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Why the awards matter
ANUJ KUMAR
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Some of this year’s Padma awardees echo a common sentiment: they are honoured to be on the list.
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PHOTOS: RAJEEV BHATT, R.V. MOORTHY AND SANDEEP SAXENA
Well deserved: (Clockwise from top left) Lord Meghnad Desai, Jasdev Singh, Hans Raj Hans and Jawahar Wattal.
Like every year past, the announcement of the Padma Shri/Bhushan/Vibhushan awards has not been without a dash of controversy. “Political patronage,” some cried. “Well deserved but a bit late,” say others. Regardless of the con
troversy, some of this year’s recipients repeat a common sentiment: they are all glad and honoured to be conferred with the award.
He is already a Lord but Meghnad Desai is elated to be honoured with the Padma Bhushan. “I don’t think it is late. Whenever it comes, it is welcome,” he says from London. He doesn’t see these honours as a way of bestowing political patronage, particularly when there is no such provision in the Constitution. “Why should everything do so? We have awards for soldiers and for sportsmen. So there should be for civilians. In a sense they are a continuation of the British tradition. India does not have knighthoods and peerages. But just as the U.K. has CBE, MBE, OBE; India has the Padma awards. It does no harm and may do some good.”
Smooth transition
Talking about his switchover from hard core academics to writing about cinema, Desai says the transition was smooth. “I was a cinema buff before I became an economist but I had to retire from my academic life to have the time to pursue my hobbies seriously.” His current projects include a “big” book on India. “It is about how India became a nation and about modernity. It puts Indian history since 1500 in a global context.” As for cinema he has many plans but first he is writing a volume on the history of Hindi cinema with his wife Kishwar.
Melville de Mello’s moving commentary on Mahatma Gandhi’s last journey inspired 17-year-old Jasdev Singh to take up commentary as a profession. Since 1962, he has been bringing the Independence Day and Republic Day ceremonies into our living rooms. Now 22 years after being awarded the Padma Sri, Jasdev Singh has been awarded a Padma Bhushan. “When I got Padma Sri, my name was not recommended by AIR. Later I learnt that my name came from the PMO. Rajiv Gandhi, with whom I worked during the Asian Games and who happened to be my fan, had recommended me.” No, this doesn’t amount to political patronage. “The coolie in the Bangalore station or the taxi driver in New York refused to charge me after they recognised my voice. They didn’t know what I looked like.” He feels it is society’s way of honouring people they love and admire through the government of the day. “Two or three people might get it out of the way or early in their careers but this doesn’t mean the tradition is out of place.”
His compositions create the same frenzy at a discotheque as at a countryside dhaba. He works with Anuradha Sairam and Daler Mehndi with the same zeal. The lyrics of his songs are as popular in Punjab as in Kerala. In short, Jawahar Wattal unifies the country through his music rooted in folk traditions. “The Padma Sri is the result of 25 years of hard work to create a sustainable alternative to film music,” says Jawahar, who has 19 multi-platinum discs to his credit.
Alternative to films
Jawahar, who started by composing advertisement jingles like ‘Fill it, Shut it, Forget it’, says his music worked despite the overwhelming presence of Bollywood. “And I didn’t have the advantage of a multitude of channels to broadcast sleek music videos round the clock. I have worked on Sufi music and bhangra and introduced artistes like Daler Mehndi and Hans Raj Hans but I have also worked on Gujarat’s dandia, Rajasthan’s nathni and the folk music of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. I have worked with the likes of Shujaat Khan, Shubha Mudgal, Hema Sardesai and now I am working with Aruna Sairam.”
Coming from Shafipur, a remote village in Punjab, Hans Raj Hans says coming to Chandigarh was a big thing for him. Today he is a visiting professor at the University of San Jose in California. “I grew up singing at dargahs. I had full confidence in my sur and my guru Ustad Puran Shah Koti.” Hans has been singing at the Wagah border for the last 12 years and roots for Indo-Pakistan friendship. Sufi music has won him many admirers abroad. “Recently I performed at Birmingham and 70 per cent of the audience were white. The influence of Sufi music is catching the fancy of foreigners.” With Bulle Shah as his favourite, Hans says he still loves singing in front of rural crowd in his state. “Woh hawa ka farq pehchante hain. If I miss a note they tell me: you are looking tired, Hans. This is not the case in the metros.”
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