Bharat Ratna to Sachin

Seriously, what does bharat ratna stand for? why was that initiated and who were it awarded to during the early years of this nation.
Just a glance of the initial recepients of the highest civilian honor of this nation, gives an idea of what kind of "performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour" deserves it. These are people like Rajaji, CV Raman, Vishweshwarayya, Radhakrishna, Ambedkar, MGR, Nelson Mandela, MS, Satyajit Ray, JP – some of the recipients who I feel, really did something worth calling a human endeavor.

There are issues of highest seriousness that they dealt with, crusaded against all odds, inspired masses, turned the course of this nation, and are responsible for Bharat as we live in today. Issues like rights of the oppressed, framing of the The Constitution of India, politicization and empowerment of people, upholding the heritage of this great land in the form of music, vocal and instrumental, potraying the reality of lives of the wretched masses of this land in the form of alternative cinema, building the temples of modern india in the form of dams and institutions etc…only to name a few.

It is the issues these people stood for, the ideas, the values, the heritage that makes people of this land feel proud about that is to be the deciding factor for Bharat Ratna. I do not mean to say Sachin does not make me proud. Just that cricket is not as real, serious, as life changing, as course corrective of the nation as the issues I spoke above.

Was there a dearth of such people who deserved bharat ratna? Absolutely not. There are people like Dr. Kurien (who could have been awarded but died in 2012) who gave milk to starving children of this nation and also changed the lives of millions of rural women through rural cooperatives (go read about amul), then Dr. Swaminathan who gave us food in the form of Green revolution when this nation was living off wheat donated by the US. Not to forget AB Vajpayee, and many others.

If at all sports was to be included, why not Vishwanathan anand. Its coz nobody watches his game (neither do I). And cricket is more of public show off. Sachin’s award is more about politics. The sports category was included with the aim of awarding Sachin, so that some of crickets show off could be turned into votes. Speaking of cricketers serving the nation, I think they serve themselves primarily and any service to nation is only purely incidental. Anyway, I don’t even think Sachin should be in Rajya Sabha.