Is Sachin Tendulkar Getting Bharat Ratna Because Cricket Is So Popular In India?

Sachin Tendulkar will become the first sportsman to get India's highest civilian award - Bharat Ratna. I personally do not follow cricket and have always treated every sport equally. I used to play Badminton and can tell you for sure that it's equally (or more?) exciting than Cricket. However, unlike Cricket, it's not just as popular. The same goes with a large number of sports which are played in India.

Sachin Tendulkar has been an exceptional cricketer throughout his career and has been responsible for gross entertainment of people whenever he played. Sachin could be a great start to start awarding Bharat Ratna to sportspersons; but I'm sure there have been several great players India has produced, in other sports & games, who've done equally great job.

I'm curious to know what are the parameters on which Sachin was chosen to be eligible for Bharat Ratna (sans his popularity & popularity of cricket)?

PS: A relevant debate could be : Shouldn't the highest civilian award be given to people who've selflessly contributed to overall betterment of human race?

PS I: Shouldn't Ratan Tata & Narayana Murthy (Businessmen) also receive Bharat Ratna?

PS II: If Sachin is eligible for Bharat Ratna, why not Shah Rukh Khan (Film Actor)?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Replies

  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    Major Dhyanchand is one name. Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy, Vinod Khosla, Laxmi Mittal, Indra Nooyi. They brought revolution in their fields.
  • Ajay Pandey
    Ajay Pandey
    Just I was thinking,Why gov awarded " Bhart Ratn" to Sachin? Sachin started his career wn he was 16 year.
    "Visvnathan Anand" got title 'International Master ' at age 15 .At the age of 16 he became "national chess champion". He won World championship 5 times and more success stories.....
    "Dhyanchandra" a greatest indian hockey player won 3 time gold medals in Olympic .
    A list of such gratest players like Milkha singh,PT usha many more .... that r deserve for Bhart ratn but they did't get. Only few countries play cricket but other games like chess, BADMINTON,hockey appreciated all over world.
    I know Sachin deserve for
    "BHARAT RATN". but I think decision taken so early and everyone know its for a political profit .Question is why Gov doing partiality with other game's players? ..........
    And also question about way of "bharat ratn" distribution. Gov should be give 'bhart ratn' every year like Nobel award by identify great personality and also a institutions who creates India like ISRO , TATA TRUST,INDIAN ARMY and many more.
    I hope .........they will do.........
  • lal
    lal
    That sure is one reason. Cricket is a sport that is very popular in India and has influenced many millions. Above that, Sachin Tendulkar is one awesome sports person who has influenced many more millions who don't even care about cricket. Everyone agrees that there is nothing wrong in awarding him the Bharat Ratna. He deserves it.

    But clearly, he isn't the only sports person or any person who deserves the prestigious award.
  • Pensu
    Pensu
    Of course, everyone knows it's being done for political points, but that doesn't make Sachin Tendulkar any less deserving. We don't have a category for sportsperson in Bharat Ratna, and that's the reason none of the other legends like Dhyaanchand, Milkha Singh, Anand etc. didn't get the award. But that's not a reason to boo Sachin, he gave 24 years of his life to the country, proved India's dominance in the world and he deserves every bit of it. If there was a category for sportsperson in Bharat Ratna, Sachin would have got it, hands down!

    The point is govt is trying to score political points and that's why they are giving the award to him. It would have been better if they had made a different category and start with Sachin, it would have open possibilities for others too.
  • Saandeep Sreerambatla
    Saandeep Sreerambatla
    I logged in to CE to check if there is a discussion on this and here it is right in front of my eyes!

    I am not being emotionally blind, but what makes a candidate deserving for a award called Bharat Ratna? The whole bharat is watching TV when that guy is talking, the whole bharat is in tears when he left the ground. Whole India , TV channels and newspapers were talking only about Sachin.

    He is an exceptional performer and also off field he is too good in charitable activities.

    He should be a deserving candidate for that award.

    Question 1 : I think Sachin has set his life as an example in chasing his dreams and achieving what he wants to be, and his personality are examples of great. So I think he did a betterment to human race in his own way.

    Q3: Comparing apples to oranges.
  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar
    Isn't Sachin, a main factor of making cricket popular in Bharat (India).
    I believe Govt should give more Bharat Ratna from all the sectors including business.
    Most of the names already given here I can Jayprakash Narayan (person reformed the political field ).
    Ratan Tata is no doubt the most deserving person for this.
  • avii
    avii
    Nayan Goenka
    Narayan Murthy, Vinod Khosla
    Tell me what makes Narayan Murthy to get this award.

    and last time I checked, there weren't many contributions from Vinod Khosla to India.
  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    Last time i checked, Narayan Murthy founded Infosys. From a seed of ₹10,000 it is today one of the biggest IT company in the world. And all in India. So that makes him pretty eligible.
    Vinod Khosla has made name as an Indian in IT domain. I think maybe his company is not set up here, does'nt mean he didn't contribute to India's name. He is one of the few people of IT industry that make the face of India look like, "Yea we own this domain". I guess I don't have to go in stats now.
  • avii
    avii
    Nayan Goenka
    Last time i checked, Narayan Murthy founded Infosys. From a seed of ₹10,000 it is today one of the biggest IT company in the world. And all in India. So that makes him pretty eligible.
    No, still it does not make him eligible. And how does it matter with what amount of money he started?

    Nayan Goenka
    Vinod Khosla has made name as an Indian in IT domain. I think maybe his company is not set up here, does'nt mean he didn't contribute to India's name. He is one of the few people of IT industry that make the face of India look like, "Yea we own this domain". I guess I don't have to go in stats now.
    How Vinod Khosla has made name as Indian in IT domain make him eligible? Thats not even correct argument. Its like saying since Alan Turing was born in India, India is face of Computer Science.
  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    With what money it started matters a lot. Ratan TATA is a revolutionary businessman, but still he had backing of a well established TATA Legacy. He took company to greater heights. And at that level, where Tata Consultancy Firm had a huge legacy behind it, Infosys is neck to neck with them. And in a healthy competition. Infosys is not a small name in IT industry, but one revolutionary one too. They have inspired people like me who dared to imagine that without seed money, an IT startup can rule the market. And yes, I then launched my own startup and walking on his path, we are already breaking more and more records. So yes, agree or not, Narayan Murthy is a Bharat Ratna, award him or no doesn't matter for people like you.

    Speaking on Vinod Khosla, You have any idea where Sun Microsystems stands on the domain of IT industry? The firewall which you are sitting behind is his work. The MicroChips, And many more. And this is altogether reason why he is respected in India. He allows us to say proudly, Indians rule network security domain. Khosla did outshine all his competitors. And the whole point of Bharat Ratna award, if you don't know, is to recognize and honor people who have given distinguished service and pride to India. They are regarded as jewels. Go directly on the meaning of the name itself. They are jewels. And if we go by your point, any person who moved away from India for sake of development and achieving something is not eligible for Bharat Ratna. Dude grow up and understand what the title denotes.
  • Nayan Goenka
    Nayan Goenka
    And I m a Sachin fan too but speaking on facts and reality, others deserve to be rewarded before him. Distinguished freedom fighters, politicians like Atal Behari Vajpayi are still here. All Sachin did was played a sport for 24 long years and made records. Legendary ones. But still it was entertainment. Atal Behari Vajpayi led a country of 1 billion people through 6.5 years as Prime Minister, more than 40 years as a respected and excellent statesman, A true well wisher and one great leader. He was the prime minister we badly needed in time of crisis. Just imagine if Congress was in rule during Kargil War. I guess till the time they reached within 100kms of Delhi, they wouldn't have realized what is happening. Nuclear developments were done in Ataljis regime or else, Congress would have made a scam out of it.

    And to prove a fact to you, I don't remember the article though but here is an extract.
    "There was an odd day in Parliament in 1960s when only 2 non-Congress MPs were attending a session and Atalji was one of them. And Jawaharlal Nehru predicted that day, "This boy will become the PM of this country one day." And Congress by giving Bharat Ratna to Sachin played huge politics here. More deserving people are still neglected.
    And it is a known established fact that people who helped improve economy of this country deserve to be honored more than sportsmen. You don't get better economy by watching cricket. And what people did, for a player like Sachin who gave his life for cricket and played for a real lot time, at the moment of his retirement, they made a havoc marketing and issue out of it. Bharat Ratna and all is being given away now. Too much overrating and mainstreaming happening here. And FYI cricket is not even popular in more than 15-20 countries.
  • Anand Tamariya
    Anand Tamariya
    For record, JRD Tata got it ; Lata Mangeshkar and Satyajit Ray also got it. So I don't see why Sachin can't get it. The problem is - Sachin is the first sportsperson to get it!! Other deserving sportspersons have been neglected so far (Vishy Anand immediately comes to mind) marking this choice a little fishy!!
  • mail154
    mail154
    I am die hard fan of cricket and the god "sachin" and have huge respect for every single game.

    Great Respect for a 24 year of journey and 100 great centuries and everlasting victory moments.

    I think he surely deserve this but i accept there are many more legends who has offered a even more service to the nation both on and off the sports. I don't know why not dhyan chand, vishwanathan anand,etc.,. and there is one more person who won a paralympic silver in london 2012. hats off if you know his name and/or even know that kind of incident happened in london olympics
  • Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    Anoop Kumar
    Isn't Sachin, a main factor of making cricket popular in Bharat (India).
    I believe Govt should give more Bharat Ratna from all the sectors including business.
    I am fan Of Sachin jI but i am not fully convinced beccause cricket become a craze after Indian victory of World cup in 1983 only.
    Why no political names out yet from CEans?
    Lets see is there any worthy politician to have a hands on Bharat Ratna.
  • Anoop Mathew
    Anoop Mathew
    It's like asking why the Queen gives the Knighthood and the prestigious 'Sir' prefix to UK's best!

    Bring in more categories for Bharat Ratna. It's a good thing to have more award winners than other countries - I mean, why not?

    And for those people who really don't care about awards, they'll just keep doing what they do best!
  • Anil Jain
    Anil Jain
    I used to play Badminton and can tell you for sure that it's equally (or more?) exciting than Cricket.
    Do we compare apple with oranges even though both of fruits? We should never - ever compare two sports with different nature.

    I'm curious to know what are the parameters on which Sachin was chosen to be eligible for Bharat Ratna (sans his popularity & popularity of cricket)?
    Sachin has been a great sports ambassador in sports over the years and not only in India but across the world. May be he should be awarded with the prestigious award.

    PS: A relevant debate could be : Shouldn't the highest civilian award be given to people who've selflessly contributed to overall betterment of human race?
    Overall betterment of human race? where its written.
    When Pandit Ravi Shankar can get it, Lata tai can get it why not a awesome cricketer?

    The debate topic can be If Sachin Tendulkar, then why not Major DhyanChand, Geet Sethi, V. Anand?

    PS I: Shouldn't Ratan Tata & Narayana Murthy (Businessmen) also receive Bharat Ratna?
    JRD TATA got the award in 1992, Narayan Murthy's organizations shown many ups-downs (probably that was the reason he didn't get it). Bharat Ratna is a award not every one can get it. may be other industrialist number may come sooner...

    PS II: If Sachin is eligible for Bharat Ratna, why not Shah Rukh Khan (Film Actor)?
    M. G. Ramachandran got the award in 1988, he was a awesome actor; may be the day will come for Shahrukh khan and Amitabh as well...

    -CB

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

Can anyone help me out with the following topics. I need to know about these topics. 1.Zero C.T.E (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) laminates 2.Thermally Quasi-isotropic laminates 3.C.T.E for special laminates...
Hi everyone, I was thinking to plan a mock test for pharmacy students. I am not sure which platform to choose. there a few online exam providers (which are charging...
Scientist CNR Rao isn't happy with the politicians and Indians in general, it seems. After calling politicians 'Idiots' for giving so little (resources, funding) to the scientists he went on...
I just want a ranking of cdac centers in pune.
Hello mates, Can you please give me a rough estimate for the break resistance factor for 3 pipes each one is 7 meters long and 4" diameter. The first one...