Über Desi

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India’s Heroes

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Before their now controversial list of villians, Outlook came up with a list of 50 heroes in post-Independence India.

India 60th I-DayAs with any list, there are some great selections, surprise picks and some WTF picks. Instead of concentrating on the negatives, on the occasion of India’s 60th Independence Day, here’s a list of some underappreciated folks on the list whose names might get lost in a sea of who’s whos.

Vallabhbhai Patel – A no-nonsense hawk and architect of the current map of India, Kashmir notwithstanding. Patel worked tirelessly to create an union out of a fractured country and was instrumental in ending monarchies.

Homi Bhabha – Father of India’s nuclear program.

Manmohan Singh (not on the Outlook list) – As Finance Minister, in 1991 his economic liberalization package paved the way for the Indian economy to finally realize its potential.

Vikram Sarabhai – Father of India’s Space Program.

Kapil Dev (and the 1983 Indian cricket team) – As captain, he literally willed the Indian team to a World Cup win, arguably India’s biggest achievement to date in the sporting arena.

And above all, it’s the people, stupid.
Happy Independence Day and 60th anniversary, India.
Also Happy 60th anniversary to Pakistan.

Which other under appreciated hero would you like to include (from the Outlook list or elsewhere)?

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  • Frandroid,
    Fixed it. Thanks. In trying to avoid the crappy commentary provided by the Outlook writers I somehow missed that one.
  • Whaddya mean, Manmohan Singh is not on the Outlook list? He's on page 3 of the list...
  • Ankit,
    I agree. Hence "underappreciated hero".
  • ankit
    what gets my goat is the fact that although outlook has put patel in as a hero, the write up is something that one would write for a villain. vinod mehta has not desisted from leaving his mark of mediocrity even in this list !
  • oops, Post-independence!! Swamiji doesn't qualify...sorry!
  • Swami Vivekananda
    Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam
    Pappa Vidyakar (http://www.udavumkarangal.org)
  • Runa,
    Mary Roy is a great pick and so are Bahuguna and Bedi. As for Rakesh Sharma, without my pick Vikram Sarabhai, there would be no Rakesh Sharma :-P

    I'm surprised folks like Baba Amte did not make the Outlook list.
  • Runa
    My nominees would have included:
    1) Mary Roy - Arundhati Roy's mother in place of her. Mary Roy took her struggle to get equal inheritance as a daughter all the way to the Supreme court and paved the way for women to get euqal property /inheritance rights in ancestral property.What has Arundhati done ?
    2) Sunderlal Bauguna- founder of the Chipko movement and grassroots environmentalist long before going green became sexy!
    3) Kiran Bedi - she broke barriers and inspired so many women to aim for the Indian Police Services
    4)Rakesh Sharma -India's first spaceman!
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