awards & social recognition

This is more a outpouring of my anguish about how the society is not recognizing ( I should say recognizing enough) the entrepreneurs.
This write up is borne out of the way the Government is focused towards arts and culture and not business environment. Be it the Central Government in terms of Padma Awards and the State government in terms of giving out Kalaimamani awards - the entire focus is towards the people in the limelight of public. Please dont misunderstand me, I have nothing against recognizing the Artists for their work. I also enjoy when my favourite actor gets an award. Also, even when a new award is instituted it is given to all the well known people - why is this. Is it because the awards needs to be branded that it wants the celebrity able to endorse its brand in the initial years.
I saw in the papers last week that our State Government is going in for Awards for the Small TV screens. I also saw the Kalamamani awards ( translated into those who have done great service to Arts). But even a actor who has just put in few years gets this awards - So what is the great service that person is rendered I dont know.
Why cannot the Government give annual awards to the industries under different categories the State level. I feel it has to start with each Town or city level and then the finalist should come to the State level. The classification should be from Agriculture, to trade to industry. Even a small tea shop vendor should be recognized for the service he or she does. I would even want to include the Mobile Ironing persons into their categories - it should be based on their quality of work, efficiency, customer focus etc. If the society starts recognizing these small time entrepreneurs it would be a very positive trend.
One pitfall in India is that our society condones or should I say shuns the failures. So if an entrepreneur fails then the whole family suffers the social stigma of failure. It is ok to fail, but it is not ok to give up. This concept should be spread far and wide and everybody should be allowed another chance. The BIFR is for the major failures what about small vendors failure - who is there is help restructure. I really admire the social climate in America where one day the person may be a big business person, but the next day he or she may be working in an ordinary work place. The society accepts it. Also you can file chapter 11 and do the restructuring and try to bring back your company to track. But such support is not available.
There is no recognition and no support - But still people by their own power succeed in their entrepreneurship. This is the spirit of Entrepreneurship. I am touched by the multitude of small business owners who may be fruit sellers or flower sellers or tea shop owners - They toil hard to bring up their family with very little support from the system. My hats off to these UNSUNG HEROES. I draw my courage and determination from these people.
Sarada

Comments

Umasree said…
You have to be a Patudhi or Amitabh's son to get a Padma Award and Ranjikanth's daughter to get a Kalaimamani....No offenses meant to the artists but truly to the culture we are building up in the Indian Society. There is no recongnition to the people who take India with creativity and intellectual talents in the world map and build great entreprenuership and scientific advancement ...and hence we have Venkatraman's, Sunitha Williams, and even Rahman's getting recognised outside India first ....and they dont intend to come back to our country... I think it is time, we are aware of the simple difference between an AWARD and a REWARD.... when Awards become regular rewards to please our big babu's.. India will not see the real talents growing any further! Well Said Sarada Akka...very rightly expressed.
February 22, 2010 at 11:22:00 PM PST
D. Chandramouli said…
Absolutely! You are spot on! I felt the same way when Kalaimamani or Padma awards are announced. Is popularity the only yardstick? Not the merits? Even artists of high calibre either get late recognition when they are too old to care about any award, or never given any award. What is the point in paying encomiums after one's death? It is like doing yearly religious ceremonies for our elders but did not care for them when they were alive. At times, the awards lose their values when given to people who don't deserve or get too soon. How many deserving persons in other fields didn't get any reconition? Just as an example, our Traffic Ramaswamy, the one man-army to take cudgels against establishment on behalf of common men. I salute him.
April 13, 2010 at 12:39:00 AM PDT
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