वरुण, Poorvi star: Highest honor of the East

Nobel Prize the biggest deal!

There is no doubt that Nobel prize is the ‘ultra prize’ for an ultra-achievement by someone in his field. Also referred to as “scientific Oscars”—the Nobel Prizes


They are awarded to people "who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind" in the previous 12 months.’
The above quote is from the will of Swedish businessman - and inventor of dynamite - Alfred Nobel. He left most of his fortune in a fund to launch the awards, which were first presented in 1901.

Inventor of Dynamite? Are you kidding? No. Alfred Nobel was an inventor and entrepreneur in Sweden a tiny nation, way back in the 19th century.

It is said that when his brother Ludvig Nobel died, a French newspaper wrongly reported that ‘inventor of dynamite- merchant of death’ Alfred Nobel had died. It paraphrased as ‘Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways of killing more people faster than before died yesterday’. This hurt Alfred immensely and he thought of redeeming name of his family by doing something positive. In order to regain control of his legacy, he willed his fortune to create an award that would recognize people who had made positive contributions to mankind. Though during his life, Nobel developed more than 355 inventions.

This was quite a way to redeem respect but it worked. As they say nothing succeeds like success.
One could flip the idea and look at ‘Alphonse Gabriel Capone’ an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1925 to 1931. His rise to riches began when he became the boss of organized crime in Chicago-known as ‘The Outfit’, this organization boasted revenue streams that ranged from the illegal sale of alcohol to prostitution, all contributing to Al Capone’s net worth. This gang under his leadership murdered dozens of opponents. He was a dreaded guy known by nick name ‘scarface’.

At the height of his power in the 1920s, Al Capone employed more than 600 gangsters across Chicago. Most estimates put Al Capone’s net worth at about $100 million. In today’s terms, that’s nearly $1.5 billion. In a way he was a contemporary killer of Nobel. He could have started a ‘Capone prize’ to redeem his name from the black list for a similar cause or ‘Daku Maan Singh’ a dreaded Dacoit who mercilessly killed people for years on could have started ‘Maan peace prize’ for achievements in doing good for society. Crimes stopped after their death but Dynamite kept killing people even after Nobel left this world.

What I am trying to say is that money could have been gotten in the most bizarre, ways but it was a noble thought of Alfred Nobel who was not that noble in the eyes of the society- which mattered the most for its acceptance by people at large.

The prize money

As they say money makes the mare go- the prize money in 1901 was pretty handsome. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901 and carried a cash award of SEK 150,782, equivalent to SEK 8.8 million in 2022, which was roughly $900,000. The 2023 Nobel Prizes were worth SEK 11 million, which is about the same amount as 1901, adjusted for inflation.

The Nobel attracted a lot of attention because of its huge cash prize. Scientists had been awarded medals, money, and even titles like knighthood, Sir Isaac, since at least the early Renaissance. But none of those awards came close to the Nobel's purse those days. In the early days, it was worth about 20 years of an academic salary, and was the definitive "genius award" that allowed scholars to freely pursue their interests.

A million dollar deal today is a good money but not really an earthshattering amount.

Today even a world class Golf champion takes home an amount in millions of dollars.

Scottie Scheffler took home $25 million back with him to Dallas after winning the Tour Championship on a bright Sunday to win the 2024 FedEx Cup. With that winning payout, Scheffler has now won a little more than $54.2 million in official earnings in the season.

But in intellectual field prestige and fame matters more than money.

For instance ‘Oscar goes to…..’ is a heart stopping moment for those who are nominated - on the day of the ceremony.

While Oscar winners, do not receive direct cash prizes from the Academy, there is another value tag attached to the award. The triumphs of the Academy Awards often translate into heightened financial status and enhanced reputation over time. Many also term this as the 'Oscar Effect', this phenomenon encompasses the myriad outcomes experienced by Oscar laureates.

The artist gets a huge boost to his career too, which is a money churner in the long run.

The jury may still be out as to what is more important, the prestige or the money. I feel prestige still a notch higher than money as you can say he is an Oscar winner but does not make sense to say he is fifty-million-dollar winner!


First mover advantage and the timing

I feel 1901 was a time when our civilization was on the cusp of inventions and discoveries. 1904 IQ based on number crunching and logical reasoning was the measure of human Intelligence. Science was our saviour and was seen as the horse on which civilization had to ride for our betterment.

Timing is the first thing that comes to mind- Nobel clearly had a first mover advantage.

Over the years emotional Intelligence came into picture to redefine human excellence which moved a couple of notches higher with multiple intelligence theory of Howard Gardner.

Humans have started looking at themselves differently.

There was no challenge to climate back then in 1900 and no one could imagine that air pollution would kill us in next hundred years or so. Plastic a great invention also came along around the beginning of last century and made our life easy- and now it has become a recipe for disaster. We cannot let go of plastic despite best efforts.

Yoga which is an ancient art cum science of human body and mind was very much in a dormant stage in those days. Even meditation technique ‘vipassana’ was introduced by Gautam Budha around 2600 years ago. Discovery of modern medicine and anaesthesia, surgery and Penicillin, vaccination gave a life line to human race like never before and Ayurveda and other ancient systems were sidelined for want of a better expression. Of course, certain human ailments have to be handled by Allopathy and surgery, yet as our life style changed and human comfort started taking the toll the ancient wisdom came to our rescue, albeit slowly.

And then they got it right all along

Humans were on a high with steam engines chugging along, ships, aircraft, submarines, rockets, guns were changing the face of the earth. Human mind became unidirectional and rightly so. There was no way one could side line pure sciences and physics, chemistry and such like disciplines. Literature was an evergreen discipline from the time we learnt to read and write and several languages emerged over centuries.

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace (Since we created war), while a memorial prize in economic sciences was added in 1968.

One must observe that these are very broad-based disciplines and, in a way, cover a huge number of sub disciplines within each of them. So, the basket was a huge one to choose from.

The other major reason for Nobel Prize to be seen as the ultimate was the guys who got it. They were the crème de la crème. It was a galaxy of people, many who didn’t require introduction at all.

Like the greats of Albert Einstein, Red Cross, Marie Curie, Theodore Roosevelt, Rabindranath Tagore, Barrack Obama in recent years. If you get a Nobel prize now, you are in the league of the greats who ever walked the earth.

‘If no one else is going to hype you up, you have to do it yourself.’

Mojo Rawley

The process

How you select initially was more important than who you select and that is very important. Many awards today- not straight winners like golf or sports- are shrouded with partiality, biases and favouritism.

Initial buzz must have been through limited media and handsome prize money, the prize eventually earned a reputation for selecting notable awardees. That prestige was earned due to the methodology established by the first Nobel panels of judges in 1901.The members of the academy at that time were nervous to be the centre of international attention. In fact, the New York Times predicted that the prize would bring Sweden more trouble than glory, as the country would be resigned to the politics of picking favourites. To avoid any controversies the judges decided to solicit recommendations from the international scientific community. The evaluations are a secret for 50 years, so they also can write what they really think without anyone finding out.

That year, and every year following, a 5-member committee for each prize solicited and reviewed thousands of nominations. After rigorous analysis, the committee hands over the selection to either the Swedish Royal Society of Sciences (for chemistry and physics), or the Karolinska Institute (for medicine), who make the final determination for the year's winner.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for the selection of eligible candidates and the choice of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The Committee is composed of five members appointed by the Storting (Norwegian parliament). This is how rigorous the process is- yet humans are humans and despite all this people have blamed, biases and politics playing a hand in the selection- but you can’t help it.

Senior Curator at Nobel Prize Museum Gustav Källstrand says ‘If you look at the factors that have made the prize important, I think that tradition has now replaced money, and tradition is based on decisions that have held up throughout the century,". Yet there is no less pressure on the Nobel committee to select worthy winners. In the past, you had committee members who gave Einstein and Marie Curie the prizes. Today, they have to hold up that responsibility to give away the prize to equally deserving people.

The Nobel Prizes are one of our last bastions. We seek in them a reference, not only of excellence, but of honesty, enthusiasm, commitment to ideals, that inspires both laymen and professionals. Many of the winners were recognized among his peers as unique individuals, long before they were awarded the Prize. And afterwards they have continued to behave like people with great human qualities.

Time to call the shots

The world order is rapidly changing and so is the trust factor. West is no more the custodian of values- in fact they never were. Thanks to social media and gigabytes of information flow the world is now better informed. The world is flat. Honesty, fair play, commitment to ideals, that inspires a common man and the high and mighty is no more the prerogative of the white man who is now seen as a burden on the planet.

The trust factor, the most tangible-intangible- its needle has shifted towards the east and firmly stands rock steady. White man’s word is no more taken as a gospel.

India in its new Avatar, the fastest growing economy and the largest democracy has arrived. The world leaders are ready to embrace us and value our inputs. They look at us as a friend- a long-term friend who can be trusted. Therefore, we have the credibility and cash and to top it all the trust of the world. The world looks up at Bharat as a peace maker when there are endless wars- the world is at war.


Now in recent years we have not only partnered in finding remedial measures for global warming but have also brought back focus on ancient wisdom like Ayurveda, Yoga and pranayama. Instead of shattering the ceiling we are focussed on human healing through nature. West has given us a synthetic life- it is time to relook at human excellence in a different more, pragmatic way.

We can commission a prize at international level for disciplines hitherto dormant.

We could start with Yogic sciences, Ancient-medicine, environmental science and green energy, save the mankind and such like open-ended disciplines.

A lot more deliberation is required and Government of India can come up with a suitable name, a medal and a handsome prize money.

Nobel Prize is 125-year-old- have patience

"Rome wasn't built in a day" is an old saying, to make a badge honour it takes time, traction and sincerity of purpose.

If our government starts with a single purpose of a ‘value-based recognition’, this will surely succeed. We need to have patience and perseverance. Today credibility is the most important factor and remember 1901 had no electronic media and no internet based social media. We will have to crate adequate buzz, get best people on board and award and reward the best in the field with a prize money one could boast about.