Zubin conferred Tagore Award
President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday awarded the prestigious Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to world acclaimed orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta.
Mr Mehta (77), a maestro in Western classical music who conducts the Bavarian State Orchestra, was described by the President as a “distinguished son of India” whose mission “has been to bring peace where there is misery and conflict.” He is the second recipient of the Tagore Award after Sitar maestro late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
The President presented a golden plaque, a citation, shawl and `1 crore to Mr Mehta at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The award was conferred a day before he performs with his troupe on the banks of the Dal lake in Srinagar.
The award citation pays Mr Mehta rich tributes and says that “no other Indian has achieved such distinction in the world of Opera”.
“In our divided world, there are few who rise above nation yet stay rooted to home, remain proof against prejudice and sensitive to suffering and bring joy to people through their lifelong work. One such individual is Zubin Mehta,” read the citation.
Calling Mr Mehta’s felicitation with this award a “wonderful choice”, Mr Mukherjee said his work as a composer was a deep devotion to the cause of humanity. “It’s only appropriate that this award should be conferred upon him,” Mr Mukherjee said.
Calling himself a “simple musician”, Mr Mehta, who has earlier been decorated with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, spoke about Nobel laureate Tagore and lamented that Mahatma Gandhi was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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