There is something about Rahul Dravid that’s so much more distinct than other personalities. In this era where receiving hate happens almost nonchalantly, it is astonishing that Dravid hardly has a black spot in both his professional or public life. In this article, we take you to an interesting incident when Rahul Dravid declined an Honorary Doctorate from Bangalore University. The reason he gave for it will make you admire him even more.
Rahul Dravid had a chance to receive an Honorary Doctorate from BU
On account of BU’s 52nd annual convocation in 2017, the University recommended three personalities for an honorary doctorate, including Rahul Dravid. Later, Karnataka Governor and Bangalore University Chancellor Vajubhai R Vala approved the conferment of an honorary doctorate on Dravid.
The ‘Wall’ declined the doctorate
However, Dravid politely refused the doctorate. The then BU Vice-Chancellor B Thimme Gowda, in an official statement, had said, “Sri Rahul Dravid, while thanking Bangalore University for recognising him for the honorary degree, has conveyed that he would try to earn a doctorate degree by accomplishing some form of academic in research in the field of sports rather than receiving an honorary degree.”
While this was one of the reasons why Dravid said no to honour, a few days later, in an interview with Indian Express, he revealed more about the reason behind this decision.
This is why we all love him
When asked why he refused the doctorate, Dravid said, “The thing about the doctorate is that my mom did her PhD and earned a doctorate at the age of 55. My wife’s a surgeon who studied for seven years to get a degree in surgery.“
He added, “And I’ve always felt that if it was something I wanted, I would like to have earned it. I don’t mean that anyone else should have that feeling and I’m not trying to belittle anyone else. It’s just that I felt that way because of my own experiences. And it’s not the first time that people have asked me to become a doctor. It’s just that it’s happened privately and over an email exchange. And before it’s been announced, I have declined it politely even then. It so happened that this, unfortunately, came out in public.”
Source: Indian Express
