Bharat Ratna for Sachin? Greatness needs no sarkari certificate

Does greatness need sarkari certification? Would Sachin Tendulkar be any lesser than what he is without a Bharat Ratna? In an ideal world, the answer to both would be in the negative. Greatness is a property which shines on its own; requires no crutches to stand on; or needs no official recognition to get bigger. That’s what makes the whole debate over Sachin being awarded the country’s highest civilian award look so unnecessary. The government has gone the extra mile to accommodate the wishes of the cricketer’s fans. It has modified eligibility rules to include sportspersons in the category of achievers. Earlier, the award went to people excelling in the fields of art, literature, science and public service. [caption id=“attachment_158454” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“It is always nice if a sportsperon gets a recognition of this kind. Reuters”]  [/caption] “Instead of the fields of art, literature, science and public services, now on November 16, government has notified that for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour Bharat Ratna could be awarded…For me as a sports minister this is one of the biggest days of Indian sport and next biggest day I think will be the day when any sportsperson is named as an awardee of Bharat Ratna,” said an ecstatic Ajay Maken, Union Minister for Sports. He mentioned hockey legend Dhyan Chand and Sachin as strong contenders but said the award was open to other sport too. It is always nice if a sportsperon gets a recognition of this kind. But let us not be unmindful of the uncomfortable questions it could raise or and the nasty controversies it might lead to. For starters, how do you compare greatness? Is there a way to measure excellence in, say, hockey and compare it with excellence in cricket? How do you weigh greatness in art against greatness in any sporting category? Is there a way to compare greatness in two different eras? Chess prodigy Vishwanathan Anand is definitely as big as Sachin, if not bigger, in his field. It is impossible to measure singer Asha Bhosle against the cricketer with the bland yardstick of achievement. And there is simply no way you can compare Sunil Gavaskar with Sachin — they belonged to different eras and both faced challenges unique to their periods. Such comparison is an insult to the greats and their achievements. If Bharat Ratna makes one of them greater than the other, then there should be no Bharat Ratna at all. And just imagine the tasteless discussions the exercise could end up in. Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has already suggested that Sachin be considered for the award. The clamour is expected to get louder in the coming days. There are demands in some parts of the country to confer the award upon hockey genius Dhyan Chand too. Given the penchant of people to take sides in such discussions it could end up being an ugly affair. Don’t be surprised if the greats turn into political footballs. Moreover, the popular craze for cricket is certain to overwhelm all other sport and prejudice selection. If a cricketer bags the award, it sends a wrong message to players in other sport. It is they who need official encouragement; cricket is big and can manage without the government. It’s not an easy choice to make for the committee short-listing awardees. There are bound to be controversies and sullen faces. It’s better to scrap one Bharat Ratna altogether and create awards for different categories on the lines of the Nobel prizes — Bharat Ratna for sports, Bharat Ratna for public work etc. That will make the playing field more level. But ultimately such awards mean little to the men under consideration. Greats will stay great even without official recognition. It is their unusual talent and the popular acknowledgement of it is that makes them what they are. They need no crutches to stand on or no government stamp of approval. If the recognition for Sachin comes at the cost of the dignity of other greats and a lot of unpleasantness, he should say ’no thank you’ beforehand.