Honour Fauja’s spirit, says GenY

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The London-based 100-year-old Sikh, Fauja Singh’s life holds a story of its kind. Fauja completed a 42-km marathon in Toronto and also ran in a marathon in Frankfurt. The Guinness book might have refused to record his feat, but seemingly undeterred by the stumbling block, the world’s oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh completed another 8 km run in Dubai and is now eyeing the San Francisco marathon.
Former sports minister M.S. Gill has written a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to honour Fauja Singh with a Padma Award. Fauja is now an Indian sports icon world over and at 100 is an inspiration for all.
While the Padma Award is given to identify and recognise the awardee’s excellence in a particular field, how often do we award the spirit?
Many people say that though the rules to be eligible to get a Padma Award are very specific, Fauja’s spirit deserves to be honoured. Software engineer Soumitro Chatterjee says that he must be awarded for the standard of spirit he has set and shown in his age. “But the question is for prestigious award like Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, there are defined categories and guidelines which one must fall in to get recognised. However, his spirit must be respected, appreciated and awarded.”
Rabindranath Tagore started painting at the age of 66 and stunned the world of art with his skill. Political commentator and mentor Atul Kumar Gupta says that Fauja’s spirit is unusual and vividly portrays the excellence so what if he is a late comer in the game. “Fauja definitely deserves a Padma Award. In technical sense, he may be less competent for the award but his spirit is unmatchable seeing his ripe age. Counting spirit is essential. To acknowledge one’s alternative merit is a real innovation. At some point, our decision in collective life shall be out of bandwagon.”
Seconds Vani Gun, a media professional, that running consistently and for long without the lust of material gain exudes his inner drive for sports.
“If the award is meant for sporting spirit, I don’t see why he should not be conferred the award? Out-of-the-box thinking is essential to judge the deserving people and real heroes.”
Whereas author Anjana Basu feels that instead of Padma Award, he should be honoured with a life time achievement award.
“His feat celebrates the triumph of the human spirit over age. The man deserves an award but one that is universal. A Padma won’t match his feat. It’s too narrow. He deserves a special lifetime achievement award.”