Our Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa has been talking about, in recent times, the Doctorate that was bestowed upon him by the Saginaw Valley State University of Michigan, USA and his son Raghavendra entering active politics. He is already into passive politics anyway.
As for the doctorate, everyone knows it was not given to him for a thesis he had submitted. It was an honorary doctorate generally given to all distinguished persons by Universities. In other words bestowing honorary doctorate is the way Universities recognise an individual's service to mankind or achievements in a given field. We can call this doctorate ornamental as such but certainly it is not as authentic as the one that is given to those who do research for years and submit a thesis. Which is why, the honorary doctorate, like the one given to B. S. Yeddyruappa, is not used as a prefix before the name of the person so honoured.
In fact, the protocol and also the tradition is that neither the press and the public nor the individual so honoured ever used the honorary doctorate before the name as Dr. However, this tradition and practice has been broken in respect of some persons so honoured and as a result we keep reading the names of such persons in invitations, letter - heads, press and in public speeches as being addressed Dr. so and so.
When I first heard that an American University called Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan was honouring Chief Minister Yeddyurappa with an honorary doctorate, my thought went back by a few years when the President of that University was honoured by Mysore University with a honorary doctorate. I do not know if honouring our Chief Minister was just returning the compliment. The kind of bond seen between Saginaw University and Mysore University when Prof. D. Madaiah was the Vice - Chancellor was probably further strengthened by honouring Yeddyurappa with a doctorate.
It is a common practice and a healthy one to honour distinguished persons with Padma Awards by the Central Government. Here too the Padma Awards like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna are not titles like the Britishers used to give in India in the form of Sir, Rao Bahadur and Rao Saheb, which were used before their names. Therefore, these Padma Awards should not be used before the names of the awardees. It can be only mentioned in writings, speech or in bio-data as one who has received that honour.
Once when this newspaper wrote a report in which the person’s name was written with a prefix of Padma Shri, by evening that person called me to say that henceforth whenever his name was written, Padma Shri should not be put before his name as suggesting a title, as it was officially wrong. The same person when he was honoured with a doctorate by the University of Mysore, cautioned me to take care not to repeat the mistake I made with regard to his Padma Sri award by putting Dr. before his name.
Being a journalist who had suffered at the hands of the followers of such honoured persons for not putting those Padma Awards or the honorary doctorates before their gurus or leaders' name, I thought this particular gentleman was indeed a gentleman, as also too modest a human being. The person was the renowned photo - journalist T. S. Satyan. Such was his modesty as also attention to details. He is a person even today known for his meticulous style of writing as he is renowned for his excellence in photography.
It is not known what prompted our Chief Minister to suddenly declare that the prefix Dr. should not be used before his name, but I am sure his followers might not heed to his advice and will continue the practice. I am sure the print and electronic media will follow his advice. Well, I am wrong. This morning I saw a 4 - page supplement on Dr. B. S. Yeddyurappa in The New Indian Express! That is life in India for all of us. Learn to accept what you cannot change.
As for his repeated disclaimer about his son contesting the Shimoga Parliamentary election, he seems to be a helpless man before his own partymen anxious to discredit him with their own hidden agenda to dislodge him from the Chief Minister’s gaddi.
It is heard in the vineyard that Ananth Kumar, the MP from Bangalore South, is the one who is spreading the news about Yeddyurappa’s son contesting the Parliamentary elections. This morning I read in the newspapers that Raghavendra’s name is already included in the list of aspirants and sent to High Command! It is rumoured that Ananth Kumar, a contender for CM's gaddi, is keen that Yeddyurappa’s son Raghavendra should contest so that at the appropriate time, Yeddyurappa could be accused of planning a family dynasty and cause such collateral damage as is possible.
Well, it may be easy and it will not cost anything to Yeddyurappa to give up the prefix Dr. before his name, but it is going to be tough for him to ask his son to step aside from such great temptation as is before him. Ananth Kumar seems to know a politician's weakness. Yeddyurappa has also expressed his decision not to accept garlands and gifts. He didn’t want his birthday to be celebrated [which was on Feb. 27]. He sent an official circular in this regard. These are good decisions to be emulated by all his Ministerial colleagues and MLAs. However, I have doubts about this kind of blanket moral stand people take.
I am reminded of R. Gundu Rao who on becoming the chosen Chief Minister of Karnataka [thanks to Sanjay Gandhi], began his office by attending a Sanmana Samarambha and many such Sanmana Samarambhas continued unabated. Following public resentment, it was given a different nomenclature: Abhimana Samarambha. Once again the same question: “What’s there in a name?? Gundu Rao, continued to receive not only Abhinandan (congratulations) but also Sanmana (felicitations) accompanied with silver maces, gold rings, gold chains etc., as mementos.
I was told, at the end of the year, he had one room full of these maces and other gifts. The press and the public did not resonate well with Mr. Rao’s penchant for maces and other expensive gifts. So he hit upon a new idea. He decided to build the party fund. If anyone invited Gundu Rao the Chief Minister, for a function, other than those that are purely official, he would oblige the organisers only if a contribution is made for the party fund. Those were the days when mining and real estate were not seen in the realm to the extent it is today. So raising fund for the party was not as easy as today. Even notification and denotification of agricultural lands was not known to the politicians as a source of income. Hope, Gundu Rao will not be a role - model in this regard for Yeddyurappa.
Be that as it may, while we do not know whatever Gundu Rao did with his silver maces and other gifts which should rightfully belong to the State, we do know there was one Chief Minister of Kerala by name A. K. Antony, also of Gundu Rao’s party Congress and now the Defence Minister of the country, who gave all such gifts and mementos to the Natural History Museum at Thiruvananthapuram without taking anything for himself. His wife must be a Devatha, thyagamayi.
During the days of Nehru, this kind of honouring Ministers was uncommon. I have attended three meetings that Nehru had addressed, one in Madikeri, Kodagu and two in Bangalore. In all these occasions, he was given only a garland, which he would immediately either give to someone in the audience or throw it at the cheering crowd. Times have changed, so also our leaders. No doubt, the voters too!
