Bharat Ratna

[Pratyaksham Bala]

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Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India, given in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order, has so far been conferred on 48 individuals.

The next most deserving candidate from Tamil Nadu to get Bharat Ratna seems to be A. R. Rahman - composer, singer and music producer!

[ganesh_mourthy]

Covid has lead to lot of story weaving. The more intense covid gets , more spicier stories could be going around .

I feel the best candidate should be the last remaining guy from the family which BR patronized the most. That makes them 4 .

Spicier

[thanjavooran]

I recollect few yrs bk there was a suggestion to award BR to BMK in this forum.
Thanjavuran
24 04 2020

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Covid has lead to lot of story weaving. The more intense covid gets , more spicier stories could be going around ... ...

LOL !

[Pratyaksham Bala]

... I feel the best candidate should be the last remaining guy from the family which BR patronized the most. That makes them 4 ...

You have a point !
But, this is about Tamil Nadu.

[ganesh_mourthy]

BR is one of the most biased award , not prestigious. Some went on to even reject the padma awards . Most of the times you dont even understand why sb got it. They go by fame , fan following and a lot of push and pull. AR possible .. he is already Grammy , Oscar.. ..yes it works.

[rajeshnat]

Pratyaksham Bala
WHen they could give it to Ravishankar and bit later to Ustad Bismillah Khan , in carnatic music after MS amma they could have given bharat ratna say to semmangudi srinivasa iyer who moved on only in year 2003. Even Lalgudi Jayaraman could have been considered too as there was far more international acceptance as high as Ravishankar

I personally think Even before AR Rehman they should surely consider Bharat Ratna to Illayaraja . I am surprised you did not mention his name may be you thought if some one gets padma vibushan he /she may not get the bharat ratna.

Also after Illlayaraja the jury should also consider honouring Umayalpuram Sivaraman., how many years and with overall global acceptance , i would be happy if GOd of Music (Illayaraja) and Mrudangam Maestro and Superstar UKS is considered and more importantly rewarded. Then a bit later SP Balasubrahmanyam

[Pratyaksham Bala]

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Well, that is a long list of wishful thinking !
Ask many others, dozens more will be added.

It is my considered opinion that A. R. Rahman will get it, within a couple of years. There are many factors involved.

[rajeshnat]

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Well, that is a long list of wishful thinking !
Ask many others, dozens more will be added.

THe 3 that i stated appears most appropriate , I left out say S Janaki and KJ Yesudas out as then that would be bit more wishful thinking . With 2021 TamilNadu elections let us agree unanimously on behalf of rasikas.org that Illayaraja has to get it as 2026 elections of TamilNadu is way too far . There is a chance that Indian govt may appease a southindian that too a tamilian during TN elections and may reward this bharat ratna.

You have added AR Rehman and before you edited the first post i saw you adding one agriculture scientist . Are you only having one AR Rehman in your wishful thinking.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

... ... let us agree unanimously on behalf of rasikas.org ... ...

1) Unanimously ? This is laughable !
2) On behalf of rasikas.org ? Why drag the Forum ? Surely, rasikas.org will not subscribe to this idea.

[hnbhagavan]

In fact the most deserving candidate is Prof T N Krishnan. Yes Umayalapuram Sivaraman too.
Infact they ignored Sri R K Srikantan who performed till ripe age of 94 years.
As mentioned earlier Sri Lalgudi G Jayaraman also could have been considered.

[rajeshnat]

... ... let us agree unanimously on behalf of rasikas.org ... ...

1) Unanimously ? This is laughable !
2) On behalf of rasikas.org ? Why drag the Forum ? Surely, rasikas.org will not subscribe to this idea.

Agreed that was just a statement of wishful thinking . You are taking it too seriously and noone needs to subscribe that too a smallest of smallest group like rasikas.org

[shankarank]

I think when you look at the scale of prominence and impact ( and that is not just crass popularity!) of earlier awardees MSS , Lata, Tendulkar, even Ilayaraja does not come close to A.R Rehman, and this not about the nuances in music or quality appreciation some of us might conjure up.

We can talk pages about how her better half assisted her, but you cannot promote the un-promotable can you?

Indian culture has several dimensions - true. But the most important sacred dimension along with music she was the best ambassador!

No Carnatic musician ever comes close to MSS. And here I speak up for @RSR who has left the site:

https://sites.google.com/site/homage2mssubbulakshmi/

Just peruse the photographs - don't read anything. Anybody comes close?

She herself and she made people transcend establishment constraints without controversies and working alongside.

In the age of media power , consumers of information (no different than the much derided village gossip! - just a scaled up version!) and where only politics triumphs, it is only easy to be a political activist! Which may be the choice for some, but should that deserve any award? They already took the easy route!

Before we do any musician - lets do some here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare - he had an impact.

[Nick H]

If you people are going to consider commercial music, then consider the commercial aspect. Which film composer has made the most money for the film industry? It is a serious question. We may be able to minimise the financial aspects of purely classical music, but it is absolutely part of the film-music package.

(The answer is probably obvious, but I know nothing about film, although I do know the two names mentioned. For all I know it could be some other unheard-of-by-me purveyor of... choose-you-own-word)

[shankarank]

Well now Kutcheri music was once and every now and then, "othered" as not true representative of the "art".

And then: If you have [:cough:] politics in everything , then you can as well say there is commerce in everything. The free Carnatic music people enjoy - possible due to dollars lost in the dot-com bust - when every fiber cable producer went bust - many investors paid into it.

And then the cable wirer takes his own risk climbing your sun-shade, in commercial terms, self-insured against possible electrocutions .

You have to quit being afflicted by Mylapore mama virus. I have personally seen such characters visit the Kutcheri road doctor - oh boy!- if you start them they go bongs with their Nehru-Gandhi era selflessness!

Even tyAgarAjar took some risks , strolling the streets. He had a dog-bite risk, and even if he didn't mind, there is a cost to his family, in terms of lost productive happiness. Opportunity cost? There ain't free lunches.

Even brahmaNic advaidism uses the term - and they recite this every Avani Avittam - vyApAraih - referring to everything under the nose as commerce with the world!

You got to take a break when things open up, to stroll around a Swiss bank and then proceed to Alps to have an actuarial world view!

Poor mamas - they suffer from Swiss loot syndrome!

[shankarank]

What about the creative genius Dancer , Singer and Actor? Needs a bharat ratna? Sparks are all flying on whatsapp groups, petitions are being raised. It seems SrI tyAgarAja is NOT commercial and the poor guy he is!

[vgovindan]

Kings - and Queens - give away decorations. But when Kings and Queens themselves can be handpicked from the 'kitchen' and such King makers are not even born in the land, and their kith and kin clamour for authority being 'royal' blood, why bother about the poor awardees? Jujube! Just relax, Sir/Madam. What this corona(tion) is worth, anyway?