To what level of extraordinary performances should a person rise? And how often, so that he or she is recognised by the republic that he/she is fit enough to be honoured with the highest civilian award, yes I am talking about the one and only, the ‘Bharat Ratna’.
Instituted on January 2, 1954, the Bharat Ratna Is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India and is conferred in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.
There is no monetary gain associated with the award except huge respect and the fact that the awardee is ranked 7th in the order of precedence. The order of precedence means that in major govt functions in which everyone is present the order of seating and introduction has to follow this protocol. President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Dy prime minister ( If any), Chief justice of India, cabinet rank ministers, Former PM and Bharat Ratna awardees.
So coming back to these awards, basically above means that you should be on top of your craft and bring laurels to the country. Sachin Tendulkar was the first sportsperson, with his numerous records, to be bestowed with the Bharat Ratna award.
Simply put, for the pleasure and happiness he brought to the Indian masses with his fearless and scintillating batting which also brought up numerous records which she still owns.
Of course, there are musicians and social workers in the list of awardees which is dominated as expected by politicians. So who is worth the Bharat Ratna? I don’t know about others but to me, the extraordinary shuttler PV Sindhu fits the bill. Whether she gets is a moot question, only time can answer. But here are my reasons why I feel strongly she has achieved so much that the award being bestowed on her is merely a formality. Sindhu has 24 international medals. And the unique thing about her medals is the fact that they are from the highest level of the game. Let’s see what are these medals.
Sindhu is the only Indian to win the world championship gold and only the second Indian to win two Olympic medals. She reached a career-high rank of world number 2 in April 2017.
OLYMPICS
Silver at Rio games 2016
Bronze at Tokyo 2020
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Gold at Basel, 2019
Silver at Glasgow, 2017
Silver at Nanjing, China, 2018
Bronze at China 2013
Bronze at Copenhagen 2014
UBER CUP
Bronze in 2014
Bronze in 2017
ASIAN GAMES
Silver 2018 Indonesia
Bronze 2014 Korea
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Gold 2018 team
Silver 2018 singles
Bronze 2014 singles
Silver 2022 team
Gold 2022 singles
ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Bronze 2014
Bronze 2022
SOUTH ASIAN GAMES
Gold team 2016
Silver singles 2016
COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES
Gold in Team 2011
Silver in singles 2011
ASIAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
GOLD singles 2012
Silver singles 2011
Bronze team 2011
Apart from all the above Sindhu has won some 30 titles in open events, including the world tour finals.
As she joined the international Circuit as a 15-year-old she made her intentions very clear that she was here to dominate the scene. At age of 17, she had crashed into the top 20 ranks. 2016 saw her winning her first BWF super series title at the China Open. And such has been her success in the world of badminton that in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Sindhu was named on the Forbes list of the top ten female money earners. And she is by far the richest Indian badminton player and also the richest female player in the world.
At age 15 she had reached the finals of the Dutch open and at age 17 she had hammered the then Olympic champion Li Xue Rui. A highly aggressive player on the court with a dominating height of 5 ft/11 in she smashes really hard. She can pulverize any opponent, peppering their court with bullet smashes and then come to the net to play sharp net shots forcing a lift so that she attacks again and again. A pincer attack from which the opponent finds it difficult to extricate herself.
And no place was this more apparent than the 2019 World championships finals at Basel, where she literally decimated and devastated Nozomi Okuhara of japan 21-7/21-7 in a matter of some 29 minutes.
Mind you both were top 5 world-ranked players at that time. And at that level, such a one-sided match is rarely seen. The Japanese was overwhelmed in every department of the game and rendered helpless. So ferocious was her attack that Okhuhara was made to look like a pedestrian.
27 years old today, She has been a top-level player for almost a decade and still going strong. It is her hunger for success that keeps propelling her to achieve more and more.
Sindhu has dominated the sport like no other. And she has brought huge laurels to the country. And undoubtedly, as the condition and definition for the Bharat Ratna award requires, P V Sindhu has given exceptional service and exceptional performance by every measure one can think of. In all probability, she is the best female athlete India has produced.
It is the right time, I humbly submit, for this phenomenal player to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.
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