Very few Indians have won the Nobel Prize over the years. So when this rare thing does happen, we Indians sit up and take notice and applaud. We do so even if the recipient of that prize is no longer in India --- as in the case of Abhijit Banerjee, who, though born in India is now an American citizen. Banerjee himself seemed to want to stress his Indian roots as well:
Banerjee was seen in a gold-bordered white dhoti; a nod to his Bengali heritage as he arrived to accept his Nobel Prize for Economics. Indians expressed their pleasure at this.
Two other Bengalis won the Nobel before this: Rabindranath Tagore for literature and Amartya Sen again for economics. However, this is the first time that the recipient went up to receive their prize wearing a dhoti, some pointed out.
Esther Duflo received the prize along with two of her colleagues; one of whom is also her husband – and decided to honour his heritage in her sartorial choice. Her green saree as she stood on the podium made quite an impact.
Interestingly, this is not the first time a Nobel Prize was received wearing a sari. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 --- in a sari.
Many expressed their appreciation of the clothing choices of Banerjee and Duflo as being representative not just of Bengal but India as a whole.
As the prize was presented to the three recipients (including Michael Kremer), Banerjee was referred to ‘the husband’ of Esther Duflo rather than the other way around. People noticed and many approved.
A lot of people pointed out the fact that Banerjee belongs to JNU; that he had spent a few days in jail back in the day… JNU being the ‘den of vice’ now charged with wasting taxpayer money and churning out ‘anti-nationals’.
The media does indeed seem more interested in their clothes --- this post of mine is also about that --- so, guilty as charged I suppose.
Many predicted that politicians would try to get political mileage out of the Nobel award.
Our politicians never fail to disappoint. The world has increased the sum of its knowledge as a result of three people originating from different countries coming and working together. However, all that we can see is how Banerjee and Duflo manage to burnish the image of any identity that we choose to assume for the time being.
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