News Nation Exclusive | Padma Awards: Story of deserving talents who never won

President Pranab Mukherjee recently conferred 89 people with prestigious Padma awards. The list of awardees, chosen from 18,000 nominations, includes people with exemplary talent and service to nation in fields, including arts, culture, cinema, theatre, music, sports, social service, etc. 

The list winners included illustrious names such as Virat Kohli, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar, Anuradha Paudwal along with several other not so famous but equally dedicated individuals. 

But there are those who despite having done their part, have never made it to the cut. Musical maestros of historical gheranas have been never noticed by Padma awards committee. 

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News Nation brings you the story deserving talents who never win: 

World-famous classical singers Ustad Ahmed Hussain and Mohd Hussain have never been able to understand that what falls short in their musical resume, keeping them off the Padma awardee list. 

"Someone should explain us where do we falter, so that we can correct it. Otherwise, we have always been fighting to keep our Gherana alive and we will continue to do so,” Ustad Hussain told Newsnation. 

Mohd Hussain, however, says that love from fans is enough for them, "Our music has fans across the globe, even as we remain strangers to those within our nation."

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Senior Drupad singer Ustad Saiuddin Dagar from the famous Dagar Gherana is also pained by the lack of recognition on government's part but he is not the one to complain over momentos. "Awards do not matter, our reward is what we sing on the stage. It is the reward which will help us in the long run."

Rajendra Prasanna, renowned Indian flautist and Shehnai artist of Hindustani Classical Music from Beneres Gharana, also says that even though his family has been perfecting the art since generations, but there has been no recognition. 

"We make fresh efforts everyyear, thinking that perhaps this year we will get recognition, but the truth is that my father and uncle who were maestros in music were also never honoured for their talents by the government."

These classical musicians have dedicated their lives to their art form. Even though they have no dearth of fans within India and across the globe. But there wait for official recognition lingers on.

In pics: President Mukherjee honours 89 stalwarts with Padma awards