Such an honor being a component of the Guinness Book of World Records entry of the 76th Republic Day cultural presentation जयति जय मम भारतम्.
My First Major Award/Honor – and in august company too! Aditya Vikram Birla, Bappi Lahiri (not in pic), Architect Prem Nath. Circa 1978
Receiving the coveted National Award for Best Voice-over/Narration from the President of India at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi..
HARISH BHIMANI-Voice Artiste-Doctorate for Voice of Samay. It was slightly bigger than a Lifetime Achievement award, as that is received from a peer institution. This Honoris Causa decoration… some put this honor actually on a higher pedestal, as Ph.D. is in pursuit of a single research thesis, whereas a Doctor of Letters is for enduring output of superior level over…
Now this is a Lifetime Achievement award, much before work lifetime is done with. Every two years, the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (now Laxminarayan Innovation Technological University), declares all-round achievement awards from among its alumni spread around the world. An award from one’s alma mater is always more precious, personal, intimate.
Happy to share that I am the only anchor to have received an HMV Gold disc. The gold disc was presented for extraordinary album sales of an Aditya Birla administered Lata Mangeshkar- Kishore Kumar concert at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai in aid of Baba Amte’s Anandvan – in 1984. (Interesting details of the concert can be found in my book…
(What looks like a set is actually a corner of Harshad Mehta’s drawing room in his sprawling Madhuli apartment at Worli, Mumbai.) During two longish interviews. I found him to be a genial, no-nonsense person, ready to consider multiple points of view, though impatient – as if suffering from high IQ. He convinced me that many others in his place…
The year is 1980-81. Lataji simply didn’t give interviews – Press or Radio. But – just back from after a mammoth 42-day concert tour of USA, Canada, the West Indies & Guyana (South America) with me compering – I prevailed upon her that the true Lata should materialize on media. She relented.
PLAY Backstage with Jeetendra – anchoring his platinum jubilee celebrations in Mumbai. The veteran star simply refused to utter a word as the interview tape rolled, “No baba… I can dance, romance, fight & mouth dialogue written by others. But no interview. Arre munh-se kuchh ulta-seedha nikal gaya toh!” Finally, I pretended to give up,”Okay, koi zabardasti naheen. No Sawal,…
Lata Mangehkar did a unique concert at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada, in June 1985 – a third-world country was, for the first time, mounting a major charity concert for a third-world country. Next day, a major newspaper, Toronto Star reported that an Indian singer donated $ 150,000 to Canada’s major charity organisation – the United Way.