We all want to be appreciated. I get it. It makes us feel valued and encourages us to push the envelope. And there are many kinds of appreciation – from public felicitations to the heartfelt private acknowledgement of one’s worth. Mind you, there is no age limit to seeking the buzz of acknowledgement: you can be a kindergarten kid wanting the class badge for neatest uniform or an active woman’s club member getting a trophy for best idea executed or a businessman winning accolades for best-run business. What matters is that you have won.
In recent times, this need to be acknowledged with medals and trophies has been monetised to an extent – from TV channels to clubs, everybody is handing out awards. Indeed, it looks like Award Nights are a quick way to raise funds. You announce a list of well-known (or even not-so-well-known) faces as winners, draw up plans for a glittering show and pull in sponsors. In many instances, the winners, if they are corporate heads, will be part of Round Two where they sponsor other programmes for the club. Quid Pro Quo. Many awards are openly purchased too – so many groups from back home descend upon Bahrain and organise award nights for which they privately announce a ‘participation fee’.
Children actually have a more clear-eyed view of the whole award circus. A friend’s son won first prize in a poem recitation and came home with the cup. While the certificate said he had gotten the first prize, the placard on the cup mentioned second place. Asked if there had been a mistake, he nonchalantly replies that he had switched trophies with his classmate because ‘this one looked better’.
Similarly, I once got a call from my Greek neighbour who said her daughter had brought home a lovely cup after an evening of play with my daughter and wanted to return it.
Upon investigation, we found that my seven-year-old had organised a full-fledged evening of competitions just as she had seen me do in my arts society – yes, children absorb a lot of what you do and also these kids’ cultural competitions are a very Asian phenomenon.
Loathe to hurt any friend, she proceeded to raid the trophy cupboard at home and recycle old trophies by putting friends’ names on the plaques with magic marker and awarding it to every friend present.
I am always rather wary of offers to honour me with awards – like Groucho Marx famously said, why would he join a club that accepted him as member? Its not that I am diffident or lacking in confidence. I have a healthy self-regard and know that I can do a lot of things better than many others. But an award, especially one proffered on a national or global level – or on a long-term time scale of the whole year or decade – surely calls for more achievement than what I have clocked up.
We are going to be witnessing extraordinary human achievements in the Paris Olympics over the next few weeks. Now, these are awards worth applauding and cherishing. They represent passion, hard work and healthy competition among peers. On a local level, let us strive for similar balance and not get swept away by self-centred pats on the back.
meeraresponse@gmail.com
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