Three from Mysuru conferred Padma awards

MYSURU

In what is a rarity for a city of Mysuru’s population and size, three persons were conferred the prestigious Padma award by the Government of India.

It was announced on Wednesday ahead of the Republic Day celebrations and while writer S.L. Bhyrappa was conferred Padma Bhushan for his contribution to the field of literature and education, the Padma Shri was conferred on S. Subbaraman and Khadar Valli.

While Subbaraman was recognized for his contribution to the field of Archaeology, Khadar Valli – known as the millet man of India for promoting siridhanya or millets – was conferred the award for his contribution to the field of Science and Engineering.

Mr. Bhyrappa, who was felicitated at his residence by the district in-charge Minister S.T. Somashekar, said reacting to the developments said here on Thursday that he construed true happiness lay not in awards but only if the books outlive him and remain relevant to posterity.

However, he said that the award and the recognition has brought him joy. But the true test of a writer is in the relevance of the works after his passing and that depends on the strength of one’s writing. “I wonder if my works have such strength though none of us will be alive to assess it and only the posterity will decide,” he added. Mr. Bhyrappa cited the example of Kumara Vyasa and said though he passed away more than 500 years ago, his works are still read and commented upon and that is the true merit of good literature, he added.