times gone to completely wrong set of people. One of the greatest directors of all time Alfred Hitchcock, some of the finest actors like Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole never got Oscar. So goes the saying: Oscar is blind. 

Oscar

I wondered how a cheap movie like slumdog millionaire got the Oscar! What artistic values had the film got! I could not find any of them. I felt the director was like a rag picker who picks and looks out for crap and as we know whatever one is in pursuit of, he is sure to find it. So the director found all the craps in India and using that he made a film which got an Oscar. The so-called first world still wants to see India as the country of snake charmers. So, the movie made an ideal menu for the first-world appetite for poor portrayal of India and thus got an Oscar. People would have dismissed the movie as garbage and would have forgotten it but some people tried to immortalize it by giving an Oscar.

So, in the midst of all these issues I am forced to think that awards are not the ideal way to judge a person’s worth and perhaps a person’s capability or worth can never be judged!!