Kudos to Dominique Lapierre

Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Sri... Until now, my opinion was that these awards reveal the influence wielded by a celebrity in the government... Even the esteemed Bharat Rana was added to this list, when every Tom, Dick and Harry started suggesting their own 'corrupted' party leaders for Bharat Rana. [Read what happend when NDTV ran an opinion poll that included 'Picasso of India'] But all these perceptions changed when i found one of my favorite writers - Dominique Lapierre (a Non-Indian) on the Padma Bhushan awards' list. Read the news here.

A French author, who by his casual way of writing and his extensive research on the subject(historical events) captured my heart. A writer, who by his books, changed my outlook towards

• Last few days of India under British rule and Early days of Indian government(Freedom at Midnight)
• History of a nation created out of nowhere(O Jerusalem!)
• French Liberation and how a NAZI commander saved Paris for eternity(Is Paris Burning)
• Slums of Kolkata(The City of Joy)
• Incidents that resulted in Bhopal Gas Incident(It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal)

and much more...

His books, rather than being a collection of Newspaper headlines, bares all before the eyes of the readers. Sometimes, it jolts people on hearing the history that was never revealed to them in their text books. I can never forgot my own emotions when i read about the saddest days of Indian history(Partition) when fathers beheaded their own daughters and husbands beheaded their wives (to protect them from the torture that awaits them from the people of other religion)

Padma Bhushan gets a special new meaning (for me) because of being awarded to him.. :)