From TheHuffingtonPost.com:

Despite being beaten by the current world champion Magnus Carlsen, Vishy at 47, continues to be at the top, and often beats young elites with his supercalifragilisticexpialidocious chess. Vishy has transfigured his game like no other Indian has ever done. Today India boasts 44 grandmasters, close to 100 international masters, women grandmasters and numerous world junior/youth champions—it is Vishy who sets a shining example and gives them the conviction that they too can take on the world. When Vladimir Putin, one of the world's most powerful people, met Anand in Moscow, he exclaimed "So we brought this on ourselves!" referring to Anand's adolescent days when he trained at a Soviet cultural centre in Chennai.

Some may argue that the Bharat Ratna must be conferred for a lifetime achievement and Vishy still has time left in his professional career, but has this colossus not already achieved several lifetimes' worth? Viswanathan Anand is to chess what Roger Federer is to tennis and Sachin Tendulkar is to cricket. Let's begin 2017 with "anand" (joy) by decorating him with the top medallion. It will unite millions, since most of us can relate to his achievements and serve to circumvent skepticism about our national honors and their recipients. If the messiah of Indian sport at the "global" stage doesn't deserve the Bharat Ratna, who does?

Read the full article here.