Sindhutai deserves Bharat Ratna, Not Sachin...!!! (full article)

<<  This Article was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now discontinued  >>

A first hand account by Kartavya Dharmadhikari :-

        " Finally the verdict of Aarushi Talwar case is out. The Jan Lokpal bill will be passed any day now. The honourable Supreme Court of India recriminalized homosexuality and the people are hence disappointed . Arvind Kejriwal gave a stunner to the Congress, much like Stone Cold Steve Austin, leaving those stone-hearteds cold. In all the recent state elections, we got to see numbers that this nation had never seen before- all the states having atleast 60%+ voting. Never has there been more gung-ho about any politician of free India than about NaMo. Right from successful space missions to Sachin's retirement, so much has happened in the past few months. It is very evident that young India has started asking for a change in our ideologies altogether...", I said. 

        The "India News" arranged for a special show for 5 weeks. They invited 4 of the most prominent young socialists and activists of Mumbai for an interview each week, followed by a debate the 5th week. I was one of the four. And during my interview, which was broadcasted live, I made the biggest political blunder of  my entire career, antagonizing millions at once...!

        " With so many student movements and agitations across our nation, it is also very evident that young India wants to change the way in which we are looked down upon by the world. ", I said.

        The interviewer joked, " But what has Sachin's retirement got to do with the change in ideologies? The people were so disheartened because of his decision to retire. It's a good thing that he has been honoured with the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna."

        " Who said it's a good thing??? In fact the decision taken by the Government of India in 2011 to change the criteria to allow sportspersons to receive the award itself was inappropriate! ", I said. And there was absolute silence in the studio. God, I shouldn't have said that. What should I say now to back that up? 

        I continued," I fail to understand what are sportspersons and singers doing in the list of independence activists, physicists, philanthropists, philosophers, educators, social reformers, scholars, jurists, economists, historians, engineers and scientists? All these people have done things which have contributed in some way to the betterment of the society. If I am not wrong, Sachin Tendulkar is the only Bharat Ratna awardee who has appeared in commercial advertisements. And also probably the richest of them all." Facepalm, the studio was in Mumbai, and I said something terrible about the Mostestest favouritest Mumbai mulga. Also, Lata Mangeshkar is a Bharat Ratna awardee who also lives in Mumbai. Facepalm again.

        The interviewer asked me, " So what ? And who according to you should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna then?"

        I replied," Let me tell you one of the most astonishing stories ever. SINDHUTAI SAPKAL was born on 14th Nov, 1948 in a small village Pimpri Meghe, Wardha district, Maharashtra. Born in a very poor family, with great difficulty she studied till 4th grade. When she was just 10, she was forced to marry a 30 year old man, with whom she had 3 sons by the age 20. She was well known in her village by then because of her famous agitation against the local mafia on the issues of misuse of the forest resources and collection of dried cow dung. So much so, that the then district collector had to intervene and pass an order. Due to a lot of threats from the mafia, Sindhutai's husband abandoned her when she was little less than 9 months pregnant, expecting her fourth child. She gave birth to a baby girl on a cold night in a cow shed, all by herself. Even her own mother refused to shelter her."

        "Sindhutai survived with her 4 kids by begging on a railway platform. There she realised that there were so many such abandoned/ orphaned children. She resolved since then to take care of all the orphaned kids she ever comes across. As of today, she has adopted over 1050 children, raising all of them as her own !!! Her children include doctors, lawyers, PHDs and some of them have their own orphanages. She has been honoured with more than 272 awards (Ahilyabai Holkar award 2010, etc). Also a marathi movie ' Mee Sindhutai Sapkal ' was released in 2010. "

        " Have you ever met someone, having any level of education, holding any kind of position, having any level of wealth, who could have dealt with so many heart-wrenching problems with more dignity, optimism, compassion and other-orientedness? Sindhutai, affectionately addressed as 'Sapkal Mai ', still fights for her next meal. Bharat Ratna is got to be attributed to contributions and not accumulations !" , I said.

        I did not have to add anything else. After 4 seconds of silence, I received a thunderous applause from the studio audience. And not a single counter question was asked to me after that. Not really that big a political blunder it seems now.

        It's a sad thing that politicians and even the media are so focused on pouncing upon and commercialising innumerous such Sachin Tendulkar retirements. Already there was a petition filed by an RTI activist claiming violation of model code of conduct, since elections in many states were due when the announcement was made to honour SRT with Bharat Ratna, given that SRT is a Congress nominated MP. But which party would have spoken against this decision, when we all know that SRT has got such a hugeee fan base? Facepalm vote-bank politics. After all, India did virtually nothing else during those 5 days of his last test match. By the way, I really do respect SRT for all his achievements. Nothing against him!

        The change in ideology revolves exactly around such important issues- where the people who are supposed to take care of the society are extremely busy doing nothing, while the true heroes are left to fend themselves in the forgotten corners of the world !!

        The future Ain't what it used to be...wait and watch...