No one, and no force no matter how brutal. can take away from the joy singer-musian Adnan Sami feels at receiving the Padma Shri from the Indian government.
“It came to me completely like a bolt from the blue. It wasn’t as though I nursed a teenyweeny ambition of getting such an honour.The Padma Shri was nowhere on my radar. So, when I got the call informing me that I was being honoured I was …like…in a dream. I can’t thank the Government enough for finding me worthy of the honour. I am glad I got it while I’m still young. I feel fuelled and charged into doing more work,to prove myself even more worthy of the honour,” says Adnan as he prepares to celebrate the honour.
To those who think he is too ‘Pakistani’ for a Padma Shri here’s what Adnan has to say: “I can understand your frustration. I have it(the Padma Shri). You don’t. I am the one being honoured by our Government. You are not.I can understand you frustration and bitterness.”
Adnan has little patience with trolls. “30 percent of them are jealous and frustrated with their own lives. Another 30 percent are attention seekers who like to bash celebrities just to feel different from the crowd. 20 percent are misguided souls. And the rest of the 20 percent actually believe the rubbish they write about people in the limelight. Why should I believe the trolls when there are 1.3 billion people our there who are with me?”
Adnan now prepares to celebrate his Padma Shri. “Of course I’m going to throw a party for all my friends from the entertainment fraternity. I wish my father was here to see me get the Padma Shri. He would’ve been so proud of me.”
