It is the general practice for an individual to first get national and then international recognition for any outstanding achievement. In this country, the contrary seems to be true. That was proved by the fact that Mother Teresa got the Nobel Prize in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna a year later in 1980. The same has been the case with Satyajit Ray.

Right from Pather Panchali in 1955, Mr Ray has been steadily producing films of great acclaim. Now, when he has been given the Oscar, the government wakes up and confers upon him the Bharat Ratna and gets Doordarshan to telecast his films.

(This appeared as a Letter to the Editor in The Times of India)