NOBEL PRIZE FOR OBAMA

Every year Nobel prizes are declared and this year was no exception to it. Among all the Nobel prizes, the Nobel Prize for Peace is the most prestigious one though I in no way want demean the Nobel prizes on other subjects. So this year when it was declared, it called for mixed reactions from different quarters. Mr. Barack Obama, the present President of USA is choosen for this prestigious award. Nine months into office, is it justified to choose him as the one. There are divergent views on it. The most important factor for Nobel Prize should be how much substantial work the concerned person or organization has done to make this world a better place to live in. When I say nine months into office, I do not mean that a person on being the President for nine months can’t get this prize. But what I tried to emphasize is that in these nine months how much has he really done. And that is the big question. I don’t think anybody can say that he has done a great work in this field to bag this Prize. He may be trying to bring about peace but that too is questionable considering that they are yet to find a clear cut solution of both Iraq and Afghanistan. He may have met Arab country leaders and spoke on how to maintain peace but there is a long way to go and I think it can’t be a consideration for this coveted Prize.

Could not the Nobel committee find a person who is more appropriate for it at the present moment. Or the job of President of USA in itself is enough to get this Prize. Its irony or disgusting that that our very own Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was not conferred with this prize. He was nominated three times but could not get even once though his stature, even today after 60 years of his death, is such that Nobel Prize is not at all required to recognize his works. It’s the bad luck of Nobel Prize that it could not have Mahatma Gandhi in its list. So I hope everybody will be of this opinion that the list will always miss him and it can never be complete. Perhaps by not choosing him, the Nobel committee might have done a great favour as his name will not stand along with few unworthy recipients like this year’s one.

My request to the committee that selects people for the prizes is that they should be more justified in their selection. As their action may one day lead to the demeaning of the status of Nobel Prize.

Then also my heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Obama that he succeeds in his endeavour and he justifies the Nobel committee in their selection of him as the one.

Last but not the least we all Indians should be proud that this year’s list of Nobel Prize winners has an Indian origin person in it. Mr. Venkataraman Ramakrishnan has won it for Chemistry. We hope that in future there will be many more Indians in this coveted list.