The Padmas: Fifty Stories of Perseverance

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Step into the world of the Padma Awards-one of India's highest civilian honours. Announced on the eve of Republic Day every year, the awards recognize the achievements of people who have fought to make a difference in the world.

This book features fifty incredible people-artists, scientists, freedom fighters, social workers, sports stars and many others from different walks of life. They have proven that determination, perseverance and courage are the only ingredients needed to accomplish remarkable things.

Celebrating seventy years of the Padma Awards, this beautifully illustrated book will inspire young readers to dream big and triumph against all odds.

When I sat down to write this book, I tried to think back to my first memory of the Padma awards. I must have been eight or nine years old. It was a sunny March day in Delhi. I was sitting with my father as we watched a broadcast of the president conferring that year's Padma awards. Decades have passed, but what my father said that afternoon hasn't left me: 'These aren't just awards. They are a celebration.'

Thereafter, every Republic Day, when the list of Padma awardees was released, my mind wandered back to my father's words. I wondered what he meant. What do the Padma awards celebrate? The answer became clear as I understood the history of the awards and learnt the awardees' stories.

The Padma awards were instituted in 1954. Given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (for distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (for distinguished service), the awards recognize the achievements of people from different walks of life and diverse spheres-from art and music to science and medicine as well as literature, sports and more. The Padmas not only celebrate achievement, but also service and love for the nation. And so, as they celebrate our beloved India, the Padma awards become more than a medallion. They become a feeling. They become the expression of a grateful nation as we celebrate the stories of our heroes.

Writing this book took me back to that sunny day in Delhi when I sat alongside my father. In the seventieth year of these awards, I hope reading these stories will take you somewhere special, too.