Bharat Ratna – the first sportsman to get - WHO???

I was following with great interest the  recent clamour that the rules for awarding Bharat Ratna be modified to include sportspersons too so that our batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar can be awarded the nation’s highest civilian award.

Who gets Bharat Ratna?

This is the highest civilian award in India, awarded for the highest degree of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service” of the highest order. I will just reproduce(source – Wikepedia) some of the luminaries who have got this award -

·       Mother Teresa, C.V.Raman, S.Radhakrishnan, Amartya Sen, Bismilla Khan, M.S.Subbalakshmi, Bhimsen Joshi just to name a few…

·       Nelson Mandela – only foreign recipient

·       Some undeserving according to me – obviously politicians – MGR(I was surprised that he got it),Rajiv Gandhi,Indira Gandhi…

Now coming back to sportsmen getting this award and the hoopla surrounding Sachin being the first recipient, I have my views on this.

I too am a fan of Sachin ,who has provided joy to millions of Indians, indeed the world, with his sublime batting. More than that, I admire at the manner in which he has handled himself in this immense public scrutiny that the Indian press and viewers subjected him to. No reports or allegations on his personal and professional behaviour in his twenty odd years of international cricket have emerged(in public domain)...

However, despite all these great things attributed to Sachin, I am still unconvinced that if indeed the rules of the game are changed to include sportspersons, Sachin should be the first in the line to get the award.

The one name that comes to mind immediately is that of our hockey great Major Dhyan Chand.  Whether you are a hockey lover or not, anyone who claims to be a sports lover would, or should, know about Dhyan Chand. He was instrumental in the country winning three successive Olympic Gold medals in hockey - 1928, Amsterdam; 1932, Los Angeles and 1936, Berlin. Such was his mastery when the sport was indeed India’s national game, that there are tales of people travelling from different countries to just watch him play a game of 70 minutes.

And while there are many fans who travel to see Sachin’s batting, Dhyan Chand’s accomplishments and stories are already part of the sporting folklore. Consider the following:-

• The most celebrated story of how Hitler, after watching his stupendous performance at Berlin Olympics, offered him the German citizenship and also a promotion in the German army. Of course, Dhyan Chand refused.
• He was called the Hockey Wizard as the ball literally stuck to his stick and used to run circles around the defenders
• I have seen video footages of him playing international matches with bare feet!!!

The points in favour of Dhyan Chand

1)     Dhyan Chand played an Olympic sport and Sachin plays a sport that is hardly played by ten countries

2)     Dhyan Chand is unparalleled in his field (that cut across the countries)while Sachin has a few contemporaries(Brian Lara,Ricky Ponting,Rahul Dravid,Sunil Gavaskar to name a few) who were as good if not better.(not to mention Don Bradman – who many believe is the greatest cricketer ever)

3)     In Dhyan Chand’s case, however, there was no one who came close. In terms of stickwork at least, there have been the likes of our own Mohd. Shahid,the mercurial Dhanraj Pillay or the Pakistani duo of Hassan Sardar and later Shahbaz, but absolutely none had such a magical influence over the game as Dhyan Chand.

So, back to the debate on whether Sachin should get the Bharat Ratna or not? Yes, most certainly. As I said, he merits it ahead of a lot of others who keep getting national awards these days. But should he be the first one? I most certainly think not. Dhyan Chand it should be,FINAL DECISION,LOCK KIYA JAAY ?? :)