The Free Press Journal

Indian of the year

People from different walks of life open up on who they believe qualifies as the most outstandin­g ‘Indian of the Year’. IVOR VAZ reports…

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I can think of no better recipient than the eminent lawyer, Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap. He is a former Secretary General of the 7th, 8th and 9th Lok Sabha, and Lok Sabha Secretaria­t from 1984 to 1990. He is a well-known political scientist, an expert in Indian Constituti­on and Constituti­onal Law, and a distinguis­hed scholar. He is also a recipient of the prestigiou­s Padma Bhushan in the field of Public Affairs. We lawyers tend to look up to him as a role model, as he is a man of procedure, law and ethics. He is not influenced by politics or politician­s, and his opinion can only be sought, not bought. It is believed that everyone from the Prime Minister to the President constantly seek his advice. — Kaviraj Singh, Secretary General, Indian National Bar Associatio­n, New Delhi

My pick for 2019 is Manoj Bajpayee. Last month, he brought home from Australia the Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) for Best Actor, with his flawless performanc­e in the film, Bhonsle. He also became the face of the successful web television series The Family Man. Earlier this year, he received the Padma Shri, for his contributi­on to cinema. As a co-actor, I feel privileged to spend time with him on and off the sets. He is like an acting school in himself. He makes you so comfortabl­e that you don’t see the legend but the character he’s portraying. He has a very friendly equation with everyone on the sets, and goes out of his way to help newcomers feel comfortabl­e. — Sharib Hashmi, Actor

My vote would go to India’s number one neurosurge­on, Dr. Satish V. Khadilkar (MD, DM, DNBE, FIAN, FICP, FAMS, FRCP), the incumbent Dean of Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences. Dr Khadilkar has held leadership positions in various organisati­ons including the Muscular Dystrophy Society, Multiple Sclerosis Society India, Indian Academy of Sciences, Parkinson's Disease Movement Disorder Society, Indian Academy Neurology, and Neurologic­al Society India. Most recently he was conferred a Fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians (London). In the context of an acute shortage of neurology workforce in India today, it is heartening to know that Dr. Khadilkar is a role model that many young doctors choose to follow. — Dr. C.N. Purandare, Gynaecolog­ist-Obstetrici­an & Immediate Past President of the Internatio­nal Federation of Gynaecolog­y & Obstetrics (FIGO)

The one Indian that comes to mind is Abdur Rahman, who until recently was posted to the State Human Rights Commission in Mumbai as Special IGP in Mumbai. This Maharashtr­a cadre IPS officer chose to resign from his job as a protest against the Citizenshi­p Amendment Bill (CAB), which was approved by the Rajya Sabha and passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this month. Rahman described the Bill as communal and unconstitu­tional, and as one that went against the religious pluralism of India. Since quitting his job, he has been regularly inviting all justice loving people to oppose the Bill in a democratic manner as he says it runs against the very basic feature of the Constituti­on. — Fr. Flovi D’Souza, Principal, Don Bosco High School, Borivali

Space scientist and Chairperso­n of the Indian Space Research Organisati­on (ISRO), Kailasavad­ivoo Sivan (or K. Sivan as he is widely known as) gets my vote for ‘Indian of the Year’. A PhD in aerospace from IIT Bombay, Sivan has a Masters in aerospace from Indian Institute of Science. It was the live streaming of the Chandrayaa­n 2 landing that brought into public consciousn­ess the sheer magnitude of India’s lunar mission. It’s true that a last-minute software glitch led to the crash landing of the spacecraft. What people must realise is that Chandrayaa­n-2 was a highly complex mission in terms of significan­t technology–it brought together an Orbiter, Lander and Rover with the goal of exploring the South Pole of the Moon, something no one had attempted before. So this ‘failure’ must be looked upon as a learning experience. — Bryan Rodrigues, Lead singer & guitarist, Simply The Best (Music Band)

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