… On 29 May 2018, President Ramnath Kovindji came to Surat for the first time to present the ‘Santokbaa Humanitarian Award’ instituted by SRK Knowledge Foundation (SRKKF) to Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and former ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar. Because of the involvement of the President of India, the event assumed a different dimension. Hordes of security people sanitised the venue, Sanjeev Kumar Auditorium, which occupied 1200 guests coming from various places of the country and overseas. Punctuality is a hallmark of SRK, in tune with that the entire programme was conducted, with due consideration to President’s protocol. All experienced micro planning carried out for the function.
President Shree Ramnath Kovind arrived with Governor Shree O. P. Kohli and Chief Minister Shree Vijaybhai Rupani, this is what I consider as the highest point of the Santokbaa Manav Ratna Award institution. Both the awardees were presented with rupees one crore along with a statuette of an Award. After conferring the ‘Santokbaa Humanitarian Award’ to Shree Kailash Satyarthi and Shree A.S. Kiran Kumar, the Hon’ble President admitted that he came to attend the award function by breaking the tradition. The President of India would not attend award functions of private organisations. ‘When I learnt that Satyarthi and Kiran Kumar were to be awarded, I said these two are good men. Later, after checking the credentials of the award-giver, I learnt that he is also fine. So, I decided to break the tradition a little bit to felicitate two good people.’ the President said. He kept me at par with those two awardees. He said, ‘Kailash Satyarthiji, Kiran Kumarji and Govindji are persons of humility, humbleness, simplicity and sensitivity.’ He narrated the role of Surat’s Vir Kavi Narmad during British regime. He also said, ‘Surat is a mini-India, people come for livelihood from across the nation. People of Surat convert adversities into opportunities.’ President Kovindji also recalled his visits to Surat in 1970s and shared some personal anecdotes widely reported in the newspaper next day.
He said he would go to railway station early in the morning to get newspaper when halting in Surat. President Kovind described the city of Surat as the city of opportunities. On this occasion a letter received from Prime Minister Narendrabhai Modi was read.
Kailash Satyarthiji donated the award money of Rs 1 crore to Surakshit Bachpan Fund (Safe Childhood Fund). We all knew that earlier Kailash Satyarthiji had given away Rs 50,00,000 he received from Amitabh Bachhan’s famous show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and the entire prize money that came with his Nobel Peace.
Kiran Kumarji declared that he was receiving the award not as an individual, but as a representative of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He remembered Vikram Sarabhai, son of Gujarat, who foresaw space technology to be used in all walks of life in India. Governor Shree O.P. Kohli bowed to Santokbaa’s portrait and sought her blessings. Chief Minister Shree Vijaybhai Rupani complimented SRK for bringing jewels of India like Shree Kiran Kumar and Shree Kailash Satyarthi to people at large.
After the function, while the President was walking out, I hesitantly asked him if he could pose with our family members for a photograph. He readily agreed and during the few minutes, it took everybody to assemble in a frame, when I was telling him about our family, Rashtrapatiji said, ‘We are also five brothers and two sisters. After my elementary school education, I had to walk each day to Kanpur from my Paraukh village in Kanpur Dehat, 8 km away, to attend junior school, as nobody in the village had a bicycle.’ I remembered my going to school at Lathi on bicycle. We organised a separate function just after the Presidential function at a different venue, Science Centre, City Light Road, wherein the Award winners could speak and interact with the audience.
I was very happy to receive an invitation from President Ramnath Kovindji to attend the traditional Independence Day on 15 August 2018 ‘At Home’ in Rashtrapati Bhawan with my wife. We were truly delighted. Mingling with powerful people, leaders, diplomats, and officials, and among the 400 guests, was indeed a dream world. When Prime Minister Narendrabhai saw us, he said in a loud cheerful voice, ‘O re Govindbhai, kyaare aavya? (O Govindbhai, when did you arrive?).’ By addressing me as O re Govindbhai, Narendrabhai made me feel special in that gathering of greats. When someone likes you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable.
Read all the Latest Opinions here
Comments
0 comment